I've entitled this message, The
People of God. Look once again in verse 10 of
1 Peter chapter 2, which in time past were not a people, but are
now the people of God. Now, I want to be in that group
of people, don't you? I want to be in that group of people
who are the people of God. Now, there is such a thing as
being of God. Did you know that not everybody
is of God? The Lord said in John 8, 47,
he that is of God heareth God's words. You therefore hear them not,
because you are not of God." John said in 1 John 4, verse
6, we are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth
us. He that is not of God, Hereby we know the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error. In the promise of the New Covenant,
in Hebrews 18, God said, I shall be to them a God, and they shall
be to me a people. Now, I want to be in this group
that God calls the people of God. Now, let's back back up
to second Peter. Chapter two, I mean, first Peter,
chapter two, verse one, and let's see what led him to make this
statement. He says in chapter two, verse
one, wherefore. Wherefore. Because of what he
had said in the previous verses, because you've been born again,
verse twenty three of chapter one, Because you've been born
again, given new life, a life that was not there before. Because
you've been birthed into the Kingdom of God and given a new
nature. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God which lives and
abides forever, for all flesh is as grass. And all the glory
of man as the flower of grass, the grass withers, the flower
thereof falls away. But the word of the Lord endures
forever, and this is the word which by the gospels preached
unto you. Wherefore, since you have been born again, laying
aside all malice, viciousness, all guile, all deceit and deceiving,
Lay aside all hypocrisies, which is acting, that's all it means,
putting on an act, not being real. Lay aside all envies, which
is the opposite of love, and all evil speaking, speaking against
the gospel. Lay it aside as newborn babes,
because you've been born from above, as newborn babes desire
earnestly crave the sincere or the pure milk of the word that
you may grow thereby. Now, here's something I crave.
Here's something I desire, the pure milk of the word, the truth. That's what I want. I want the
truth of God. I don't want man's ideas. I don't
want man's thoughts. I don't want man's commentary.
I want the pure milk of the word. And I desire that. I crave it. I want God's Word, don't you?
I want the truth. As newborn babes crave the pure
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? I know this, if you have, you'll
want more grace. If you've ever tasted grace,
you've got to have grace and you want more grace. I love that
passage of scripture in James where it says, he giveth more
grace. Well, I want him to give me more
grace, don't you? If so be that you've tasted,
if you've experienced, this is this is not just giving assent
to some accurate data you've experienced in your soul that
the Lord is gracious. What he says in verse four, to
whom coming. This Lord who is gracious, the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to whom coming. And this is what a believer does. He comes to Christ. This is what
a believer is. He is somebody who comes to Christ. And this is what a believer always
does. He's always coming to the Lord
Jesus Christ. To whom coming. Now, coming is leaving one place
and going to another place. with the emphasis being on where
you're going and not where you're leaving. Now, why do I come to Christ? Let me give you several reasons
why I personally, I'm coming to him right now while I'm talking
to you. I am coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's the
first reason why I come. I come because I need Him. I
need the Lord Jesus Christ. I need His grace. I need His
favor toward me. I need Him to forgive me of my
sins. I need His righteousness to make me acceptable before
God. I need His intercession to represent me before God. I
need His precious blood to put away my sin. I need the Lord
Jesus Christ. Ain't nobody that needs Him more
than me. Now I hope somebody's disagreeing
with that and saying, you're wrong there, I need him more
than you. That's the way every believer ought to feel. Nobody
needs Christ more than me. I come to Christ because I need
him. And I come to Christ because I have to. I have to. I'm compelled to. I come to Christ because I want
to. I want to come to Him. I want to continually come to
Him. I come to Christ because I'm
drawn to Him. I can't help it. I come to Christ
because I'm afraid not to. I come to Christ because I don't
have anywhere else to go. I really don't. I don't have
any other options. It's not like there's a choice to make. I love
when the Lord looked at His disciples and said, will you go away also?
There's the door. If you fellas want to leave,
you can do it. I love Peter's answer, Lord,
to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life, and
we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son
of the living God. You come to Christ because you've
got enough choice. You come as a sinner needing a Savior, and
you never get past that. You never graduate past that,
do you? That's the way I... You know,
I'm still saying, 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. To whom? Come. Verse 4, let's go on reading.
as unto a living stone. The Lord's our rock. He lives. He's not alive. He's life. I've heard people say Jesus is
alive and well. That borders on blasphemy. He's not alive and well. He's
life. And all have life from Him. He
liveth. He's the living rock to whom
coming as unto a living stone. Disallowed indeed of men. That means disapproved. Men do not not believe because
they don't understand, but they do understand and they don't
like what they hear. That's why they don't believe.
Disapproved, disallowed. Our Lord said, The world cannot
hate you, but me it hated, because I testify of it, that the deeds
thereof are evil. Now, indeed, that one we come
to is the same one who is disapproved of men. They have no love for
him, but he is chosen of God and precious. He is God's chosen. Behold mine elect, he said in
Isaiah 42, in whom my soul is well pleased. He is God's chosen
and he is precious. I love this description of our
Lord, chosen of God. He's God's choice and he's precious. He's precious to God. He's precious
to the believer. He's precious to angels. And
whatever you talk about that's precious, he's more precious. He's the altogether lovely one. Jesus. Now, he says in verse 4, to whom
coming as unto a living stone, disallowed, disapproved of men,
but chosen of God and precious, you also as living stone. Having been born of the Spirit,
the people of God have life. There was a time when I was dead
in sins. There was a time when I had no love for God. There
was a time when I didn't even care about God. I do now. It's because He's given me life. If you don't care, it's because
you're dead in sins. God's people have been given
spiritual life. They're living stones. And they're
built up by God a spiritual house. and holy priesthood. This describes
every believer, a spiritual house, the dwelling place of God. That's
mysterious, isn't it? How God could dwell in this heart,
but He does. Christ in you, the hope of glory. This is true of
every believer. You're a spiritual house. You're
the house of God. You're a holy priesthood. Holy. Every believer,
because of the blood of Christ, because of their identification
with Him, they're holy. You may not feel holy, but you
are holy. In Christ, you are holy. You are without sin. A
holy priest is somebody who can come into God's presence. He
can come into the very Holy of Holies and be accepted and be
heard. And he offers up spiritual sacrifices
which are acceptable to God. Whatever sacrifice that is, God
accepts it for Christ's sake. Whatever I do, God accepts it
for Christ's sake. Not because there is any merit
in what I do. But for Christ's sake, notice the way he says
this. 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, don't you just know that
the only reason God accepts anything is for Christ's sake? You know
that. Would you want your prayers to
come into his presence without Christ? No, he's sending you
to hell for them. The best gift you ever gave,
it's not acceptable because of the way you gave it, but for
Christ's sake. Verse 6, Wherefore, it is also contained
in the Scripture, and this is a quotation from Isaiah 28, 16,
Behold, God says, I lay in Zion the church of the living God,
God's people, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone. Elect. Here he says it again.
and precious. Now here are two wonderful descriptions
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's God's elect. Christ be my
first elect, he said, then chose us in him our living head. He is the chosen of the Father
and everybody that's in him are the people that God chooses.
He is God's elect and precious. Let me read you something. This
was such a blessing to me. Precious is the name of Jesus
who can hath its worth unfold far above angelic praises sweetly
sung to harps of gold. Precious went to Calvary groaning
He sustained the cursed tree, precious when He died atoning
and made an end of sin for me. Precious when the bloody scourges
caused the sacred drops to roll. Precious when the wrath that
surges overwhelmed His holy soul. Precious in His death victorious,
He, the host of hell or Cain, in His resurrection glorious,
victor crowned o'er all His foes. Precious Lord, beyond expression
are Thy beauties all divine. Glory, honor, power and blessing
be henceforth forever Thine." Peter says in verse 6, Wherefore,
it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded. Now, what does it mean to believe
on him? It means to believe that your only way into the presence
of God is Him. Not because of anything you do,
not because of anything you intend to do. The only reason, the only
way you can come into the presence of God is if he comes into the
presence of God and brings you with him. That's how dependent
you are. That's what it is to believe
on him. You believe on his name as your only right into heaven. Now, that person who believes
on his name, scripture says, he shall not be confounded. That
means he should not be ashamed. He's not ashamed of the gospel.
And you know, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. I'm proud of it. It's worthy of God. I'm proud
of it. Not only am I not ashamed of
the gospel, I won't be put to shame. I won't be... There's
nothing for me to be ashamed of. All my sins are blotted out
by Christ. I'll never have to give an account
for my sins. Isn't that precious? I'll never
have to give an account for my sins. I won't have anything to
be ashamed of. My name will be called not guilty, nothing but
perfection. I won't be ashamed. Look what
he says in verse 7. Unto you therefore which believe,
he is precious. Now here's what a believer is.
You want to know what a real Christian is. What a real believer
is. You want to know if you're one?
You can tell. to you which believe, He is precious. He's precious in His person.
He's God He's man. He's the God-man, the only Savior
of sinners, the second person of the blessed Trinity, worthy
of all worship, praise, and adoration. He's worthy to be worshipped
even if He sends me to hell. He's still worthy to be worshipped
because of who He is. He's precious in His person.
He's precious in His life. That life of His, that's my righteousness
before God, His law-keeping. He's precious in His death. His
death put away my sin. That was the payment for my sin.
My sin became His. He was punished. My sin was put
away. He was precious in His resurrection. When He was raised from the dead,
I was justified. Now, is that precious? Oh, think
how precious His resurrection is. When He went into that tomb,
He went in there with your sins. And when He walked out of that
tomb, living, your sins were gone. Is that precious? Oh, He's
precious in His ascension back to the Father and His intercession
representing me even now, praying for me, the Father accepting
me for His sake. And oh, how precious I see Him
to be on His return. And to you which believe, He's
precious. Now, is He precious? Yes, He is. Verse 7, Unto them which be disobedient. Now that word disobedient is
also translated unbelieving. It means literally unpersuadable. Will not be persuaded. Unto them which be disobedient. The stone which the builders
disallowed and disapproved of, 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, that stone which the builders,
the religious leaders, disapproved of. They disapproved of Jesus
Christ. God made that stone the head
of the corner, the only foundation. God had made this same Jesus,
the one you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now, verse 8 says,
He is a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense. Men will be
offended by him. They stumble at him. They stumble
at his word. They're offended. They find the
message of the gospel offensive. They don't like what it says.
I was listening to a radio talk show this week, and it was religious
questions. He was fielding questions, and
one guy, I was in my car listening to it, one guy asked whoever
it was this question, he said, I see election all over the Bible.
What does election mean? Who are the elect? What does
it mean? And the man answered this way,
he said, now, he said, you've got to understand, a lot of people
consider election being God choosing some and passing by others. He
said, but that's offensive. So it could mean that. It means
God chooses who he sees, chooses him. And I thought, oh, offended? You're really going to be offended
one of these days. You see, the gospel is offensive to the natural
man. The stone of stumbling and a
rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word. The written word? They refuse
to bow to it. The living word? The Lord Jesus
Christ? The gospel message? They stumble
at the word, being unpersuadable. And look at this next phrase.
Whereunto also they were appointed. What's that mean? Exactly what
it says. they were appointed to this. What does that mean? To be honest
with you, I don't know. I know God appointed them to
this. I know the scripture says regarding the false prophets
that certain men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained
to this condemnation. Ungodly men. Turning the grace
of God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God and
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what does that mean? I don't know. But I know God
appointed him to it. He's in control of it. And you
know what? That's just fine, isn't it? Because
whatever he does is right. I don't need to understand it,
but I do need to bow and I do need to believe whatever he does
is right. And I'm just so, I'm so okay
with that. I really am. I used to worry
about that too. Well, you mean he ordained these
people to damnation or something like that? If you're damned,
it's your fault. Now just write that down. If
you end up going to hell, it's all your fault. You can't blame
God. You can't say, well, I wanted
to be saved, but God ordained me to damnation. No, sir. If
you go to hell, it's all your fault. And if you go to hell,
it was all ordained also. Now, can I explain all that?
No. Do I feel a need to? No. If you've
got a problem with it, take it up with the Lord. He's the one
who said it. He said this, and there it is. They were ordained
to this Those that stumble at the Word being disobedient, whereunto
also they were appointed. But, verse 9, you are a chosen generation. Now he's talking to those who
are the people of God, and he begins, he talks about these
fellows who rejected the gospel, but he says to God's people,
you are a chosen generation, an elect generation. Now what
this is reference to is election. And this is where we've got to
begin. God choosing me. Our Lord said in John chapter
15, verse 16, to his disciples, you did not choose me, but I
chose you and ordained you. that you should go and bring
forth truth. Now, when was this choice made? It was made before the
foundation of the world. According as He hath chosen us
in Him, in Christ, before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy without blame before Him. Now, let me tell
you two things that election tells me. First, it tells me
God is God. A God that doesn't, a salvation
that doesn't begin with God is worthless. It tells me that God
is God in control. He even controls who will be
saved. And it also tells me that salvation
is all of grace. It's the election of grace for
the children. Is this good news to you? For
the children being not yet born, neither having done any good
or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election, might
stay. Not of works. Is that good news? Not of words, but of him that
calleth. Adds music to my ears. Thank
God for election. 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. Let me remind you of this about
election. God's choosing who'd be saved. If he didn't do it,
nobody would be saved. Election doesn't keep people
from being saved who would have been. It saves people who would
have been damned. Understand that. It's election
unto salvation. You're a chosen generation. Next,
he says, you are a royal priesthood. That's talking about every believer.
You have truly royal blood flowing in your veins, a kingdom of priests,
a royal priesthood, people who are able to come into God's presence
and God hear them and accept them. And next, he says, you're
a holy nature, a holy nation, a holy nation. Now, this thing
of being holy, as far as the way I feel, I don't feel holy. You feel holy? I don't feel holy. Matter of fact, I always feel
dirty and sinful, and there's always something I feel bad about.
But God says regarding every believer, you are a holy nation. Holy. Holy. That's true of every believer. I may not feel it, but I am it.
I'm a holy nation. Now, in order to be holy, you
can't have any sin. I don't have any sin. You see,
the blood of Christ washed it away. Well, in order to be holy,
you can't even have the potential to sin. I don't have the potential
to sin. It's gone. But what about your
sin? What about it? It's been washed
away. It's been put away. I stand before God holy. That's
the gospel. Now, I know people get stuck
on that and they say, well, that that leads to sin. If you believe
that you're just holy because he said you are and because he
makes you that way, there's nothing you do in order to get that way.
Well, that won't lead anybody to sin. You'll do all the sin
on your own. Don't worry about that. I mean,
you know, I'm saying don't worry about your sin. But what I'm
saying is this is the gospel that he makes by the work of
Christ. He makes us holy so that we really
are. He says you're a holy nation
and then he says in verse 9 that we're called a peculiar people.
A peculiar people. Now what do you think of when
you think of peculiar? Now I think of weird. Strange. Or peculiar. Well, the Lord does
have a lot of peculiar people, doesn't he? He does. But that's
not what this word means. The same word is translated in
Ephesians 1, verse 14, the purchased possession. You are the purchased
people. You are the people that Christ
shed his precious blood for. That's what a Christian is. He's
someone who's chosen of God. He's a royal priesthood. He's
a holy nation. He's somebody that Jesus Christ
died for. This whole religious world is saying that Jesus Christ
shed his blood for everybody and made salvation possible for
everybody. There's not a drop of gospel in that message. It
takes away the gospel. Because if he can die for you
and you end up in hell anyway, why are you taking away my only
hope? My only hope is that he died for me, that I'm his purchased
person, and that makes me a believer. Now, here's why. He says, He
does this that we should show forth the praises of Him who
has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Now there was a time when I could
not see how God could ever love me. I had no light about that. I didn't see how God could accept
me. But I do now. I see how He can
love me, because He loves His Son, and I'm in Him. I see how
He can forgive me, because Christ put away my sin. I see how I
can be accepted, because I have His righteousness. I've been
saved from darkness, called out of the darkness of religious
superstition and salvation by works, into His marvelous light. Verse 10, which in time past
were not a people. But now the people of God, which
had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. The people of God. Now let me
close with this application to God's people. Okay, God's made
me His people. Now what? Now what? It's a good question. Now what? Verse 11. Dearly beloved, I beseech you
as strangers and pilgrims, and that's what God's people are,
abstain from fleshly lust which war against the soul. Having your conversation honest
among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers,
and that's what every believer who stands for the grace of God
will be accused of, why you all think conduct doesn't matter
and good works don't matter when you say you're saved by grace,
and you'll be called an evildoer. He says, whereas they speak against
you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall
behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves,
people of God, submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for
the Lord's sake. Whether it be to the king as
supreme, or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him
for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that
do well. Submit yourselves. Verse 15,
For so is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to
silence the ignorance of foolish men, as free." Isn't it great
to be free? As free. Not owing anything. As free, doing what I want to
do. As free. Oh, if the Son had made
you free, you're free indeed. Oh, the Lord's free man. As free, look what he says next. Not using your liberty. your freedom for a cloak or a
cover-up of maliciousness and sin, but as the servants of God. Now look what he says next. Honor all men. Esteem all men. I don't care who they are. You
treat them the way you want to be treated. I don't care who
it is. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Oh, the brotherhood. Those who
love the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who have been saved by
His grace. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Be afraid of God. That's what
makes us afraid of sin, isn't it? Because we're afraid of Him.
And it's not a slavish fear. This is the fear of a child.
This is the fear of respect. And I'll tell you what proves
whether anybody really fears God. Somebody who really fears
God is afraid to look anywhere but Christ. They're afraid to. Fear God and honor the king,
whether it be the king that the Lord has appointed or whether
it be the king of kings. That's what every believer, that's
what the people of God are to do. May God enable us to be His
people. Let's pray.