Now, tonight we're going to turn
to 1 Peter chapter 2 and continue our study in the book of 1 Peter. And tonight I'm going to be speaking
from 1 Peter 2, the first ten verses. Now, when our Lord redeemed
us, when our Lord redeemed us from
death, we pass from death unto life. When he redeemed us from the
kingdom of darkness, he said he translated us from the kingdom
of darkness to the kingdom of his dear Son. When he redeemed
us from the bondage and captivity of sin, he led captivity captive,
opened the eyes of the blind. He did a work of grace for us. If you'll turn to Isaiah 53,
a familiar scripture, but this is the work he did for us. In Isaiah chapter 53, it says
in verse 4, Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted, but he was wounded far. our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, and with His stripes we're healed." He did a work
for us. He redeemed us. And II Corinthians
5.21 says, He bore our sins. He who knew no sin. He was made
sin for us who knew no sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. And that work is finished. That
work is complete. There's nothing to be added to
it. Of God, He has made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, all that we need,
all that God requires, all that the law demands, all that God
Almighty has commanded, so that even a dying thief in the last
hours of his existence on this earth can call upon Christ in
faith and be taken complete to glory. That's how sure and certain
that work for us is. And as one old preacher said,
I rejoice in my Lord's salvation. And I give him all the glory
for his covenant mercies, for his daily grace and eternal glory. As the writer said, unto him
that loved me and washed me from my sins in his own blood, and
hath made me a king and a priest unto God and his Father, to him
be the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. It's finished. It's finished. And our Lord also,
we're going to see here in I Peter tonight, chapter 2, our Lord
also did a work of grace in us, a complete work of grace for
us, and a work of grace in us. And He is working in us now. Now if you'll turn back just
a page or two or three to the book of Hebrews, chapter 13,
it says here in Hebrews 13, verse 20, Now the God of peace that
brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd
of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
make you perfect, in every good work to do His will, working
in you, not only for you, but in you, working in you, that
which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. And Paul said in
the book of Galatians chapter 2, Galatians chapter 2, he said,
I'm crucified with Christ. When Christ died, I died. When
Christ rose, I rose. When Christ ascended, I ascended. I'm seated with Him, crucified
with Him, buried, risen with Him. Nevertheless, I live. I
live. And yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me.
and gave himself pardon. And when he begins this work
in us, we're babes born of God, like
a young baby's born from his mother. It's complete. When a baby's born into this
world from his mother's womb, it's complete. It has all it'll
ever have. It'll never grow another finger,
it'll never grow another ear, it'll never grow another nose,
it'll never grow another eye, another foot or leg. It's complete,
absolutely complete. That baby has everything it needs
to be a full grown man or woman. Full grown. It's complete. It
has a heart, lungs, everything it'll ever have. It's brought
forth from the womb. And when we're born, born again,
redeemed, regenerated by the Holy Spirit. We have everything
we need in glory, everything in Christ. He's made unto us
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, everything, complete
in Him, complete in Him. But we're babes. Now watch I
Peter 2, I Peter 2, verse 2. I've just, I'm going back and
start at the first, but let's just see this word, babe, a little
bit. Verse 2 says, as newborn babes, as newborn babes, you
know what a babe is, a baby, desire the sincere milk of the
word that you may grow thereby. Grow right here on this earth,
grow in grace. Well, we'll get to that in a
minute, but back to Hebrews 5. Hebrews 5, as newborn babes desire,
newborn, newborn, born of God, and a baby." Hebrews 5, verse
13. Everyone that uses milk is unskillful
in the word of righteousness. He's a babe. He's a babe. He's a newborn babe. He's a new
believer. He's not an elder, not even a
young man. He's a baby. Strong meat belonging
to them of full age. That doesn't just mean old people.
But that means people who have been saved a while, who've been
taught, who are mature, who've experienced the word grown. A
man can be an elder 30 years of age. He can be of full age
at 40 years of age. If God's worked in his heart
and he's diligently studied the Word, study to show thyself approved
unto God of workmen, need it not be ashamed. So this is not
full age in the sense that There's some white-haired people who
are babes in Christ, and there's some young men who are mature
in Christ. So it's being taught the Word. We'll see in a few moments. But
let's look at 1 John. Now, over here to 1 John chapter
2. 1 John chapter 2, when we're born
again, we're born a God with babies. In I John 2, it says
in verse 13, now listen, I write unto you fathers, mature believers, because you've
known Him from the beginning. I write unto you young men, young
men, because you've overcome the wicked one. I write unto
you little children, because you know the Father. Little children,
babes in Christ, new believers, not able to go it alone. Not
able to go it alone, must be close to the breast, must be
dandled on the knee, must be caressed and cared for, must
be protected, provided for, must be taught, one newly come to
faith, little children. And Paul calls us in 1 Timothy,
novices when we're young, 1 Timothy 3. He warns the church about
laying hands suddenly on somebody, and a new believer has just come
to faith. You want to be careful now, not
give him too much responsibility, because he's a novice. Over here
in I Peter 3, talking about the bishop, the preacher, the elder,
the pastor. One that, verse 4, that ruleth
well his own house, having his children in subjection with all
gravity. If a man know not how to rule
his own house, how can he take care of the church of God? And
then don't ordain a novice. Not a novice. That, in your margin,
says one newly come to faith. Don't lay hands on a novice and
put him up teaching and preaching. Thus being lifted up with pride,
he fall into the condemnation of the devil. So there's this
matter of maturity. Our God does a perfect work of
redemption. We're complete in Christ. But
when we're born of God and regenerated and come into this world, born
again, we're babies, and there's got to be spiritual growth. It's
a matter of maturity. Maturity. Ephesians 4. I want to read you one more and
then we'll go into our study here which deals with this. Deals
with this growing and maturity. In Ephesians 4, now listen to
this. Let's read verse 11. Ephesians
4, verse 11. Our Lord, and He gave some apostles gifts and talents and the message
in the office of apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, that's
traveling missionaries, and some pastors and teachers. Why? For the perfecting, the maturity
of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying
of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the
faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect
man, unto a mature man, experienced man, unto the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ, that we be henceforth no more
children." You don't want to stay a baby, do you? No. You
don't want to stay little children. We want to stay little children
in attitude. In attitude. We want to forgive
like a little child does, and forget like a little child does,
and be gracious like a little child is, and trusting as a little
child is, but not in manners. and not in understanding. You
don't want to be babies. "...that you be no more children
tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine
by the slight of men and the cunning craftiness whereby they
lie in wait to deceive." But watch it now. Speaking the truth
in love, we may grow up, that you may grow up. You ever turn
to one of your children and say, why don't you grow up? Why don't
you grow up, you know? You know what you mean by that.
They act like somebody's got some sense, you know. Act like
you've got some understanding. Grow up. And that's what he's
saying here. Speak the truth in love that
people may grow up into Him. Growing in grace and the knowledge
of Christ. Grow up into Him. He's the key
to this whole thing. Grow up into Him in all things. Balanced all things Which is
the head even Christ? Now this spiritual growth is
accomplished through the Word of God now. Let's get to our
text and you know, we always go back We don't start with chapter
2 verse 1 we go back chapter 1 verse 23 Now we're born again
Here's where this thing started born again begotten of God not
of corruptible seed That's our natural birth, corruptible semen,
but of incorruptible seed by the Word of God. We're born by
the Word of God. The Word of God is the seed by which we're
born. Holy Spirit comes and uses the
water of the Word, the Spirit and the water, which liveth and
abideth forever. His Word, for all flesh is his
grass, and all the glory of man is the flower of the grass. The
grass withers, and the flower thereof falleth away, but the
Word of the Lord The Word endures forever, and this is the Word,
which were the Gospels preached unto you. The Word, that's the
instrument of birth and of growth. That's how we're born again,
by the Word. Of His own will begat He us through the Word
of truth. That's how we're born, that's how we're grown, by the
Word. Oh, I look at verse 1, chapter
2. Wherefore? Wherefore? Laying aside all malice,
all guile, hypocrisy, envy and evil speaking. Lay it aside.
Now when a person, Charles Spurgeon said, when a person plans to
write with a new pen, the first thing he does is lay down the
old one. You're going to write with a new pen, you lay down
the old one. If you're going to work with a new hammer, you
lay down the old one. If you're going to work with new tools,
you lay aside the old tools. And when a person plans to walk
with God, he plans to walk identified with the family of God, there
must be some laying aside. Laying aside of the old ways,
laying aside of the old habits, laying aside the old companions,
laying aside the old attitudes. And this is not done in a moment,
any more than a baby grows up overnight. He says in verse 1,
laying aside, laying aside. Will it never end, unfortunately? No. Not on this life, not in
this life. When it's over, it will. But
laying it aside, constantly, constantly laying aside, laying
aside, laying aside. Look, let me read you over here
in Ephesians 4. This is what it's talking about, Ephesians
chapter 4. Ephesians 4, verse 21. Listen. If so be that you have heard
Him and have been taught by Him... See, we learn Christ. Verse 20
says you've not so learned Christ, like some of these folks that
live in licentiousness and lasciviousness and uncleanness and greed. That's
not the way you learn Christ. So verse 21, if so be that you've
heard Him and been taught by him, as the truth is in Christ
Jesus, that you put off concerning the former conversation. Lay
aside the old ways and the old habits and the old companions,
that old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust,
and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. This is a thing
that's done in the mind and the heart. And put on the new man,
put off and put on, laying aside, picking up. That you put on the
new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. And he specifies some things
to be laid aside over here in 1 Peter 2. He says, let's lay
aside all malice, ill will, ill feelings toward others. Lay aside this mouth. Don't hold
grudges. Lay it aside. Get rid of it. And all guile. What is guile?
That's deceit, dishonesty, doing anything dishonestly, for gain. All guile. And all hypocrisy. That's the opposite of sincerity.
If you're sincere, you're not a hypocrite. If you're a hypocrite,
you're not sincere. Lay aside these hypocrisies and envies. Envy is covetousness. Covetousness. Greed. Jealousy. Just be done
with it. And evil speaking. Evil speaking. That's not just taking God's
name in vain. That's evil speaking. Turn to
the book of Psalms. Let's see, David had some things
to say about the tongue and the mouth. James says a whole lot.
Somebody said this I read recently, that the work of God is done
with the tongue. The work of God is done with
the tongue. Do you know that? Witnessing, teaching, preaching,
done with the tongue. Unfortunately, the work of the
devil is to false preaching, lies, gossip. Those things are done with the
tongue. Psalm 39, David said this, Psalm 39, verse 1, I said,
I'll take heed to my ways, and I'll tell you where that starts,
my tongue. that I sin not with my tongue,
I'll keep my mouth with a bridle, especially while the wicked's
before me." Be careful what you say when the unbelievers are
before you, especially, but all the time, especially. Psalm 141,
listen to this. Psalm 141, verse 3, David speaks
again. Psalm 141, verse 3, Set a watch, O Lord, before my
mouth. Keep the door of my lips. Keep
the door of my lips. All right. Let's lay aside these
things. Malice, and ill will, and guile,
and hypocrisy, and envy, and jealousy, and covetousness, and
evil speaking. And then verse 2, I Peter 2. Go back there. Verse 2. As newborn babes, Now this is
not written to unbelievers. Peter is speaking to believers. He said, as newborn babies, as
born-again people. Everybody to whom this is written
and to whom this applies isn't born of God. So as newborn babies,
born of God, children of God, desire the sincere milk of the
Word. You know there's not There's not many things as helpless as
a newborn baby. I can't think of a thing that
a newborn baby can do but eat. That's right. I've been to the
hospital when my own children were born and when some of yours
was born. And I'll tell you, there's not
much they can do. But that little fella can really nurse. That's all he can eat. He can
eat. You'd think he'd never get full.
He can eat. Like that fella said, the couple,
you know, they wake up all during the night wanting to eat. That's
what they want that morning, anything. They want milk. Fella
said, he's standing at the door of the hospital and a man, his
wife, came out with their first baby. Now wait a minute, how'd
you know it was their first baby? He said, I heard the husband
ask the nurse, now what time do we wake him up in the morning?
You won't have to wake him up. He'll wake you up. He wants to
eat. That's all he can do. He wants
to eat all during the night. All during the night. And he'll
go for his milk. And that's what God's babies
do. They go for the milk of the Word. The Lord's babies want
the milk. What kind of milk they want?
They want sincere milk. What's that word mean? That word
means unmixed. pure. They want it like I'm giving
it tonight. Verse by verse. Word by word. Now, pure, plain, unmixed, sincere,
milk of the Word. They want the Word. Now, too many helps are hindrance. I like books and they're fine
as far as they go. Here's the Here's how you grow
right here. If you depend too much on helps
and the words of men, you'll grow in their image. Barnard
said one time, be careful, don't imitate a man, you'll imitate
his weaknesses and not his strength. I've seen preachers try to imitate
other preachers and every time they'll imitate the weakness
because the strength is of God and the weakness is of the flesh. See what I'm saying? If you try
to imitate anybody, you'll, by your own natural talent, you'll
imitate what's natural to him, his weaknesses. His strength
is God-given. It's a miracle. It's a gift. And in order for you to be like
him, you've got to have the same gift from God. You don't get
it by looking at him. You get it by looking at him.
That's right. You imitate. So be careful about
some of these biographies and trying to... A friend of mine
told me he read the biography of John Wesley, and he wanted
to be like Wesley. So he'd get up every morning,
like Wesley did at 5 o'clock to pray, and he'd stand near
in front of the open window, you know, even in the wintertime
so the snow would blow on him like it did on Wesley, you know,
through the cracks. He said he'd fall asleep. And
then it finally dawned on him that Wesley went to bed at seven
o'clock at night, and he could get up at four and pray. He said,
I was going to bed at midnight after the evening news. You see,
you try to imitate folks, and you get in all kind of trouble.
Helps are all right, but they're hindrance to many of them. So
he says here, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the
Word that you may grow. Grow. Grow thereby. And if you'll turn to II Peter
3, I'll show you what this growth is. II Peter 3. II Peter 3, verse 18. Now listen
to it. But grow in grace. and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There it is. There's
the twofold growth. In grace and in the knowledge
of Christ. That's our growth. And what's
this grace? Well, there are many graces.
Let's turn to Galatians 5. First of all, turn to 2 Corinthians
8. This will help you to understand
how he uses this word grace here. Grow in grace. That's not just
the knowledge of the doctrines of grace, that's growing grace.
And here, this will give you a clue, this will give you a
little help. 2 Corinthians 8, verse 7. Now, here in this chapter,
Paul's talking about giving. The grace of giving, the grace
of liberality, the grace of generosity. That's what he's talking about
in 2 Corinthians chapter 8. The whole chapter talks about
it. And then he says in verse 7, therefore as you abound, As
you abound in everything, in faith, faith's a grace, the gift
of God. In utterance, preaching, teaching. In knowledge, it's the gift of
God. In diligence, in love, those
are graces. See that you abound in this grace
also, giving. You see, faith is a grace. We grow in grace. We grow in
faith. Lord, increase our faith. Faith comes by hearing the Word
of God. God sheds abroad His love in our hearts. The love
is shed abroad in our hearts for the Holy Spirit. Love grows.
As we read the Word, as we learn of Christ, love grows. Faith
grows. Love grows. Galatians gives us
some of these graces called fruit. And you grow in these things.
This is where the growth is. It's growing in grace. In Galatians
5.22, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, humility, temperance. Against such there is no law.
You see that? We grow with it. These things
grow. Our Lord Jesus Christ said this
to His disciples, or to the people, too, I guess. He said, come to
Me. Come to Me, all you that labor in a heavy laden, I'll
give you rest. Then He said, take My yoke upon
you and learn of Me. Not just from Me, learn of Me. And you'll find rest. Rest grows
as you know Christ. Turn to Philippians 3.10. Listen
to this. Grace and the knowledge of Christ.
It's a two-fold growth. Desire the sincere milk of the
Word that you may grow. Grow in grace and grow in the
knowledge of Christ. Paul said this in Philippians
3.10, "...or that I may know Him." Didn't he know Christ? He did. Wanted to know Him more. Isn't
that what he's saying? Know Him more. to grow in the
knowledge of Christ that I may know Him and power of His resurrected
life and the fellowship of His suffering being made conformable
under His death. I want to grow in grace and in the knowledge of
Christ. It's a two-fold growth. Over here in Ephesians 4, let
me show you another verse. Learning Christ. I read a translation
one time. take my yoke upon you and learn
from me." And I thought about that, and
we do learn from Him. We learn from the Holy Spirit,
but we learn of Christ. We don't just learn from Him,
we learn He's not only the teacher, He's the subject. He's the subject. He's not only
the life giver, He's the life which He gives. You see what
I'm saying? So we don't learn from Him, we
learn of Him. And let me show you that in Ephesians
4 beginning with verse 17. This I say therefore and testify
in the Lord, that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk,
in the vanity of their mind, having their understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that's in them because of the blindness of their hearts, who
being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness,
to work all cleanness and greediness, but you've not so learned Christ."
That's not the way you learned Christ. See that? You learned
of Him. You grow in grace in the knowledge
of Him. Of Him. All right, let's go back
to our text. I've got to move along. Verse
3. If so be, you've tasted that
the Lord is gracious. Lay aside these things, desire
the milk of the word that you may grow, if you've tasted that
the Lord is gracious. This is taken from Psalm 34,
verse 8. And this is what he's saying.
If we have indeed tasted and know by experience the Lord's
goodness and the Lord's grace in Christ, We will want to lay
aside that which is dishonoring to Him, that which is displeasing
to Him, won't we? We want to lay it aside. That
which is uncharacteristic of the King's Son, we want to be
done with it. And we will desire the sincere
milk of the Word that we may grow. We'll desire the children's
bread and milk if we have indeed tasted that the Lord is gracious. This body receives its nourishment
through the mouth. When we're thirsty, we drink. When we're hungry,
we eat. And that's the only place that
food can go in, the mouth. My soul has a mouth by which
it's fed, by which it grows, by what comes through that mouth.
The mouth of the soul is That's right, what you hear. That's
exactly what this is saying. Desire the Word, that you may
grow. And the fellow's not going to
sit down and say, well, I'm going to love more. He's going to love
more as he experiences through the Word the love of Christ.
I'm going to believe more. He's going to believe more as
he experiences The truth of God. That's right. He's going to grow
in generosity as He experiences the generosity of Christ, the
mercy of Christ. That's right. He's going to grow
in patience and kindness as He experiences, through the Word,
the patience and kindness and longsuffering of His Lord. That's
right. But verse 4 tells us, to whom
coming? To whom coming? That's the key
to all grace, mercy, growth, assurance, perseverance. To whom
coming? To whom coming? To whom? Come to Me. At the last day of
the feast, He stood and said, If any man thirsts, let him come
to Me. Let him come to Me. And out of his belly shall flow
a river of living water. We don't come to faith in Christ. We come to Christ in faith. We
don't come to faith. We come to Christ. Christ is
the object of faith. Faith is not the object. Christ
is. Somebody says, well, I came to the doctrines of grace. No,
you didn't come to a doctrine, you came to a person. It's a
person. We don't come to faith in Christ,
we come to Christ in faith. And that's what it says, to whom
coming. Our Redeemer and our hope is not a stone. Temple a
holy place a Mecca. He said what says to whom coming
as unto a living stone. He's a stone He's a tried stone
But he's a living stone Who lives and gives life to all who come
to him? he's disallowed rejected of man,
but he's the Chosen of God and he's precious He's precious He's
precious And you also, look at verse 5, you also who have come
to Him are living stones. And you have built up a spiritual
house. We don't come to, like some religions,
to a temple, to a stone temple, to a place on this earth, a city,
a holy, we come to a person. And we're living stones and we're
built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood. to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. What are these
sacrifices? Well, look back at Hebrews 13.
What are these sacrifices? We are priests and we offer up
sacrifices. We don't offer up lambs and bullocks
and goats, but we do offer sacrifices. Look at Hebrews 13, 15. By Him, therefore, let us offer
the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit
of our lips, giving thanks to His name. Now watch this. And
to do good, and to communicate, to share, to help others. For
with such sacrifices, God's well pleased. God is well pleased. He says almost the same thing
in Philippians 4. Let's look over there a minute.
Paul was in prison when he wrote this book of Philippians. And
he says here in Philippians 4, I want you to look at this, verse
15. Now you Philippians, you Philippians
know also that in the beginning of the Gospel when I departed
from Macedonia from you, he went down and preached to them and
he left them. No church communicated with me, no church helped me,
no church supported me, no church communicated with me as concerning
giving and receiving but you only. Or even in Thessalonica,
you sent once and again into my necessity. You took care of
my needs. Not because I desired a gift.
I didn't ask you for anything. What I desire is fruit. I desire
fruit that may abound to your account. But I have all. I have received all and I abound. I'm full. Now watch it. Having
received of Epaphroditus, that was their pastor. Epaphroditus
was their pastor. I received from Epaphroditus
the things which were sent from you, these food and clothing
and a blanket, I guess, to keep him warm and a little care package. I received
it, an odor of sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable and well-pleasing
to God." That's right. God never overlooks the simplest
gift. in his name. He said, you give
a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple and God will bless
you. In verse 19 he says, but my God,
you're not going to lose anything by giving, but my God shall supply
all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. So, he says, to him we come. Not to a stone temple, not to
Mecca, not to Jerusalem, not to the Dome of the Rock, or anything
like that. We come to a living stone. All
rejected of men, not understood, but chosen of God and precious.
And we also are living stones. We are a spiritual house. We
are the house of God. He said, My Father now, come
take up our boat in you. And we are a priesthood. Spiritual
sacrifices. I read you what they were. The
fruit of our lips, thanksgiving, praise, prayer, thank you Lord. Helping others in the name of
Christ. Relieving the sick, helping the
widows and the orphans. Taking care of God's missionaries
and preachers. It's well pleasing in God's sight. That's the reason I thank God
for you. That's right. Thank God for you. Paul is sitting
down in jail. He said, nobody helped me but
you. I shall thank God for you. But you are not going to lose.
He said, my God will supply your need. Yes, He will. Yes, He will. Verse 6 says, Wherefore
it is laid, also it is contained in the Scripture. This is Isaiah
28. Behold, I lay in Zion. I lay in Zion. Zion is the church,
kingdom of God. The chief cornerstone, that's
our Lord Jesus. Elect, He's my elect, God said. Christ be my first elect, God
said, and then He chose us in our head. Precious, he that believeth
on Him will not be ashamed, not be put to shame, not ever have
any shame. He divides the whole world into
two classes. Verse 7, verse 7. The whole world,
all people, all religion are narrowed down to two groups. Unto you, therefore, which believe. He's precious. Unto them, which
be disobedient, and that's not believing. Remember Joe Terrell's
recent article, if you're obedient, you believe. If you're not obedient,
you don't believe. That's the reason you're not
obedient, because you don't believe. Illustrate that when Moses said,
God's going to rain hail down on this place and you better
get your cattle in. Everybody that believed him took
the cattle in. They obeyed him. Those that didn't believe him
left the cattle out and they died. And he says, under you
that believe, he's precious. He's precious. He's all in all. He's the altogether lovely one.
He's the fairest of ten thousand. He's the bright and morning star.
He's the altogether lovely. Unto you that believe, He's precious.
Precious. Unto them which be disobedient,
He's not precious. The stone which the builders
disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and to
them He's a stone of stumbling. The Lord Jesus Christ is a stone,
not on which they build, not on which they rest, not on which
they're saved, not in which they're hid. He's a stumbling stone by
which they fall. Unto you that believe, He's a
precious cornerstone. To them, well, they stumbled
at His birth. They said, can any good thing
come out of Nazareth? They stumbled at his vocation.
They said, well, we know him. He's a carpenter. They stumbled
at his education. They said, do you teach us, having
never learned? They stumbled at his human nature.
They said, well, we know his mother and father and his brothers
and sisters. They stumbled at his claims to God, to being the
deity. They said, you're a man. You
can't be God. Even His death caused them to
stumble. They said, if you are the Son
of God, come down. We find all these things precious. But not to them. They stumble.
He is a rock. To us, He is a rock. The Lord
is my rock and my salvation, but He is a rock of offense. A rock of offense. They are offended. This whole world. divided in
two classes. It's concerning who he is, what
he did, why he did it, where he is now. And to those that
believe, boy, he's precious, and he gets more precious every
day. To those who don't believe, he's a stone of stumbling, he's
a rock of offense. And his gospel's offensive. His
gospel calls them sinners, and that offends their dignity. His
gospel says he's sovereign in salvation, that offends their
pride. His gospel says it comes by divine revelation, and that
offends their wisdom. His gospel says he's Lord, and
that offends their love of self. Ah, he's offensive. Now watch
it now. And they stumble at the Word.
Here we are, that Word business. We're born of the Word. We grow
by the Word. have assurance by the Word, and
people who perish stumble at the Word. My Word, he said, will
judge you. This is where the trouble is.
So people today keep being offended, offending anyone, they close
it and put it aside. They don't preach it. They sing
and whoopee and carry on a big time, you know. But it's the
Word being disobedient. But now wait a minute, whereunto
also they were appointed. Men do what they will do, but
when they do what they will do, they do what He will for them
to do. That's right. Men do what they will do. When
they crucified Christ, they did what they would do. When they
did what they will do and would do, they did what He determined
before to be done. It's pointed. Even their opposition
will accomplish His divine will. All right, in closing, but you,
oh boy, but you, I'm glad, but you, I'm in that bunch right
there, because to me he's precious, and you too, you love him, he's
precious, but you, but you beloved, I'm persuaded better things of
you than what I just read. But you are a chosen generation. The Lord chose you in Christ
out of every nation, tongue, kindred. He chose you to grace
and glory. Grace here and glory later. He
chose you to be a royal priest. That's a king priest. You're
the king's son. You wear the royal apparel of
his righteousness and the crown of his glory, and yet you're
a priest anointed by his Spirit to draw near to God and offer
spiritual sacrifices. Royal priesthood. You're a holy
nation. I thought that was the Jew. It is. We're Jews. He's not a
Jew, which is one outwardly. We're true Israel who Worship
God in spirit, rejoice in Christ, and have no confidence in the
flesh. You're a holy nation. Now watch this. You're peculiar
people. A peculiar people, a purchased
people, but a peculiar people, a special people. The Lord has,
bears a special love for you, favors you with special blessings,
and takes special care of you. Cast all your care on Him. He
cares for you. You're special. You're purchased
people. Watch it now. In order that you should show forth the praises
of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
That's what I started with. He did a work for us. He called
us out of darkness, out of death. out of the dungeon, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love to show forth His
praises, the glory of Him who called you. And there was a time
when you weren't a people, but you are now the people of God.
There was a time when you hadn't obtained mercy, you were wandering
around in a false religion like all the rest of us, but you've
obtained mercy. All right, I pray the Lord will
bless that to your prophet and to his glory.