Redeemed

Let's open our Bibles to the
book of 1 Peter, chapter 1. I'm going to read the first 12
verses for our scripture reading, comment very briefly on these
first 12 verses, and then bring a message on the last 13 verses. It says in 1 Peter 1, verse 1,
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. This is a
general epistle written to all the believers, wherever they
may be found. It's not addressed to any particular
church or any particular individual, but rather addressed to every
believer. And Peter refers to these Christians
as strangers. Why does he call them strangers?
Well, one reason is they, because of persecution, have been driven
away from their homes, and from their countries, and from their
families, scattered abroad. You remember when Saul of Tarsus
made havoc of the church in Jerusalem, and drove these people out of
Jerusalem. And they went everywhere preaching
the gospel, and they were strangers wherever they settled. And I
think another reason why he calls them strangers is because they
are strange to this world, peculiar, different. Their gospel is hated
and despised. They're not strangers to one
another, and they're not strangers to the Lord God, but they're
strangers to this world. As I read last Sunday from 1
Corinthians chapter 2, He that's spiritual understands the gospel,
the things of God, but he is not understood, not by anyone
except a true believer. It takes a son of God to know
a son of God. And then in verse 2, he says,
they are elect. They are elect of God. Man elect
is Christ. And they're chosen in Him. They
are the elect also. The elect according to the foreknowledge. That word is foreordination. We know something if we have
it revealed to us. Everything that God knows, He
knows because He's the one that ordained it. So we're elect according
to the foreordination of God the Father. Through sanctification
of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you, and peace be
multiplied. We never have enough, do we?
Grace and peace is multiplied, manifold, increases by his mercy. Verse 3 says, Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his
abundant mercy have begotten us again. We're born again. All
of these believers, they're strangers. They're the elect of God, and
they've been born of the Spirit of God, of His own will. Begat
he us with the Spirit of truth. We're born again unto a lively
or a living hope. Our hope is a living hope because
our Lord lives. People who trust in false gods
do not have a living hope. Those who worship idols do not
have a living hope. We have a living hope because
of our living Lord. By the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, he's alive. Why seek ye the living among
the dead? He hath begotten us unto a living hope, born again. Then verse 4 says we are heirs
of God. We're born into the family of
God because we're children of God and sons of God. We're heirs
of God, too, and inheritance is incorruptible. Sin cannot defile it. It's undefiled. Time cannot affect it. It paid
it not away. And nothing's going to interfere
with its being carried forth because it's reserved. It's reserved. It's like when you call ahead
at a restaurant, tell them you and a party of six or eight will
be there at 630. And they put a sign on the table
reserved for so-and-so. It's there. You're not there
yet, but it's there waiting on you. It's reserved. Your place
is reserved. And when you get there, you're
seated there. And that's this inheritance.
It's incorruptible. It's not of the earth. It's undefiled
by sin, untouched by sin, it fadeth not away, years cannot
affect it, and it's reserved in heaven. Reserved in heaven. Now, notice these next two words
go with the next verse, because there's no period after you.
It doesn't read that he's forgotten us under living hope to an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, it fadeth not away, reserved in
heaven for you. But it's reserved in heaven for you who are kept. That's the folks for whom it's
reserved, for those that are kept. We're not only strangers,
peculiar, elect of God, chosen, born-again children in the family
of God, adopted by His grace, heirs who have an inheritance,
waiting, reserved, guaranteed. It's guaranteed. You know you can make a reservation
in a hotel and guarantee it by paying for it ahead, can't you?
That's how ours is reserved. It's been paid for. Christ paid
it all, we're just saying. He paid for that inheritance
and paid for that reservation, and it's yours and your name's
on it, and nobody else can occupy it. It's reserved for you who
are kept. And we're kept in the faith We're
kept in the kingdom, we're kept in the body, we're kept how?
By the power of God. The same power of God that raised
us from the grave, the same power of God that quickened us and
regenerated us, the same power of God that gave us faith and
brought us to Christ, keeps us. And it doesn't keep us whether
we believe or not, it keeps us through faith. We're kept by the power of God
through faith. He said, I'll never leave them,
and they'll never leave me. And we are kept by the power
of God through faith, in faith, unto salvation, unto the full
salvation. Like the Word of God says, now
is your salvation nearer than when you believed. A whole lot
nearer for some of us, a whole lot nearer. And it's really ready
to be revealed in the last time. All right, wherein you greatly
rejoice. What is that wherein? What does
it refer to? You see, we're kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation, and you rejoice in this salvation. If salvation
is ready to be revealed, wherein, that is, in that salvation, you
rejoice. You rejoice in him who secured
it. Him who purchased it, in Him
who gave it, in Him who secures it, in Him who keeps us, we rejoice. Rejoice. That seems to be the
theme of the book of Philippians, rejoice. It's in there about
ten times. Rejoice in the Lord. We do rejoice. Go, all go, right
now, for a season. For a season. If need be. You
are in heaviness through many trials, many troubles. We rejoice, but we're sad. We're
glory, but we're troubled. We're cast down, but we're not
destroyed. We're perplexed, but we won't quit. We rejoice,
though now full season, if need be, and it is needful. Like David
said in Psalm 119, it's good for me that I've been afflicted,
that I might learn his statutes. That's about, we're like children,
the only way we can learn is to be disciplined. The only way
we really learn anything is to be disciplined. It's got to be,
it's got to hurt, it's got to cost, it's got to get our attention,
and that's the way we learn. If need be, you're in heaviness,
great heaviness, with sorrow, not as those who have no hope,
but we do sorrow. And I was telling someone the
other day who's going through a great trial, and they were
disappointed that they weren't enduring it in a more admirable
fashion. They were saying, I'm not holding
up very well in this, I'm not rejoicing like I ought to. I'm
not content like I should be. I don't have peace like I ought
to. I said, now wait a minute. If you could go through a trial
with laughter and glibness, unaffected, untroubled, and say, well, it's
of the Lord. Let it be what will be. Now,
you can do that when somebody else is going through the trial.
You can say to them, it's of the Lord, what will be, will
be, but I'm talking about personally. That's what trials are for, to
bring us down. That's what trials are for, to
show us our weakness. That's what trials are for, to
shut our mouths. That's what trials are for, to
make us hurt. That's what trials are for, to
teach us so we'll never forget. That's what trials are for, to
show us we don't have anything without Him. And so don't, when
you're down and under a severe trial, I'm not talking about
like breaking a plate, I'm talking about something serious. When
you're in heaviness and great trial, and you find yourself
fearful and doubting and lacking peace and all that, that's natural. That's us. That's us. And the sooner we learn that
we have nothing and can do nothing and are nothing, and we do fail,
we fail under every trial and every test, haven't we? And we're
going to keep failing. And what it does, it shuts us
up to Him. It drives us to Christ. Paul
said that, we sorrow, but not as those who have no hope, but
we do sorrow. And if there's no sorrow, there's
no trial. If there's no pain, there's no trial. If there's
no deserving of my own strength, then there's no trial. It hasn't
done anything. You understand what I'm saying? It's got to
affect us. It's got to make us ashamed of
ourselves. It's got to bring us to the end
of ourselves. As long as I have my strength,
I'm not going to look to Him. But when my strength totally
is gone, it's gone. Gone! I'm ashamed of myself,
I'm defeated, I cannot help myself, I'm nothing! And the Lord will
take me up. Even my mom and daddy, David
said, will forsake me. But the Lord will take me up.
Job reacted just like the rest of us. I hear people talk about
Job wasn't saved but lonely. He's just acting like we act.
Same thing. Justified himself and argued
and quarreled. You know, we do too. And that
verse 7 says that the trial of your faith, it's got to be tried,
being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though
it be tried with fire, might be found to the praise and honor
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Oh boy, this faith
is God-given faith. It's not mine, it's His. It's
not of me, it's of Him. Whatever I am, He gave me. Whatever I know, He taught me.
Whatever I have, he revealed it to me. That's just so. It's
just so. And it'll be to the praise and
honor of his glory, not mine, his. Now, some may be able to
go through trials a little better than others, but that's not of
them either. That's of God. That's his grace.
Don't be proud. Don't be lifted up. God'll have
to give you something to bring you down again. All right, verse
9, 8, Whom have ye not seen? Haven't seen him, but we love
him. In whom though now you see him not, this is Christ we're
talking about, yet we believe. And we rejoice with joy unspeakable,
unexplainable, and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith,
the goal of your faith. And that's the salvation of your
soul. That's what this thing is all about. That's the goal
of faith, the end of faith, is the salvation of our souls in
Christ by his grace, through his blood, by his sacrifice,
through his righteousness. It has nothing to do with what
I do or don't do. Verse 10, of which salvation?
This glorious salvation, the prophets, these men of old, Moses
and Isaiah and Jeremiah and all the rest, have inquired and searched
diligently. They just had the patterns. We've
got the person. They had the person too, but
in the pattern. They had the pictures. We got the full revelation. And they searched diligently
into these promises and prophecies and patterns and pictures and
prophesied of the grace that should come to you in the glorious
appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnation of Deity, searching
these men, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit
of Christ which was in them. Oh, did the Holy Spirit come
at Pentecost? Yep. Well, wasn't He in the Old
Testament believers? Yep. The Lord Jesus came to Bethlehem,
didn't He? But He was with the Old Testament
believers. The Spirit of Christ who was in them did signify. Moses wrote of me, Christ said.
Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad. When the Holy Spirit testified
beforehand the sufferings of Christ, Isaiah wrote about the
sufferings of Christ. Psalms, David wrote of the sufferings
of Christ. Moses, in every Old Testament
picture and pattern of the tabernacle mercy seat and sacrifice, wrote
of the sacrifice of Christ, sufferings of Christ, and the glory that
should follow. Now watch this. Under whom, and
we're still talking about these prophets, These Old Testament
prophets, unto them it was revealed that not unto themselves, but
unto us they did minister the things which are now reported
unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you. They wrote
about Christ, the revelation of Christ in person. He came
to this earth. Job said, I know my Redeemer
liveth and he'll stand at the latter day on this earth. And we know He did, been reported
by those that preach the gospel to us, where the Holy Ghost sent
down from heaven, which things the angels desire to look into,
the things that are so real to us and so evident to us and so simple to us, those things
the angels desire to look into. Now go back to that passage where
we were reading a moment ago. Verse 12, we're told that we have now reported
unto us by them that preach the gospel, with the Holy Ghost sent
down from heaven, things that angels desire to look into. Believers are a people favored
of God, blessed of God, chosen of God, regenerated, redeemed
by the blood of Christ, kept by the power of God, enlightened
by His Spirit. Now, verse 13, listen. Wherefore,
therefore, gird up the loins of your mind. Let us apply our
minds and our hearts to these things which we have heard. lest
we let them slip. Be sober, serious. Take them
seriously. Take them seriously and hope
to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at
the revelation or at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
verse 14, as obedient children, not fastening yourselves Don't
imitate the world. Not fashioning yourselves according
to the former lust in your ignorance. Don't try to be like the world. Don't try to imitate the world.
Don't try to win the favor and approval of the world. Don't
be governed by the ways and language and philosophy of the world.
Live your life as a believer. Don't let them set your tone. You set it with the Word of God.
Don't be like them. We're new creatures in Christ.
Verse 13 says, Take this seriously what you've learned. Angels desire
to look into the things that God's taught you. Take it seriously. Be sober. And don't let the world
dictate to you Don't fashion yourself after them, don't be
like them. But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of
conversation. Be holy, be godly, be spiritual
in your conduct, in your attitude, in your conversation. Paul said over here in the book
of Colossians, listen to this, it's Colossians 4. Colossians 4, verse 6, and this
is where a lot of it is in conversation. Conversation. That's what he
said, Be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Verse 6 of Colossians
4 says, Let your speech be always with grace, as a man
thinketh in his heart. the mouth speaketh, out of the
heart the mouth speaketh. And our conversation is to be
always with grace. But this is not a forced religious
rhetoric like you hear on television. But it's a speech of grace, giving
glory to God. And watch this next line, then. What salt is to meat, grace is
to the speech, makes it tasty, makes it acceptable, makes it
good, flavors it, gives God the glory. Be ye holy in all manner
of conversation. Most of God's people are holy
in their conduct and in their business dealings and their honesty.
Watch your mouth, that's what he's talking about. conversation. Let it be seasoned with grace.
Salted with grace. All right, go back to the text.
Because it's written, Be ye holy, for I'm holy. Set a watch on
our mouths. That's where James says man can
tame his tongue. He's done a mighty, mighty deed. The tongue is a little member,
but it's set on fire with hail. It divides, it destroys, it murders,
it destroys character. Oh, the Torah is a vicious, vicious
instrument. And that's where you go to work
in this holiness business. And then verse 17, watch this. And if you call on the Father,
that is, if you call God your Father, if you profess that he's
your Father and you're his child, and if you call on him in prayer,
which we do, because he is our father, our father which art
in heaven. So when it says, if you call on him, it's the same
thing as saying, if you call him your father. And being your
father, you'll call on him as father. Who without respect of
persons, Almighty God is no respecter of a man's person, position,
power, possessions, or talent, or nationality, or deeds. Who without respect of person,
he judges According to every man's work, God looks on the
heart. That which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to
God. He respects no man's person,
power, position, possession, talent, whatever. He looks on
the heart, judges by what's in the heart. So if you call God
Father, this One who is all-wise and all-knowing, and looks on
our hearts and not on our outward countenance, then you will pass
the time of your sojourning in fear, in trembling, in awe, in
reverence, in humility, because he looks on the heart. God sees
not as a man sees. So we really know him, call him
our father. We're just pilgrims here, we're
passing through, we're natives by the first birth of this land,
but we're citizens by the second birth of that land, and we're
passing through waiting his call, and we know that he looks on
the heart. Then we pass the time of this sojourning in great awe,
in great fear, reverence before God. Now watch this, here we
come. For as much as you know of this unconfident that you
are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, we've
been redeemed. And according to this scripture
here, we've been redeemed from two things. I want you to read
it carefully, verse 18. For as much as you know that
you are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, The Apostle Peter is saying to
these people, now you've been redeemed from sin, from the guilt
of it, from the curse of it, from the power of it, from the
piety of it, from the practice of it, one day from the presence
of sin. Adam's transgression, sin on
nature, the Adamic sin, the original sin. The sins of our consciences
and hearts and minds and thoughts and intellect and deeds and feet
and hands and mouths and minds, we've been redeemed from sin
by the blood of Christ. But we've been redeemed from
a vain conversation received by tradition from our fathers.
That's false religion. That's a useless religion. That's
what he's talking about here. This verse is emphasizing our
deliverance from a life of religion. Works, ritualism, vain, useless
things. Where did we get our religion?
We received it by tradition from our Father. Most people, their
religion is what they receive handed down to them. Most people. practically all except those
called by grace. And when he calls us by grace,
he not only calls us out of the dunghill of flesh, but he calls
us out of the dunghill of religion. All this self-righteousness. Most every sheep of Christ is
found in some kind of religion. Self-righteousness, which is
the greatest sin of all sins. Self-righteousness is not recognized
by men as great sin. They call them good men. Here's
a fellow that has no use for the righteousness of Christ,
for the sacrifice and blood of Christ. He's laboring to establish
before God a righteousness for himself. And we say, well, he
doesn't know the gospel, but he's a good man. He's a devil. He hates Christ. He hates the
gospel. He would, with his hands, pull
the lamb off the throne, if you turned him loose. He would have
heaven by his own deeds. He would have heaven by an act
of law and works. He would take the crown off the
head of Christ and put it on his own head. He's the greatest
sinner alive. That's right. I said one time
in a message, I had rather, I had rather, and I mean it, I mean
it. I had rather one of my boys be
a bartender down here at Quality Inn than be an Armenian preacher. Ten times rather. Ten times rather. You say, but he's contributing
to delinquency of people down there. The man in the prayer
pit who preaches salvation by works is contributing to the
damnation of people. God saves drunks, but he doesn't
save religious people. That's right. I'm telling you
the truth. It's the greatest sin in the
world, is to try to merit heaven by your works. And when Christ
redeemed us, he redeemed us from sin and he redeemed us from self-righteousness. Glory be to God! I'd rather be
standing before God, charged with murder, than charged with
self-righteousness. Any day. Any day. I'd stand a
chance as a murderer, but not as a Pharisee, because that Pharisee
is challenging the right of Christ to reign. Verse 19, how do we
get out of it? With a precious, precious. Why
is it called precious? It's called precious because
it's so valuable, there's nothing like it. It's the only one. Precious. The precious blood
of Christ, the precious blood of God. Who redeemed us? Christ
our Lord. Why did He redeem us? The answer
is found in Himself, not in us. How did He redeem us? With His
precious blood, as in a lamb, a suffering, sacrificial lamb,
without blemish, without sin, without stain, without spot.
Ah, the ever Old Testament Lamb that was taken to the altar and
had his throat cut, his blood shed, and roasted his body with
fire, shows the sacrifice of our Lamb of God on that cross,
who endured the fire and the wrath and the judgment of God
for our awful sin of self-righteousness and all the rest of it, redeemed
us. He redeemed us. according to
the good pleasure of his will, redeemed us with his own precious
blood by himself purged our sin." Now, when did he redeem us? All
right, watch it. Verse 20, "...who barely was
foreordained before the foundation of the work." Now, listen to
me. If one would really enter into
this thing of He's going to have to try to enter into some understanding
of the person of Christ, not just his work, his person, because
it's who he is that makes effectual what he did. And to have any
understanding of the redemptive work of Christ, we're going to
have to look into the character of Christ. We're not talking
about a man confined to times and seasons and recorded acts.
But God is our Redeemer. God himself is our Redeemer.
And all that Christ is, from eternity past to eternity future,
all that he designs and decrees and thinks and does, is involved
in our redemption. Our redemption is not just the
shedding of his blood. The shedding of his blood is
made effectual by who he is. Somebody says, Christ died for
our sins. Well, how can it be that Christ died? Well, he became
a man. Well, why was it necessary for
him to become a man? That he might be our representative,
bone by bone and flesh by flesh. That he might, as a faithful
high priest, be acquainted with our nature and our sins. Well,
who decreed that he should be our representative? Well, the
Eternal Father decreed it. Well, when did the Eternal Father
decree it? Before the foundation of the
world. So this thing of redemption, it doesn't, it focuses at the
cross. But at the cross, you keep going
back to why he came, how he came, why he came, who sent him, why
did he send him, when was it all worked out, when was it purposed?
Before the world, that's what he said. Who verily was foreordained
before the foundation of the world, but was manifested. in
these last times for you." I say, now, don't stop there. It's a
comma. For you. Who by him do believe? All right,
we're coming from the cross for salvation now. His people must
believe. A man can't be saved without
believing the gospel. So here we've got the cross here
in the center of this thing. Somebody says, well, I'm trusting
the finished work. Uh-uh. I'm trusting the person. And it wasn't finished at the
cross in reference to me. I've got to believe. I've got
to be kept. I've got to be raised. I've got
to be changed. I've got to be taken to glory.
And he does all that. It's by him that I hear the gospel.
It's by him that I believe. It's by him that I'm kept. who by him do believe in God,
who raised him from the dead and gave him glory." That's the
assurance I have that God accepted Christ on my behalf and in my
stead because he raised him from the dead. Do you see what I'm trying to
say? Here is the cross, but before the cross is the incarnation.
Before the Incarnation was the pattern set in the promises and
prophecies of the Old Testament, every lamb that died. And before
the pattern is the decree that God made Him our Shearer to have
a better covenant. And before the decree and the
announcement is the covenant. And before the covenant is the
mind of God who ordained the covenant. And all of that is
essential to the redemption of my soul. That's the reason Arthur
Peake talked about eternal justification, and blood justification, and
the Holy Spirit coming, who by him do believe, and are kept,
and continue in the faith, and look unto Jesus, the author and
finisher of our faith, and who dine the faith. who have that
dying grace and who are buried with a hope of resurrection.
And he is able to raise our bowed bodies and make them like his
own body, and the work goes on. And one day, we all stand in
his presence. Whom he foreknew, he predestinated. Whom he predestinated, he called.
Whom he called, he justified. Whom he justified, he glorified.
It's finished now! When this old world is destroyed
and the last enemy is destroyed, death. And Caesar, he did it
all. I am I redeemed? You got an hour
or two? A year or two? A lifetime? I'm still looking into it. I'm
still in love by it. I'm still fascinated by it. Don't
give me a pigeonhole, God. He's a timeless God. An ageless
God, an omnipotent God, an omniscient God, and it took God to save
even the least one of us. If He saves ten million, it takes
the same Savior. If He saves one, just you, Frank,
just you, nobody else. He couldn't spare one thing. That's the reason we're learners,
learners, learners, disciples. We see through a glass dimly.
We know in part. We don't know anything. Just
a part. Isn't that right? We're learning,
though. I'm a learner. Read on. Seeing that you purified
your souls, obeying the truth through the Spirit, under unfeigned
love of the brethren, see that you love each other, one another
with a pure heart fervently, being born again, not a corruptible
seed. This is not handed down from
daddy to son. It's incorruptible seed, born
by the word of God. This word lives and abides forever. It's a living word. It begets
a living hope. For all flesh is as grass, and
all the glory of man is a flower of grass. The grass withereth,
the flower thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth
forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached
unto you." This is the word which by the
gospel. Aren't we blessed? Aren't we
blessed? We do call Thee our Father. And it's not just these tongues.
If we had no voice, if we had no words, in our hearts we bow
to Thee and call Thee our Father. The Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ is our Father. And we thank Thee for Your mercies
to us. You've not passed us by. You've
not left us alone in religion, in sin. But by your grace, you've lifted us and washed us
and made us whole, justified us and redeemed us in the blood
of our Son. And we thank you. We praise you. And we come together here tonight
around this table that our Lord gave us. As the Apostle said,
what I have received of the Lord I deliver unto you. How that
our Lord Jesus Christ, the same night in which he was betrayed,
took bread. And we take this bread tonight,
which represents his broken body, broken for us, bruised for our
iniquities. And this wine, which is his blood,
We take this wine, remembering his blood shed for the remission
of our sins. And our confidence, O Lord God,
our hope, our trust, our salvation, is not in what we've done, but
in our Lord Jesus Christ and Christ alone. By his blood, we're
washed. By his righteousness, we're accepted. And this, our God, is our hope.
Now help us. as we observe this table, to
do it in a manner glorifying to Christ Jesus and set our affection
on things above. We ask this in his name and for
his sake. Amen.

Redeemed

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