The Price of Redemption

Now today we're going to open
our Bibles to the book of 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 1. Now my subject is the price of
redemption. The price of redemption. And
I'll be reading verses 18 through 21, but I'd like for you to take
your Bible and follow with me. I'm going to touch on several
verses in this first chapter of 1 Peter. But let me read the
text, verses 18 through 21. You know, last week I brought
a message on my favorite text. This just might be the most familiar
text. When I read it, all of you are
going to immediately recognize it. It says in 1 Peter 1, 18,
For as much as you know, you know, you were not redeemed with
corruptible things, such as silver and gold, from your vain conversation,
your useless way of living, received by tradition from your fathers,
but you're redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as
of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who barely was
foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifested
in these last times for you who are who are kept, He was manifested
for you. Now notice that verse doesn't
have a period, it has a comma. He was manifested for you who
by Him do believe in God, that raised Him from the dead and
gave Him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God. Now these words, for that matter
this epistle, this whole epistle, written by Simon Peter, is addressed
to believers. It's not addressed to everybody,
it's addressed to believers. Peter identifies the people to
whom he's writing in the first ten verses. If you look at these
first ten verses, let's go back just a little bit, and you know,
I've said that so often to you through these years. When you
read a verse, when you read a text, go back and see what's written
before it, what the Apostle says before he gets to this text.
And here in these first nine, ten verses, Peter gives you several
words by which God's people are known. Here are several words
which identify the people of God. Look at verse one. He calls
them strangers. Strangers. Peter's writing to
the strangers scattered abroad. Now, they're not strangers to
the Lord. The Lord knows. He said, I know my sheep. And
they're not strangers to one another because they're all in
the family of God. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one body,
one God and Father, one common faith. So, they're not strangers
to God and they're not strangers to one another. They're strangers
to the world. The world doesn't know you. It
didn't know Him. And the world doesn't love you,
it doesn't love Him. And you're not of the world.
If you were of the world, Christ said, the world would love you,
but because you're not of the world, I've chosen you out of
the world, therefore the world hates you. So we're strangers.
And then verse 2, look at verse 2. He calls us His elect. He said elect according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father. You know, when you read about
the Passover lamb over in Exodus 12, Well, back in Exodus 11,
God said, I'm going to pass through the land of Egypt at midnight. And there'll be a cry that'll
go up from this land, such as has never been heard on this
earth and will never be heard again. Because when I pass through
the land of Egypt, the firstborn in every home will die. Every
home. Not only in every home, but every
cattle, cow, horse in the field. Exodus 11 verse 7 says, but God
put a difference. God made a difference between
the Egyptians and the Israelites. And God said, not one Israelite
son will die, and not even a dog will move his tongue against
my people. God made a difference. And you,
Peter said, are a chosen generation You are a royal priesthood, you
are a holy nation, you are a peculiar, a particular people, mine elect,
in whom my soul delighteth. That's what he's writing to here,
strangers, the elect. Look at verse 3, the third word
he uses is he calls them born again. He says, Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus, who hath begotten us again unto
a living hope. God the Father hath begotten
us. It's a father that conceives a child. It's a father that begats
a child. It's a father who's responsible
for the birth of a child. That's right. We're born of God.
Born of God. We were born the first time of
our sinful parents, our fathers in the flesh. We're born the
second time of the Father which is in heaven. That's right. Born
again. Begotten us again. And then we're
born to a living hope. First time I'm born, I'm born
to die. That's just it. That's the sum and the substance
of it. It's a part of me that wants to die. Every person born
of a natural father dies. But every person born of God
lives forever. That's who he's writing to. Strangers. Elect. Born of God. Children of God. Then verse 4
says we're heirs. We have an inheritance. We're
begotten again unto an inheritance, and that inheritance, see, is
incorruptible, it's undefiled, it paideth not away, it's reserved
in heaven for you. Now your inheritance here, I
don't care what your father or mother are worth, or what your
uncle's worth and leaves you, it's going to rot, decay, moth
and rust that corrupt, thieves break through and steal, it'll
go back to the dust from which it came. But the inheritance,
we're joint heirs with Christ, heirs of God, and that inheritance
is incorruptible, undefiled, never fade away, and it's got
your name on it. It's reserved, not on this earth,
Quit following these religious charlatans and conmen who promise
you cars and houses and jobs and physical health and all this
foolishness if you'll send them your tithe. Quit that foolishness. Our heavenly blessings and spiritual
blessings and this inheritance is reserved in heaven for you,
not on this earth. My soul, why are people so gullible
and follow these fellows? I don't have any idea. And it's,
listen to this, and it's reserved for you, there's no period there,
it's a comma. It's reserved for you who are
kept by the power of God. That's the folks for whom it's
reserved, the people who are saved and kept by the power of
God. Not without faith, through faith.
But look at verse 7, he uses another word to describe these
people to whom he writes, and he said, you're a tried people.
A tried people. That the trial of your faith,
the faith's going to be tried. It's going to be tried in some
way. There's going to be some suffering, sorrow, sickness,
defeat, failure, unhappiness, disappointment. There's going
to be these failures and these trials in a believer's life.
God had only one son without sin. He doesn't have any children
without suffering. Whom he loveth, he disciplines,
he chastens. Whom he loves, he corrects. Whom
he loves, he tries. And you'll be tried like gold
is tried in a fire. Gold is purified in a furnace.
And the better the gold, the hotter the furnace. And God tries
his people and proves them in the furnace of affliction and
trials. Peter said in chapter 4, verse
12, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which
is to try you. It's the Lord's way of proving
your faith, equipping you for what he's called you to do. Look
at, and he says in verse 8, these people to whom he's writing,
there are people who love Christ, whom having not seen, you love.
Though now you see him not, yet you believe. And you rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory. That's three marks
there of these people to whom he writes. They love Christ,
they believe Christ, and they rejoice in Christ. Paul said
in Philippians 3, verse 3, we are the circumcision, we're true
Israel, who worship God in spirit, who rejoice in Christ Jesus,
who have no confidence in our flesh or anybody else's. Our
confidence is in our God. We rejoice in Christ Jesus. And
then verse 9, he tells us this, he says in verse 9, that the
end of the faith of these people, these people, these elect strangers,
these people who've been born of God, these people who are
joint heirs of Christ, these people who have tried, and after
they've been tried, will enter into eternal glory because they're
saved by the grace of God and redeemed by the mercy of God
in Christ Jesus. He says the end of their faith
is the salvation of their souls. That's the goal of faith. That's
the consummation of faith. That's the end of faith, the
salvation of their souls. Now that's the people to whom
he's writing. And if you understand that, the
text is more meaningful. more precious, and you understand
it a little better. So look at our text now, and
in our text, Peter talks about the price of redemption. Let's
look at it, one word at a time. For as much as you know, you
were not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold
from your vain conversation. Redeemed. What's that word mean?
Redeemed. Well, it means to buy back. It
means to pay the price. It means to buy something back
that you've lost. It's a ransom. It's like Job
said in the book of Job. He says, God says, deliver him
from going down into the pit. I found a ransom. I can redeem
him because the ransom's been paid. Jesus paid it all. All the debt I owe, sin, leprosy,
crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. He redeemed us. He bought
us back. We were lost and now we're found.
He paid the price. You're bought with a price. And
the price was His blood and His righteousness. We go down to
Mexico almost every year. We have some missionaries down
there that have been there for a long time, and we've been going
down there for 25 years, preaching to the different churches there.
In one of the Pueblos, the people there are very poor. They're
very precious. They love Christ and love the gospel, but they're
very poor. Don't have like what we have here in this country.
Most of them. But anyway, this little boy,
it was kite season. And he and his dad made a kite.
Just a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful kite. His dad and the
little boy worked on it for days. And finally it was finished.
And they went out, the strong wind was blowing, and the other
people were out flying their kites. And they went out in the
way blowing the open field and put that kite up in there. And
they kept putting the string out, putting the string out,
putting the string out. And the little boy was so delighted
that his kite almost was a dot in the sky and then the string
broke. And it was gone, the wind just
took it away. He wept, he cried, his kite was lost. And one day
he and his father were in another pueblo, another village, several
miles from their village. And there was a shop there. They
have a lot of these there, folks selling things. They just sell
everything. Used furniture and used clothes and used shoes and
anything they can find, they put in these little shops and
sell it. And he and his father were walking along and he saw
a kite. And he stopped his dad and he
said, Dad, that's my kite. I recognize it. That's my kite
that man's got that he's selling. And the little boy went to the
proprietor, the owner of the shop, and he said, that's my
kite. And the man said, no son, that's mine. I found it. It's
mine. You may have lost it, but I found
it. It's mine. I'm selling it. It'll cost you
four pesos. If you want to redeem it, you
can pay four pesos. Little boy looked up at his daddy
and his daddy dug down, found four pesos and gave to him. And
he bought the kite back. And his daddy heard him say when
he was walking away, he held that kite tightly in his arm,
little arms. And he looked down at the kite
and said, you're mine. You're mine. I made you. And you were
lost, and I bought you, and you're mine. And that's the way I was,
and you were. We're redeemed. He said, I made
you, and you were lost. You had an awful price on your
head, and I paid for you. I bought you. I redeemed you.
We're redeemed. But it's not with silver and
gold. It's not with corruptible things. It's not with religion
and works and laws and deeds and duties and all these things.
We're redeemed not with those things. Look, watch this. You're
not redeemed with silver and gold from your vain conversation
received by tradition from your fathers. Now the best translation
there is this. You're not redeemed with silver
and gold, ceremonies, religion. from your useless way of life. You know the way we are born
into this world and the fashion of this world and the course
of this world is a useless way of life. People spend their lives
Getting things they can't keep. Doing things that amount to nothing.
Entertaining the flesh. Pacifying the flesh. Coddling
the flesh. Dressing up the flesh. Satisfying
the flesh. And the flesh fadeth away. Useless
way of life. Born in sin. And a useless religion. That's even worse. The Apostle
Paul knew about this. About this useless religion.
The Apostle Paul said, what I counted gain was lost to me. Peter knew
about this useless religion. He was brought up in the circumcision
and the traditions and the ceremonies and the feast days and the Sabbath
days and the tithing and all this useless religion, in form,
not in heart, in duties and not in sincere faith. Useless. We're redeemed, not
with silver and gold, not with ceremonies of religion, from
our useless way of living by birth and by handed down religion. But how are we redeemed? Look
at verse 19. We're redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.
That's how we're redeemed. That's how God saved us. That's
the way God redeemed us. By the precious blood of His
Son. As a lamb without blemish and without spot. You know, He
calls it the precious blood. Precious blood. Not many things
in the Bible are called precious. Did you know that? Can you name
a few? I know five. Things that are called precious.
What are they? Well, unto you that believe He
is precious. That's what it says in 1 Peter
2, 7. Unto you that believe He, Christ, is precious. And then
secondly, His promises are precious. Unto you is given exceeding great
and precious promises. What is a precious promise? Well,
I'll tell you one. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, who are the called
according to His purpose. That's a precious promise. Here's
another, I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you. Here's
another, he that believeth on the Son hath life. Here's another,
come unto me and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and
learn of me, and you'll find rest. That's a promise. Precious
promises. Faith is precious. It says we
have like precious faith. That's a gift of God. And death
is precious. The death of a believer is. It
says in Psalm 116, precious in the sight of the Lord. is the
death of his saints. Precious. And here, the precious
blood. We're redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. And I'll tell you, I'll tell
you why it's precious. Why his blood is called precious, along
with these other things. Number one, it's the blood of
God. Before Paul left the elders at Ephesus, he said, now you
feed the church of God. You feed the church of God, which
he purchased with his own blood. Precious blood. It's the blood
of God. And then it's precious because it's without blemish
and without spot. It's the only blood that's ever
flowed through anyone's veins on this earth that was without
sin. Only one. That's precious blood. No sin, no stain, no blemish,
no spot. You go down to the hospital and
give blood tomorrow, they'll put it through every microscopic
test they can put it through because you'll find something
wrong with your blood. There's sin there anyway. And I'll tell
you, and mine too. And this blood is precious because
it's sufficient to save the chief of sinners. It can put away all
sin. And it's offered but once. By
one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified
by his blood. It's a song of heaven. That's
what they're singing about in heaven. Unto him who loved us
and washed us from our sins in his own blood. That's a song
of heaven. It's precious blood. I tell you,
free from the law, oh happy condition, Jesus has bled and there's remission
without the shedding of blood, there's no remission. Cursed
by the law, bruised by the fall, dead by the fall, but Christ
hath redeemed us once for all. You know, when Paul wrote to
the Galatian church, he asked this question. He said, you that
would be under the law, don't you hear the law? Do you hear
the law? Do you know what it says? Do
you know what the law requires? You people who would be saved
by your works, do you know what works require? Do you know what
the law requires? Now, listen to this. I'm going
to read you something that I found years ago. The blood of Christ,
we know, redeems us from all sin, inherent sin, personal sin,
inward sin, outward sin, secret sin, known sin, past sins, future
sins. Oh, how blessed we are to be
redeemed from all sin by the blood of Christ, from the bondage
of the law, from the bondage of sin. Now these Israelites
under the law, these people that were under the Sabbath law, and
the law of the tithe, and the law of the feast, and the holy
days, and the sacrifices, and the ceremonies, the law of Moses,
the Levitical law, I know some of them, these old Israelites
were looking for the coming Messiah, looking to the Redeemer. Abraham
saw my day, Moses rose with me, Isaiah rose with Christ. But
these men, they never talked of a finished work. They never
talked of an effectual salvation. I know some of them looked for
the coming of Christ, but they were hedged about with a thousand
commandments, and a thousand requirements, and a thousand
prohibitions. These forms, and ceremonies,
and sacrifices, and holy days, and feast days, and Sabbath days
were so many. They were always in danger of
being defiled, or unclean, or cut off. If they sat on the wrong
kind of bed, they were defiled. If they sat on a certain stool,
they were defiled. If they touched a wall that a
leper had touched, unclean. If they drank from a certain
pitcher, unclean. If they ate a certain meat, unclean. If they walked too far on a certain
day, unclean. If they did a certain deed, unclean. A thousand sins of ignorance
were before them like hidden pits. into which they might fall. They were in constant fear, lest
they be cut off. No Israelite talked of a finished
work. A bullock was slain, then another
one had to be offered. A lamb was offered, and then
another one must be offered. An atonement was made, and then
another, and another, and another. And the high priest goes before
the mercy seat, but he's got to go back next year, and the
next year, and the next year. There were no end. There was
no end to these types and shadows and pictures. Law. Do you not
hear the law? Free from the law. Free from
it. Delivered from its curse, from
its bondage, from its condemnation. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanseth us from all sin. By one offering, he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. And this gospel is no new gospel.
Look at verse 20. He barely, truly, who? Our Lord Jesus Christ. was verily,
truly, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation,
he was foreordained before the foundation of the world to be
our surety. You know what Paul said about
the priesthood, especially the high priest, no man taketh this
honor upon himself, but he that is chosen of God. And our Lord
Jesus Christ, who verily, was foreordained before the foundation
of the world to be our surety, to be our sacrifice, to be our
Savior. He was manifest in these last
days. Manifest in these last days.
Yes, He has come to earth. That was the good news the shepherds,
the angels delivered to the shepherds out there on the Judean hillside
that night. They said, Behold, we bring you
great, great tidings, glad tidings of great joy which shall be to
all people unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior,
a Savior, Christ the Lord. He who was verily, verily was
foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest
in these last times. Now there's no period there.
I call your attention to this. Back yonder in verse 5 and 6
it says that we have an inheritance undefiled incorruptible, reserved
in heaven that fadeth not away, reserved for you who are kept
with the power of God. And this Savior, who verily was
foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest
in these last times for you." For whom? Comma. For you who
by Him, who through Him, because of Him, do believe in God that
raised Him from the dead, Gave him glory that your faith might
be and your hope in God for you For you and our Lord Jesus Christ
in talking to his disciples before he went to the cross They were
so sad and they were so sorrowful so brokenhearted and he said
to them let not your heart be troubled you believe in God believe
also in me I Go to prepare a place for you for you And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you. This
inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, fadeth not away, is reserved
in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God. And this
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was ordained before the foundation
of the world, was manifest in these last days for you, who
by Him do believe in God. And he has gone back to glory
where he prepared a place for you. And if he prepares it, he'll
come again for you. That where he is, there you may
be also.

The Price of Redemption

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The Price of Redemption

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