In verse 1 of 1 Peter chapter
1, we pointed this out before, but it's worth noticing again
how he addresses these believers to whom he writes his epistle. He describes them as strangers
and scattered. They were scattered due to persecution. But they were not strangers to
their God. They were known and loved by
Him. He knew who they were, every
one of them, and He knew where they were and what they were
going through. They were not strangers to the
great shepherd of the sheep either, were they? Because He said, I
know my sheep. I know them. He knows them intimately. And though they had suffered
the loss of earthly possessions, Peter reminds them of a much
greater inheritance. Look, if you will, at verses
3 and 4 in chapter 1. Peter says, Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which has, according
to his abundant mercy, had 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 in heaven for you." And to that
reserved inheritance, Peter tells them in verse 5, they'll be preserved
to it. That inheritance is reserved
in heaven for them, and they'll be kept for that inheritance,
verse 5, rather. who are kept by the power of
God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
day." Remember our Lord told his disciples the night of his
arrest, right before he went to the garden. He said, I go
to prepare a place for you. a place for you. And if I go,
I'll come again and receive you, that where I am, there ye may
be also." A prepared place for a prepared people. He says, I
do this for you, and for you I'll come again. Peter says the
same thing in those verses that we just read. And then in chapter
2, he tells them of that one who is their treasure, that one
who is the most precious. And before we go there, I want
to read you a few verses of what our Lord said in his Sermon on
the Mount, as we call it. In Matthew chapter 6, three verses,
then we'll go back to chapter 2 of 1 Peter. But in Matthew
6, verse 19, our Lord said, "'Lay not up for yourselves treasures
upon earth, "'where moth and rust doth corrupt, "'and where
thieves break through and steal. "'But lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven, "'where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, "'and
where thieves do not break through nor steal. "'For where your treasure
is, there will your heart be also. And Jesus Christ, as Peter
tells us in these verses, and our Lord in Matthew 6, Jesus
Christ himself is our treasure. Is he not? He's our treasure. Three times in those verses that
we read from chapter 2, Peter uses the word precious. In verse
4, in verse 6, and then again in verse 7. And each time, every
time, he's referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 4, Peter
tells us he's precious to God. Let's read it again. To whom
coming, always coming, as unto a living stone, that's referring
to Christ, of course, disallowed indeed of men, but, but chosen
of God and precious. Men said, we'll not have him
rule over us. As the prophet foretold, when
he was on earth, there would be no beauty that they would
desire him. But Peter says, concerning God,
God's estimation of his son, he says, but chosen of God and
precious. How precious is the Lord Jesus
Christ to God the Father? To God the Father. Consider this,
that God cannot save a sinner without the Lord Jesus Christ.
He cannot extend mercy without the Lord Jesus Christ. When we
read in the Old Testament that He said, deliver his soul from
going down to the pit, that guilty sinner, not because he doesn't
deserve to go to hell. No, no, that's not the basis
of being delivered. Deliver his soul because I found
a ransom. Something has satisfied my justice. I found a ransom, and the ransom
was the precious blood of Jesus Christ. That's why God. Only
because of Christ, what He did in life, and the ransom He paid
for all of His redeemed in death, that's why God can be just. That's
important. That's important. Mercy never
is exercised. Mercy is never extended to a
sinner at the expense of God's justice. When God saves a sinner,
He's just in doing so. on the basis of what Jesus Christ
himself did on the behalf of his people. So he is precious
to God. And then again in verse 6, Peter
says, also it is contained in the scripture, this is from Isaiah
chapter 28, he quotes, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect precious. Precious again. And he that believeth
on him shall not be condemned. He'll not be put to shame. He'll
never be cast out. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. And then look at verse 7. The
third time, Peter says, unto you therefore which believe,
you've learned it as well. God knows he's precious, but
unto you that believe, you that have tasted, He is precious. Jesus Christ himself is our treasure. He's our inheritance. He himself
will make heaven the heavens of heaven. The glory of glory
lies right here. Thank God that there'll be no
more pain. I believe that. Look forward
to that. No more tears. No sorrow of any kind. But the
heaven of heaven is this. They shall see him. Can you imagine
that? to see that one who loved me
and gave himself for me. Behold, John said, what manner
of love is this, that we should be called the sons of God? And
right now, it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but when he
shall appear." When Christ himself shall appear, we shall be like
him, for we shall see him as he is. The riches of all that
God is and all that God has will be bestowed upon his people in
him and will come to us because of him. One writer said this
could have well been translated in verse 7 like this. Unto you
therefore which believe, he is the preciousness. Not just precious,
but preciousness itself. Have you not found it to be so? Have you not found it to be so
in your experience of grace? Have you not found Jesus Christ
to be the most precious thing that there is to your heart and
soul? And how precious, especially as you look back, Look back to
that time when how precious that His grace appeared, that hour
that you first believed. I like reading old John Bunyan's
Pilgrim's Progress. You're familiar with that work,
his most famous work. At one time, I don't know that
it's still true, but it had sold, or rather outsold every book
ever written except the Bible itself. But old Bunyan's Pilgrim,
has that burden on his back, and he can't get rid of it. He
just can't shake it off, that burden representing his sin,
his guilt, his condemnation. Until one day, Bunyan wrote,
Pilgrim Christian came up to the cross, came up to the cross,
and he said, just as he came up to the cross, that great burden,
that load upon his back, fell off his shoulders and began to
tumble down the hill to where it tumbled into the sepulcher
and he said, I saw it again no more forever. And he stood there
weeping, weeping because it was a great wonder to him that at
the sight of the cross he should lose that burden. And Bunyan
went on to write that Christian gave three leaps and went on
his way singing, blessed cross, blessed sepulcher, blessed rather
be, the man who was there put to shame for me. Oh yes, precious flow of that
precious blood, precious faith that he grants to all of his
chosen and all glorious and precious redemption. But it's all summed
up. in Jesus Christ himself. It's
all included in him, our preciousness. Thank God for that grace which
is in Christ Jesus. How precious, I often wonder,
in reading through the Gospels, the history of our Lord being
on earth, how many people applied to him. And as he himself taught,
all that come unto me I will in no wise cast out. Whosoever
cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. Come unto me,
he said, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. And every one that did, every
one that did truly come to him, feeling their need of his mercy
and grace, they found it, did they not? And oh, how precious
he appeared to them, blind Bartimaeus. When his eyes were opened, When
that day he sat at the gate of Jericho and heard the noise of
the multitude as they passed by and asked what it meant, and
being told that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by, and that blind
beggar begins to cry out, and Jesus Christ stops, and commands
Bartimaeus to be brought to him, what do you want? That I might
receive my sight. And his eyes were opened, and
the first thing he beheld was the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, how precious our Lord must
have appeared in the eyes of Bartimaeus. Or that leper, that
poor outcast that the law had pronounced unclean, When he met
Jesus on the road that day and knelt before him and said, if
you will, if you will, we cannot overemphasize how urgent those words were,
how heartfelt and sincere that man was that said them. Lord,
if you will. That's my only hope. That's the
only hope I have. If you will, you can make me
clean." And what a joy must have flooded that poor man's soul
when our Lord reached out and did something no one else would
do. They wouldn't touch him. They wouldn't go near him. That
man was unclean. But our Lord, as he spoke those
precious words, I will, reached out and touched that cankerless
dying man and said, Be thou clean. I will. I will. He said, I'd
like to show mercy. And it's not of him that willeth,
Paul wrote. It wasn't the will of the leper
that wrought his cure, but it was the will of King Jesus. Not
of him that willeth, but of God that showeth mercy. It's his
will that brings the cure, not mine. He said, be thou clean. And what was the result? He was
clean. He was clean. Just as he spoke
to that cripple that we talked about this morning. Thy sins
are forgiven thee and they were done. What grace, what power,
what virtue flows from him to every needy sinner that he touches. What a fullness, what a supply,
what a treasure house of his amazing grace is stored up for
all of his people. One hymn writer expressed it
like this. Jesus is the one thing needful. Oh, our precious Lord
and Savior, every true and every faithful will sing His praise
forever. What mercy from His bosom flows
to every true believer. He put away the countless woes
of us poor needy sinners. Oh, blessed are His saints indeed.
Christ Jesus is our Savior, and everything that we can need is
ours in Him forever. Is that not so? All grace, all
mercy, all acceptance. Paul said God has made Him to
be unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Now look again with me at verse
7. Unto you therefore which believe,
he is precious, our treasure. Unto you that what? How can any
sinner possess such a treasure? How can any sinner have Christ? Unto you therefore that work? That's not what it says. A lot
of poor folks think they can have Christ that way, but no,
that's not what the text says. As a matter of fact, we read
in scripture, not of works, not of works, lest any man should
boast. You that keep the law, also we
read, by the deeds of the law, shall no flesh be justified in
his sight. You that reform, You that make
resolutions, you that turn over a new leaf, and you'll find out
after you've turned over every leaf on the tree that the problem
is in the root. The whole tree is corrupt because
the root's corrupt. And then we cry out, brought
to this place by his mercy, what must I do to be saved? Believe. Believe. This is what Peter writes. Unto you therefore which believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Trust him. Fall down on Him. Cast the weight of your immortal
soul on Him and find that He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come unto God by Him. Unto you, therefore, which believe. Look back, if you will, in chapter
1 of 1 Peter at verse 6. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, Though
now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold
temptations, that the trial of your faith being much more precious
than of gold that perishes." Oh, precious faith, precious
gift of God. though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love, in whom though
now ye see him not yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory. Unto you that believe." That's
the good news of the gospel, isn't it? The vilest offender,
The hymn writer said, and it's so. The vilest offender that
truly believes that moment from Jesus, a pardon receives. Isn't that good news? Look and
live. God says, look unto me and be
ye saved for I am God and there is none else. And notice secondly,
unto you therefore which believe, he, he is precious. Christ himself. He is beyond value, is he not? Our treasure, the Lord himself,
is that pearl of great price. Everything about him is precious.
Exactly like the bride in Solomon's song declared, he's altogether
lovely. There's not a flaw in him. He's
altogether perfect. Precious life. Precious blood. Precious faith. Precious promises. But all those are made precious
by his own precious person. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. And then it's a good hope if
that's worth living for and dying for. A good hope in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Remember when A multitude of
people in John 6, because they thought he had uttered some things
hard, just a hard saying, they said, who can bear it? And they
turned and walked away. And he looked at the 12 and said,
do you also want to go away? You remember what Peter said.
You remember what Peter said. And I declare, child of God,
if you can say the same thing, you are a blessed man or woman.
Peter said to the Lord Jesus Christ in answering that question,
do you want to go away? Peter said, to whom shall we
go? To whom shall we go? Isn't that a wonderful place
to be brought to, Lonnie? Got nowhere else to go. Don't
want to go. I'm convinced that you have the
words of eternal life and you alone. We've got nowhere else
to go. And as Peter would write, he
is the preciousness, preciousness itself. He's perfect God and
perfect man, a perfect redeemer. Turn, if you will, to Hebrews
chapter 1. Hebrews 1 and verse 3. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ,
in verse 3, who, being the brightness of his glory, who else could
that be speaking of? And the express image of his
person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when
he had by himself, don't you like that? When he had by himself
attempted, no, when he had by himself purged our sins. After he did it, after he got
the job done, when he had purged our sins, carried them all away,
as far as the east is from the west, so far as he removed our
sins from us, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high. Oh, what a precious redeemer
he is. Turn, if you will, in Hebrews
to chapter 9. Chapter 9, verse 11. But Christ being come, and high
priest of good things to come, by a greater, greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not
of this building, 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." What a perfect Redeemer. And not only a perfect Redeemer,
he's a perfect mediator. There is one God, Paul wrote,
One God, and one mediator between God and man, and that's the man,
Christ Jesus. He's the only mediator that God
recognizes. He's the only mediator that God
accepts. He's the only mediator that prevails
with God. Mary is not the mediator. Mary
needed Christ as a mediator, just as every other sinner. But
God accepts His Son. And he accepts us in his Son.
In Revelation chapter 14 we read John said he beheld the Lamb. A Lamb stood on Mount Zion. Glorious picture. Victorious
Redeemer. But he's not alone. John said
with him. all his elect, represented by
that hundred and forty and four thousand with him. All those
he chose, all those he redeemed, all those he called, they're
with him in time. They all must be with him. They
all must be with him or he would be incomplete. He's the head,
the church is his body. He's the bridegroom. The church
is his bride. If he doesn't receive every member
of that body, his full bride, he would be an incomplete Savior,
and that'll never happen because he's a perfect Savior, is he
not? Every divine attribute blends
in perfect harmony in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the
psalmist said. Mercy and truth meet together. Only in him. Righteousness and
peace kiss each other. Only in him. Turn, if you will,
to Psalm 45, the 45th Psalm. Look how he's described here.
Psalm 45, verse 2. Psalm 45 and 2. Thou art fairer
than the children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips.
Therefore, God has blessed thee forever. Gird thy sword upon
thy thigh, O Most Mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. And
in thy majesty ride prosperously, because of truth and meekness
and righteousness. And thy right hand shall teach
thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the
hand of the king's enemies, whereby the people shall fall under thee. Thy throne, O God, is for ever
and ever. Thy scepter of thy kingdom is
a right scepter. Thou lovest righteousness and
hatest wickedness. Therefore God thy God hath anointed
thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Grace is poured
into thy lips. Oh, and indeed it was. Indeed
it was. Listen, I will be thou clean. Oh, full of grace and truth.
Or this, thy sins which are many are all forgiven thee. Or this,
grace is indeed poured into his lips. when he says, today thou
shalt be with me in paradise. And what a gracious proclamation
this was, it is finished. His lips with grace overflowed. And then notice in our text again,
he is precious, is. Not was, but he is, present tense. Always so. Always so. Always full of grace and truth.
Always has all power in heaven and earth. Is always mighty to
save. This is always true. He'll never
forget his own. He can always be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities. Yes, we must tell Jesus. Joshua, when the time came for
him to die, in Joshua chapter 23, he gathered the elders, the
leaders of Israel around and he spake these words to them
in Joshua chapter 23, verses 1 through 3. Listen to this. And it came to pass a long time
after that the Lord had given rest unto Israel from all their
enemies round about, that Joshua waxed old and stricken in age. And Joshua called for all Israel,
and for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges,
and for their officers, and said unto them, I am old and stricken
in age. And you have seen, and ye have
seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto all these nations
because of you, because of you. For the Lord your God is he that
hath fought for you. And then down in verse 14 Joshua
went on to say this, And behold, this day I am going the way of
all the earth. And you know that in all your
hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed
of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning
you. All are come to pass unto you,
and not one thing hath failed thereof. All but our Joshua,
our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, he exclaims of all that the Father
gave him, He should lose none. Not today, not tomorrow, not
ever. Father, I will. I will. That all those you give me be
with me where I am. I read a statement by Augustus'
top lady the other day and he said this. He said, death to
God's people is but a ferry boat. Every day and every hour, the
boat pushes off with some of the saints and then returns again
for more. I like that. Why? Because our
great captain of our salvation, that one who is himself our treasure,
our preciousness, he wills that all those the Father gave him
be with him where he is. Our treasure is Christ himself. and he cannot be lost. He cannot
be destroyed. He can never be taken away from
one of His own. What a loving, lasting union
exists between Christ and His church. Now unto Him that is
able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless
before the throne of His glory, unto Him be glory and majesty,
dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. Amen. God bless you.