Let us commence our worship here
this evening. In a word of prayer, let us pray. Lord our God, we ask thy blessing
upon our worship here at Barn Chapel. Lord, do grant thy Holy
Spirit's aid. Help us to sing thy worthy praise,
and do bless our souls as we seek to bless thee. And do bless
those that join with us online to be with each assembly. O Lord,
may Thou have all the honour and glory. Make Thyself, Lord
Jesus, precious to our souls. We ask through Thy Name. Amen. Hymn, 505. Tune, Orlington 203. Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God, from the first epistle of Peter and chapter 2 Wherefore, laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and
envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes desire the sincere
milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby. If so be ye have
tasted that the Lord is gracious, to whom coming as unto a living
stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. Ye also as lively stones are
built up a spiritual house, and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also
it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a 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 a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to
them which stumble at the word being disobedient, whereunto
also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should
show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness,
into his marvellous light, which in time past were not a people,
but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy,
but now have obtained mercy. Dearly beloved, I beseech you
as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war
against the soul, having your conversation honest among the
Gentiles, that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers,
they may, by your good works which they shall behold, glorify
God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves to every ordinance
of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme,
or unto governors as unto them that are sent by him for the
punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do
well. For so is the will of God, that
with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish
men. As free and not using your liberty
for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God, honour
all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, honour the King. Servants, be subject to your
masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also
to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a
man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it if, when
ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if when ye do well and suffer
for it, You take it patiently. This is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called,
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that ye should follow his steps. Who did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, reviled
not again. when he suffered he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously,
who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness,
by whose stripes ye were healed. for ye were as sheep going astray,
but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls. The Lord bless to us that reading
of his holy word may help us in prayer. Let us pray. O Lord God of heaven and of earth,
we come to Thee once more through our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ,
and we seek to reverence Thy great and Thy holy name. For Lord, Thou art to be feared
and greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, to be
had in reverence of all them that are about Thee. And Lord,
You grant unto us as to be an assembly gather together in thy
name where thou art in the midst. O Lord, do be pleased to make
thy word authoritative and powerful as only thy Holy Spirit can. Lord, that our souls might be
precious in thy sign who hear thy word this evening, and that
thou bless us, Lord, with some sense of the majesty and greatness
and power of our God. Thou who dost live for ever and
ever, Thou who hast decreed all things, Thou who hast appointed
all things, And Thou who wilt bring to pass all Thy counsel
and all Thy will, To grant that there might be poor sinners gathered
this evening, That are able to see by Thy work, Thy work in
them, Thy work for them, thy word that is magnified before
their eyes, Lord, that thou might be able to discern the thoughts
that thou hast towards them, might be able to discern that
thou hast loved them with an everlasting love, and therefore,
with loving kindness, thou hast drawn them. We do seek, Lord,
that we might have eyes to see and a heart to perceive, Lord,
that we might see thy work, for thy word declares that whoso
is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand
the lovingkindness of the Lord. Do grant, Lord, that in whatever
path, whether it be afflictions or trials or weakness or impairments
of hearing, of sight, of smell, whatever impairment it might
be, that Thou hast grant, that Thou hast sanctify these things,
and that Thou hast give grace and help to bear the cross and
to walk that path that is a difficult path, and yet, Lord, to help
us to deserve, it is the tribulation appointed by Thee for us. And Thou hast said that in the
world you shall have tribulation, but in me ye shall have peace. Grant then that peace to be known
to each troubled soul. We thank thee that thou hast
not given to us to choose our own tribulation, but thou hast
chosen it for us. We read in thy word that thou
hast also chosen for us our inheritance. And Lord, do grant that we might
see then those things being done that are pointing us to that
inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and reserved in heaven
for us. Lord, those who are kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation, Lord, do grant that
keeping, that blessing upon us each here and each who hear thy
word this evening. We pray that thou would remember
each one, thou knowest each one's afflictions, and need and weaknesses,
and do bless us in our souls. Bless our dear aged friends at
Bethesda. We seek that those be with them
and help them and be with their carers as well, and bless that
home. And Lord, do bless each home
represented here. Those unable to gather this evening,
do be with them and may be, as they may hear recordings, be
blessed through that means. We do pray for those round about
in this locality. Lord, do bless thy word in such
a way that there might be those that are brought to gather here,
to hear the word here, and that there might be a building up
and strengthening of the cause of truth here. Let's maintain
them for many years, and Lord, we do pray for that generation
to come. Lord, we would humble ourselves
before Thee because of our sin and our iniquities, our sins
of thought, of word, and of deed. We do pray for the gift of blessing,
of repentance, and remission of sins. That Thou would soften
our hard hearts, give us a tender conscience, a teachable spirit. Lord, that Thou would give as
much hatred of sin as a love to Thee and a love to Thy people. that thou hast grown that we
might clearly see those things that fight against the life of
God within, that thou hast saved us from that which shall even
undermine everything that we shall hear tonight. Lord, let
not Satan come and rob us of thy word and take it out of our
hearts and cause us to forget what we have heard. Now, Lord,
do be pleased to fill those empty voids Do be pleased to satisfy
the longing soul who pour in the oil and the wine to heal
and cherish that Jesus still has to his spiritual Israel. Find out thy lost sheep, bring
back those driven away, and do be pleased to comfort thy people
and give fear not to those that are fearful and afraid. O Lord, do we please to show
thy people, low, poor, as they may feel themselves to be, what
they are in thy sight, what thou hast called them to be, and what
thou hast made them by thy grace. Leave us not to have small thoughts
of what thy grace does to a sinner and what thou hast planned for
them. O Lord, may we esteem thy salvation. as greatly as thou dost esteem
it, and that thou should purchase it with thy precious blood. O
Lord, do lift us up above this poor dying world, and set our
affection to our thoughts on things above. We thank thee that
we can meet in this way this evening, the providences that
gather us here and enable us to hear thy word. We pray for
those in authority over us, for our Prime Minister and the Cabinet. Lord, we pray for wisdom for
them, that they would restrain the designs of wicked men and
women, and cause that there not be upon our statute book those
laws that are contrary to thine, especially we do make intercession
regarding the assisted dying bill, Lord, when it comes for
a second reading later this month, Lord, if it could please thee
to stop it in its tracks there. And those of our members of parliament,
those that we have written to, those that are yet undecided,
that don't know which way to vote, Lord, do sway them. Lord, do help thy people to write
and to make supplication. And do be pleased to be Thou
who just hast the hearts of all men in Thy hand to turn the heart
of those in authority to once more resist and to reject this
legislation. O Lord, we do pray for our elderly
and pray for the unborn. Lord, that Thou hast be pleased
to set in place those guards over them each. O Lord, we do
Seek of thee thy blessing upon our churches, thy blessing here
and each church in this land, and others that gather as we
do this evening. We lay our petition for thy day,
that thy blessing might be upon it. Remember thy dear servant
with us, and do bless his ministry and labours where he goes. And
may he dip his foot in oil, be made acceptable unto the brethren,
No, Lord, send out more labourers into the harvest. But, Lord,
do strengthen our churches, not only with ministers, but with
deacons, and with mothers in Israel, and with those that are
praying members. Lord, we have had many taken
home to be with Thee. Replenish the church, we pray,
and strengthen the remnant behind. No, Lord, do have mercy upon
us. We thank thee for our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ. We thank thee for him that was
made flesh and dwelt among us, and that he should be made as
an elder brother, one born for adversity, one able to redeem. We thank thee for the record
of thy sufferings and death upon Calvary's tree, for the ordinances
of thy house that point to the same event. And Lord, we do thank
Thee for the empty tomb, arisen Saviour. We thank Thee also for
the intercession in heaven and the evidence of that in the gift
of Thy Holy Spirit. Lord, do be pleased to grant
us to feel it this evening. Grant us Thy word graciously,
and do be pleased to touch each heart. Lord, bless us with faith. mixed with what we hear and faith
coming from what we hear. Do help us now we ask thee these
things through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. Hymn, 598. Tune, Samuel 560. Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to 1 Peter chapter 2 and reading
for our text verse 9. Verse 9. 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 marvellous light. 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9. This verse is one of those that
joins together the people of God, the people of Israel, and
the people of God in all ages. Israel is a typical people, they're
coming out of Egypt, they're being brought out by the blood
of the Passover, and they're being a people that was unique,
peculiar, special, holy people, just to the Lord, is what unites,
as it were, the Old and New Testament on this point. In Deuteronomy
chapter 7, in the first 11 verses there, we have our Lord speaking
to them of how they were this special people. And we have in
verse 6 of 7 Deuteronomy, 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 ye were more in number than any
people, for ye were the fewest of all people. But because the
Lord loved you, And because ye would keep the oath which ye
had sworn to your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with
a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen,
from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that
the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth
covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments,
to a thousand generations. And Peter uses then this same
language, applies it in a gospel day, not just to the Jews, but
as the first verse of this epistle, the strangers scattered throughout
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. Many times in the Word of God,
the Lord is pleased to tell His people what they are to Him,
and what they are in His sign. If we think of what is said of
this people in verse 10, it's time passed they were not a people,
but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy,
but now have obtained mercy, when we think of how they describe
in verse 11, as strangers and pilgrims in the earth, there
is a lot for the people of God when they feel that this world
is not their home, they feel that they are indeed different
than other people, The Lord says, I have given them thy word, and
the world hath hated them. And it's very easy to listen
to Satan, and to feel very small, insignificant, worthless, as
if we were nothing. And in ourselves, we are nothing. We're nothing but sin and disgrace. But in Christ, that is what the
Apostle Peter here addresses those that he is writing to,
and Paul when he writes to the Ephesians is the same, to tell
them what blessings they have as believers, and to tell them
what great power was put forth to make them to be what they
actually are. And this is not in the eyes of
men, this is not ourselves looking and saying, look at what I am.
This is not what someone else is. It's not the world. It's
not the heathen saying, look at these people that profess
to be the Lord's people. Look at them. These poor people,
they can't do that. They mustn't do that. And they've
got to do this. And we're despised and rejected
of men the same as our Lord Jesus Christ was. But then our Lord
through the inspired word here, he lifts up his people and tells
them what actually they are. And I want to look this evening
firstly at this four-fold description of the people of God that's in
our text, and then to what they are and what they are called
to do, why they are what they are, and we are told in our text
that you should show forth the praises of him who hath called
you out of darkness into his marvellous light. I want to touch
lastly as well the exhortation to them which is found in the
verses 11 12 or really right through to the end of the chapter
but just through some of those exhortations that are given to
them. And so we have really a balance
on those that fourfold description is a people that still are to
be careful, prayerful, dependent upon the Lord for every grace
and for everything what they have. What they are is by their
union with the Lord. So I want to then look at this
fourfold description. The first one is, ye are a chosen
generation. We're told in the Psalms that
a generation, a seed shall serve him, it shall be accounted to
the Lord for a generation. That's at the end of Psalm 22,
the beginning of which we read the Lord's words upon the cross,
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now we, of course,
identify generations with, say, fathers, and then you've got
the children, you've got the grandparents, you have generations
in that way. But the Lord says of his people,
there is a generation in one sense that spans from Abel right
through to the last one, as if it is one generation, one people,
one calling, one gathering, not with a division. He says indeed
that the first shall be last and the last first, And He gathers
them all together as if they are just one generation, one
people. And we're told that in heaven
there shall be neither infant of days, nor those that are old. And we cannot help thinking of
how our Lord was 30 when He began His ministry, 33 when He was
crucified, really in the prime of life. This was when the Levites
also served, and those in heaven, they shall be as it were in what
we would think is in the prime, in the perfection, neither young,
neither babe, nor old man, and a generation then to serve him. But here it is said a chosen
generation, chosen in Christ from the foundation of the world,
a people of God, that God has set his love upon and appointed
them unto salvation, and from nothing in them, no good foreseen
in them, just by his own counsel. The election of God is a truth
that is set forth right through the word of God. And as if to
reinforce this, throughout history, the Lord has picked out where
He could take the children of Israel themselves, He chose Abraham,
He called him out of the area of the Chaldees, He chose that
people for Himself, that literal ancient Israel for Himself, but
then within Israel, We have those like David, when David was to
be anointed to be king, the Lord said to Samuel, you go to Bethlehem,
go to that Jesse, I have provided me a king among his sons. God had already chosen the king. He knew where David was. Samuel
did not. Samuel had to go And as each
one came before him, the Lord said, no, he's not chosen him.
And each time it's emphasized, there is one here that is chosen. It's not this one, not this one.
Have you got any more sons? Yes. One out with the sheep. Bring him in. And he was the
one then that was chosen. And David often refers to how
the Lord chose him from following the sheep, how he chose him to
be the king. He didn't appoint himself, it
wasn't Samuel, it was God's choice. And you see this right through,
and especially when our Lord was choosing his 12 apostles. He passed by them, he chose each
one as to what they were the ones to be appointed for that
12. And so we get these little pictures
in time of those that we know in the pages of the scriptures
of God showing us how he has chosen them, how he's known them. And then there came a time that
they were called, that they were actually made known that he'd
chosen them. He passes by them on their receipt
of custom, follow me. He meets them when they're fishing,
follow me. And their being chosen is known
by their calling. And that is evident as well from
the context here. Those that have been chosen have
been called in our text. that ye should show forth the
praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his
marvellous light." A chosen people is a called people, so we have
in Revelation, they that are with him are called, they are
chosen, they are faithful, those things they go together. And so Peter, the Lord through
Peter, is speaking to the people of God and telling them, pointing
them, not just that the calling was not the first, the calling
was making known a choice in eternity past. We are like that
link in Romans 8, where you have those that were foreknown, whom
he did foreknow, then he also did predestinate, whom he predestinated,
then he also called, and whom he called, then he also justified,
and whom he justified, then he also glorified, and you get this
link and this chain, and the middle part of it is calling,
but when there's that calling, then you can look back and say,
this wasn't the first. We can see thoughts of mercy
and choosing and full knowledge of God before, and we can look
with certainty forward to be yet glorified. And it's a beautiful
thing when we see these passages like this in Scripture, and the
believers, the people of God, those that are called, and they
are told, ye are a chosen generation. Every single one of God's children
have been chosen by God Himself. You know, several times in the
Old Testament, you read of the kings and their armies, and you
read something like this, every one of them, chosen men. They were chosen because of their
skill in their cases, but chosen to serve in that army, that God
chooses his people not for anything in them, but what he will do
for them and what he will bless upon them. And so this is the
first description, a chosen generation. The second is a royal priesthood. And we could join that together
with verse 5, because in verse 5 we read also as lively stones
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood. A holy priesthood
to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Well, the third one in our text
is holy, so what I want to emphasize in this, a royal priesthood.
The priesthood, of course, the Old Testament has passed away. We do not need to go to a priest
and that priest then present our petitions to God. the great
high priest once a year, not without blood, entered into the
holy place within the veil, and the veil was there to show that
the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest. But when Christ died and the
veil was rent in twain, then there is that way open through
the rent veil, through Christ's blood, through the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so, in that way, that is
how we may go directly then to the Lord Jesus Christ. In Hebrews,
we have set forth that boldness or that certainty that we can
come and enter into the holiest of all. Let us therefore come
boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and
find grace to help in time of need. And our Lord Jesus Christ
is set forth as our great High Priest. We come to God through
Him. But every individual, every believer,
every chosen one has that privilege of coming directly to God through
the Lord Jesus Christ. no earthly priest, no earthly
person to stand between us and the Lord. And that is the calling
of the people of God. Our priest here, as it's set
forth in verse 5, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable
to God by Jesus Christ. There's the coming through our
Lord Jesus Christ. What is the acceptable sacrifice? Spiritual sacrifices, not literal
sacrifices, but the fruit of our lips giving praise unto His
name. It is lifting up a precious Christ. He is not presented again, He's
not suffering again, but His name is extolled. His name is
His ointment poured forth. You think of before the veil
was there'd be the altar of incense, and the prayers of the people
of God are likened to that incense, and they're mixed with the blood,
and they're precious in the sight of God. The people of God are
praying people. If ever there's something that
really marks out the New Testament is that wherever the blessing
of the Lord was, wherever the spirit of the Lord was, it brought
a people to call upon the name of the Lord. That was what Saul
of Tarsus, the Apostle Paul, was persecuting the people for,
that they were calling upon the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And it is specifically stated
that he was hiring men and women to prison who called upon that
name. And when he was converted, one
of the first marks of his conversion, behold, he prayeth. Or, put it
in the words of the context here, behold, he offereth spiritual
sacrifices. He is coming to God. In the Old
Testament, they would come to God with their land, with their
confessions, with their sacrifices. But for us to come, The sacrifice
is offered once and for all, and we come with the fruits and
blessings of that sacrifice. And every poor sinner that is
coming pleading the name of the Lord Jesus Christ gives honor
and glory. Whatsoever you shall ask in my
name, I will give it unto you. Your heavenly Father which is
in heaven, If ye evil know how to give good gifts unto your
children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask him? And may we think then about
what we may feel to be really poor prayers, that here in our
Texas are no, they're not poor prayers at all. They are those
spiritual sacrifices, you are a royal priesthood, you're coming
to the king of kings and lord of lords, you've got the privilege
of an ear to have the highest court of the land, and you're
coming before him. You can have no greater thing
than that. If someone said, well, you've
got the privilege of going to the king of England and to gain
his ear and you can speak to him and you can present your
petitions to him, you say to that person what a privileged
person you are to be able to do that, to have that privilege,
to have that ear. But here we have the King of
Kings and the Lord of Lords and having that privilege and every
one of the people of God have that blessing. A chosen generation,
a royal priesthood. The third is an holy nation. The Apostle Peter is very clear
on that, and especially the first chapter, before the chapter we've
read here, he says in verse 15, And as he which hath called you
is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because
it is written, Be ye holy for I am holy. And so without holiness
no man can see the Lord. It's absolutely vital. Whatever heaven says, Christ
has holiness enough to sanctify us all. We do not have holiness
in ourselves, but in the Lord Jesus Christ we do. And if we go back to Israel of
old, What marked them out as holy was that they were not to
go into any of the idols, any of the other gods, the very commandments,
thou shalt have no other gods beside me, and they were to be
a people that were governed by the laws of the Lord Jesus Christ. And purity and holiness marked
all that they did and all that they said. And that applies to
us as well in the Gospel day, a holy people, very opposite
from what we are by nature, all unholy and unclean, says the
hymn writer. How can I approach to God? That's how we feel ourselves
to be. And so when you come to the descriptions
here, it might seem a strange thing. God's looking upon one
who feels unholy and he says, no, you're a holy nation. It's
like the publican in the temple, God be merciful to me a sinner. That is how he felt, a sinner
needing mercy. God says he went down to his
house justified rather than the other. The feelings of the people
of God are what they feel in themselves, but what God says
of them is very different. You think of the other way, with
the publican in the temple, he was saying great things about
himself, but God said, no, what he was saying, he did not go
down to his house justified or free from guilt at all. And so it's not who man lifts
up, it's who God lifts up. And so he says, of the people
of God, there are holy people. And you might say, well, how
can we be sure? How can we say that? Well, if
we go to Hebrews 12, then we read one mark that God has with
his children. And that mark is that every son
whom he receiveth, then he chastens and he corrects them. And it
is through that means and through that way He dries from them and
delivers them from all that is holy, all that is unclean. He sanctifies. He does what is
set forth in Ephesians chapter 5, where the Lord is speaking
of His people as His bride, the church as the bride. And He says
that He might sanctify and cleanse them with the washing of water
by the Word that he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that it should
be holy and without blemish." And it is God's work that He's
doing that. And as in Hebrews, it's inseparable
when the Lord chooses a people, He will call that people, and
when He calls that people, He will sanctify them, He will chasten
them, He will make them to be in His image and to be a prepared
people for a prepared place. The grace that chooses and calls
also sanctifies. And so you have this progression
through this verse of the description of the people of God. A chosen
generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation, And then we
have, lastly, a peculiar people, or we might read as a redeemed
people, or a purchased people. Some of the other translations
of the word, they use those terms, redeemed, or those that are chosen
or purchased. But here it is peculiar, we've
sung of it in our middle hymn, And really if we might say that
something is peculiar to that person, or peculiar to that place,
that it only happens there, or it is only happening upon that
people. And what the Lord said again
and again to His ancient people Israel, that you only have I
known of all nations. And the Lord's dealings with
them were absolutely unique. They were peculiar to the Israelites. He didn't deal like that to any
others. He did rule over the nations,
and you see it in many of the prophets, Jeremiah, the Lord
has words to say of other nations. It wasn't as if the Lord just
ignored the other nations, but as we have in Acts, they were
called to repentance. There wasn't the gospel day then. But with Israel, he dealt with
them and he was their God. They were given his laws, they
had his presence with them, they had the gospel and the ceremonial
law. In all of those ways, they were
peculiar. And I've often said this, the
people of God, Never be ashamed of being different. Never be
ashamed of being called out, separated, and different. Remember in the book of Esther,
one of the things that our Haman described the people of God was
that their laws were different than all others' laws. Their
ways were different, their customs were different. It wasn't good
that they should live. The Lord does make a difference
with his people. Come out from among them and
be separate. Touch not the unclean thing and
I will receive you. You shall be my sons and my daughters,
saith the Lord Almighty. So when we think of the description
here, if people say, oh Ray, you are rather peculiar, you
do different things. Remember later on in Peter, we
are told to everyone that asketh us a reason of the hope that
is within us, to sanctify the Lord in our hearts and give a
reason of that hope, be ready to do so. Why do they ask us
a hope? Because they see we do things
that they don't do, or we don't do things that they do. We are
different. There's something different.
And that brings forth a question. And when we have the description
here, a peculiar people, we should not be ashamed about being different. You know, when poor Peter was
denying his Lord, they said, Thou art a Galilee. Thy speech
betrayeth thee. There's something different.
We can tell you're different. We can tell you're identified
with the Lord. So what does he do? He changes
his speech. He tries to swear. that he never
knew Him. May we be delivered from that,
to change to suit the world, to take away the difference. Now our language should be a
language of the Scriptures, it shouldn't be the coarse language
of the world, and it should be as in all thy ways acknowledge
Him and He shall direct their paths. That we might be known
as whose we are and whom we serve. So we have here then four descriptions
by God of a people that are in the world and they feel to be
strangers and pilgrims. They are not of this world even
as the Lord is not of this world. They are dealt with that, like
our Lord was, a stone disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of
God and precious. How many ways the Lord's people
are like their Lord. And the Lord was that stone that
was rejected. And the people of God are those
that are rejected by men, but chosen of God, and that they
are precious. So may, in this first point,
you remain with us, the description God gives, may we have further
meditation upon it later, of what the people of God are in
His sight, a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a peculiar people. On to love then, secondly, the
reason why They are called to this, to what end? And we're
told in our text it is to show forth the praises of Him who
hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. That is the reason, this people
have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise. When our Lord was coming into
Jerusalem and they were spreading their garments and palm trees
in the way. And they were crying, Hosanna
to him that cometh in the name of the Lord. And the Jews said,
Master, forbid thy people, thy servants. He said, these should
hold their peace. The very stones would cry out. And the apostles had to testify
that they could not but speak of the things that they had seen
and that they had heard. And it's a blessed thing to realize
this as well, and keeping in mind this same picture in this
world, the world that looks at the people of God, and they think
they're strange, they're different, they don't belong here. And yet
the Lord says, no, this is my description of them, and rather
than just being neutral, rather than just being mute, rather
than just being ashamed, They are going to show forth my praise. They are going to be my witnesses.
They are going to speak well of me. We read in the Psalms,
they shall only consult to cast him down from his excellency.
But you find the people of God in thy temple. Every one does
speak of thy glory and the people of God. And we think of how that
man that had been born blind in John 9, You know, he spake
well of the Lord, didn't he? The Jews, they kept trying to
say, this man is a sinner, why he should heal in this way, heal
on the Sabbath days, and we are Moses' disciples, they aren't
his disciples, we know where Moses came from, but this man,
we know not whence he is, and he says, well, hearing is a wonderful
thing, He know not for whence he is, and yet he hath opened
mine eyes. Was it yet seen from the beginning
of the world that one could open the eyes of one that was born
blind? If this man were not of God,
he could do nothing. And that dear man is proclaiming
and lifting up the Lord. And they said to him, Thou art
altogether born in sins. They cast him out. That's how
they were treated. The Lord then met with him. Dost
thou believe on the Son of God? Who is he, Lord, that I might
believe? He that speaketh to thee, and
I that speak unto thee, am he. And he worshipped him. But the
people of God and the Lord had blessed them. Go home to thy
friends and tell how great things that God hath done for thee,
had mercy upon thee. And so the people of God are
not to be ashamed. The Lord says, Whoso shall be
ashamed of me before this crooked generation, of him shall my Father
be ashamed before the angels of God in heaven. The love of
Christ maketh not ashamed. With the heart man believeth,
with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. We should never minimize the
seal that a confession actually makes. And sometimes it has been
a real burden and concern. It was with me when I was first
called and the fear of man was so great I could not bow my head
in the attitude of prayer in the lunchroom at work. And many
times I went home over some months crying to the Lord, making resolutions
the next day, trying to overcome that fear of man. And it wasn't
until the Lord drew near and blessed me at home, and I went
the next day to work, I never minded what man said or thought,
and bowed my head, and found the man didn't say anything,
and I started reading in the Bible, the gospel standard, friendly
companion, cheering words, and the times I've had blessings
in the midst of those round about me and reading the Word and in
that lunchtime. But I feel for any that feel
that they should speak, that feels the fear of man, and to
break through that barrier is nothing that does it greater
than one touch of the Lord, one blessing of the Lord. Not all
the resolutions, not all the efforts of man, The Lord touch
our heart, fill us with love, and that will take away the fear
of man for us. But when we know that, it's a
great blessing to be able to speak to others, to really to
be what we are, and to be unashamed of what we are. And this is why
we are called in this way, and though men Naturally we think
if we're going to say something right, or something is going
to be well spoken, people will say, yeah we understand, we agree
with you, that's well said and we agree with you. We don't realise
though, when our Lord preached, as none other could preach, and
they even wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his
mouth, and then they turn around and say that he is casting out
devils by the prince of devils, and the contradiction of sinners
that he endured against himself. We should never measure our effectiveness
or what we are saying by the reaction of those to us. We are called to set forth his
praise, to speak well of him, to lift his name up on high,
to be a generation of people that do that, to show forth His
praise, be shown forth in the Church of God, come and hear
all ye that fear God, I will tell what He hath done for my
soul, be shown forth before our neighbours and those round about
us as well. It cannot be hid. I want to look then thirdly and
the exhortations that are given to them. We ought not to think that God's
people automatically are what they are. Even when we read later
on in Peter of those who are kept by the power of God, it
is kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. And we read in Ephesians of the
way that the Lord sanctifies by the washing of water by the
word. The Lord uses means to sanctify
his people. He uses the means of the word
to keep his people. And those are sacred times that
we can remember where we have been on a way of going a wrong
way and the Lord has brought with power to our minds, some
scripture, and it stopped us in our tracks. It's been a real
help. When the enemy shall come in
like a flood, he shall lift up a standard against him. And the
sword of the Spirit is the word of God, and that which we are
saved by faith, faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word
of the Lord. And so the exhortations here
are really vital for the people of God. It is through the Word,
through His warnings, that we are actually kept. One of the
marks of being called is, mine ear hath he opened, a teachable
spirit, a hearkening to the words of the Lord. And so, we have
the way it's put. It's not like the law, is it?
It's not law and tariffs. We should never use the Gospel
in the same way as the law. And their beseechings here, verse
11, dearly beloved, that's another real description of the people
of God, dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims
abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. And the
chief sins, our fleshly lusts, the first parents, the fruit
of the tree, The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh,
the pride of life. John refers to this in 1 John
2. That is the whole essence of
her temptation. She saw the fruit, her eyes. The lust of the flesh, she wanted
that fruit. Satan said, it'll make you wise. Pride. Always want to be wise. Those sins. And wherever you
read a catalogue of the sins of the ungodly, and the sins
that are likely to attract the godly, it is always the lusts
of the flesh and the evils of the flesh. Abstain from, as if
the apostle would say, you will have these things set before
you, you will have it like say if you had a So if you were diabetic
or you had an allergy of something, then you had a beautiful table
of things to choose from and to eat from. And you thought,
well, I don't love that. And you thought, I can't. I've
got to abstain. I've got to not eat of this because
I know the damage that it will do. And the Lord says to His
people, you have an old nature. You will have all of the flesh
and the lusts of it, and your flesh will want it, but abstain
from it. Draw back from it. Don't enter
into that path, because it will actually war against the soul. An illustration I used recently
of young people's, you know, we can hear the word in the house
of God as a blessing, something that would be a real blessing
to us, but then the next thing we can do, when we leave the
house of God, could undo by what we hear and what we read and
what we see, undo everything that we've heard in the house
of God. And the illustration I used, if we were wanting to
lose weight, where a person says, oh, I'm going to lose weight,
I'm going to walk 10 miles a day, and they diligently walk 10 miles
a day, and then you saw them, sitting down to chips and fast
foods and filling themselves with all the fat, and you say,
what's the use of all of that good exercise and walk? Yes,
that's aiming to lose weight, but what you're eating, you're
undermining all what you're doing on that side. And for the people
of God, and in the context here as well, he speaks of what they
are in Christ, and the blessings through the word, but then there's
that which can undermine it, full of the flesh, and that which
will fight, it says, which war against the soul, against your
soul. And then he speaks to be honest
amongst the Gentiles. The world are very quick to spot
anything inconsistent with the people of God. And there's been
times I've been caught out, I've done things not dishonest, but
unkind, unfriendly at work, and as soon as it's been pointed
out to me, the best thing to do is to confess it and say,
you're right, I'm wrong, I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have
spoken in that way. And that will disarm immediately. And the way here is to walk,
if we are to show forth His praise, What if on the one side we're
praising the Lord, on the other side the world is saying, yeah,
but look at what he's doing. This is dishonest. This doesn't even stand up to
the world's standards. And it's undermining that witness
of what the Lord has given us to do. And so we have in the
rest of this chapter those exhortations to the people of God. We have,
especially in verse 21, that beautiful example of our Lord
Jesus Christ. For even here unto were ye called. That is to, when we're doing
well, we suffer for it, we take it patiently. This is acceptable
with God. For even here unto were ye called. Because Christ also suffered
for us. Leaving us an example that we
should you should follow his steps. He was saying that our
Lord on this earth did not insult his father, did not lift him
up, did not always do that which was pleasing in his sight, and
yet how he was reviled, how he was threatened, how he was contradicted. And so we have set forth in here
this fourfold description of God's people, May the Spirit
bear witness that this is God's description of us, especially
when we may feel to be the strangers of pilgrims. May we be encouraged
and strengthened in the way. And may we remember also, to
what end, that we are what we are. And it isn't just for here
below. It is a people prepared to be
at last with the Lord in glory. But we read in the Psalms, he
shall give grace and glory. No good thing shall he withhold
from him that walketh uprightly. And the path is set before us
here and is a blessed thing to have those evidences of grace
and that hope of glory. And may the Lord give that this
evening. And then we hear the Lord's voice. in every exhortation,
every warning, and every encouragement in the Lord our God. It is the
Lord, and may we speak well of Him and lift Him up and exalt
His name. The Lord add His blessing. Amen. Hymn, 60. Tune, St. Thomas Pendleton 669 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God
the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you
all now and evermore. Amen