That was not a lunch, it was
a dinner. Thank you. I appreciated all
of the labor that went into fixing those wonderful foods that we
were allowed to enjoy. Thank God for the good fellowship
here at Grace Baptist Church of Hucumba. On the way down from rescue,
we turned the radio on. We could get an old country and
western station. All those old songs, I don't
know if you all like the old songs, but I grew up with Hank
Williams and Ernest Tubb and a few of those. But there's a
song that we heard that reminded me of our time with our children
when they were young. Our youngest son, Daniel, was
nicknamed Hungry. He came into this world hungry. He was a roly-poly little guy,
and I used to sing that song, Roly-Poly Daddy's Little Fatty,
Eating everything from soup to hay, Roly-Poly Daddy's Little
Fatty, Betty's going to be a man someday. Well, I didn't know
it, but it was a mystery to our children because we had friends
from our church, Bob and Betty Heitzman, who came over quite
often. And it was hard for our children
to understand how Betty could be a man someday. There was a
mystery to it, until I explained it. And, oh, we thought you were
singing that Betty was going to be a man someday. Well, I want you to turn to Joshua
chapter 4. There are many mysteries found
in the Word of God. Some cannot be explained, but
God gives his people faith to believe, even though we cannot
explain some of the mysteries. We believe God. We believe the
Word of God. One of the mysteries is the Trinity,
how three distinct persons can make up one glorious, majestic
God. I don't like to have people to
try to use illustrations. As a matter of fact, our Lord
tells us, not to who are you going to compare me to. People
say, well, you can explain it this way. Water can be frozen,
it's a solid, but it's still a liquid and it can be steam.
I don't like that. I just don't care for that. But
we do believe that there are three persons that make up this
one glorious God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I believe that because the Word
of God teaches that. But did you know those who claim,
many of them, who claim to believe in a Trinity actually deny the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? When they deny unconditional
election, they are denying God the Father. And many professing
Christians blatantly deny God's sovereign electing grace. God the Father chose us in Christ
before this world was ever created. That's the work of our Heavenly
Father in writing our names in the Lamb's Book of Life before
this world came into existence, before time began. And to deny
that is to deny Him. Those who believe that Christ
died for everybody, but some for whom Christ died are going
to go to hell, they are denying the work of God the Son at Calvary
for a particular people. And when they deny that, they
are denying God the Son. Now, you can paint a picture
any way you want to, but I'm just telling you the truth. You
deny the finished work of Christ. You deny the efficacious work
of Jesus Christ in redeeming his people, satisfying the holy
justice of God for a people who were given to him in the covenant
of grace by God the Father. You are denying Christ, God's
darling Son. You deny the sovereign, irresistible,
drawing power of God the Holy Spirit. If you believe that he's
trying to get you to come to him, and he can't do that because
you won't let him, you're denying God the Holy Spirit.
It is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit to take the things
of Christ and reveal them to God's people. God is of one mind. Three distinct persons, yes. but one mind who can turn them. So the Trinity might be a mystery,
but God's people not only believe in the Trinity, we believe in
the work of each person in the Trinity. That's for me. And there
are other mysteries. There's the mystery of the virgin
birth. There's the mystery of the God-man, Christ our Savior
becoming a man, two glorious Nature's 100% God and
100% man. There's the mystery of the new
birth. The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. You must
be born again. This is a mystery. To the unregenerate,
they don't understand this. And even to those who are enlightened
by God the Holy Spirit, we have experienced this. But folks,
it's a mystery how God can, by his own sovereign power, unite
us to him by faith." But we know this is true. Here in Joshua
4 is a mystery that our Lord Jesus was not pleased to reveal
to the Old Testament saints as clearly as it was revealed to
his apostles and the New Testament saints. Let me bring you up to
date. Moses had died. He represented the law. The law
of Moses could not bring peace and rest to anyone, so Moses
could not lead the children of Israel into the land of Canaan,
which I believe is a picture of our resting Christ. Joshua
is Israel's new leader. Joshua means the same as Jesus,
Savior. He is a type of our Christ who
is the way, the truth, and the life. And Joshua and Caleb and
the nation of Israel came to the Jordan River, and the priest
bearing the ark, as they stepped down into the river, the water
stood up on a heap, just like the Red Sea parted. God showing
that Joshua was his appointed leader over Israel, manifesting
that, and manifesting the way into the promised land. And the
priest bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm
on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, as Joshua had instructed
them." Now, all of this points to Christ and his church. All of it. Joshua points to Christ,
the priest points to Christ, the ark of the covenant points
to Christ, the water standing on a heap points to the power
of Christ. The path across Jordan points
to Christ, who is the only way to our Heavenly Father, to rest
and peace. It is the only way out of the
wilderness of unbelief into this living union with him. And Israel
points to those who were promised to Christ in the covenant of
grace back before time began. So it all points to Christ. Now
let me read in your hearing the first 11 verses of Joshua 4. Verse 1 says, And it came to
pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that
the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, Take ye twelve men out of the
people, out of every tribe of men, and command ye them, saying,
Take ye hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where
the priest's feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry
them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place where
ye shall lodge this night." Then Joshua called the twelve men
whom he had prepared of the children of Israel out of every tribe
a man. And Joshua said unto them, Pass
over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan,
and take you up, every man of you, a stone upon his shoulder,
according unto the number of the tribes of the children of
Israel, that this may be a sign among you, that when your children
ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by
these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That
the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant
of the Lord. When it passed over Jordan, the
waters of Jordan were cut off, and these stones shall be for
a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.' And the
children of Israel did so, as Joshua commanded, and took up
twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lord spake
unto Joshua. according to the number of the
tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them
unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there." Now,
notice the next verse, verse 9, "...And Joshua set up twelve
stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of
the priests which bear the ark of the covenant stood, and they
are there unto this day." Now, this is the mystery I was referring
to earlier, and I want to take you into the New Testament and
show you what I believe these twelve stones that were erected
in the middle of the River Jordan are pointing to. But let me first
of all read what we're hearing in Joshua 4, the last few verses,
verses 20-24. And those twelve stones which
they took out of Jordan, verse 20, did Joshua pitch and gilgal? That's almost 3 miles from the
river bank. They moved those stones in almost
12 miles to Gilgal. And he spake, Joshua spake unto
the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask
their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then ye shall let your children
know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For
the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before
you until ye were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the
Red Sea, which he dried up from before us until we were gone
over, that all the people of the earth might know the hand
of the Lord, that it is mighty, that ye might fear the Lord your
God for ever." Now those twelve stones were a memorial to point
God's chosen people to Christ. Now, I know that all of Israel
were not Israel. I know that faithful parents,
as they had the opportunity, told their children about this
exciting event that took place under the leadership of Joshua
when the Jordan River just stood up on a heap. And those people
under the leadership of Joshua crossed over on that path God
had made right into the Promised Land. I know they were faithful
in telling their children that. But how many of those people
who heard that story understood about the meaning of this, how
it was a memorial, how it points to Jesus Christ? Some did. All of the Old Testament saints
believed in Jesus Christ, they all looked forward to that fountain
that would be open for sin and uncleanness. All of those saints
in the Old Testament had the same faith that we have. They
all died in faith. So some of them knew. When the
animal sacrifices were offered, those who had faith knew that
those animal sacrifices pointed to Christ. They didn't have,
I don't believe, the understanding that God gave the apostles, but
they understood this much. They understood that Christ was
the one who was to come, and all of those things pictured
Christ, and our Lord Jesus fulfilled them all when he came. Now let
me take you over to Luke 3. Those 12 stones that were taken
out of the riverbed, like I said earlier, were moved
to Gilgal, and they stood as a memorial for the Israelites.
Generation after generation after generation of Israelites heard
the story. But what about those twelve stones
that were set up in the middle of the River Jordan? I believe
the twelve stones that were set up on the banks of the River
Jordan Those stones pointed to God's chosen people in the Old
Testament. I believe those twelve stones
in the middle of the river point to God's chosen people in the
New Testament. Now, for centuries, not much,
I don't know of anything in the Old Testament that has reference
to those twelve stones that were set up in the middle of the River
Jordan. It's a mystery. But I know this much. They were
there for a reason. They're very significant. And
I believe the mystery of those twelve stones in the middle of
the River Jordan starts to unfold right here in Luke chapter 3.
Now some people believe, and I think they're probably right,
that though those stones were in the middle of the river and
when the water started flowing again, they couldn't be seen
very clearly, but the tops of them could be seen. Some people
believe the tops of those twelve stones, they were set up one
on top of another and they were erected, and the tops of them
could be seen. Some believe it was just a ripple
from the current where boats could avoid them, and John Gill
said when the river was clear, the stones were very, very visible. I like what you said about John
Gill, I read him too, but I have to be honest, he is too deep
for my peanut brain at times. I understand that some of the
history that he brings out, referring to what the Jews believed on,
that could be very important, but for me to wade through all
of that to get to what I want to know about the meaning of
the text, I just cannot sit there and read that over and over and
over until I get to what... I have to skip down and I'm afraid
I'll miss something. But I didn't miss this. John
Gill said that when John the Baptist was baptizing, it was
probably right there where Joshua led the people out of the wilderness
right into the promised land. And those twelve stones were
visible. With that in mind, listen to
this, Luke 3, verses 7 and 8. We read, Then said he, that is
John the Baptist, to the multitude that came forth to be baptized
of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from
the wrath to come. Oh, how we need to warn people
that God's wrath is coming. Now, this was written John spoke
these words 2,000 years ago and he was warning the people that
the wrath of God is coming. God is willing to show his wrath. He endures with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction that he might make
known his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had aforeprepared
unto glory. He's coming back, but there's
still some of his lost sheep that have not yet been brought
into the fold when that last one for whom he died is brought
into the fold. Look out, he's coming in flaming
fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God. and those
who obey not the gospel of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
But listen to verse 8. He was warning these snakes to
flee from the wrath to come. He says in verse 8, "...bring
forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not
to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our fathers,
for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise
up children unto Abraham." And John Gill says he believes that
John the Baptist was referring to those twelve stones in the
middle of the River Jordan. It couldn't be the twelve stones
that they brought out and erected on the river bank. They moved
those in almost three miles. They couldn't see those. What
John the Baptist is saying to those Jews, don't think that
you're going to be a child of God because you're a direct descendant
of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. God is able, of these
stones, to raise up children unto Abraham. God has his elect
people, and he has redeemed them. as we heard this morning out
of every kindred and tongue and tribe and nation. Those twelve stones on the riverbank,
those twelve stones in the middle of the River Jordan add up to
twenty-four. We heard from Brother Fortner,
reading right from the book of Revelation this morning, where
those 24 elders represent the Church of God. 12 plus 12 is
24. 144,000. What's 12 times 12? 144. When John was on the Isle of Patmos,
he heard 144,000. How do you hear 144,000? When he turned, he saw the same
people that he heard, and it was a number that could not be
numbered. It's symbolic. The 24 elders
are symbolic of God's chosen people, those who were redeemed
by the blood of Jesus Christ. The 144,000 are symbolic of God's
chosen people who were redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Now let me take you over to Ephesians 3. John the Baptist was saying
to those generation of vipers the same thing that the Apostle
Paul wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in Romans
2. You don't have to turn there.
Verses 28 and 29, when he said, For he is not a Jew, which is
one outwardly, neither is the circumcision, which is outward
in the flesh. but he is a Jew which is one
inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit,
and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of
God." So Paul was telling those Jews who were trusting in their
position as far as their bloodline, being a descendant of Abraham
through one of the twelve tribes. Those who were trusting in the
flesh, he was telling them, you're not a Jew. That circumcision
of the flesh, that's not the true circumcision. A Jew is one
inwardly. Circumcision is of the heart.
God must jerk out that old stony heart and give us a new heart.
And then we won't trust in the flesh. We'll praise our God. from this new heart. We heard
about that this morning. So John the Baptist was telling
those Jews the very same thing that the Apostle Paul was persecuted
for. Did you know that's why the Jews
persecuted him from city to city? Because he was teaching that
God has a people that were redeemed by the blood of Christ. It does
not matter what color your skin is. It does not matter how much
education you have or how much money you have, what matters
is that God circumcises the heart. God calls you out of darkness
into his marvelous light. God performs the miracle of the
new birth, uniting you to himself. This is the gospel, that God
himself is doing this through what Christ has done for us.
And so this mystery that we are attempting to explain from the
New Testament points to God's chosen people from every race,
every kindred and tongue. There is only one body, folks. One body. One head over that
body. Jesus Christ is our glorious
head. And all of those who were given
to him by God the Father are his own people. by virtue of
his payment that he made back at Calvary 2,000 years ago. Are you in Christ? That is the
question to ask yourself. Am I in him? Has God revealed
him to me? Has God revealed Christ in me?
When it pleased God, the Apostle Paul said, who separated me from
my mother's womb and revealed his Son in me." Those who have
Christ dwelling in them rejoice in the one who loved us and gave
himself for us. We give him the praise and the
glory. Paul was persecuted because he
believed this very truth that God tore down that middle wall,
a partition between Jew and Gentile, and made of two one new man,
so making peace. Paul, when he was a proud Pharisee,
He would have, if he could have, killed John the Baptist for what
he said. He was an arrogant, self-righteous
man who hated Christ and hated those who loved Christ until
he experienced the new birth. Then he understood, and God revealed
to him that he had his people everywhere, and Paul was sent
as an apostle to the Gentiles, preaching this glorious gospel.
You're neither Jew nor Greek, and a bomb, or free, or one in
Christ. And the Jews hated him. Peter would never have gone into
the house of Cornelius if God had not revealed to him that
what God has cleansed, Peter was not to call common or unclean.
And that referred to the Gentiles being brought into the fold.
And here in Ephesians chapter 3, the Apostle Paul, writing
to the church at Ephesus, is explaining this mystery he even
uses the word mystery in these verses that I'm going to read
to you. Starting at verse 1 of chapter 3 of Ephesians, we read,
For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
if you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is
given me to youward, how that by revelation he made known unto
me the mystery as I wrote afore in few words, whereby when you
read you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which
in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is
now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit."
Verse 6, "...that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of
the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ by the
gospel. It was a mystery that wasn't
revealed to those people in the Old Testament as it is now revealed
to those in the New Testament, especially to his apostles. But
they understood in part. It wasn't that they were completely
ignorant. It wasn't revealed to them as it is now revealed
to us. And this is that mystery. that
the Gentiles should be in that same body of believers as the
Jews united to him by faith through
what Christ did for all of his people out of the nation of Israel
and out of every kindred and tribe and nation. Now there were
sketches, there were some Gentiles brought in, there was Ruth, Rahab
the harlot, the town of Nineveh, But not like it is now, where
the gospel is going out to every nation. Aren't you thankful that
God brought you under the preaching of his glorious gospel? Because,
folks, I'm going to tell you, there are millions and millions
and millions of people out there who not only have not been blessed
by coming under the sound of the gospel, they don't want to
be under the sound of the gospel. And we were just like them. If
it had not been for the grace of God, we would have continued
Right through that doormark death hating God like we heard this
morning without enmity in us Hating him and drinking iniquity
like water and not even not even concerned about our eternal soul
now Paul in Ephesians chapter 2 Starting at verse 18 he referred
to this mystery that he wrote a few for in a few words But
in starting at verse 18 he says for through him That is through
Christ We both, both Jew and Gentile, have access by one spirit
unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints
and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth unto an holy temple of the Lord, in whom ye also are
built together for the inhabitation of God through the Spirit." So
Paul wrote, and there are some other passages we could read
that have reference to this, Paul wrote about this mystery,
and he explained this mystery in the third chapter, that the
Gentiles would be of that same body. So if I was going to title
this message, I would call it Living Stones. Turn with me to
1 Peter 2, if you would. There was a time when we were
without Christ, without God, without hope, without understanding,
dead in trespasses and sins, on that broad road that leads
to destruction. But God who is rich in mercy,
I love that passage in Ephesians chapter 2, but God, but God who
is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ,
by grace we are saved, brethren, by grace. Jesus Christ, our great
Creator, condescended to come to this earth and take upon himself
a body of flesh. Now it's interesting, I don't
know if you've ever read this, but in the book of Hebrews, the
second chapter, we read that he took not upon him the nature
of angels, but upon him the seed of Abraham. Have you ever wondered why he
didn't say he took upon him the seed of Adam? If He did, that
would represent the whole human race. But He said He took on
them the seed of Abraham. If ye be Christ, then are ye
Abraham's seed, and theirs according to the promise. But this same
Christ, who created everything that we see, our Lord and our
God, came to this earth, and He walked before God the
Father perfectly. He did everything
that God the Father sent him to do. And while he was doing
that, he pleased God the Father. He did always that which pleased
God the Father. And he didn't come to change
the law, he came to fulfill the law. Did he do that? He did that
perfectly. Everything that was written in
the law of God, commanding us that we should do those things
which we couldn't do if we wanted to, Jesus Christ fulfilled the
law perfectly, and He established a perfect righteousness for me,
for you, for His people. We heard this morning, if you're
in Christ, if we're in Him, we're just as holy as God Himself. Now, I know people don't understand
that, but it's true. Did Christ sin? No. Not once. If I'm in Christ, I have not
sinned. Now, I know I'm a sinner. Don't
misunderstand me. In my walk on this earth, I am
nothing but sin. And maybe I can pop your bubble.
You're nothing but sin. Folks, I'm telling you the truth.
We need to realize this. In our most holiest moments,
there is enough sin in each one of us to make another devil.
It is a terrible picture, but that is what God's word portrays
concerning each one of us. It is not so much what we do,
it is what we are. But in Christ, Jesus Christ has
by himself purged every sin that we ever committed. They were
all laid on him. I like the way you brought that
out this morning, Brother Todd. He who knew no sin became sin
for us. God punished his only begotten
son, his darling son, looking upon him as guilty, guilty, guilty. That just overwhelms me because
I know that He's perfect. But my sins were laid upon Him. All of my iniquities were laid
upon Him. And if God has punished Christ
for my sins, He's a just God. He cannot punish me. Who can
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? God has justified
us. Jesus Christ was delivered for
our offenses, but he was raised again for our justification.
We've been reconciled to God by the death of His Son. And
this perfect obedience and this perfect sacrifice is ours. And by this perfect sacrifice,
He has perfected forever those that God the Father sanctified
and those who were sanctified by Christ at Calvary 2,000 years
ago. Brethren, we're without sin in
God's sight. Does that bless you? You know
where my sins are? removed from me as far as the
east is from the west and God remembers him against me no more.
And that's all because of Jesus Christ. I didn't do that. Jesus
Christ did it for me. And this is what he did when
he came to this earth. He came to do his Father's will. And he did it perfectly. But
he's back in glory right now. Ruling and reigning over this
whole universe and everything in it. I love to hear bold preachers
stand before God's people, pointing God's people to Jesus Christ
and talking about his sovereign rule over everything. He's not
trying to do anything. God has never tried to do anything.
Whatever God has determined to do, He does it, and nobody can
stop Him or stay in His hand or say, I didn't want to do it.
This is the God we serve. This is the God who came to us
when we were running from Him, hating Him as much as the devil
hates Him, and God arrested us by sovereign love, brought us
out of that old, horrible, terrible pit that we were in, right into
a relationship with himself. I tell you, there are people
who hate this gospel, who start making statements, what you're
saying... We're robots. God brings us against our will. We kick and scream. We don't
want to come, but God brings us anyway. The Bible doesn't
teach that, and no child of God believes that. God makes us willing
in the day of His power. You have the Holy Spirit working
in the heart of a hell-deserving sinner and revealing Christ to
that person. Nothing can keep that person
from coming to Christ. Because it's God himself who's
drawing us into this relationship with him. And this is the work
of Jesus Christ. And Peter is talking about these
stones. These stones that God has taken
out of that same quarry. God's elect in the Old Testament. God's elect in the New Testament.
We all came out of that same core, just polluted in our own
sinful, lustful self. And God just reaches right there,
pulls us out of that miry clay, washes us in the blood of Jesus
Christ, polishes us by His grace, places us in His holy temple
as living stones, monuments of his amazing grace, giving him
all the praise and all the glory for who he is and for what he
has done. And Peter is talking about these
living stones, starting at verse 5 of 1 Peter chapter 2. We read Peter saying, You also
as lively stones, living stones. God has quickened us. He has given us life. How do
I know if God has given me life? How did Lazarus know that God
had given him life when he called him out of the grave? He came
forth! He heard the voice of Jesus Christ! And if our Lord had just said,
All of those in the graves around me came forth. But he spoke personally
to Lazarus and he said, come forth. And Lazarus didn't hesitate. He came forth. And God calls
every one of His sheep by name. Eshumu, come forth. I tell you
what, this thrills me because He called me. It doesn't thrill
those who haven't been called But those who have heard the
voice of Jesus Christ, and He said, our Lord Himself said,
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and
I give unto them eternal life. He gives that life. He doesn't
offer it, He gives it. And when He gives that life,
when He quickens us, When he makes us alive, we are aware
of the power of God in delivering us from darkness and translating
us into his kingdom, and we believe the gospel. I was telling Todd
after the services this morning how I appreciated that message.
And there are times, there are times when I shake my head and ask myself, how can you possibly think you
are a child of God? after entertaining such a sinful
thought. And when I hear the gospel, my
heart just jumps. My heart just leaps. I just know
that God has revealed that to me. I thrill not in what I am
and who He is and what He has done for me and what I am now
as a child, but not in anything I have done. My hope is in Christ. And it's Christ in you, the hope
of glory. So Peter's talking about this.
God has taken us out of that old quarry of unbelief and has
given us a new heart to believe on Him. You, he says, also as
living stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to
offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore, also it is contained
in the Scriptures, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone."
That's Christ. Elect, that's Christ. Precious,
that's Christ. And he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded. Folks, if you believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, then your hope in Him and the faith that
He has given you will move you To not only give him all the
glory, but to be a witness, to testify of his grace in you,
that the grace of God has been revealed to you, that's been
bestowed upon you. You will not be confounded, you will not be
ashamed. He's not ashamed to call us brethren. Why would we be ashamed to call
him Lord? He's the Lord of all. Won't you make Jesus your Lord?
Too late, God has beat you to it. But receive Him as your Lord. Embrace Him as your Lord. And
confess Him as your Lord and your Savior. Read on. He says,
And you therefore which believe He, Christ is precious. but unto
them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed,
the same is made the head of the corner, and the stone of
the stomach, and the rock of the fence, even to them which
stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed."
I didn't like this, but I believe
it. There are vessels of wrath fitted
to destruction. There are people who stumble
over Christ, that chief cornerstone. Those who cannot and will not
believe the gospel of God's amazing grace that is set forth clearly
in his word. But it says they were appointed
to that. When we understand the truth
concerning God, then we as God's children will have a little bit
more of an understanding of his grace. You could have been, I could
have been, if it was not for God who chose us in Christ appointed
to stumble at the Word, a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction.
A man over in Iraq with bombs strapped to him, blowing himself
up and everybody around him, thinking he's going to glory
with seventy-one virgins waiting for him, and he goes right to
hell in eternal torment. If it wasn't for the grace of
God, that's where we could be. But Jesus Christ chose us, look
at the next verse, but ye are a chosen generation, a chosen
generation. Our Lord Jesus said, You have
not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you
should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.
We were chosen by God in the covenant of grace way back in
old eternity, and what God has purposed He is able also to perform. Nobody is going to change the
mind of God. He is of one mind, and those
whom He chose in Christ Those who were redeemed by Christ,
they make up that one glorious body. All the believers from
Adam all the way to when Christ came, and all the believers from
when Christ suffered and bled and died and was buried and rose
again, and all the believers in this day and age and any believer
that shall come in the future make up this one glorious body. Those living stones that God
Himself places in the holy temple where he dwells. He dwells in
the hearts of his people. You are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. Why has God
done this? Why has God purchased a people?
Why has he, in his infinite mercy and his sovereign grace, brought
us into this living union with himself, showing us that We don't
need an earthly priest. We're a priesthood of believers
who can come boldly before the throne of grace that we may obtain
mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Why has God
done this for a particular people? Well, because we were smarter
than somebody else and we made a decision for Jesus. Now that's
so stupid. You know what, folks? I'm telling
you the truth. If you just give some thought to what is being
preached from Armenian churches today, if you're a child of God,
it'll turn your stomach. They're blaspheming our God.
And they're teaching things that are contrary to the revealed
Word of God. They hate God. They hate His
Gospel. And if they could, they would
proselyte you right into their way of thinking and drag you
right down into that awful pit of misery that they're in. But
God chose us as a people purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ,
a holy nation. We're holy in Christ, a nation
of believers. And here's the reason He has
done this. that ye should show forth 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 have not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy."
What a wonderful God who would have mercy on any. And I'm thankful
that the grace of God reached right down and lifted me out
of that awful pit. Let me leave you with this. I
believe those stones we read about in Joshua 4 pointed to
these living stones we read about here in 1 Peter 2. All of God's children make up
spiritual Israel. We are the circumcision which
worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh. We are monuments of his amazing
grace, and the Lord our God has done this, that all the people
of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty
that we might fear the Lord our God forever, and that we, God's
living stones, would offer up the sacrifice of praise to God
continually. That is the fruit of our lips.
giving thanks to his name. Aren't you thankful? God bless
you. Thank you.