I invite you to turn back with
me now to 1 Peter chapter 1. This is another such passage
as Ephesians chapter 1. or Romans chapter 8, or John
chapter 6, where the Holy Ghost has shown
His generosity in the richness of the revelation of the treasures
of Christ that He sets before us in this book. Charles Spurgeon once called
these first five verses in 1 Peter 1 a string of golden pearls. And many of the old writers called
it the New Testament song. Such a beautiful, beautiful passage. What I want us to look at this
morning is something that for the most part has always escaped
my attention. Peter directs this epistle to
the strangers. Did you pick up on that when
I read that a while ago? I've read this so many times.
And I've thought often these are people that he didn't really
know. And so he calls them strangers.
But that's not what it's talking about. He directs this epistle
to the strangers. And to my knowledge, this is
the only epistle in the New Testament written specifically to the strangers. Everything he writes by the inspiration
of God, he writes to the strangers. And strangers is a term commonly
used by even the most ancient of the writers of the scripture.
And it's most clearly defined as those born in heathen nations. That's what they were called,
strangers. Paul talks about this over in
Ephesians chapter 2 if you want to turn over there. He writes
to the church at Ephesus and he says in Ephesians 2.11, this
is after he told them that we are his workmanship created in
Christ Jesus unto good works. which God hath ordained that
we should walk in them. And these good works is not giving
your tithes and all this kind of nonsense that people talk
about. These good works are the love
of God in your heart, the faith of God's elect. These are the
gifts of God. Believers are enabled to worship
God. People out here in the world,
they sing and move and dance and sway to the music and all
these things. They're entertained. They say
a lot of things. People go out there feeling good
about themselves. That's not worship. Worship is in spirit, by the
spirit of the living God, and it's in truth. We hear the truth
about God, the truth about man, the truth about the salvation
which Christ has accomplished, and we worship God hearing those
things. And only believers can do that.
We are the true circumcision, Paul said, which worship God
in the Spirit. So Paul talks about this over
there in the book of Ephesians in verse 11, he said, wherefore
remember that you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh. That's where God found you, you
were Gentiles. What's that mean? That means
heathen. You were heathens. We don't like that, do we? Huh? But if I came up to you out there
in the hallway and said, you heathen, you'd get upset with
me, wouldn't you? But that's what you are. That's
what I am. That's where God found us. We was heathen. We were Gentiles
in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by that which is called circumcision
in the flesh made by hands. And at that time, we were without
Christ. That is, we weren't familiar
with his office. I've been hearing the word Christ
ever since I was old enough to sit in a pew and hear a man stand
and speak, but I didn't know who Christ was. I didn't know
what Christ meant. I was without Christ. I wasn't familiar with his office
and his appointments by God and his prophesied coming and the
work that he would accomplish, set forth in picture and type
in the Old Testament law. I wasn't familiar with those
things. I didn't know anything about those things. I was without
Christ at that time. I was aliens. And now what that
says, you were aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel. You were
not Jews. The promises of God are directed
to the Jews. It's directed to Israel. But I wasn't an Israelite, I
was a Gentile. And watch this. You were strangers
from the covenants of promise. How many of you here were raised
in a church other than a grace church? I was raised in the Nazarene
religion. And as far as I can remember,
I never heard the word mentioned one time, covenant. But our God
is a covenant God. All his dealings with men, he
deals with by way of covenant. That ark that they put inside
the Holy of Holies, where the high priest would go in one time
a year, not without blood, and bow down before that, that ark
is the ark of the covenant. The blood which Christ shed on
the cross, Paul calls it in the book of Hebrews, the blood of
the everlasting covenant. The last words of the great psalmist
of Israel, although it be not so with my house, yet God hath
made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure.
This is all my salvation and all my desire. Our God is a covenant
God. And yet I was stranger. I was
a stranger from those covenants. I didn't know anything about
those covenants. Having no hope. I had a hope. You know what it was? Same as
some of you. I hope, I hope, I hope. That's
all I had. I didn't have a hope. with a
reason, a hope with a foundation, a hope with the purpose of God
behind it, an understandable hope. I was without hope, and
watch this, and without God in the world. But through this one that we were strangers to, We were reconciled to God and
He came and preached peace to us and by His Spirit gave us
access to the Father. A saving knowledge of God, verse
19, Ephesians chapter 2. Now therefore, you are no more
strangers. That's what you were, but that's
not what you are now. You know more strangers and foreigners
but your fellow citizens with the saints and of the household
of God. Provision for strangers. That's the message of Peter's
general epistle. All the way through he's talking
about God's provision for strangers. And I'm going to tell you something.
If you've got a concordance, you go home and look up that
word stranger and go through the Old Testament. And you can
see just how much attention God pays to provision for the strangers. It will amaze you. God has a people. And our God
is the God of purpose. He worketh all things, the scripture
said, after the counsel of his own will. Religion would mix
science and imagination with a little scripture together and
come up with a God who began something but fell short. He wanted to do something but
something else happened and it thwarted his purpose and he came
short. He was a failure. It didn't work
out. But then he began to react to
it and things began to evolve and then he He reacted to this and reacted to
that. And he's been frantically trying
to salvage something out of his creation and his failure ever
since. That's what religion portrays
in what they preach. But the God of the Bible, it
says, works all things together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called. Now listen, according to his
purpose. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 1 verse
9, God has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world. These strangers were strangers
on purpose. There was a purpose to their
being. There was a purpose to all of
these things being left off to them. Paul said this was the
stewardship given to him by God. In Ephesians chapter three, something
which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men. Ephesians
3.6, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same
body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel. It was, verse nine, Ephesians
chapter three, to make all men see what is the fellowship of
the mystery which from the beginning of the world has been hid in
God who created all things by Jesus Christ. To the intent that
now under principalities and powers in heavenly places, even
the angels in glory might be known by the church the manifold
wisdom of God. Revision for strangers is not
only the purpose of God, but it is the manifestation of the
manifold wisdom of God. And this wisdom behind the creation
of the world. Strangers. That's who we are. That's how God found us, strangers. For the most part, we all, like
them, we grew up in idolatry. We grew up worshiping false gods. We grew up surrounded by whole
generations deceived and deceiving one another. Knew very little, if anything,
about the God of the Bible. I always pictured God in my mind
as a child, as an old gray-haired daddy, old grandpa, sitting up
in heaven. Is that the picture you have
of God? Boy, I hope not, because that's not what he says about
him in the scriptures. We knew very little about the
God of the Bible. We knew very little, if anything,
about the creation of God, brought up in lies, hearing lies, practicing
false worship because that's what we were told to do. Taking part in lewd celebrations. Oh, you say, now we never did
that. We never did that. False worship is defined in the
scriptures as fornication and whoredom. That's what I'm talking
about. Lewd celebrations. We grew up
observing meaningless ordinances and pageantry and
services and all this kind of stuff. We grew up being encouraged
to partake in sensationalism, mysticism, vain imaginations, taught and encouraged to wear
religious jewelry. Oh, what a beautiful cross. I
might go get me one, huh? And my soul, what if God had
left us as strangers? What if he just left you alone? What if he just left you to your
vain imaginations? What if he just left you in your
old traditions? What if he just left you thinking
God is whoever you want him to be? He'd have been just if he did. That's what we deserve, to be
left alone. What if God, because of our indifference,
had sent us strong delusion to believe a lie and be damned? He did some. He said if Judas
had been better off for him, he'd never been born. What if God had given us over,
as he did some of these Gentiles, to a reprobate mind to do whatever
they wanted to do? But he didn't. He made provision for the strangers. Huh? God has always, even under the
law, made provision for strangers. Israel was strictly forbidden
to harvest the corners of their fields. They'd have whole fields
of wheat out there and corn. And when they went to harvest,
you know, you can't pull a something to harvest these crops. You can't pull them into the
corner. You have to make a sweep and that leaves the corner. And
then they'd have cervids go in there and cut all the corner
out. And he said, you're not gonna
do that. You're gonna leave the corners. Why? For the poor and the stranger. And that was it. And when you
go into your vineyard and you cut and pick all them grapes
and you're filling them baskets up with all them grapes, don't
get it all. You leave some for the poor and
the stranger. And when those strangers come
and sojourn among you, you be careful how you treat them because
some have entertained angels unaware. And when those strangers come
and you tell them the truth and they submit themselves to be
circumcised to the ordinance of God and they're circumcised,
that stranger then is worthy to partake of the greatest of
the feasts, the feast of the Passover, the feast of the first
fruit. He's eligible now to partake
of those benefits. And did you know that even the
Sabbath day, The Jews held nothing higher than the Sabbath day.
That the Sabbath day was given that the stranger could rest. That's right. And even the beasts
could rest. Provision even in the Sabbath
was made for the stranger. Where are these strangers? Who are they? Where are they
today? Well, my friend, there's nothing but strangers around
you and I. We're all strangers. And even then, Peter describes
them as scattered throughout the land, and he names five or
six places. They're scattered abroad. They're
scattered everywhere. One here and one there, one way
over here, some over here. God tells us his people should
be called out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue under
heaven. Why is it we just go to a certain
people and we say, this is it? No, that's not it. That's not
it. He has a number that no man can
number. And they come from everywhere.
They're scattered everywhere. All right, so what kind of provision
has God left to us strangers? What has God reserved for us?
Well, the very first thing Peter mentions is what the Jews were the proudest
of and what they held over the Gentiles' head, the election
of God. Isn't that the first thing he
says? Elect. God has made provision for the
strangers in his election. Had he not made provision in
his election, the strangers would stay strangers. They are elect according to the
foreknowledge of God. God has a people he chose in
Christ before the foundation of the world. I think when I
think about this, I always think about Elijah down in that cave.
Jezebel had been after him with an army, and he ran down there
and he hid. This prophet had stood so boldly
in her presence, watched those 400 prophets of Baal and mocked
them and made fun of them, and God stood with him before this
evil woman and her husband. I think about old Elijah, now
he's down in that cave and he's being hunted and he said, Lord,
I'm the only one left. I'm the only one left. God said,
you're not the only one left. I have reserved to myself 7,000
men who've not bowed the knee to Baal. You're not the only
one. And Paul said, even so at this
present time, Also, there is a remnant according to the election
of grace, and if by grace, then it is no more by works. There
is an election, and that election was appropriated for the strangers.
They were included in it. God made provision for the stranger
through His election of grace and He's chosen us in His Son
before the foundation of the world that we should be holy
and without blame before Him, being loved, predestinating us
under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according
to the good pleasure of His will. These strangers were elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father. And I'm going to tell
you something about that word foreknowledge. In Romans 8.28
it said, Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his Son. And this is the exact same
word as the word foreordained in 1 Peter 1.20 where it's talking
about Christ being foreordained. Now why would God use the same
word, God the Holy Spirit, why would He translate the same word
foreknown as foreordained. Because what God foreordains,
He knows. That's why. That's exactly why. There's no way that you can declare
the end from the beginning. And that's, God said, I'm alone
in this category. I declare the end from the beginning.
And from ancient times, the things that are not yet done saying
my counsel shall stand and I'll do all my pleasure. There's only
one way you can do that and that is have the power to control
everything first to last. God knows what's going to happen
at the end because he's ordained everything between. Nothing's
left to chance. And then secondly, he makes provision
for the stranger through sanctification of the Spirit. The stranger is no different
than the Jews. That's what Paul tells us over
in Romans chapter 3. They had great advantage, but
it didn't do them any good. It didn't do them any good, because
they were all under sin. God has to intervene in your
life. You're under sin, you're under
the authority of it, the curse of it, the power of it. You can't
defeat it, you can't overcome it. You must be born again, isn't
that what the Lord said? But through this election, God
has ordained the new birth. And every child which he has
elected is gonna hear the gospel and they're gonna be born of
God. He's made provision for the stranger. He's made provision
through a new birth. These men are ignorant of the
Word of God. They're ignorant of the Gospel.
They were idolaters. They were strangers. But they're
going to be taught. And they're going to be given
an understanding. And they're going to hear what God has to
say. They're going to be born of God. As the strangers were accepted
and obligated through their circumcision, even so our election is manifested
by ours. It tells us in Colossians 2.11,
in whom, that is, in Christ also, ye are circumcised with the circumcision
made without hands and putting off the body of sin, the sins
of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ. He is a Jew which
is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart and in the
spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but
of God. Paul said in Galatians 4, 6,
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of
his Son into your hearts, enabling you to cry, Abba, Father. Nobody but God can manifest your
election, and manifest it he does through the powerful working
of the Holy Ghost. The words that a man speaks cease
to be just words. Ceases to be, oh well I've heard
that, I heard that last year, I heard that two years ago. I've
heard him often say that. By the grace of God, you may
hear him say it one time and really hear it. And then you'll
enjoy hearing it the next time. It'll just get better and better. Their election is made known
to them through sanctification of the Spirit. And then watch
this. This is the third thing. It's
unto obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. The sanctification of the spirit
is divinely connected to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Don't
ever forget that. Paul wrote the church at Thessalonica
and said, knowing brethren beloved, your election of God for our
gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in
the Holy Ghost. Now listen, and you become followers
of us and the Lord. The sanctification of spirit
Peter speaks of here has to do with something the Jews were
well acquainted with. In Numbers chapter 19 is the
law of the cleansing of the unclean. You can read it back there in
Numbers chapter 19. They were to bring to the priest
a red heifer without spot or blemish, one who had never been
put under the yoke, And the priest was to take this old heifer and
slay her before his face. Burn this heifer in his sight. Burn her skin and her flesh and
her dung and her blood. And then the ashes of this heifer
were to be gathered up by a clean man and stored in a clean place
outside the camp. It was to be kept for a purification
from uncleanness for the children of Israel and for the stranger
that sojourneth among them. And when the unclean came before
the priest, he'd take these ashes and he'd mix them with the pure
water, running water, it says. And then he'd sprinkle the unclean. And then he'd wash himself in
his clothes and running water. and then he'd be declared clean. Now water in the scripture is
the water of the word. It's the water of the word. Christ cleanses us with the washing
of water of the word, Ephesians 5, 26. But mixed with this pure water
is the blood of Christ who gave himself for us. His death, His burning set before
our eyes. He crucified, Paul said, before
your very eyes. Crucified among you as He set
forth in the gospel. Just as this unclean man or woman
came to the priest with this heifer, and he was to watch this
thing be slain and watch this thing be burnt on the altar.
He was to see these things for himself. and then be sprinkled
by the ashes. In Hebrews chapter 9 verse 12
it said, neither by the blood of goats and calves but by his
own blood he entered in once into the holy place having obtained
eternal redemption for us. Now listen to this. For if the
blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling
the unclean sanctify to the purifying of the flesh. 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. This gospel is unto obedience
and the sprinkling of the blood. Something only God the Holy Spirit
can do. He takes the blood of Christ
and he takes it with your understanding and he takes it in faith and
he sprinkles that dead conscience and he purges it with the blood
of Christ. And you know what happens? You
stand before him clean. Clean. And the thing of it is,
you are clean. And you know what your conscience
says? I'm clean. I'm clean. And nothing else will
do it. Nothing else will do it. The unclean stranger who's been
dwelling with the dead is brought to see the substitute slain before
his eyes, and watched him burn with the wrath of God upon the
altar, and then he sees it. as it applies to him in the Word
of God. Through sanctification of the
Spirit unto obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus
Christ. In 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul says
it this way. Through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. It's the same thing. The same
thing. Whereunto he called you by our
gospel. And so Peter says in verse three,
he hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. Our hope, this is what I want
you to understand. Our hope is pinned to a person. If your hope's not in a person,
you don't have a good hope. A godly hope is pinned to a person. Provision for the stranger is
made through the person of Jesus Christ. He took to himself the
seed of Abraham. God and man in one glorious person. And as one in union with his
people obeyed a law that man could not obey, satisfied the
justice of God. and thereby accomplished our
redemption. But it doesn't end there. On the third day, God raised
him from the dead. And when God raised him from
the dead, he declared our full, free, and complete justification
before God. Justified. Justified. And no man, no angel, no creature
can ever again accuse his people of anything. Is that so? Listen to this. Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect, it is God that justifies. Who's going to accuse you? God
said he's justified. Now that judge down at the courthouse,
he might justify the wrong man. He has sin in him too. And he
might justify the wrong man and that man might walk out and you
might have accusations against him yet. But if God justifies
that man, he's justified. And nobody's gonna bring anything
against him. They can't. Who is he that condemneth? Who's
going to condemn this man that God justified? Christ died for
him. Now watch this. Yea, rather,
who is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for him. Huh? Listen to this, Colossians 3.1,
if you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection
on things above, not on things of the earth, for you're dead,
and your life is hid with God in Christ. And when Christ, who
is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him
in glory. Our hope is pinned to a person
all the way from the foundation of the world, before the foundation
of the world, all the way to the end of time. It's all pinned
to a person. What provision God has made for
the stranger. By way of our eternal union with
Christ, He's raised us up together with Him, made us sit together
with Him in the heavens. And let me give you one more
thing, and I'll close. Our hope being pinned to His
person, and His person being raised, accepted, and glorified. 1 Peter 1, 4. We then have an
inheritance incorruptible. Our inheritance is in Him. And
he's incorruptible. He's incorruptible. He's undefiled. And he'll never fade away. Reserved in heaven for you. Now watch this. Who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation. Now there's a
sense in which believers Persevere in the faith. They will. They'll
never stop believing. These all died in faith. Every
one of them, clear to the end, he's gonna believe. He's never
gonna stop believing. If any man go back, my soul had
no pleasure in him, but you're not of them who fall back to
perdition, but you're of them who believe to the saving of
the soul. But I'm gonna tell you why you persevere. Because
God's preserved you. Because you're kept through the
power of God through faith. That's why. This faith is the
gift of God. And this faith's not gonna be
a failure. This faith is gonna be triumphant. And it's gonna
persevere and it's gonna overcome. Presence of our guarantor at
God's right hand is the guarantee that our faith shall be kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation. It's the guarantee
that faith shall be given to all his elect and that the stranger
as well as the home born shall partake of the fruits of his
redemption. Oh, may the Lord be pleased calls
you here today, if he hasn't already, to look to Christ. In him is provision for even
the stranger, even the heathen. Boy, that opens the door for
me. That opens the door for me, all of my soul. Thank you.