The title of my message tonight
is The Difference. I want to show you the difference
between God's elect and the reprobate as it is set forth in this book.
The difference between those who are saved and those who are
lost. Now obviously this difference is given in many places in different
ways in the Word of God. So tonight let's just look at
1 Peter chapter 2. And let's see how this difference
is set before us by the Apostle Peter as he wrote by divine inspiration
the second chapter of his first epistle. Understand at the outset
that the difference is a difference that grace has made, is making,
and will make. The only difference between you
and any reprobate in hell. The only difference between me
and any lost sinner anywhere in God's creation is the difference
that grace has made. It's not a difference of nature.
It's not a difference of choice. Not a difference of work or things
done by me. It's a difference that grace
has made, who maketh thee to differ from another. What hast thou that thou didst
not receive? If thou didst receive it, why
dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? Let's begin
tonight in 1 Peter 2 at verse 3. If so be ye have tasted that
the Lord is gracious. Peter admonishes us, so taste
and see that the Lord is good. Have you tasted that the Lord
is gracious? Some things just have to be tasted
to be known. Have you tasted that the Lord
is gracious? The Lord Jesus tasted death for
us. We've tasted the good word of
God. We've tasted the gift, the heavenly
gift of God, God the Spirit. We've tasted that the Lord is
gracious. To whom coming? as unto a living
stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious.
Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house and
holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God
by Christ Jesus. Some of us have tasted that the
Lord is gracious, that he's good. We've experienced these things.
Trust in Christ, we find him full of grace. And because he
is gracious, we have come to him, we are coming to him, and
we shall come to him. When we read these words, to
whom coming, understand that believing souls are continually
coming to Christ. Most people think about religious
experience this way. I remember when I came to the
Lord. If you just remember when you came to the Lord, you haven't
come to him. To whom? Coming. Salvation begins, in
the experience of it, coming to Christ. Come unto me all you
that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. He is
able to save to the uttermost all them that come to God by
him. Look unto me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth, for
I am God. Beside me there is none else. This thing and the
experience of it begins with coming to Christ. And salvation
is a continual coming to him. Brother Merrill just read a little
bit ago, pray without ceasing. What's he talking about? Is he
suggesting, as some foolishly imagine, that we ought to ignore
responsibilities in life and just spend our days reading our
Bibles and praying? No. No. Pray without ceasing,
continually, walk with God and walk before God by faith, trusting
Christ, ever seeking His direction, His guidance, depending on Him,
coming to Him. And salvation, blessed be His
name, will soon be consummated, coming to Him. Soon we shall
see Him as He is. We shall awake in his likeness,
then we shall be satisfied when we are created fully, completely,
perfectly in his likeness in the resurrection. Christ is the
foundation stone, we read here, the living stone. laid by God
Almighty before our eyes as the foundation laid in Zion upon
which God builds his house, his spiritual house, his temple,
the church of God. The church of God is his spiritual
house. We look at the tabernacle. We've been studying that in the
book of Exodus. Look at the temple that followed it. They're called
the house of God. But those were merely physical
structures representing God's house. God's people, His church,
are His spiritual house. A living spiritual house built
by God on Christ Jesus the Lord. We're described here as a holy
priesthood. a holy priesthood continually
offering up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Christ Jesus
our Lord. More on that in just a little
bit. Read on. Look at verse 6. Wherefore also it is contained
in the Scripture. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, the Lord Jesus, elect, precious, chosen of God,
and precious. He that believeth on him shall
not be confounded. Unto you, therefore, which believe,
he is precious. Unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made
the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense,
even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient,
whereunto also they were appointed. What a difference. there is between
the believer and the unbeliever. To you who believe, Christ is
precious. The choicest of all gifts, the
greatest of all blessings, precious. That for which men and women
forsake all that they may have him and follow him. To the unbeliever,
Christ is insignificant. He's really despised, disallowed,
not even allowed in existence. Despised, insignificant. He's that which you can take
or leave. He's that which you can choose
or not choose. He's that which you can use or
not use. To the believer, he's precious.
To the believer, Christ in all his person and work is a solid
rock of stability on which we're built and on which we build.
To the unbeliever, everything about Christ as he's revealed
in this book, all his person and all his work is a stumbling
stone and a rock of offense. You read the word of God and
you, oh man, what a blessing. The fellow sitting beside you
reads that and says, well, what does that mean? You read the book and you, oh,
thank God for showing me that. Your brother or your sister sitting
beside you looks at that and says, well, I don't know what,
I believe that or not. Everything about it. Everything about it,
his person, his work, the glorious accomplishments of Christ at
Calvary, his righteousness, his atonement, his redemption, his
grace. It's all a matter over which many women who seek to
make themselves righteous in their own consciences and before
God stumble into hell. A stone of stumbling and a rock
of offense. To you who believe, the book
here says believing on Christ. being built on this foundation
stone, being built on this rock, you shall never be confounded. Never be confounded. Do you know
that's translated variously in the scriptures as it's given
in different places? You shall never be confounded. You shall
never be confused. You shall never be ashamed. You
shall never make haste. And I've often wondered, how
is it that there's a connection between being confounded, being
confused, being ashamed, and getting in a hurry? Well, there's
a lot of difference. I mean, there's a lot of connection.
When you're confused and confounded and ashamed, you're always in
a hurry. You're always, Brother Larry
told some of us, Somebody drive up last night in the middle of
the night, backing into their driveway, you're a little confounded. You rush in a hurry to go do
something to protect the family because nothing's steady. It
seems everything's in jeopardy. Make haste. To you who believe, never be confounded, confused,
ashamed, so you don't ever have to get in a hurry. What's that
mean? I stand before God Almighty and
I live in the prospect of eternity. I seek to be consciously aware
of death with every breath. I seek by God's grace to be consciously
aware that soon I will breathe my last breath and meet God in
judgment. On the person and work of God's
Son I stand. Own Christ the solid rock I stand. Completely at ease. Everything else is just sinking
sand and you'll get in a hurry. You understand what I'm saying?
The unbeliever, the religious fella, he's easily confounded. He's always confused. He's ever
ashamed of that which he trusts, and he's always in a hurry. Now
let's look at verses 9 and 10. Here's the difference grace has
made. We read just a little bit ago in 1 Thessalonians 5, God
hath not appointed us to wrath. These unbelievers are disobedient,
whereunto all say they were appointed, but God hasn't appointed us to
wrath. but to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Christ. Now look at verse 9, but ye are
a chosen generation, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a priesthood
made up of only kings, a holy nation, a holy nation, a nation
pure before God, a peculiar people that you should show forth the
praises of Him. And the word show forth means
publish, that you should publish the praises of Him who hath called
you out of darkness into His marvelous light, which in time
past were not a people. but are now the people of God,
which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Here's the first thing. Here's
the first difference. Peter tells us that the reason
why we are saved, though others are lost. The reason why we believe,
when others refuse to believe. The reason why we trust Christ,
when others don't trust Christ. is God's free, sovereign, electing
love and mercy and grace. Oh, how we ought to rejoice and
give thanks to God for his election. Our Lord Jesus said, ye have
not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you. Thank God
for electing love. We're bound to give thanks all
the way unto God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Isn't that
amazing? God chose you. He chose you unto
salvation through sanctification of the Spirit. That is, salvation
by the regenerating work of God the Holy Spirit and belief of
the truth. Salvation by hearing and believing
the gospel whereunto He called you by our gospel. 1 Peter 2, elect according to the
foreknowledge, according to the foreordination, according to
the everlasting eternal approval, according to the infinite everlasting
love 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. The Lord God speaks of you and
me, we who believe this way. He calls us my people, my chosen. He says, this people have I formed
for myself. This people have I formed for
myself. God said, I made you especially
for me. I formed this people for myself.
I formed this people for myself, for this purpose. They shall
show forth my praise. Being regenerated by grace, begotten
of God through his abundant mercy and his incorruptible seed, born
again by that incorruptible seed, we are counted by the Lord for
a generation. The seed that shall serve him,
his children, men and women, made akin to God by adopting
grace. Made akin to God, his sons and
daughters. The Lord Jesus is our head, our
husband, our brother. We're his body, his members,
his brethren, a chosen generation. Now listen to this. John Trapp
wrote this. I don't think I'd ever read this
before just preparing this message. He interprets these words, a
chosen generation like this, a picked people, dearly beloved
of God's soul, such as he first chose for his love and then loves
for his choice. Oh, a picked people, dearly beloved
of God's own soul, a people he first chose for his love and
a people he now loves for his choice. "'Tis not that I did
choose thee, for, Lord, that could not be. This heart would
still refuse thee, hadst thou not chosen me. Thou from the
sin that stained me hast cleansed and made me free. Of old thou
hast ordained me that I should live to thee. for sovereign mercy
called me and taught my opening mind that the world had else
enthralled me to heavenly glories blind. My heart, O God, my heart
owns none before Thee. For Thy rich grace I thirst,
this knowing, if I love Thee, Thou must have loved me first.
In sovereign election, the Lord God Almighty reached into the
teeming masses of humanity, and pulled out for himself a people,
and makes from those people something altogether new, a new race, a
distinct, peculiar race. When God called Abraham out of
the earth of Chaldees, and called him to be the head of a new race,
the head of a new people, a covenant people. He created a nation and
a race of men that had not previously existed called the Hebrews, the
sons of Heber, the children of Abraham. And in his electing
love and mercy, God Almighty has made a race of men for himself,
his chosen generation. His chosen race, a people who
are called His own because He chose us to be His own. All right,
look at the second thing, a royal priesthood. Hold your hands here
and turn back to Exodus 19. Here's this second point of difference. You are a royal priesthood, a
royal priesthood. Back in Exodus 19 verse 6, the
Lord God says now, or verse 5, now therefore if you will obey
my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar
treasure unto me above all people for all the earth is mine. If
you shall obey my voice indeed. Well, you didn't do that. You
didn't do that. Oh, yes I did. In the person
of God's own son, I did. When God says if, God's given
a promise to his people. Read on. And you shall be unto
me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. A kingdom of priests. These are the words which thou
shalt speak unto the children of Israel, God said to Moses.
In Revelation chapter 1, the book begins in chapter 1 by describing
the Lord Jesus, our eternal savior, that one which is and which was
and which is to come. And it says, you have made us
unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.
In Revelation 5, as they cast their crowns before the Lamb
and worship Him that sits on the throne, the Lamb of God,
again they ascribe to Him glory and honor and praise, because
Thou hast made us kings and priests unto our God, and we shall reign
upon the earth. A royal priesthood. Kings are
folks who rule with power in this world. They rule with power in this
world. And believers are men and women
made kings by God so that they rule over their passions. They are ruled by grace, and
that grace by which they are ruled is the grace by which they
rule over their passions. Kings, historically at least,
I know these days we've got other things, but kings are rich, fellas. They're rich. You and I are possessors
of the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ. We wear the apparel
of kings, Christ's royal robe of righteousness. We live upon
the king's fair. We're kings. You remember Mephibosheth? David calls him to sit under
his table with his laying feet covered by the table and to sit
there and feed as one of the king's sons. And so we feed upon
the fair of kings. And we have the retinue, the
entourage of kings. Whenever you see a king, in these
old movies, you see fellas portraying kings at different times. Wherever
that king went, man, there's a whole passel of folks who followed
him, carrying stuff for him. The angels of God are with us
everywhere, all the time, watching over us, caring for us. Now,
turn back to Zechariah chapter six for just a second, let me
show you something. God's elect are kings, and they
are priests. The priests are men who had direct
access to God. The priests, the men and the
women, always lived at God's altar and upon God's altar. They
constantly did service in the tabernacle and the temple, offering
up sacrifices. You and I are a people. born
of God, washed in the blood of Christ, kings before him, who
do business continually, having direct access to God at the altar,
living at the altar, living upon the altar, offering up constant
sacrifice to God. In the Old Testament, there was
never such a thing as a king and a priest. They were separated
all the time, all the time. But the prophet spoke a strange
thing in Zechariah chapter 6. He spoke of one who would come
who would be a king and a priest. Zechariah 6, 13. Even he shall
build the temple, the temple of the Lord, this mighty one,
this is a rubber bull, the Lord Jesus. He shall bear the glory
and he shall sit and rule upon his throne. And he shall be a
priest upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between
them both. Christ Jesus is our king-priest. He sits on his throne. It's called
the throne of grace. It's called the mercy seat. And
in Christ, one with Christ, you and I who believe are kings and
priests. Back in 1 Peter 2, the second
chapter. Here's the third thing. God's
distinguished us as his own, as a chosen generation, as a
royal kingly priesthood, and thirdly, he makes his church
an holy nation. The ancient Israelites were separated
by God from all other people. They were externally sanctified. They were legally sanctified.
In order for them to do business with God, in order for them to
go offer a sacrifice, in order for them to keep a holy day,
in order for them to observe a Sabbath day, they had to be
legally, ceremonially sanctified. They had to go wash themselves,
cleanse themselves, and make atonement for themselves. Otherwise,
they could not come to God. But that external, legal sanctification
That external legal work by which they ceremonially sanctified
themselves or were sanctified by God's priest was but a picture
of something indescribably great and glorious. It's a picture
of real sanctification, of real holiness, of real redemption,
of internal grace, of internal sanctification. We being redeemed
by the precious blood of Christ have been washed with the washing
of regeneration by the Word of God internally by Jesus Christ
himself so that Christ is formed in us and we are sanctified a
holy nation, a holy nation. We're thereby made partakers
of the divine nature and made fit for heaven as partakers of
that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. In just
a few weeks, Lord willing, I'll be crossing the border of country
again, going to Mexico. Every year for a number of years,
I travel to some foreign country, sometimes two or three times
a year. Go somewhere preaching the gospel.
And I guess I've crossed, I have crossed the borders of this country,
north, south, east and west, several times. But I'll tell
you what you've got to have when you leave this country. Tell
you what you've got to have and go to another. You've got to
have three things and you can't do it without them. You've got
to have a birth certificate, the proof of citizenship. And
you've got to have a visa, which gives you the right to enter
the other country, the place where you're going. And you've
got to have a clean record. You got to have those things.
You are a holy nation. A holy nation. I have, as a part
of this holy nation, a birth certificate. I've been born of
God. What is that certificate? It
is faith in Jesus Christ the Lord. It's faith in Him. Made a new creature in Christ
Jesus. And I have a visa. The gospel
of God's free grace calls sinners up to heaven. Sinners are welcome
at the throne of God, sinners born of his grace. And I have
something else. I've got a clean record. Christ
by his blood has put away my sins. I am holy, sanctified before
God, a holy nation. Fourth. a peculiar people. God has distinguished
us from the rest of Adam's race, making us a peculiar people.
In Titus 2.14, the Lord Jesus, we're told, gave himself for
us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto
himself a peculiar people. Peculiar people. Now, when I
was growing up, Peculiar is a pretty good southern term. You'd look
at somebody who's, you know, just a step out of the nuthouse,
and you'd say, he's a little peculiar. He's a little peculiar. That's not what the word means.
Now, I've met a lot of peculiar people in churches where I go.
That's not what the word means. That's not what it means. They're
deliberately peculiar. They think you ought to talk
funny, dress funny, and act funny. That's not what the word means.
This word peculiar, Very distinct word. It means a possessed people. You're not your own. You're bought
with a price. You're not your own. Sometimes
people ask me, how on earth can you address people like you do? Because they're not theirs. You're
not your own. You're not your own, you're bought
with a price. When our daughter was growing up, she would often
hear me say to her, Faith, honey, I expect from you what I would
never expect from somebody else. I expect from you what I wouldn't
expect from folks who live next door. And I would explain the
reason, because you're mine. I expect more from you than I
do other folks. You're mine. You wear my name. Hear me, children of God. Alan
Kibbe, you belong to Jesus Christ, lock, stock, and barrel. You're possessed people. He chose
you. He bought you. He made you for
himself. This word peculiar means encircled,
encircled. As you get older, you love to
think about things you recall from younger days. I recall the
first time I heard Billy Elmer Harrell pray. Elmer was a deacon at Church
at Lookout. I started pastoring there in,
was it October of 1970, 71, somewhere in there. I can't remember. Doesn't
matter. Elmer was in Florida at the time. He and his wife
always went down there in the wintertime. He came back and led the congregation
in prayer. A man with a second grade education.
His parents died when he was seven years old and he started
doing different things, trying to make a living, keep himself
alive, just moved from pillar to post from then on. And a very
simple man, brilliant, devoted, joyful man. You remember, don't
you Larry? This is what he said, Lord ain't
camp around about us. I thought, that's a strange way
to talk. But that's just exactly how the psalmist speaks. He's
round about them that fear him. He encircles us. Imagine that. Encircled by God. Now what was it you said you
were afraid of? Encircled by God. Who's going to touch you?
Encircled by Him. This word peculiar. means protected. We're his own, possessed, encircled,
protected people. Oh, what a privilege. Well, why has he done this? Why
has God Almighty so distinguished us from the rest of the world? Here it is, that you should show
forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light. And the word show forth here
means publish. Publish the praises. Oh, children
of God, publish the praises of the triune Jehovah. Publish the
praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous
light. We get all excited about sports. Man, did you hear how the Cats
did last year? What they're going to do this
year? Did you see the fishing tournament? Did you see that
golf tournament? We get all excited about politics,
and we're man alive. We can get bent out of shape
talking about politics. Me too. Me too. Get bent out of shape
about this, will you? Just get bent out of shape. publishing
the praises of Him who called you. He called you out of darkness,
the utter darkness of sin and death and depravity into the
marvelous light of grace and truth and righteousness. You,
which in time past were just Gentiles, Not a people. Not a people. Remember how the
Jews talked about Gentiles? God, I think I'm not a woman
or a dog or a Gentile. Non-entities. Useless. Babbling. Ignorant. Idolatrous. Superstitious. People. Gentiles. Gentiles. You were not a people. but are now the people of God, the people of God, the people
of God, you who had not obtained mercy. There was no mercy known by you. Tasted by you, experienced by
you. You spent your life living in
hell and earning it. You spent your life living under
the wrath of God, under the sense of condemnation and guilt. No
mercy, no mercy. You remember? I remember it well. I remember well thinking to myself
that maybe that fellow could have mercy. Maybe that woman
could have mercy. But me, no possibility of mercy. No mercy. But now. I've obtained mercy. You've obtained
mercy. So you who are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, you who are
the people of God, you who have obtained mercy, publish the praises
of him who called you. Amen.