Alright, turn with me in your
Bibles to 1 Peter. 1 Peter. Let's read the first two verses
together. 1 Peter 1 Peter, an apostle of
Jesus Christ, to the strangers, scattered throughout Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to
the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification
of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ, grace unto you, and peace be multiplied. How is it that in a world where
everyone and everything is everything but peaceful? How is it that God's children,
believers, will have peace? How is it in a world where Everybody
and everything is everything but gracious that you and I will
be able to continue showing forth the praises of
Him that's called us out of darkness into His light. It's certainly not going to be
because there's some sufficiency in me or you. That's not going
to be the case. Haven't we lived in the faith
long enough to know that? How often we find ourselves feeling
as if the heavens are just completely shut to us. How we find ourselves
feeling within ourselves As David prayed there in that
psalm that you read Art, folks say, where is thy God? The evil
accuser of the brethren whispers in our ear, where is your God? We hear that in our own minds,
where is your God? Whether somebody says it to us
audibly or not, it's constant. Where is your God? David said,
why? Why? Why is my soul cast down? Why are you cast down, soul?
Where are we going to find this grace and this peace? How is
it this grace and this peace shall be multiplied? Look there
in the description in verse 2. This is a description of every
saved sinner. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. This is the assurance. This is the assurance we have,
brethren. The assurance we have. We're
chosen by God the Father in eternity. We're sanctified by the Spirit
of God. The obedience of Jesus Christ
is our perfection of obedience. The sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ is our cleansing. And therefore, grace and peace
shall be multiplied unto us, and we can be assured of that.
Assured of that. The cure for all our care, the
cure for all our worry, the cure for all our doubting, the cure
for all our disputing, the cure for everything about me and you
that is contrary to God is this. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit is our salvation. Salvation is of the
Lord. Peter tells us in this epistle
to lay aside all malice and guile and hypocrisies and envies and
all evil speakings. He tells us to desire the milk
of the word as newborn babes. How are we going to do that? Have you yet found yourself unable
to do that yourself? The power that makes it so that
we can lay aside, the power that makes it so that we desire this
word, the power that makes it so that we have an honest deportment,
an honest conversation, in truth and in sincerity, have a submissive
spirit. The power which delivers every
believer, every child of God, as Lot was delivered. Lot was
vexed. He was in a place where he was
vexed. His righteous soul was vexed. How was he delivered? How was
he brought out from that? It's the power of God's grace. That's how. I want you to look
at these three persons of the Godhead, that
is, our grace and our peace, that are declared here in verse
2. The first is, our grace and our peace is of God the Father.
Look at verse 2. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father. This is where we're going to
have grace. This is how we have grace, and this is the peace
of our heart. We were chosen God's children, everyone whom
God saves, were chosen by God the Father. That's what elect
means, chosen of God the Father. He says there in verse 9 of chapter
2, chapter 2 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 marvelous light. Chosen, elect of God. And this
word foreknowledge that we see here in verse 2 means foreordained,
foreknown of God. Known by God as one with God. Foreordained, prearranged everything
by God. Now let me tell you what that
does not say. What does foreknowledge not say?
What does it not mean? Those who desire to be praised
for choosing God. Those who desire to be praised
for their owl walking, for their praying through, for their...
want to be praised for continuing and persevering. We are to continue. We are to persevere. But who
is the believer going to praise for those things? Those who want
to be praised for those things, for coming to God, for believing
on Christ, for they want to receive the glory for that. Those who
want to receive the glory for that will say that this word
foreknowledge, you've heard this, means that God looked down through
time and He foresaw who would believe on Him and therefore
He chose them and put them in Christ before the world began.
Now let me ask you something. Did God make a body for Adam
and breathe into his nostrils the breath of life and make him
a living soul, make him a man? Because God foresaw that Adam
would have a body and that he would be alive and that he would
live and that he would eat and he would sleep and he would breathe.
Is that why God Did what he did? Not at all. Well, that's foolishness. And you say, well, that's ignorant.
That'd be foolish. Well, that's the foolishness
of thinking God's choice is based on your choice or my choice. God's choice, God's election
of grace is according to God's own choosing, His own foreknowing,
His own foreordaining everything. God purposed beforehand. He prearranged
beforehand to create a body, to create Adam, to breathe in
him life, and God brought to pass what He had foreordained. Everything He purposed before,
He brought it to pass. And so it is here. The word doesn't
mean omniscience. It doesn't mean that God, that's
an attribute. God knows all things. He doesn't
have to do anything to know all things. That's how God is. He is all-knowing. But foreordination,
foreknowing, is God actively doing something. He did something. This is an act. It's the same
word that's given here in 1 Peter 1.20, speaking of Christ. Look
down here. He says, Christ as a lamb without
blemish or without spot, who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for you. He was foreknown. He is the elect
of God. He is the chosen of God. He said
through Isaiah, Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in
whom my soul delighteth. And the purpose of God according
to election is even though Adam appeared to be the first and
Christ came after Adam in time, the elder is going to serve the
younger. Why? Because it's according to
the purpose of God, according to His election. Christ is the
showbread. That's what that word purpose
means. Purpose of God. He's the showbread
set forth. He was foreordained before the
foundation of the world and manifest in these last times for you.
He came forth because God chose Him. God foreordained Him. God gave Him. And He therefore
came forth. And this is the case with every
child who's called, who's elected of God. It's because foreordained
of God, foreknown of God. God chose Him. God made Him His
own. God called Him and made Him His
before the world began. Look at Romans 8.29. Romans 8.29. I want everyone here to see that
what God did here has to do with knowing a person, knowing each
of His children individually, knowing them beforehand, and
then predestinating them, predestining them. Look, verse 29, for whom
He did foreknow, This is the same foreknowing,
making His own, creating them in the mind and purpose of God
before the world began. Whom He did foreknow, He also
did predestinate. He predestinated them to be conformed
to the image of His Son. His Son is the one He chose first. and therefore that He might be
the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
them He also called. Whom He called, them He also
justified. Whom He justified, them He also
glorified. What are we going to say to this?
If God be for us, if God foreknew us and predestinated us, and
if He called us and justified us and glorified us, Who can
be against us? Who can stop what God has chosen
and foreordained to be? Nobody. Nobody. You remember
when you were younger and you used to play ball, backyard football. I thought of this today. Choosing,
choosing. You'd have two captains, you
know. You're going to have two teams. one side against another. So you'd have captains, team
captains. You ever do this? Team captains. And so everybody stands over
there in a lump together, in one group together, and the two
captains stand over here, and they choose who they want to
be on their team. And you're sitting there, and
always, There's always a team captain that you want to be on
their team, and they're picking the people that are the best
players, and you want to be on that team. And you sit there
saying, pick me, pick me, pick me, pick me, pick me, because
you want to be on that team. Well, I can assure you this.
Every child whom God has chose shall be on His side. And they'll
come to call upon God and beg God, beg God, God have mercy
on me. The choosing's done. The picking's
been done. But you'll want just as earnestly,
that's the only thing I can think of on this, just think that you
want to be on His team. I want to be on His side. Well,
seek Him. Seek Him with that same earnestness
that you want to be on that team. I want to be on His side. Pick
me. Pick me. And everybody He's picked,
they're going to say, Lord, choose me. I want you to have chosen
me. I don't want it to be left to
me. I want you to have chosen me in all things according to
your four ordinations. Well, that's the assurance the
believer has. God the Father has done this.
I read Ephesians 1 to you. Paul said, Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heaven and places according as He did
the choosing in Christ before the world began. Alright, here's
the second thing. Look at verse 2. It's of God
the Holy Spirit. grace and peace is brought to
us of God the Holy Spirit. He says, elect according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the
Spirit. Now every child that's chosen
of God, you be turning with me to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.
Every child of God chosen of God the Father are going to be
brought to know God has chosen them. That the Father has chosen
them. Because they're going to be sanctified. They're going to be called out.
They're going to be separated by the Spirit of God in regeneration. And this is how repentance and
faith is granted to us by God. It's given us through the Spirit
of God. There's not going to be anybody
entering into heaven's glory who hasn't believed on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Because God's able. God's able. to bring his people to faith
in Christ. Look at 2 Thessalonians 2 verse
13. I'm sorry, chapter 2 verse 13. Paul says in verse 12, he speaks
of they all being damned who believed not the truth but had
pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, foreknown
of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. Whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's this sanctifying
work of the Spirit whereby we're made to know and to repent from
all falsehood and rest in Christ. It's going to be through the
power of the Spirit of God. It's going to be His doing. We're going to know by this,
by His working. What's sanctification? I'm going
to stop saying I chose God. I'm not going to be conformed
to the world anymore and say, I did something for God. Now
I'm going to be separated, sanctified, made a holy and separate creation
by the Spirit of God. And now I'm going to say, it
wasn't that I chose God, but that He chose me. He called me. He chose me. What's sanctification
of the Spirit? It's to be made to know that
I didn't put the finishing touches on what Christ accomplished.
It wasn't by my believing that Christ's blood has effect, that
it really accomplished something. It wasn't by my believing that
made that come to pass. I thought before, and the world
taught me before, by my believing. God's done everything He can
do. Now, if you'll just believe Him, you'll make everything God
did, Christ accomplished, really an accomplishment by your believing.
That's being conformed to this world, brethren. That's a lie.
Sanctification of the Spirit brings me to behold Christ finished
the work. He accomplished my salvation.
He accomplished my redemption. He's the one who Finished the
work even as he said it's finished now. I believe it's finished. He did it Now we know we didn't
come to God by my I didn't come to God by my will. I it wasn't
me Coming to him and doing something For him it was God drawing me
It was the Spirit of God's grace working in me that made me one
day behold father Literally father father Abba
Father, because you're sons, because you're children of God,
He sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts whereby
we cry, Abba Father. Now, I believe that everything
I use to exalt myself, everything I use to rejoice in my own self,
now I realize that's vanity. Salvation's wrought by God in
Christ Jesus. I know now that The way I believe is Christ,
the way, the truth, and the life. I believe by Him and through
Him. This is through the Spirit. It's radically different, totally
opposite from the way we were going. The way of unbelief and
the way of self-righteous religion is the same way. It's exactly
the same way. In fact, the Lord said, I'll
have mercy on the sinners and the publicans, and they'll go
in the kingdom of heaven before the self-righteous man will.
This is the setting apart. This is the sanctifying. This
is the grace and peace that's wrought in the child of God by
God the Holy Spirit. And by this working, everything's
made new. That's what He said in 2 Corinthians
5.17, Therefore if any man be in Christ... How are you in Christ? Of God are you in Christ? Who
of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. Why? That as it is written, He
that glorieth, let him glory where? In God. And this is how
I'm going to be brought Behold all things are new in Christ.
I've been made a new creature a new creation By the Spirit
of God's grace and old things all the old All the old falsehood
all the old thing are passed away My whole all things are
become there Knowing this brethren look over at Psalm 65 for Psalm
65, verse 4. What does He do when He sanctifies
us? How am I going to be made a happy
man? How am I going to be made to
want to rejoice in His Word and to delight to gather with His
saints and to hear this Gospel? How is this Word of this bread
of life never going to be old to me. How is it never going
to be molded to me? So that I say like those rebellious
children in the wilderness, I loathe this life. How is He going to
keep me rejoicing in Him? Look at verse 4, Psalm 65, verse
4. Blessed, happy, blessed is the
man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee. that He
may dwell in thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the
goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple." You know that's
what David was praying for there in that psalm you read, Art? He was desiring to be with God's
people in the house of the Lord. He wanted, because he was satisfied
with God, with joy and rejoicing, he said, I went to the house
of the Lord. How are we going to be made happy to do this?
Through the Spirit of God. He not only chooses, but He causes
us to approach unto Him. He draws us near to Him. One
time the religious folks were all murmuring against the Lord
and they were saying, how can this man be the bread from heaven?
And they were saying, Moses gave us the true bread. How can you
say you're the bread from heaven? And they were murmuring and they
were having trouble and they were bickering back and forth
with each other. And listen to this quiet, confident
assurance of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said this. He said, don't
murmur amongst yourselves. He said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. and I will in no wise cast them
out. Him that cometh to me I won't
cast out. Where are you going to find grace and peace? Where are you going to find grace,
quiet, peaceable assurance to know that you don't have to yoke
and bind and twist people's arms and beat somebody over the head
and on the back and coerce them into some kind of profession
and some kind of continuing and some kind of trying to create
some kind of delight in them and turn them from a false way.
How are you going to rejoice and find peace not to do those
things? It's going to be through the
same Spirit of God that called you in the beginning and continues
to bear witness of Christ in your own heart and continues
to turn you through the Word of Truth and cause you to follow
after Him. It's going to be that same peace,
that same assurance that causes us to be able to know we're going
to be sanctified. We're going to be set apart.
Peter writes this epistle, and he's writing in the midst of
this horribly evil time, during that time of Nero, when they're
being oppressed, and they're being made to the kings, and
the princes, and slave masters, and everybody's being made, and
they're saying to the saints there, where's your God? If you
say He's in the heavens, if you say He's doing as He pleases,
if you say He's Christ Jesus the Lord, this One that we nailed
to a tree and crucified, if you say that He is God and He is
alive and He is living, we're going to kill you! Where was
it that Peter found the audacity to write to these brethren and
say to them, Don't be like the rest of the
world. Don't rebel. Don't submit yourselves. Honor
them to whom honors do." Where did he find the audacity to write
this and the assurance to write such a thing to the people? The
Spirit of God that sanctified him, that made him holy and without
blame before God in Christ Jesus, that made him a new creature
in Christ, that same Spirit of God that had been poured out
upon him. that through whom He's writing
this epistle, by whom He's writing this epistle, says, Grace unto
you and peace be multiplied. Rest right here. It's through
the Spirit of God He's going to work His work. Well, here's
the third thing. Verse 2. It's all of God the
Son, Christ Jesus. We've seen God the Father, God
the Son, and here Christ Jesus. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Let me help you
with a way you can read sometimes in Scripture. And these newer
translations, that change the of the Lord Jesus Christ to in
the Lord Jesus Christ are misleading. When you read unto obedience,
read unto obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ unto sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ, we're talking about here the
obedience of Christ the Son of God. We've been talking about
the electing foreknowing of God the Father, the sanctifying of
God the Holy Spirit, and here we're talking about the obedience
of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn over to Philippians
2. Let me show you this, Philippians
2.8. The obedience of Christ is how the blood of Christ came
to be shed for God's elect, given to Him. Philippians 2.8 says, Being found in fashion as a man,
He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. That's how His blood was poured
out, because of His obedience. Look over at Romans 5. Romans
5. This is the obedience which is
the righteousness of every believer. Look at Romans 5, verse 19. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners by the disobedience of Adam, many, that
is, all whom Adam represented were made disobedient. Now, how
are we going to be made obedient to God? So by the obedience of
one shall many be made righteous. The obedience of one. Everyone
he represented is going to be made righteous by His obedience. This is the first Adam made all
that He represented disobedient. That's everybody. The last Adam
is Christ the Lord and it's by His one obedience that everybody
He represented is made righteous. This is the obedience we're talking
about. Look back now at 1 Peter 1, this sprinkling of the blood. You remember we looked at the
Day of Atonement? There was three places that blood
was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement. Do you remember that? It was
sprinkled in the holiest of holies. It was sprinkled in the tabernacle,
which was outside of the oldest of holies. And it was sprinkled
on the altar. Do you remember that? We looked
at that. This is what Peter is talking about. Look down at verse
18. 1 Peter 1.18, for as much as you know that you were not
redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your
vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot, who verily was ordained before the foundation
of the world but was manifested in these last times for you,
who by him do believe in God that raised him up from the dead
and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God.
Look over at Hebrews 9. I want to review this with you.
I want you to see it. Hebrews 9, 12. That blood was sprinkled on the
mercy seat in the very presence of God. What did that mean? This
obedience of Christ was whereby He laid down His life. He obeyed
the law of God in every precept. The love of God is manifest in
Christ and He obeyed the law of God even unto death. He obeyed
God even unto death, the death of the cross. The wages of sin
is death, and by His death He is satisfied. What does that
sprinkling of blood on the mercy seat mean? Verse 12, Neither
by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered
in once into the holy place, into God's presence, having obtained
eternal redemption. for us, for Christ, look down
at verse 24, for Christ is not entered into the holy places
made with hands, which are the figures of the truth, pictures,
examples, types, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of God for us. Then remember that blood was
sprinkled within the tabernacle. Look at Hebrews 9.14. How much
more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit
offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God? He says you're the
tabernacle of the living God. And he purges the conscience.
And when he purges the conscience, what happens? Chapter 10, verse
1. The law had a shadow of good
things to come. It wasn't the very image of the
things. Christ is. It couldn't take away the sacrifices which they offered
year by year continually, they couldn't make the comers thereunto
perfect. But when this blood is sprinkled
in the inner man, in the heart, through the Spirit of God, what
happens? They cease to be offered, verse
2, because that the worshipers once purged, if those would have
done it, they would have no more conscience of sins. That is,
God says, I've purged you. I've washed you. You're complete
in Christ Jesus. And now you know I'm not offering
anything. There remains nothing else to
offer to God. He has the offering He's satisfied
with. And we cease from our dead works
and we believe on Him. That was the blood in the tabernacle.
And you remember the blood on the altar? The blood that was
poured out on the altar? It meant that everything that
was sacrificed on that altar It was with blood. It was perfect. It was accepted of God because
it has to be perfect to be accepted of God. And Christ is our altar.
He's our acceptance with God. This is what we're talking about,
this obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ. Now,
what does that do when I've sprinkled from dead works to serve the
true and living God? When I behold that His obedience
is my obedience, when I behold that it's by His blood that I'm
righteous with God, because His blood has purged my conscience
from dead works to serve Him. And I realize now, by His blood,
God receives my feeble prayers, he receives my feeble song, he
receives my feeble worship, he receives that which I do in my
body, even though it's mixed with sin and everything I do,
he receives it as perfect as if Christ himself did it, because
it's that perfect before him. What's that going to do? Just
as I said to you before, it makes us to know the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal. Look at 2 Corinthians 10.4. I
want you to see this. I've been listening this week
to various messages of this picking out
messages, listening to them, and I hear all these carnal weapons. I hear all this carnality of
trying to make people obedient. Look at this. The weapon, 2 Corinthians
10, 4, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they're mighty
through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down
imaginations. That is the imaginary ways we
thought God would receive us. And every high thing that exalted
itself. That's what we were. And everything
we thought was a high thing exalting ourself against the knowledge
of God. But what does this gospel do?
It brings into captivity every thought to what? The obedience
of Christ. That is, I'm brought to lay down
at His feet and say, His obedience is my obedience. I'm brought
to have the love of God shed abroad in my heart so that now
I'm following Christ. And I'm willing to lay down my
life for those for whom Christ died and gave Himself for. That's what this grace does.
That's what this grace and peace works in our hearts. Is that
not right? Well, here's the divine assurance. Verse 2. 1 Peter 1-2. At the end, Peter says, Grace unto
you and peace be multiplied. This is a promise to every child
God the Father chose To every child God the Holy Spirit has
sanctified and brought to trust the obedience of Christ through
the sprinkling of Christ's blood. This is an assured promise. We're
chosen by grace. We're regenerated and called
by grace. We're redeemed by grace. We stand by grace. We're kept
by grace. And grace shall be multiplied
unto you. It shall be. Every believer shall
have grace multiplied unto them. And through grace, you know what
we have? Peace. Somebody said grace is
the stem and peace is the flower. We're going to have peace with
God. What peace? Peace between you and God. It's
wrought. How? Our God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And you know how we're gonna
have peace with our brethren? Same grace. God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. That's what's gonna cause us
to cease treating one another in a way other than a peaceable
way. There'll be times when we won't
do that, But what's going to stop us? What's going to bring
us back? What's going to bring us down?
The same grace and peace of God that was wrought in the beginning.
This is the substance of a submissive heart. It's the substance of
a peaceable heart. The grace and peace of God. Christ
said, my peace I give you. Not as the world gives you. My
peace I give you. You know, Jonah. Everything Jonah
did was contrary to grace and peace, wasn't it? God said, go
preach my word to Nineveh. Jonah went down and found a ship
going straight away from Nineveh and got in that ship and headed
straight away from where God told him to go. Had nothing gracious
about that in Jonah, nothing peaceable about that in Jonah.
No grace is going to be brought to Nineveh, no peace is going
to be brought to God's elect in Nineveh if Jonah's left doing
what Jonah wants to do, is it? But did God let him go? Grace and peace turned him and
sent him right to Nineveh and delivered him right there. And
you know what Jonah said? Salvation is of the Lord. God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. What about
David? King David? How many times do
we find David doing that which is not gracious and not peaceful
whatsoever? Doing that which is exactly contrary
to grace and peace. God wouldn't let him go. Because
God's grace and God's peace was wrought for him. And therefore
it was multiplied in him. And through him it was multiplied
to those to whom God sent David. What about the man who's writing
this epistle that we're looking at? What about Peter? How many
times do we find Peter doing that which is altogether not
gracious and not peaceable? That which will not work grace
or peace. And yet God wouldn't let him
go because grace chose him, grace sanctified him, and grace redeemed
him. And grace brought that peace
in his heart so that he could write this epistle to us and
say, brethren, grace and peace shall be multiplied unto you.
It shall be. It's not just wishful thinking
on Peter's part. It's not just a mere way to start
out a letter and try to sound religious. Peter knows grace
and peace shall be multiplied unto you. That was his prayer
for him and that was his assurance of him. And so it is with us. That's a good way to begin to
remind the saints of everything Peter is going to teach here.
That's a good way to start it, to remind us. You're elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father, sanctified through the
Spirit, brought unto the obedience of Christ to rest in His obedience
by the sprinkling of that very blood that is our complete and
total acceptance with God. Therefore, I can rest knowing
I'm going to have grace and peace. That's my grace and peace, and
I'll have it. I'll have Him who is the grace
and peace of my salvation. So shall every believer. Amen.