Good evening. Let's open tonight's
service with hymn number 145 from your hardback hymnal, and
let's all stand together. 145. Despised and Jesus, Hail, thou
Galilean King! Thou didst suffer to release
us, Thou didst free salvation free. Hail, Thou agonizing Savior,
bearer of our sin and shame. ? By thy merits we find favor ?
? Life is given through thy name ? ? Paschal lamb, thy God appointed
? ? All our sins on thee were laid ? ? Thy almighty light ? past full autumn and May. All thy people are forgiven through
the virtue of thy blood. Open is the gate of heaven. Peace is made to expand and guard. ? Jesus, hail and throne in glory
? ? There forever to abide ? ? All the heavenly hosts adore thee ? ?
Seated at thy father's side ? There for sinners thou art leading,
There thou dost our place prepare, Ever for us interceding, Till
in glory we appear. power and blessing, Thou art
worthy to be seen. Thou didst raise us without ceasing,
aid it is for us to give. Help me, bright angelic spirits,
? Bring your sweetest hopeless place ? Help to save our Savior's
parents ? Help to chant Emmanuel's name, praise Please be seated. Let's open our Bibles together
to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. And we'll begin reading in verse
6. Our text for the message tonight
is gonna come from 1 Peter chapter 2, and I've titled the message
Spiritual Things. Spiritual Things. And so I want
us to read this passage in light of that title, spiritual things. Verse six of first Corinthians
chapter two. How be it we speak wisdom among
them that are perfect. I love that. The wisdom of God
is being spoken to those who are perfect in Christ. Yet not
the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world
that come to naught, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,
even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world
unto our glory, which none of the princes of this world knew,
for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of
glory. But as it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard
neither have entered into the heart of man the things which
God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed
them unto us by his spirit. For the spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth
the things of a man save the spirit of that man which is in
him? Thankful for that, even so the things of God knoweth
no man but the spirit of God. Now we have received, not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not
in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy
Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual
judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who
hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But
we have. the mind of Christ. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly
Father, we thank you that you've given us your word. Lord, we
thank you for the ministry and for the power of your Holy Spirit.
We thank you for the the things that are freely given to us in
Christ, Lord, that we might know the things of God, that we might
have hope in the promises that you have made and fulfilled in
the person of thy dear son. Lord, we thank you for that.
You've brought us once again to this place where we can open
your word We pray that you would open our hearts, pray that you
would open the eyes of our understanding, open the windows of heaven, Lord,
bless us with your presence and with your grace, with your power.
Father, we pray for Robert and for Jennifer and for Bert, and
Lord, we ask for your hand of strength to be upon them and
to Give them grace and mercy and hope
and peace and all those wonderful spiritual graces that can only
be had in Christ. And Lord, we know that you are
able, if you will, to give physical healing. And Lord, we ask that
you might be pleased to do that. We ask it in Christ's name, amen. Number 229 in the hardback, let's
all stand together again, 229. of unseen things from above,
of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love. Tell me the story
simply, as to the way ? For I am weak and weary ? And
how blessed the child ? Tell me the old, old story ?
Tell me the old, old story ? Tell me the old, old story of Jesus
Christ Tell me the story slowly, that
I may take it in. That wonderful redemption, God's
remedy for sin. Tell me the story, O man, for
I forget so soon. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. Tell me the story softly with
earnest, told, and brave. Remember my love. ? Jesus came to say ? Tell me the
story always ? If you would really be ? In any time of trouble or
comfort or pain ? Tell me the old, old story ?
Tell me the old, old story ? Of Jesus and his love ? Tell me
the same old story ? When you have cause to fear ? And this world's empty glory
? Is costing me too dear ? Yes, and when that world's glory ?
Is the need of my soul ? Tell me the old, old story ? Christ
Jesus makes me Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and his love. Please be seated. I hope the Lord will enable us
to do that tonight. And how old this story is, Paul
said in 1 Corinthians 10, speaking of the Old Testament saints,
he said they did all eat the same spiritual meat. They ate
that manna that came down from heaven. had the same story that we have,
the believers, that is. The majority of the children
of Israel, the Bible says, saw the acts of God, but Moses knew
his ways. He knew what that manna was.
And then he goes on to say, and they did all drink that same
spiritual drink. They drank from that spiritual
rock. which followed them, and that rock was Christ. So the
manna was Christ, the rock was Christ, the water that came from
the rock was Christ. All those glorious pictures of
that old story of redemption. He has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings. in heavenly places. The spiritual
blessings are the blessings that we're in most need of. We depend on the Lord to provide
for us physically and when we're in need physically we ask for
his help. But the spiritual blessings are
what we always need. The blessings of grace and wisdom
and understanding and forgiveness and peace and hope That's what Christ has to give
to the hearts of his children, particularly when they gather
together in spiritual worship. In another place, the apostle
prays for the church and he says that he would fill us with all
wisdom and spiritual understanding, spiritual understanding. Turn with me in your Bibles to
1 Peter chapter 2, 1 Peter chapter 2. And we're going to be looking
at several other passages, but for the primary text we'll try
to stick with just verse 5. You also, as lively stones, are
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. These spiritual blessings and
spiritual truths are all bound up in the person and work of
the Lord Jesus Christ. you'll meet a lot of people in
this world that claim to be spiritual. And I don't doubt that they are,
but there are but two spirits. There's the Holy Spirit, and
then there's the demonic spirit. And I want you to turn with me
to 1 John chapter four, when we talk about being spiritual.
as the Lord defines being spiritual. We're talking about having some
understanding of who the Lord Jesus Christ is and what it is
that he accomplished. That's the mystery of the gospel
that is revealed by the Spirit of God to the hearts of God's
people. We are the true circumcision
which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and
have no confidence in the flesh. And here in 1 John chapter four
at verse one, the Lord tells us to believe not every spirit. There are other spiritual powers
that would claim to be true, claim to be God. But the Lord
gives us a clear litmus test here in this passage of scriptures. How do we discern the difference?
The Lord said, beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the
spirits to see whether they be of God. Put them to the test. What is that? What is that test? For many false prophets have
gone out into the world. There are many who claim to be
speaking for God. There are many spirits that would
buy for the attention of man. But here's the litmus test. Hereby, know ye the Spirit of
God, every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in
the fleshes of God. Every spirit that preaches the
Lord Jesus Christ as God come in the flesh to accomplish the
salvation of his people. We were visiting Robert this
afternoon and drove by a church that was called Grace Baptist
Church. And so while Trish is driving,
I pull up on my phone just to see what they believed. And they
were obviously Calvinistic. But when I read their confession
of faith, they left all the offense of the gospel out. They said
things like, well, they said Jesus Christ accomplished salvation
for us." That was their confession. Jesus Christ accomplished salvation
for us. Well, who's us? Who's us? Why not say that Jesus Christ
accomplished the salvation of God's elect when he put away
their sins by the sacrifice of himself once and for all. There
were other statements in their confession that I read But my
point is, I was trying the Spirit to see whether it was of God,
and it wasn't what they said about the Lord Jesus Christ,
it's what they didn't say. And that's the test. Is what's
being said about the Lord Jesus Christ the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth? Is His name Jesus, accurately
declared as it means salvation is of the Lord. You shall call
his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. That's confessing Jesus, that's
trying the Spirit to see whether to be of God. Just to say that
Jesus is the Son of God, is not sufficient. Let me show
you, turn with me to Colossians. We've been studying the book
of Colossians and I saw something here that I thought was very
interesting. Colossians chapter four at verse 11. And this is the only place I
know in God's word. Now the name Jesus would have
been a common name among the Jews. It would have been a common
name. And as it is today, among particularly,
I have found that in Catholic families, particularly in Mexico,
they will name their boys, oftentimes, Jesus. And without exception,
every Jesus I've ever met over the years, has been extremely
proud of his name. He breaks a big smile and tells
me his name is Jesus. And I thought, you know, if I
was born and given that name and God ever taught me the gospel,
I'd change my name. I'd change my name. And I think
that's what we're reading here. Look at, Look at verse 11 of
Colossians chapter 4, and Jesus, which is called justice. In other words, he didn't go
by his given name. And justice means the just one. And this is the only place I
know in the Bible where another man I mean, obviously, Joshua
in the Old Testament, a picture of Christ, but this is the only
place in the Bible I know of where another man is called Jesus. But as he is called Jesus, he's
not referred to as Jesus. He's referred to as Justice. What a precious name our Lord
has and what meaning his name has and how blasphemous it is
to give that name to a mere mortal, to a man who could never live
up to the meaning of that name. And so here's what the Lord tells
us, in trying the spirits to see whether they be of God, are
they declaring Jesus for who he is? the successful sovereign
savior of his people, of his elect. That's what Jesus means. Salvation is of the Lord. If we're going to, this is how
we try the spirits. Everything is tested by who Jesus
Christ is and what he has accomplished in election. And this confession
that I read of this Grace Baptist Church, no mention of election,
no mention of particular redemption. You know, they use some words
that lead you to believe they understand some Calvinistic doctrine,
but in trying that spirit, it wasn't of God. It wasn't of God. And we say without apology that
God Almighty chose and elect people and he put them in his
son in the covenant of grace before the foundation of the
world. So in election, these heavenly blessings that we just
read about are found in Christ. These spiritual blessings. We
have to be found in him. We have to be found in him in
his redemptive work. He didn't just accomplish salvation
for a nebulous us, he accomplished salvation for his people. He
was successful in redeeming his particular people. This is how
we try the spirits to see whether they be of God. Is Jesus the
Christ come in the flesh as the son of God? Is he the fullness
of the Godhead bodily? Does he possess all authority
and all power? Is he omnipotent? Is he sovereign? Does he have the right to save
whomsoever he wills? This is the litmus test. All
that is true about the Lord Jesus Christ must be declared and must
be properly defined. the Spirit of God, if we're to
understand spiritual things. There are no spiritual things
that can be understood outside of Christ and he is the Christ. He's the Anointed One. He's the
Messiah. He came in order to save his
people. He came in the full power of
the Spirit of God to bear their sins and satisfy divine justice. And when he ascended back into
glory, he took with him the names of those for whom he lived and
died." We just sang that in the hymn that we just sang. And tell
me the old, old story. Christ went and prepared a place
for us and sat down at his rightful place on the right hand of the
majesty on high. His work is finished. His work
is finished, nothing more to do. In that confession, I can't
quote it exactly, I just read it, but it was something nebulous
that we've all heard before, that by your personal faith, that's
what it was, his personal faith, your personal faith in Jesus
Christ applies. that work of redemption that
he had. No, it's the faithfulness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. God's people were saved when
he bowed his head and said, it is finished. And all for whom
he died, the spirit of God will reveal him. And they will, they
will find all their hope, everything that God requires for their salvation. They will find in the person
and the accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is
what it is to try the spirits to see whether they be of God.
It's to test them in light of what men say about Christ. Whom say ye that I am? That's
the litmus test. He is the one thing that reveals
the false spirit from the Spirit of God. Look at verse 2, you still have
your Bibles open at 1 John chapter 4. Hereby know ye the Spirit
of God, every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God and
this is the spirit of antichrist. I know what the religious world
says, that Antichrist is some world leader that's going to
rise up in the last days and is going to deceive all men and
carry them into, no, let's read the rest of this verse. Whereof
you have heard that it should come and even now already is
in the world. The spirit of anti-Christ is
every spirit that denies Christ His glory in salvation, denies
Christ His glory as the Son of God, the fullness of the Godhead
bodily, the sovereign, successful Savior of His people, the Christ,
the Messiah. Even that woman at the well who
was but a Samaritan, all the Samaritans had was the first
five books of the Bible. And even she knew when she was
talking to our Lord, she said, we know that when Messiah comes,
he's going to lead us into all truth. We're confident. that Messiah
is gonna straighten all this out. Messiah is gonna be successful. Messiah is not gonna make a stab
at it or offer to save somebody or not accomplish what he came
to do. He's gonna save all Israel. And in Romans chapter 11 makes
it clear that all Israel shall be saved. All Israel. Oh, what a glorious savior we
have. What hope? What comfort? We can rest in Him. This is the spiritual test that we give to
all things. All right, let's go back to our
text in 1 Peter 2. You remember last Wednesday night,
we looked at verse four, to whom coming? Verse one, laying aside. Yeah, we're constantly laying
it aside, aren't we? And every time we lay it aside,
it rears its ugly head again, and it's gotta be laid aside
again. Those filthy clothes are continually be taken off. And we lay it aside by coming
to Christ. To whom coming? A continual work
of grace in the hearts of God's people constantly needing Christ
and having to come to Christ and wanting Christ, wanting him. Here's how we know that he's
done the spirit of work of grace in us. That we can't live without
Christ. Christ is our life. And he says, to whom coming?
As unto a living stone. And what a contradiction a living
stone is. You know, you see a dead tree
laying in the forest that's been there for a while. And you say,
well, that tree's dead. You break that tree open, it's
got a whole lot of life in it. got a lot of microorganisms,
got a lot of worms, got a lot of bugs crawling around in it.
That tree's full of life, even though we might call it dead.
And everything else, you put a drop of water under a microscope
and it's teeming with life. But you break open a rock and
check it as close as you can, you're not going to find any
life in a rock. And what a mystery the gospel
is to the natural man. When God refers to the Lord Jesus
Christ as a living stone, it's a contradiction in terms. And the gospel is a contradiction
to the natural man because they have some preconceived ideas
that are not consistent with the gospel. And it has to do
with who Christ is and what he accomplished. They deny him his
glory and salvation. They've set themselves up on
the throne of God. And so nothing according to the
gospel, when the test is given as to trying the spirits, they
can't make sense of it. And that's why I wanted to read
that passage in 1 Corinthians 2. Eye is not seen, nor is ear
heard, nor is it to enter into the imagination of men, the things
that God has prepared for us. And we often quote that verse
and think of that verse in terms of heaven, but that's not really
in the context of what the Lord's saying there. But the next verse
says, he has revealed them unto us. By his spirit. For who knows the spirit of a
man except the man? And who knows the spirit of God?
And God has given us his spirit. He's revealed these glorious
truths and mysteries that the natural man thinks is a contradiction. And the same thing's true now
about the child of God, look. And you also as living stones. There we are. The believer is
now called a living stone. And we're a contradiction to
ourselves. And surely there's a message here about our two
natures. Our new nature, our life in Christ,
Christ in us, which is our hope of glory, is nothing but life. Life has come into the world. He is the light of the world.
In him, this is the verse I was trying to think of, in him is
life. And the life is the light of
the world. And all the life of God is bound
up in the glorious person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And apart
from him, we have no life. Apart from him, we are dead in
our trespasses and in our sins. We have not the life of God in
us. We know not God. We have no hope. But in Christ, in Christ, these
living stones have life and light and immortality and hope and
life. And yet we have another nature
that's, you know, the Bible says God's going to take out our heart
of stone and put in a heart of flesh and the scripture It's
referred to us as having cold, stony hearts. And our old man,
that flesh is still as stony and lifeless and hard and unbelieving
as he's ever been. He's ever been. But here, God
takes stones and he puts them on that cornerstone, that living
stone. And the life of that living stone,
the stone which the builders rejected, The stone that did
not fit in to their religion. We receive our life by being
built on that stone. The foundation stone. Our house. is built on a rock. The Lord makes that clear, doesn't he? Excuse me. I think this article was in our
bulletin a couple of weeks ago, and I'll just read it quickly.
Scott Richardson wrote it, and Scott was so clear on the gospel
and so able to concisely express the truth of the gospel. But
Scott said it like this. He said, houses built on the
sands of self-righteousness, works, and law will soon develop
many faults. They are usually out of plum
or unbalanced. They lean one way or the other,
big on prophecy, and little on grace, heavy on healing and silent
on substitution, strong on sanctification and weak on justification. They
develop cracks in their structure, which makes the dwellers uncomfortable
in storms and cold weather. No false profession can provide
peace or rest during trials. They need constant repair. These
houses have no foundation. always require a specialist to
come in often and revive, rebuild, rededicate, and repair them.
But unfortunately, the owner is not too much disturbed by
the condition of his sand house, for there are so many on the
block just like his. that he assumes that this terrible
state is normal. He has never lived in a solid
scriptural house built on the rock of Christ Jesus, so he doesn't
know the difference. All the houses on the block look
just like his. Brethren, God has taken us and
made The word lively, by the way, in verse 5 is the same word
that's used in verse 4 where the translators interpreted it
living. So Christ is that living stone
and we are lively stones and our life is by virtue of our
connection and union with him. He is our life. So this This spiritual union is dependent
upon our union with Christ. The spiritual life is dependent
upon our union with Christ. Notice also in our text in verse
five, you are lively stones built up a spiritual house, a spiritual
house. Now spiritual house is in contrast
to a physical house. And at the very beginning, we
read in the book of Genesis that men got together and they said,
let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that will reach
up into heaven. And let us make a name for ourselves. And God confused their speech.
And they called the place Babel. And they scattered them, God
scattered them all the way back then. And what are men doing
today? They're doing exactly the same
thing that the men at Babel did. Let us build to ourselves a city. Let us build for ourselves a
monument and make a name for ourselves. Here's how we try
the spirits. is this spiritual house that
we're built to. We used to go to a church back
in years ago in religion and there was a, right by the front
door on the end was a big Greek style church, beautiful building. And there was a cornerstone at
the front of the church next to the, you know, and had the
names of the founding members and the date that it was built.
And then on the end of the pews, it had the names of people that
had paid the money to donate that pew. I thought, you know,
what a monument to man religion is. This is a spiritual house. It
doesn't give glory to men. It gives all the glory and all
the praise to its builder. A spiritual house has to have
a spiritual builder. Except the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain to build it. It can't be built by man and
it can't be built to the glory of man. But isn't that what men
do? They have denominations named after men. They have churches
built to the credit and glory of men. Spiritual house is invisible
to the natural eye. The Lord is talking about the
church here, not talking about a physical building. We rejoice
in having a place where we can gather together and and glory
in Christ and enjoy the spiritual blessings that he has promised
us when we gather together, two or three, in his name, there
I am in the midst of you. And we rejoice in that. But the house here is a spiritual
house. It's invisible to the natural
eye. And men that lack the spirit
of God have to manufacture physical things. And so they put crosses
on the walls, and they wear them around their neck, and they have
all sorts of ceremonies and religious trinkets that they look to because
they don't have the spiritual eyes to see the truth of who
Christ is. to perceive the spiritual is
not dependent in any way on natural intelligence or education. Some
of the wisest believers that I've met over the years, some
of the most gracious children of God that I have enjoyed fellowshipping
with are the most deprived in terms
of their worldly education is concerned. Met believers over the years
that couldn't read. Couldn't read. And yet they have
such an understanding of the gospel. They're able to try the
spirits to see whether they be of God. They discern the truth
of what's being said about who Christ is and what he's done.
Why? They have spiritual eyes. This
is the, it's not dependent in any way on natural intelligence
or education. It's a work of grace in the heart. That's why Paul said the Corinthians,
Corinth was the center of of Greek intelligentsia, and there
was a real temptation in the church at Corinth to boast in
their education and in their knowledge, and that's when Paul
said in 1 Corinthians 1, right off the bat, he said, where's
the wise? Where's the disputer of this world? Where's the prudent? God has made foolish the wisdom
of this world. That's what the gospel does.
Nothing wrong with education except when a man thinks that
he can discern spiritual truths because of his intellect. It
cannot be done. It cannot be done. It's got to
be given to him by the Spirit of God. The natural man cannot
receive the things of the Spirit. They are spiritually discerned. A spiritual house, as I said,
needs a spiritual builder. The Lord Jesus Christ, in hearing
Peter's confession, when Peter said, thou art the Christ, the
son of the living God, what did the Lord Jesus say to Peter?
Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona. Flesh and blood did not reveal
that unto you. You didn't come to that by your
own conclusion. You didn't learn that from the
rabbis. My father, which is in heaven,
has made that known unto you. And upon this rock, there's the
rock, the living stone. stone which the builders rejected
which God made the head of the corner upon this rock I will
build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it." Now what did the Lord mean when he said the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it? You know, I knew that verse as
a child, as a Catholic, and I always pictured it as a castle up on
top of a mountain or top of a hill, surrounded by a moat, protected
from the onslaught of the evil one. But that's not the picture
at all. That's not it at all. When the
Lord said the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, what
the Lord said is I'm going to go into the very pit of hell
and I'm going to bring captivity captive to me. I'm going to deliver
them from the very jaws of death and from the very power of Satan. I'm going to defeat him. And
just like Samson took the gates of Dothan and carried them on
his back and opened that city up to the Israelites to come
in and destroy it, so the Lord Jesus Christ has taken down the
gates of hell and nothing is gonna stop the gospel. Nothing
is gonna stop the Lord Jesus Christ from going into the very
pit of hell and bringing his people out. everyone for whom
he died he will deliver." Oh what a glorious Savior, what
hope. So I'm gonna build my church,
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. First King chapter
8 verse 27, when Solomon built the temple
Here he said this, will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the
heavens cannot contain thee, much less this house which I
have built. This physical house that I built's
not gonna house God. It's a spiritual house. It's
a spiritual house which can only be seen by spiritual eyes. This book is a spiritual book.
The word of God is spiritual. It's, we're not, I mean, you
can study the Bible, I did for years. You can study the Bible
for its historical value and learn things that, you know,
will give you some advantage over other men. You can learn
doctrines. You can learn theology. But you can't learn Christ. You
can't learn Christ. He must be revealed. And the
Lord said to those Pharisees, he said, you search the scriptures
because you think in them you have eternal life. But these
are they which testify of me. In the volume of the book it
is written of me. And that's where we must have the
spirit of God to discern the truth of who Christ is and what
he's done. from his word. It's a spiritual
book. It's a spiritual house. The kingdom
of God is spiritual. The Lord Jesus Christ said to
Pilate, he said, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom
was of this world, my disciples would fight. But for this cause
came I into the world, that I might bear witness unto the truth and
they that are of the truth hear my voice and they follow me.
So how are we of the truth? By the Spirit of God. The Gospel is spiritual. It cannot be reduced to a creed
or to a confession or to a slogan. That's why we don't have a confession
of faith. You want to know what we believe?
Ask us some questions and we'll give you the answers from God's
Word. or come in here and listen because
you can't capture the gospel in a creed or in a confession
or in a statement. It takes the whole Bible. We can't think of a spiritual
house without thinking of our own homes Where are you able
to relax more than at home? I mean, you can take shoes off
at home, can't you? You can put your hair down at home. You can
relax at home. You can rest at home like you
can't rest anywhere else and no place like home. What a glorious truth about this
is the habitation of God. That's what the scripture says.
Turn with me to Ephesians chapter 2, we have to see this in light
of this spiritual house. Pretty sure it's Ephesians 2. Yes. Verse 19, now therefore you are
no more strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the
saints and of the household of God and are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone. So all the apostles and all the
prophets testified of Christ. They wrote of him. In whom, in whom the Lord Jesus
Christ, All the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto
a holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builded together
for a habitation of God through the Spirit." What was the Lord
telling us? This place, God's people gather
together, this spiritual house, that we have that's far beyond
anything that we can see with the natural eye. It's where God
lives. It's what habitation means. The
church is the habitation of God. This is where he's pleased to
manifest his grace and his glory and to show forth his person
and his work. This is where he, this is where
he blesses and grows his people. And primarily through preaching,
but also through the fellowship of the saints, fitly joined together,
knit together, growing up together in Christ. What a blessing we have. The Lord has given us a spiritual house. Quickly, in closing, a holy priesthood. Priestcraft is practiced in all
forms of religion. The Jews have their rabbis, the
Muslims have their imams, the reformed have their elders. You
know, they set up a man as an intercessor. And Catholics have
their priest. You know, every religion of the
world, sets up a man as a priest, and what's the Lord telling him?
You are a holy priesthood. We have one priest, and he's
called the great high priest, and he's seated in the heavens,
and we don't need another man to get to him. We need him to
get to God, but we don't need another man to get to Christ. The Lord has made us, the scripture
says, kings and priests. And I looked at that passage,
I think it's in Matthew, in Revelation chapter 5, and another way to
translate kings and priests is a kingdom of priests. A kingdom
of priests. I like that. You know, in the
Old Testament, the Levites were the priestly tribe, and the Levites
didn't have any possessions in the land of Israel. They didn't
have a land like all the other tribes had, and they were given
the responsibility of ministering in the temple. handling the spiritual things
of Israel. And that's what the Lord's saying,
you're a holy priesthood. And you have a high priest that
has made you priest. to offer up spiritual sacrifices. What are the spiritual sacrifices
that we offer up? Well, what we're doing right
now, I hope, is a spiritual sacrifice. It's glorifying Christ. These
spiritual sacrifices are acceptable to God only by Jesus Christ. Your prayers. My prayers are
spiritual sacrifices. Scripture calls them the calves
of our lips. Our praise to him, a calf being
an animal that was sacrificed, the calves of our lips, our praise
to God is a spiritual sacrifice. And none of the spiritual sacrifices
that we make are spiritual or are acceptable to God except
that they're given They're made by Jesus Christ. Presented to God by Jesus Christ. Acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Spiritual things. Spiritual things. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, Thank you for your spirit. Thank
you for your word. Thank you mostly. For that dear
son. The hope of our salvation. And
our life. Thank you for making us lively
stones in the household of God. Where you are pleased. To inhabit. The praise of your people. We
ask it in Christ name. Amen. 186186 let's stand together. is Jesus Christ her Lord. She is His new creation, our
daughter and the Word. From heaven He came and sought
her to be His holy bride. ? With his own blood he bought
her ? ? And for her died the hour ? ? Elect from every nation
? ? Yet one for all the earth ? ? Her charter of salvation
? ? One Lord, one faith, one word ? ? Holy name she blesses ? ? Partakes
from holy food ? ? And to one hope she presses ? ? With every
praise and due ? ? In toil and tribulation ? ? And to all
trouble and pain ? Till with a vision glorious Her
longing eyes are blest, ? Earth hath union with God the
Three in One ? ? And mystic, sweet communion with those whose
breast is one ? ? O happy ones and holy, Lord give us grace
that we may be one ? you