Turn with me this morning to
1 Peter chapter 2. We've been talking about the
privileges and benefits bestowed upon God's elect and made known
to them by way of a new birth, by way of the Spirit of the living
God and the preaching of the gospel of Christ. What does a man learn when he's
born of God? What does a man learn through
the hearing of the gospel? That man who hears. We talk about
people hearing all the time. What does a man hear when he's
born of God? Well, he comes to know who he
is or in some respect who he was, I suppose you could say
from that standpoint. But he was alien and an enemy
in his mind by wicked works, but now he's reconciled to God. He learns of a reconciliation
accomplished by Christ. He learns of one who was appointed
by God for his salvation before the world began. And that this
one appointed came in due time and accomplished that redemption,
accomplished that salvation. He learns those things, and then
he sees that at one time he was an alien. He didn't have anything.
He was an alien, a stranger, enemies in his mind by wicked
works. But now he's reconciled to God
by the death of Christ. In time past, he had no claim
on the benefits of God or on the favor of God. He had no standpoint
in which to say, God loves me. You know, I would say to all
those who paste that silly bumper sticker on there, God loves you. God loves you. What's the basis
of that? What's your basis for saying
that? Well, believers come to learn the basis of it. God loves
us in Christ. One was provided for us. One
who was elect and precious, he was appointed for us. We're all
together unlovely. We're not lovable by a holy God,
but we are in Christ. And there's one who loved us,
even when we were dead in trespasses and sin, who loved us. That's what we learn about. We
learn that we were enemies, full of wicked works, had no claim
on the favor and benefits of God. We're by nature, the scripture
said, children of wrath even as others. And then Peter goes
on to tell us that we, there was a time when we had not obtained
mercy. Mercy was there. Mercy is always
there in Christ. Mercy is there. Our God is merciful
in himself. Mercy is there. But we had not
obtained it. It was not ours. We had not laid
hold on that mercy. We had not seen that mercy. We
didn't understand that mercy. We didn't even understand that
we had need of that kind of mercy. So in time past, we had no claim
on the favor and benefits of God and had not obtained mercy. But now we find ourselves to
be children of God, my soul an heir of God. I don't have the words to even
tell you what that means. Heirs of God. Heirs of His mercy. Heirs of
His grace. You know, suppose, just suppose
that you had someone in your family, this old fellow. You
didn't know anything about him. You didn't know. He was some
kind of distant uncle or something. You didn't know anything about
him. He was a relative, but you didn't know him. You had no interaction
with him. The only time you ever heard
his name, you heard it in a bad light. And then you find out
that that old man died and named you as an executor of his will. I mean, named you as a beneficiary
of his will. All that he had is yours. Well, that's the way it was with
God. We didn't know who God was. We didn't know anything about
it. And yet, he made us heirs. He has predestinated us, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children. My soul, before
we was ever born, before we ever created the first man, predestinated
us unto the adoption of children. And if children, then heirs. We find ourselves, Peter said,
a chosen generation. As Israel was chosen to a distinction
from this world, so his church has received the distinction
of his election of grace, justified freely by his grace through the
redemption which is in Christ Jesus. A gracious calling. We've received a gracious calling.
Think about that. Paul said, God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called him high by his grace. We received a gracious calling. Knowing what we were and knowing
what we are by nature, the believer's heart ought to be overwhelmed
with the kindness and generosity, the mercy and grace of God to
such a one as himself. He ought to be like old Mephibosheth,
who thought he was going to die, saw where he deserved to die,
saw the threat to the kingdom that he inherited through his
father. And here he stands, and David said, well, I didn't bring
you here to kill you. I brought you here to set you
down at the table. You're going to eat with me from
now on. You're going to live in the king's
house, and the king's going to feed you, and the king's going
to clothe you, and the king's going to see that you're brought
in here to the dinner table, and food like you've never had
set before you. And Mephibosheth said, who am
I? that thou should show such grace,
such mercy to such a dead dog as I am." That's the way the
believer ought to feel 24-7. Who am I? Well, we're nothing,
but Christ is everything, and God put us in Christ and made
us heirs. You see where Peter's coming
from with this? You who were strangers and foreigners
to God, we're now fellow citizens with the saints and of the household
of God. And now the shoe's on the other
foot. Now, I want you to watch this. Look with me here at our
text in verse 11. 1 Peter 2, verse 11. Dearly beloved, I beseech you
as strangers and pilgrims. Now, wait a minute. We're not
strangers and pilgrims anymore. We're fellow citizens with the
saints. Well, he's not talking about strangers and pilgrims
now to God. He's talking about strangers
and pilgrims to this world. Abstain from fleshly lusts which
war against the soul. Believers struggle in this world.
Why do they struggle? They don't fit in. They don't fit in. I don't fit
in anymore. I used to go to family reunion.
I loved to fish. I loved to hunt. I loved to visit.
I loved to eat. We'd sit in. We had a good time. We all visited. We laughed and
told stories about the old days, and we'd sit there and we'd reminisce,
and we had a good time. Can't do that anymore. How come? I don't fit in. I don't fit in. Everything we once had in common,
we no longer have. And every time I go, that's what
it is. It's like they're fishing for
this common ground, and they just keep going to this point,
to that point, to this point, to that point in the Scriptures,
and we just don't have any common ground. About the only thing we have
in common with this world is our sin. We're still sinners. And we can talk about working,
and we can talk about fishing, and we can talk about farming,
and we can talk about cars, and talk about all kinds of things,
but we can't talk about spiritual matters. Can't do it. Don't see eye to eye. Got nothing
in common. In Hebrews chapter 11, Paul wrote
this about the life of Abraham. This is the father of the faithful. Here's the prime example of a
man who has the faith of the living God and how he lives in
this world. Now listen to what it says about
him. Hebrews 11 verse 9. By faith he sojourned in a land
of promise, a land that was promised to him, given to him of God.
He was the heir. He owned the whole shooting match.
He had an interest in that place. But here he is, and he's living
in the land of promise like he's in a strange country. And he's
dwelling in tents, not living in mansions. He's dwelling in
tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. He must interact with the heathen
who dwelt there in the land, who thought they owned the land,
who thought they were in control of the land, who thought it was
their possession. He had to live there with them.
But he knew all along as he sojourned there that they didn't know the
living God. He knew that. And he was careful
in his dealings with natural men. Moses, here he was. He raised in Pharaoh's palace.
He had everything a man could ever want. He went to the best
schools. He wore the best clothes. He
was in favor with a dictator whose rule was law. When he came to years, he refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to
suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures
of sin for a season. We're strangers and pilgrims. in this world. We know something
about the judgment of God on this world. The condemnation of God on this
world. You come up to the average person,
Winston. Somebody comes to your house
and you meet them and they're there to take care of your wife
or whatever it is and you sit down and you begin to talk to
them and you tell them, now you know you're under the curse of
God. They'll look at you like you're a two-headed billy goat. What do you mean I'm under the
curse of God? Well, that's what God said. We dwell in a world, and I know
why the world acts the way they act. I know why they hear the
gospel and say what they say. I know that. They're under the
curse of God. They're in darkness. They walk in the vanity of their
minds. They're left to themselves to
swallow lies and deceit, take hold. Satan can take them captive,
the Scripture said, at his will. Anytime he wants to. Anytime
he wants to. But we know something about the
judgment of God and the curse upon this world and those who
are in it. And we walk as those who know. We know the difference. And now he tells us, abstain
from fleshly lust, Why? You can't satisfy the flesh,
my soul. That'd be like a man you know,
you go out there and you're going to empty the Ohio River, the
Mississippi River, and you take that little bucket and you see
a little hole there for just a split second, boom, it's right
back full again. You can't satisfy the flesh. The flesh is insatiable. It's
incapable of satisfaction. Give it a house. I remember that's
all I wanted. We were young, married. I didn't
have any money. She didn't have any money. All
we wanted was a home. If we could just get us a home
of our own. You get it, you want a better
one. That's what happens. You get a better one, you want
two. Get two, and then you want a vacation home. It's insatiable. You cannot satisfy the flesh.
Give it money. It wants more. Give it anything.
But you cannot satisfy the flesh. Abstain from fleshly lust. What
does that word abstain mean? It means get away from it. That's
what it means. Avoid it as much as possible. Stay away. Keep away. Ignore
these things. There was a really good article
in Clay's Bulletin this past week. It was written by J.C. Philpott. And he said this. He said, temptation is to corruption
what fire is to stubble. You got a corrupt heart. He said,
oh, no, I don't have one. Well, you wait till the temptation
comes. Watch it go up in flames. He said, temptation is to our
corruption what a spark is to gunpowder. We're to avoid as
much as possible all of these things because they're capable
of doing great harm. And then Peter gives us something
else here. He says, these lusts war against
the soul. They war against the soul. Turn with me to Galatians chapter
5. Everything of the natural, natural
man, everything of the natural is carnal. And it's contrary
to the new man. Now watch this, Galatians 5 verse
16. He's already dealt with these
things in all these chapters coming up to here. And now he's
going to sum up what he had to say. Galatians 5.16, this I say
then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust
of the flesh. Yeah, but how does a man walk
in the Spirit? Huh? We read that all the time. How do you do it? How does a
man walk in the spirit? Does he get in his bedroom all
alone and stand back there in a trance and begin to repeat
the same thing over and over and over and pretty soon his
eyes roll back in his head and he has this out-of-body experience?
What's he talking about here, walking in the spirit? Is he
talking about leaving this body? No. No. Well, is he talking about a sinless
perfection? Can the believer reach this state
of sinless perfection where he doesn't think about sin and he
has no sinful motives? He lives a perfect life on this
earth? No. No, he's not talking about
that. If we say we have no sin, we
make God a liar. How does a believer walk in the
Spirit? He walks, now listen to me, He
walks in the full satisfaction of God in Christ Jesus. He's satisfied with His glory. There's nothing better. Isn't
that what the whole theme of Hebrews is? He's telling these
Hebrews people who were hanging on to the law and hanging on
to the priesthood and hanging on to this and that and the next
thing. And all the way through there, Paul just keeps telling
them, there's something better. There's something better. Christ
is better. He's better than the angel. He's
better than the priesthood. He's better than the law. He's
better. Christ is better. And a man who has Christ, he's
satisfied. He's satisfied with his glory.
He's satisfied with his redemption. He's satisfied with his righteousness. My soul, it would be like a kid
running up to a master painting with his little paintbrush and
watercolors and start to touch it up. This is a glorious righteousness
I'm satisfied with. He's satisfied with his character. He's satisfied with his wisdom.
He's satisfied with his way. And the man who is satisfied,
now listen to him. Wants for nothing. Does he? He wants for nothing. In him,
Paul said, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye
are complete in him. And then James tells us this.
We're going through trials. We're going through troubles.
We're going through all these things. He said, when you come
to that place, you let patience have her perfect work. What is
the perfect work of patience? It's waiting until God establishes
in your heart that Christ is all. That's what it is. Let patience have her perfect
work, that is, to leave you hoping in Christ alone. And listen to
this, that ye may be perfect and entire. Now listen, wanting
nothing. Where do you find that at? In
Christ. You see what I'm saying? The
man who's satisfied, he wants for nothing. Now, he tells us
this, walk in the Spirit, you shall not fulfill the lust of
the flesh, for the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh. The flesh is always telling you
you need something else, isn't it? You need something else.
You don't pray enough. You don't tend enough. You don't
believe enough. Something else, something else,
something else. It's insatiable. It just won't, won't, won't. But the Spirit, it shows us and
reveals to us Christ, and we're satisfied. The flesh lusteth
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these
are contrary, the one to the other, so that you cannot do
the things that you would. abstain from fleshly lusts which
war against the soul." 1 Peter 2, verse 12. Having your conversation,
your behavior, honest among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak
against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which
they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. What's
he saying here? Pay your bills. Mow your grass. Wash your clothes. Give a full
day's work for a full day's pay. Do what you agree to do. Do you
sign a loan? You agree to pay it every month?
Pay it. This world of heathen religionists
believes that we're evildoers. Peter said, don't put any fuel
on their fire. Isn't that what he's saying here?
And then the second half of this verse speaks of a time of visitation
that is concerning the Gentiles. And it's unclear what that visitation
is that he's talking about here. And it may very well have been
written this way because it's true in all the visitations. There's a visitation of calamity
that comes on individuals as a judgment of God. And at such
time, they might well reflect on such a thing as their treatment
of this man unfairly and unjustly. It might just be in that time
that they're going to reflect on those things. Or maybe it's
talking here about a visitation of grace when one's brought under
the conviction of sin, as Paul was, and began to realize that
his treatment was injurious and unjustified against the church.
He talked about it all the time after his conversion. Or maybe
he's talking about that final visitation of death and judgment
when the secrets of men should be brought into view. But in
any case, we're to do these things that God may be glorified in
that visitation whenever it is. Verse 13. Actually, let's read
verses 13 and 14 together. Submit yourselves to every ordinance
of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme
or unto governors as unto them that are sent by him for the
punishment of evildoers and the praise of them that do well.
My old brother Shelton used to say, hang on to your hat. We're
going to jump a creek. Listen to what I'm saying. As
believers, we are to understand that civil magistrates are a
part of God's restraining hand, including the laws and the statutes
and all of these things that are not contrary to the law of
God. We're to understand that. We
have a president in this world and governors. I'm telling you
that these offices that they hold are of God. They're ordained of God. And to resist these things, to
resist their authority and to resist their laws, to resist
these things is to resist the ministers of God. Now, if you
don't believe that's so, you go over there and read Romans
chapter 13. There is no power except that of God. He calls them the ministers of
God, kings and presidents and governors. They're not a terror,
Paul said. They're not a terror to those
who are law-abiding. They're a terror to those who
break the law. He said, don't be afraid. You're
not a lawbreaker. Don't be afraid unless you break
the law. Then be afraid, he said, because
they don't carry that sword in vain. They'll use the sword.
God gave them a sword, and they'll use it. He tells us, whosoever resisteth
the power resisteth the ordinance of God. What does that mean?
That means God ordained it. That's what it means. He says this, Paul does in Romans
13, he is the minister of God, a revenger, to execute wrath
upon him that doeth evil. We're to be subject, not only
because we fear the punishment, but for a clear conscience, for
a good conscience. What I'm saying to you is to
realize and recognize that the government, whether you like
those in office or not, recognize it for what it is. This would
be a horrible place to live if it wasn't for law and government. My soul, it's awful with it. Can you imagine what it would
be without it? I watch the news, and I don't
usually do this, but I've been watching the news in the morning,
And I haven't turned my TV on a single morning this week that
there hadn't been a shooting and a killing in Shreveport.
Not one time this whole week. And I've been hearing it a lot
before that. What would it be if there were
no laws? And I'm not telling you don't
do this and don't do that. Vote your conscience when the
time comes and campaign for your party all you want to. I'm not
trying to keep you from doing those things. But realize when
it's all over that this is God's restraining minister. This government
that's set in place is the minister of God. It's there to protect
you. It's there to help you. And it's
there for your praise and for the punishment of evildoers.
And we're not told here to obey them because we respect them
or because we think they're the best man for the office. We're told to obey them for the
Lord's sake, for His sake. All right, 1 Peter 2, verse 15. For so is the will of God, that with well-doing you may
put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. It's always the
slander of God-hating men to accuse the objects of God's grace
as being lawless and free to sin all they want to. This world
is full of foolish men. They're foolish because they
receive not the things of the Spirit of God. Unto them which
perish, it's foolishness. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God because they're foolishness to
him. foolish because they receive not the things of the Spirit
of God. God the Holy Spirit has inspired the writings of the
prophets and apostles. These writings, he tells us,
are profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction
in righteousness." What does that mean? Well, you say, I believe
that men, by their obedience to the moral law, produce a righteousness
that can win God's approval and bring upon Him the blessings
of God. And then I turn around and tell you, but I say there's
none righteous, none good, utterly impossible for a man to produce
a righteousness acceptable to God. I said if righteousness
comes by the law, Christ died in vain. That's my argument against
his argument. We're at opposite ends of the
pole. Is there nothing we can do? Yes, we can go to the Word
of God, which is profitable for correction. and profitable for
instruction and righteousness. We can settle the matter if you
submit to this book. But if I will not be corrected
by the word of God, I'm a fool. The fool has said in his heart,
no God for me. No God for me. The Holy Scripture is profitable
for reproof And it's profitable for doctrine. But if I don't
pay heed to the scriptures, I become a foolish man. When a man rejects
the light of God, be it conscience creation or the word of God,
he becomes vain in his imagination. That's what Paul said. And his
foolish heart is darkened, and professing himself to be wise,
he becomes a fool. We are to be careful to maintain
good works that we might put to silence the ignorance of foolish
men. And then verse 16, 1 Peter 2,
he said, as free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness,
but as servants of God. Believers are free. The law was
not made for righteous men. It was made for sinners. Made
for murderers and whoremongers and all that type of thing. Believers
are free from the bondage of the law. The law judged us in
Christ. It found us guilty and sentenced
us to death. And the law took us out and nailed
us on a cross and left us there until the last breath. Left us
there until the uttermost wrath of an offended God was poured
out. And when it was finished, we
were taken down, buried with the rest of this world's dead.
But on the third day, God raised us up together with his son and declared for us a full, complete,
perfect justification. Once for all, the perfect righteousness
of God was manifested and we were clothed in it. He's the
end of the law for righteousness. We're not under the law. We have
a liberty. We have a liberty. But he said,
don't use that liberty to hide your sins. Don't use that liberty
to cover up your lusts and your sinful feelings and that type
of thing. Just don't do it. Confess your
sins to God. Don't confess them to me. Confess
them to God. And we're to reckon ourselves
to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Our debt, we owe a great debt,
but our debt is not to this flesh. Our debt is to Christ and to
God.