I love that line, and should
I fainting be, Lord let me never, never outlive my love to Thee. Would you turn with me to 1 Peter
chapter 2. I have entitled this message,
The Excellency of the Believer. The Excellency of the Believer. Now I read that Verse from Psalms,
because the Lord Jesus said concerning his people, they are the excellent
of the earth, in whom my soul delighteth. Now, I've got to
admit, I had a hard time entitling this message this, but I hope
you'll understand why by the end of this message, this is
not to glorify the believer, but this is to glorify the believer's
Lord, the excellency of the believer. Sin makes things hard to see. You know that if you and I are
believers, we have the same holy nature right now that we'll have
in glory. I asked Lynn right before the
service, I said, do you really believe that you have the same
holy nature right now that you'll have in glory? And she said,
well, if you want me to answer you honestly, no. No, that's
just hard to get hold of. That's not something we can see,
is it? I certainly cannot see that. I can't even remotely see it
because of the sinful nature that I have, as well as the new
nature. You know, when John was writing
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he said, it doth
not yet appear what we shall be. Now this is a man writing
the Bible under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and he says,
it doth not yet appear what we shall be. We don't have any idea. So when I speak of having this
holy nature, the same nature that I'll have in heaven, I only
know that by faith. not by sight. You see, holy nature doesn't
improve, it doesn't become different. The scripture says we're partakers
of the divine nature. But sin so clouds our view. It shows you just how much sin
brings us down in our sight while we do have this holy nature.
Sin causes us to where we can't see it. We can't see it. Now, in 1 Peter chapter 2, Peter
is telling us what we are right now. And that's why I entitled
this message, The Excellency of the Believer. He's telling
us what we are right now. This is a part of that high,
heavenly, holy calling that renders a child of God fit for communion
with God. The holy, infinite, glorious
being sees me as fit, every believer as fit to have communion with
himself. Now, if I'm fit to have communion
with God, if he can actually hear me and I can hear his voice,
There must be, by grace, some excellency in me, in every believer,
and I've said by grace, not by works, that renders a believer
fit for communion and fellowship with God. Made meat, as Paul
said in Colossians 1, 12, he will make you meat, but right
now you've been made meat for the inheritance of the saints
in light. The saints in light right now,
you're fit to join them right now. The only thing you're going
to put off is seeing them. Bless God for that day. Now,
in 1 Peter chapter 2, Peter says, wherefore? laying aside all malice
and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and evil speakings.
Now that wherefore is there for a reason. He's talking, it refers
to what he'd said just a few verses before. Look back in verse
22 of chapter one. Seeing you have purified your
souls and obeying the truth through the spirit unto unfeigned love
of the brethren, See that you love one another with a pure
heart, fervently being born again, not of corruptible seed, but
of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever. Now, because you've been born
again, wherefore laying aside all malice, ill will, and maliciousness,
all guile, deceit, all hypocrisies, pretense, acting, envies. If you're a believer, what do
you have to be envious of? You've got all. Anything anybody
has, you don't have any reason to envy it. You've got all. And
laying aside all evil speakings, backbitings, is the word. Lay those aside. Those are so
contrary. Lay them aside. As, verse 2,
as newborn babes, desire, crave the sincere or the pure milk
of the word that you may grow thereby. Now he says to every
believer, he says you're like a newborn babe. What's a newborn
babe crave? Milk. the milk of the Word. And you want the pure milk of
the Word. You don't want the words of men. You don't want
man's opinion. You want the very Word of God.
He says, crave the sincere, the pure milk of the Word that you
may grow thereby. Now we love babies. We don't
love them staying babies. If in 20 years you're still changing
diapers, it would get to be a horrible burden, wouldn't it? desire the sincere milk of the
word that you may grow thereby. Peter said in his next epistle,
grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. Now, I want to grow, don't you?
Whatever growth in grace is, I want to grow in grace. I want
to grow in the fruit of the Spirit. I want to grow in the fruit of
love. I want to grow in joy. I want to grow in peace, the
peace that comes from believing. I want to grow in long-suffering,
really believing God's on the throne. I want to grow in gentleness
and goodness and faith and temperance and meekness. want to grow. Now Peter says to these people,
desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby,
verse 3, if so be you've tasted that the Lord is gracious. Have you ever tasted that the
Lord is gracious? Have you tasted it? You know, it's one thing
to look at a big piece of filet mignon. I love filet mignon. It's one thing to look at it,
but it's an altogether different thing to taste it, isn't it?
If so be you've tasted that the Lord is gracious. You know, I
think of what we call the doctrine of grace. It's one thing to believe
the Bible teaches it. It's another thing to experience
it. to experience the fact that you are, in fact, totally depraved. And because of that, oh, how
you love the free, unconditional election of God. That gives you
hope. How you love Christ's effectual redemption and the irresistible,
invincible grace of God the Holy Spirit. How you love being preserved
by grace. Oh, have you tasted Have you
tasted that the Lord indeed is gracious? You're a sinner and
He's gracious to you for Christ's sake. There's nothing that tastes
better than that, is there? If so be you've tasted that the
Lord is gracious. No taste like this taste. Verse
4. To whom? Coming. This one who is gracious, We're
continually coming to, always coming. We're always coming to
our gracious Lord, aren't we? I don't say just as I was without
one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, but I always
say just as I am, without one plea. But that thy blood was
shed for me, and that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God,
I come. I say with Peter pretty much
the same thing Steve said when he was quoting that passage of
Scripture out of Matthew 12. Command us to Stretch forth our
hand. Command me to come to you. Bid
me come to you. Cause me to come to you. That's
the continual cry of the believer. Oh, I want to come to whom coming.
You keep coming the same way you came the very first time.
To whom coming as unto a living stone. And this living stone
will be described in just a few verses down, but to whom coming
as unto a living stone, and this living stone is rejected indeed
of men, but chosen of God. You know, I love God's valuation
of the living stone, don't you? He's chosen God and precious
to God. I love to think of the way the
father thinks of his son. I love that passage in Hebrews chapter
1 where the father said to the son, Thy throne, O God, is forever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows."
Don't you love the way the father speaks to the son? That amazes
me. Thy throne, O God, is forever. Oh, he's the chosen of God. Turn
to Isaiah 42 for just a moment. Hold your finger there in first
Peter. God says to me and you, behold
my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth. That's God's description. He
said, I put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not cry nor cause his
voice to be heard in the street. Look at his compassion. A bruised
reed shall he not break. Now, what is weaker than a bruised
reed? The smoking flax. When the candle's
just about to go out and it doesn't put out any light, it doesn't
just put out this nauseous smoke, that's about all it does. He
won't put that smoking flax out. That's the compassion of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged
till he has set judgment in the earth. And the hour shall wait
for his law. Christ be my first elect, he
said. Then chose us in him our living
head. You want to know why God elected
you? Because of Christ. That's the only reason that's
needed. Verse 5 of 1 Peter chapter 2. You also, now he begins to speak
of the excellency of the believer. You also as living stones. He's the chosen living stone. You also, as living stones, are
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Now, he begins
by describing the church, living stones making up this spiritual
house. Now, the church is not a building. It's not an institution. It's
not an organization. It's a phenomenon. It's a living
organism. It's the body of Christ. It's
the bride of Christ. It's the temple of God. It's
the family of God. A holy priesthood. And this is
what you are if you're a believer. This is what God calls you. A
holy priesthood. Christ being made unto us sanctification,
we're a holy priesthood. And understand, this describes
every believer. Every believer. You're holy. You're holy. Wherefore, holy
brethren, the writers to the Hebrews said, partakers of the
heavenly calling. Holy brethren, if Christ is your
holiness, you're holy, aren't you? I mean, there's no ifs,
ands, and buts about that. If Christ is your holiness, you're
holy. A holy priesthood. A priest is someone who can come
into God's presence and God hears what he's saying. He comes in
on behalf of others and God hears what he's saying. You're a holy
priesthood able to offer up spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable
to God. God accepts them. Anything that
you offer up and sacrifice to Him, you don't consider it a
sacrifice. When you give, do you consider it a sacrifice? you consider it a blessed privilege
to give. And God accepts it by Jesus Christ. Hebrews 13, 16 says, But to communicate
and to do good, forget not, For with such sacrifices God
is well pleased. And we offer up our own bodies. Remember what Paul said, that
I beseech you by the mercies of God that you offer up yourselves
a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable
services. Now, that is the believer. He
used living stones or built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood
to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Verse 6. Wherefore also it's
contained in the scripture. He quotes Isaiah 28 verse 16. Behold, this is God speaking,
I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, that same one that was rejected
by the builders. Elect precious, and he that believeth
on him shall not be confounded. Now this is how the living stone
is described as the chief cornerstone, the stone upon which all the
building rests its weight, elect and precious, and that one believing
on him shall not be confounded, shall not be put to shame. And here's why. they'll have nothing to be ashamed
of. Now, this is true of every believer. Now, I want to ask you a question.
I want you to listen to this question very carefully, and
I want you to answer it honestly. Are you relying on Christ only
as all that God requires of you? Now you can answer that question. Are you personally relying only
on Christ Himself as all that God requires of you? Are you
relying on He Himself as your wisdom, as your righteousness? as your sanctification, as your
redemption before God. Can you say with Paul, oh, that
I may win Christ and be found in him. When God comes looking
for me, all I want him to see is Jesus Christ, nothing else.
That's the only place I want to be found. Now, if you're relying
on Christ only, you know what? You're not going to have anything
to be ashamed of, because you have no sin. None. You won't be put to shame. You
see, 1 John 4, 17 says, As He is, so are we in this world right
now. Now, let me ask you a question.
Does Christ have anything to be ashamed of? No, not in any way. And if he doesn't have anything
to be shamed of, neither do you or I. Now that is the excellence
of the believer. Now let's go on reading. Verse
7. Unto you therefore which believe, you really believe that all God
requires of you is in his blessed Son. You really believe that
He is all in salvation. You really are relying on Him.
You're not looking to yourself for a thing. You're looking to
Him only. You know, it's true, when you
and I are unable to look to Christ only and don't even think about
ourselves, we have full assurance, don't we? Full assurance of faith. The moment we look to ourselves,
we lose it. May God give us grace to simply rest in Him. Now unto
you therefore that which believe, you believe the gospel, you believe
that Jesus is the Christ, you believe He's the Son of God,
you believe He is who He said He is, and you believe He did
what He said He's going to do, and you believe right now He
is at the right hand of the Father interceding. You which believe,
idnesso, he is precious. Oh, that's, he is precious. All that thrills my soul is Jesus. He is more than life to me. and the fairest of 10,000 in
my blessed Lord, I see. Verse 7, but unto them which
be disobedient, the stone which the builders
rejected, 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." Now, this glorious stone, some Don't believe him. That word disobedient is unpersuaded,
is what the word actually is. It is disobedient, but it means
you won't be persuaded. You won't believe what you're
hearing. You just can't believe that Christ really is all in
salvation. You don't find safety in trusting
him only. You look somewhere else. And
to them which be disobedient, he says, the stone which the
builders rejected The same is the head of the corner. It's
the only corner stone. Well, I love that. Now, this
corner stone in verse 8 is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense
to some. They stumble at him. I just can't. I cannot. This is too easy. You mean just I'm safe freely?
Without anything from me at all? I'm safe freely? I don't have
to do anything for it? Why? That's scandalous. That'll
lead to sin. That'll lead to disobedience.
Anybody who preaches something like that or believes something
like that, to them which be disobedient, They find it a stumbling stone
and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word,
the word of the gospel, being disobedient. And look what Peter
says next. Whereunto also they were appointed. They were appointed. Any trouble
with that? I don't. Why would I? God's in control of everything. And these people who stumble
at the word, they were appointed. They are that number of the vessels
of wrath fitted to destruction. Ungodly men who were before of
old ordained to this condemnation. Somebody says, well, what's that
mean? What's it say? That's exactly what it means.
Now, do I understand it all? No. I don't feel the need to.
I know that if a man goes to hell, he goes to hell because
he's sinned. That's why. God doesn't just
arbitrarily send men to hell. Men go to hell because of their
sin, because of their free actions against God. But you know what
else I know? I know that God is sovereign over the free actions
of men. And I know that the fact that
God elected some, he also passed others by. And these people who
stumble at the Word, they were appointed to this. Now, Do I
have any trouble with that? No more trouble than when our
Lord said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
you have hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed
them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. If it's good in his sight, it's
good in my sight too. Do I have any problem with this?
Absolutely not. I don't have any problem with
any word of God. I don't understand it all, but by His grace I bow. I don't understand it all. There's
a very real situation. I don't understand any of it.
I believe it though. And when I preach, you know,
everything I preach, it's not like I've got a complete intellectual
grasp of it, but I preach what God says and I believe it. whereunto also they were appointed. Verse 9, but, now here's the
excellence of the believer, but what keeps you from stumbling
at the word? What keeps you from stumbling
at the word? Well, he tells us, but. You are a chosen generation,
a chosen race, the elect of God. Now, you want to talk about excellence. You're God's elect, chosen in
Christ by God Himself. You want to talk about a Significance. Somebody says,
oh, I'm nobody. Well, I understand that. But
no, you're not. If you're one of God's elect, you're not a
nobody. You're a chosen race. He chose you. Isn't that amazing? According as he has chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him. We're bound to thank God
always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief in the truth. And I think, why me? Why me? Why did he set his affection
on me? Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. You know, the disciples came
up once and said, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us
through thy name. Man, they really felt good about
the way they were doing. And the Lord said to them, in
this, rejoice not that the devils are subject to you, but rather
rejoice that your names are written in the eternal book. Names written in heaven. You are a chosen generation. And next he says, you are a royal
priesthood. Now this is spoken to every believer. This is the true aristocracy. That doesn't make you proud.
It humbles you. You are a child of the King.
You're royal. A child by adoption, He chose
you to be His child. A child by birth, He birthed
you into the Kingdom of Heaven. You're a child of the King. You're
a royal, a kingdom of priests. We just read it in Revelation
chapter 1. He hath made us kings and priests to God. That's what
every believer is. You want to talk about significance,
this is true of every believer. A royal, priesthood to God. You're a king and you're a priest,
one that's able to come into his presence and be accepted.
Talk about excellency. And next he says, you're a holy
nation. A holy nation. Now this is what
I believe is something, we're just going to take it by faith.
Because you don't feel holy, do you? Feel holy? Can you look
at any action and say, that's a holy action? No, you don't
feel that way. But if God says you're holy,
what are you? You're holy. You have a new nature. a holy nature, partakers of the
divine nature. And you are a holy nation. Now, that doesn't take away from
the fact that you also have a sinful nature and you're painfully aware
of that. But see, here's the deal. It's
only the holy nature that sees the sinful nature. If you didn't
have a holy nature, you wouldn't have any idea about this sinful,
evil nature. But it's this holy nature that
sees the sinful nature for what it is. You know, David said, I'm holy.
And so is every believer. Hard to say that, isn't it? Hard
to say it, but it's true. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers
of the heavenly calling. And look what he says next in
verse nine. You are peculiar people. Now, on the surface, that, you
know, we'd say they're kind of peculiar. I mean, they're kind
of strange. And, well, the Lord's got a lot of people like that,
doesn't he? Strange. I mean, I'm the standard normalcy,
and everybody's not like me. They're weird, you know? But
that's not really what the word means. It doesn't, it's not talking
about strange. The same word is translated in
Ephesians 1, 14, a purchased possession. You are a purchased
people. Purchased by the blood of Christ. That's the value you have to
God. You're His own dear possession. He purchased you. He died for
you. Paul said, Christ loved me and
He gave Himself for me. Feed the church of God which
He purchased with His own blood. Now this is true of every child
of God. You're the Lord's portion. The
Lord delights in you. You're His portion. You're His
purchased possession. Now, once again, the excellency
of every believer, chosen of God, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, God's special purchased possession. I'll tell you this. There will be nobody in hell
that Christ died for. Not gonna happen. Verse 10. Here's why, or here's our past
and present. Well, I'm getting ahead of myself,
but you're a chosen generation, a holy nation, a peculiar people,
and here's why, here's the reason, that you should show forth the
praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His
marvelous light. Now, when you're brought into
heaven, how much glory will He get in your salvation? You'll show forth His praises,
won't you? More than being by their praise than you, will there?
They'll be giving Him all the glory, you to show forth His
praises, who called you out of darkness, the darkness of salvation
by works, the darkness concerning the character of God, blind concerning
who God is, blind concerning who I am. He gave me light and
I saw. And I see, called out of darkness
into his marvelous light, the light of how God can be just
and justify somebody like me. You know, that's the most important. I never get tired of that. I
really don't. Well, I already know that. What
do we got next? Do you really know it? That's the most glorious,
awe-inspiring truth concerning how God can be just and yet justify
somebody like me. Thank God for the light of the
gospel. He says in verse 10, which in times past were not
a people. That's your past. You were not
a people, but are now the people of God, which had not obtained
mercy. You were strangers to mercy,
but now have obtained mercy. Oh, the excellency of the believer. This is God's work. from beginning
to end, when we speak of the excellency of the believer. Now
let me quote this to you. Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8
through 10 says, For by grace are you saved, through faith,
and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast, for we are what? His workmanship. literally his poem. His poem. Created in Christ Jesus
unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should
walk in them. Now, all this that Peter has
spoken of is what we are right now. Not what we will be, what
we are right now, oh, the excellency of the believer. Now, you may
not see it. When I speak of all these things,
to be honest with you, I don't see any of them. I don't see
how I'm royal. I don't see how I'm holy. I don't
see these things, I believe them. Now what is the evidence that
things are real? Because they're not things that
are seen. The one evidence, no two evidences. Faith in Christ, love for the
brethren. That's it. Faith in Christ, love
for the brethren. You know, I was thinking about
this thing of love for the brethren. I would rather be with the most
humble believer than the greatest one that the world recognizes. I'd rather cast my lot with them. That's my family. Love for the
brethren. Faith in Christ. Do you believe
that He's the Son of God? Do you believe He's the Christ?
then you're born of God. Do you love the brethren? Then
you're born of God. But not only that, you're a holy
nation. You're a royal priesthood. You're
the elect of God, the chosen of God. You're His purchased possession. That's special, isn't it? May
God give us grace to revel in what we are for Christ's sake. Let's pray. Lord, we're amazed by your gospel. And we ask in Christ's name that
you would simply give us the grace to believe what you said
in your word. Bless this word for Christ's
sake and Lord enable us all to look away from ourselves in every
respect and look to thy dear son in his blessed name we pray. Amen. We're going to sing all hail
the power