1 Peter chapter 2. As we said in the reading, or
during the reading, the last time we were here, we met together,
was January the 1st. My text on that occasion was
Romans chapter, from Romans 16 verse 24. Paul said in concluding
his epistle, and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with
you all. The title of that message was,
and grace will lead me home. And I said, what a blessed way
to begin the new year with that promise from our God of His grace
Himself being always with us. And my main point was, this grace,
this grace is, as Paul wrote, of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
doesn't come from anybody else. Doesn't come any other way except
through that one that God has appointed, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I want to ring that bell
again. I want to ring that bell again. Let me read you just a
comment or two by our dear friend, Brother Henry Mahan. I found
this on his website under articles that he'd written in his bulletins
and so forth. But this one was called, What
Does a Preacher Do? What Does a Preacher Do? And
I believe I'm speaking to people that know exactly what a preacher
does. But Henry, in this article, said
that, quoting another man here, Mr. Martin, T.T. Martin, Henry said, quoting him,
that preachers are everything but. They're organizers, promoters,
executives, toastmasters, anything but prophets speaking for God
to eternity-bound sinners. That was the quote of another
man. This is Henry. Preachers today are like the
little boy loaded down with books who was asked, son, where are
you going? And he said, I'm going to school.
He was asked, what are you learning? And he said nothing. I'm too
busy going to school. And Henry said, I wonder if we're
too busy going to church, now he's speaking of preachers, attending
meetings and promoting religion to sit at the feet of our Lord
and learn of Him. I wonder if we do not often meet
together in the name of Christ and forget the guest of honor.
I think that's something to consider for all God's people, not just
preachers. I wonder if we sometimes meet
in the name of Christ and forget the guest of honor. Are we indoctrinating
men or introducing them to Christ? The preacher spent all of his
time talking about the well, talking about the well, and no
one got to drink of the water of life. It is possible to preach
about the gospel and never really preach the gospel. God don't
allow me. God don't allow me to do that. Look, if you will, here again
in 1 Peter 2, verse 4. Concerning that one that he tells
us in the previous verse, from whom we have received grace,
the gracious Lord, Referring to him, Peter says in verse 4,
to whom coming, to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed
indeed of men, will not have this man rule over us, they said,
but chosen of God and precious. The title of my message is Coming,
Always Coming. Remember what our Lord said in
John 6, John referred to this same verse in his lesson. He
said, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him
that cometh unto me I will in no wise, no way ever cast out. I love how, as always, our Lord
spoke so matter-of-factly. Even his enemies had to say,
This man speaks like none other. He's not like the scribes and
the Pharisees. He speaks with authority. This
man talks like somebody who knows what he's talking about. And
I love that, don't you? He spoke so matter-of-factly.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me." There's just
no loopholes there, no elbow room for doubt, no perchance,
no maybe, no might be. He said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. He spoke matter-of-factly because
that is a blessed fact. They shall come. They shall come. Oh, Larry, we're living in dark
days. They shall come. There is so much heresy about
it. They shall come. And he said, they shall all come. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. None will be lost. Not one shall
perish. He did not limit this coming
to him to one time. It's a continual coming. We have
come to Him. Oh, glory to His name, there
was a day, there was a day, that time of love, the Bible calls
it. That time like in the life of
Saul of Tarsus and every rebel chosen of God. That time of love
when he says, you'll go no further. Come down sinner. And we come to Christ. He draws
us with cords of love. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. We have come. But it's a continual
coming, always coming. We are coming. We are coming. Isn't that a good thought? Isn't
that a comforting thought to you, child of God? Weary pilgrim? Heavy-hearted believer? We are
coming. You say, oh, Larry, I feel like
it's at a snail's pace. Well, that's your feeling, but
that's not the case. We're coming. Every day, every
moment, every hour, we're coming. We're mounting up to Zion. And
every one of them in Zion shall appear before God. We're coming. And we shall come. We shall come. Our Lord prayed that night to
his heavenly Father, Father I will, this is my will, this is my will
and testament for those you gave me. I will that they also be
with me where I am. I want them to come to be with
me where I am that they may behold my glory. And just as that verse
in John 6 speaks of a continual coming, so does our text. To whom? Coming. It's not a one-time
thing. It's a continual coming. If I've
ever believed on Christ, I'll continue to believe on Christ.
And I always believe on Christ. I can't stop believing on Christ. That's true faith. That's the
coming that Peter speaks of. Real faith does that. Real faith
does that. There is a false faith. It can
quit. A false faith say, well, I've
heard enough, and turn their back, their profession of faith
on the Son of God and go back to the world. They can do that.
They can go out from us, as John said, because really, they were
never of us. I think that's happened here.
But this coming, this true faith, it continues. I like what Spurgeon
wrote. He said, before preaching one
time, he said, it's not my aim to introduce doubts and fears
until you're mine. No, no. But I do hope self-examination
may help to drive them away. It is not security, but false
security, which we would kill. Not confidence, but false confidence,
which we would overthrow. Not peace, but false peace, which
we would destroy. Amen. Amen. And so it is. To whom coming. Turn, if you will, to 2 Peter,
his 2nd epistle, chapter 3. Look what he says there. To whom
coming always. Verse 17, Peter writes, Ye therefore,
beloved, seeing that ye know these things, Before, beware,
beware, lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked,
fall from your own steadfastness. But do this, do this, grow in
grace, grow in grace. Indeed, if we are grafted in
the branch, the Lord Jesus Christ, if we're truly built upon that
foundation, We'll grow in grace. We'll grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory
both now and forever. Peter on one occasion asked the
Lord as they both looked at the multitude walking away. And the
Lord asked, will you also go away? You remember what Peter
asked? You remember what he asked? He
said, to whom shall we go? How sad, how sad that multitudes
in our day are being told at this very moment, are being told
to go, not to come to Christ, but to go. Go to the preacher,
or go to the priest, or go to the church, and go to the altar. Go make a decision. Go get baptized. Go repeat the sinner's prayer.
Go learn the doctrines of Calvinism. Go, go, go to every needy sinner
who has ever been told, go, go, go. I say, stop. Stop doing that. Stop going. Stop working. Stop and just fall down upon
the Son of God and say, if you will, you can make me clean. Come, Christ said, come unto
me, all ye that are labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. I took a plunge in the crimson
flood that washes white as snow. I took a drink at the fountainhead,
and it satisfies, I know. I took a look at the cross of
Christ, and my burdens rolled away. I took a look at the cross
of Christ, and my burdens rolled away. And I'm laughing, singing,
praise the Lord for that happy, happy day. To whom coming? Peter said, as we just read,
grow in grace. We'll never outgrow grace. We
will never arrive at a time in this life that we don't stand
in need of God's grace. It won't happen. And thank God,
his grace, that supply of his grace will always prove sufficient. If we ever graduate from the
school of grace, if we ever do, It will be when God takes us
home to be with our Lord forever in glory. Again, all that the
Father giveth me shall come to me. And that's when faith will
give way to sight and we shall see him as he is. In the meantime, look in chapter
one here of 1 Peter. In the meantime, Peter reminds
us that we're kept. We're kept. We're a kept people. God's people are a kept people. They're preserved. They're not
exempt from tribulation. Oh, but by God's grace, they
all come out. They all come out. Here in 1
Peter 1, look at verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy
have begotten us again unto a lively hope. by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible
and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved, blessed reservation,
reserved in heaven for you, who are kept, who are kept until
you enter heaven, until you arrive at that reservation for you in
heaven, are kept by the power of God. Well, that should do
it. through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last
time. Kept in life, kept in faith,
kept by grace, kept coming, kept coming, always coming. You know why? Because he will
not let me go. That's why. Not because Larry
reaches down and pulls himself up by his own bootstraps. I was
told that as a young believer. What a sorry piece of advice.
Oh no. No, tell me rather, tell me rather
this blessed truth, that he that's begun a good work in me will
perform it, will continue it, will carry it on to perfection
until the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. He by his grace will
just keep me First, let's look at this. Peter
says, to whom coming? Coming to who? Who? I said, I want to ring that bell
again. And let me give no uncertain sound as God enables me to do.
Ring this bell. To whom coming? Christ. Christ. You missed that. You missed this. And nothing
else really matters. Nothing else matters. Miss Christ
and I'll miss everything. Miss Christ. Let me miss Calvin. Oh, but not Christ. Let me miss
Baptist doctrine. Oh, but not Christ. You remember
when the rich young ruler came to the Lord. Man, what a self-sufficient
fellow he was. He asked the question when our
Lord said, in answer to what must I do to inherit eternal
life, He said, do this, be perfect, keep the law. Perfect. And that young man said, that's
not been a problem. Big deal. That's easy. I've done that all my life. Most
people think coming to Christ is just easy, easy. And then he asked the Lord, what
like I yet? And I know he didn't think he
liked anything. I'm sure he was shocked. And
our Lord said, well, let's just see if you've kept all these
things. Let's see if you've loved your neighbor as yourself and
loved God. Let's see if you'll obey this
command. Sell everything you've got. Whoa. He put his finger
right on that young man's true love, his riches. And that's
why he went away sorrowful. And our Lord wouldn't compromise.
He wouldn't say, well, let's see if we can work this out.
If you won't bow to me as Lord, I'll still be your Savior. No
way, no way. That's never happened. It didn't
happen then and it doesn't happen today. There's no such thing
as anybody not bowing to the Lord Jesus Christ and yet being
a Christian. I know there's multitudes that
profess to be so. and they call him carnal, and
they'll lose a little reward. No, if you've never bowed to
Jesus Christ as Lord of everything in your life, Lord of all, you're
not a believer. You're deceived. You're not a
believer if you never bowed to him. And that young man said,
Lord, what lack I yet? Well, he liked everything, didn't
he? He liked everything. because
he walked away from the only door to heaven. That's serious
business. That's serious business. Are
you listening to me? That's serious business. That
young man walked away, what like I yet? My soul! He walked away from the only
door to heaven. He walked away from the only way to God. He left whom? The Lord Jesus
Christ. And went back to what? What did
he go back to again? Referring to John 6, when our
Lord said, do you also want to go away? They watched the multitude
that had followed him, that had experienced the miracle of the
loaves and the fishes. They said, oh, this is hard doctrine. This thing about God's sovereignty,
that's tough. Saying that no man can come unless
God draws him, that it's not in my will, oh, that's tough.
That's tough, can't have that. And they turned their back on
the Son of God and walked away. Many of his disciples, therefore,
we read in John 6, when they heard this saying, said, this
is a hard saying, who can bear it? and they walked away. I wonder where they went. I wonder
where they went. Did they leave the fountain,
the only fountain of living waters, to go back and yoon out cisterns
of worthless religion? I wonder where they went. Not
long after that, our Lord stood and said, if any man thirsts,
at the Feast of Tabernacles. He watched them for days go through
the motions of their religion, just cold, dead, lifeless religion. That's all it was. And as though
he could stand it no more, he stood and said, is anybody really
thirsty? Is there anybody which is not
satisfied by this going through the motion of religion? Is anybody
really thirsty? Does anybody out there really
want to know the living God if anybody's thirsty? He said, come
to me. Can't you just picture Him as
He stands and shouts over that religious multitude? Anybody
out there really thirsty? Come to me and drink, he said,
because salvation is coming to whom? The multitude walked away
from him and went back to establish their own righteousness, leaving
the only righteousness of God that he will accept, which is
in Christ Jesus. And he asked the disciples, will
you also go away? And Peter said, To whom shall
we go? To whom shall we go? Joseph Hart
wrote, come ye sinners poor and wretched, weak and wounded, sick
and sore. Jesus ready stands to save you,
full of pity, love, and power. He is able, he is willing. Doubt
no more. To whom? What? What's next? Coming. That's the next word. First, whom? Boom. And now, do
what? Come. Coming, not working. Coming. Turn if you will to Hebrews
chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2. This is what
the writer tells us here. He speaks of that sweet rest
of just trusting Christ. The sweet, comfortable assurance
of knowing it's not my doing, but his. Here in Hebrews chapter
2, look at verse 10. For he that is entered into his
rest, that is Christ's rest, he that is entered into his rest,
he also hath ceased from his own works as God did from his.
I'm not working, I'm resting. I'm resting and trusting that
one who did all the work for me. Let us labor, therefore,
to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example
of unbelief. Our Lord said, come unto me,
all ye that are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Do you know that rest? Return unto thy rest, O my soul,
because God hath dealt bountifully with thee. Peter, again, as John
taught this morning, Peter is speaking from experience, isn't
he? When Peter says, to whom coming? Peter says, I'm telling
you, he's gracious. He'll never cast you out. Peter
said, I'm living proof of it. When Andrew that day, being a
former disciple of John the Baptist, was enabled by grace to see Christ. First thing he said to himself,
I got to go tell my brother about this. I got to go find Peter. I got to tell Peter. Oh, I got
to share this wondrous news with Peter. And he found him and said,
Peter, I found the Messiah. Peter, I found him. Peter, come
with me. Come with me, Peter. I know where
he's at. and he brought him to Jesus.
Oh, can you imagine? Peter became, along with James
and John, the inner circle of the twelve. Some referred to
the three, Peter, James, and John, as the elect of the elect.
Our Lord allowed them to experience and see things that the others
didn't. They were the only three on the Mount of Transfiguration.
They were the only three with him in the garden as he prayed
and great drops of blood fell from his brow. May I have what
Peter experienced, what he saw. And that night when our Lord
said, Peter, after Peter boastfully, pridefully said, though all men
forsake you, I won't. Lord, I'm ready to go with you
even to death. And our Lord said, is that so? Verily, verily, truthfully, I'm
telling you, before the sun arises, before the cock crows twice,
you're going to deny three times that you ever even knew me. And Luke gives us the picture.
As our Lord stands before the high priest being mocked, buffeted,
humiliated, Peter stands below. The very time that the Son of
God is being Peter's substitute, being Peter's faithful shepherd,
Peter's standing down here and saying, I don't even know the
man. And when he did that for the third time, the cock crew,
and Luke alone tells us at that same moment, the Lord turned
and looked at Peter. Didn't say a word. He didn't
have to. And it all came rushing back,
and Peter remembered. And we see Peter running out
in the darkness, weeping bitterly. And for three days and night,
I think that's all Peter did. I'm sure he thought, oh my soul,
what have I done? I denied him. After my claim
that I wouldn't do this, that I wouldn't do that, that I would
lay down my life for him, I denied him. I cursed and said I never
knew him. And Peter writes from experience
when he talks about coming to him who is full of grace and
truth because the angels told Mary, go tell my disciples. Go tell his disciples and Peter. What wondrous grace. Peter thought,
it's all over with me. I'm done. I'm cast off. Although
we believe not, yet he abideth faithfully. Cannot deny himself. Holy, ye needy, come and welcome. God's free bounty glorified. True belief and true repentance. Every grace that brings you nigh. Without money, come to Jesus
Christ and buy. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requireth
is to fill your need of him. And this, this he gives you,
tis the Spirit's rising beam. And oh, for a grace to do what
another wrote when he said, and I picture the prodigal son as
I read these words, I will arise and go to Jesus. He will embrace
me in His arms. Isn't that right, Peter? Oh,
yeah. It sure is. I will arise and
go to Jesus. He will embrace me in His arms,
in the arms of my dear Savior. Oh, there are 10,000 charms coming, not working. Coming for everything. And that's
our last point. Coming, always coming. Why? Why? Because He bids us to come. Because the Spirit and the Bride
say come. And let Him that heareth say
come. And let Him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let
him take the water of life freely. Let Him come for everything I
need. Repentance, the will, for everything
God demands, perfection. Perfection. And everything that
I can't produce, everything I can't get from anyone else, come. Did you hear that? I can't get
from anyone else, especially myself, come. Having Christ,
I'm complete. I have everything. Oh, I wish
God would... I think it was Brother Scott
I used to hear say, oh, I wish I half believed that. Oh, I wish
I half believed this. I have everything I need excepted
in the beloved. In the beloved. The old writers
used to speak of a vital union with Christ. A vital union. And what they meant by that was
we must be united to Christ by a living faith, a living union
with the Son of God. Our Lord said, except ye eat
the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don't have
any life in you. You don't have this vital union.
He told the disciples, because I live, ye shall live also. Did you notice here in 1 Peter
2, it speaks of A living stone. A living foundation. A spiritual
house. A spiritual priesthood. Spiritual
sacrifices. And Jesus Christ himself being
that chief living cornerstone. Without this vital union to Christ,
we're dead in sin without God and without hope. Without eternal
life at all. The other evening I was on the
computer. There's just too much information. But this one headline
caught my eye. It said, Christian sect near
extinction. And it was talking about a lady
that lived, and I'm not making this up, she lived in Shaker
Village, Sabbath Day Lake, Maine. She was one of the last three
remaining shakers in that place. She died at 89 years old, leaving
only two left. Do you know why? because they
didn't believe in natural generation. They didn't believe that you
should reproduce. They practiced celibacy, and
she died. They all die out. Thank God,
the Lord Jesus Christ said, he who liveth and believeth in me
shall never die. Because of this vital union were
built up a spiritual house, and upon this rock, Christ said,
I'll build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it." I'm sure Peter, in this passage in chapter 2,
is making reference to that earthly temple and compares it to Christ,
His church, as being living stones. Our Lord told them one time,
destroy this temple, and in three days I'll raise it up again. They said, how are you going
to do that? You know how many years this temple was in the
making and you're going to destroy it and raise it up in three days?
Remember that was one of the accusations they made against
him at his trial? Even when he hung up on the cross,
they stood at the foot and said, hey, you that destroyed the temple,
come on down. Save yourself if you be the son
of God. They would rather keep their
temple and their holy days and their animal sacrifices. And
when Pilate asked them, what shall I do with Jesus who is
called the Christ, that one who was the fulfillment of all their
sacrifices, every piece of furniture in that temple, what shall I
do with him? And they said crucify. They would
rather have their religion but not Christ. They would rather
have a dead orthodoxy The killing letter of the law, but not a
living union with the Son of God. Let me close. To whom coming,
always coming. Revelation chapter 4, John heard
a voice saying, John, come up hither. And we read there immediately,
immediately John was caught up. He saw a door opened in heaven
and he was caught up in the presence of God Almighty just that quick. Oh God, give me grace to continually
come to Christ. I will arise and go to Jesus. To whom? Coming. Have you thus
come? Have you thus come? Let me, I
found this hymn in Spurgeon's own hymn book. That was the name
of it. The hymns that they sung at the tabernacle, Delilah gave
it to me. This one was by a man named William
Hammond, written in 1745. I'll close by reading it. Wealth
and honor I disdain. Earthly comforts all are vain.
These can never satisfy. Give me Christ or else I die. Lord, deny me what you will.
Only take away my guilt. Mourning at thy feet I lie. Give
me Christ or else I die. Thou dost freely save the lost. In thy grace alone I trust. Unto
thee I lift my cry. Give me Christ or else I die. O my God, what shall I say? Take,
O take, my sins away. Jesus' blood to me apply. Give
me Christ. Give me Christ or else I die. God bless you. Thank you for
your attention.