A Portrait of Christ's Church

Q: What does the Bible say about the church being elect?

The Bible describes the church as the elect of God, chosen according to His foreknowledge. In 1 Peter 1:2, the apostle Peter refers to the church as the 'elect according to the foreknowledge of God.' This means that God's people are chosen based on His sovereign will and foreordination, demonstrating that their salvation is entirely rooted in His grace and loving intention. The doctrine of election emphasizes that those who belong to Christ and are part of His church were selected by God before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-5), ensuring that their inclusion in His kingdom is not a result of their own merit, but of God's mercy and purpose.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to understand they are strangers in the world?

Understanding that Christians are strangers in the world reinforces their identity and purpose in Christ. Peter describes God's people as 'strangers' in 1 Peter 1:1, highlighting that Christians are not truly at home in this world. This understanding is crucial, as it reflects the believers' spiritual identity and the reality of their calling. They are set apart, chosen to live in accordance with God's will rather than the fallen ways of the world. Being recognized as strangers also emphasizes the need for perseverance in faith, as believers may face opposition or misunderstanding from those around them. Remembering their status as strangers encourages Christians to seek the eternal city and hope that God has promised, which further strengthens their faith as they navigate a temporary and often hostile environment.

Q: How do we know salvation is by faith?

Salvation is affirmed in Scripture to be by faith, not by works, as demonstrated in Romans 5:1. In 1 Peter 1:9, it is asserted that the end of faith is the salvation of the soul, highlighting that salvation is intrinsically linked to faith. The apostle Paul reinforces this in Romans 5:1, stating that 'being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' This doctrine signifies that faith, as a means of receiving God's grace, is paramount in the believer's journey to salvation. It transforms the understanding of righteousness from being something one earns through works to a gift received by faith, fostering a deep reliance on Christ's redemptive work on the cross rather than personal achievements.

Q: Why is the church described as being born again?

The church is born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In 1 Peter 1:3, Peter states that believers have been 'begotten again' to a living hope, showcasing the transformative nature of salvation. This phrase encapsulates the idea that through the mercy of God, believers are not just improved but made entirely new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). This rebirth is accomplished through the work of the Holy Spirit, which brings spiritual life where there was once spiritual death. Furthermore, this new birth connects them to a living hope, rooted in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, assuring them of their eternal inheritance and relationship with God. Understanding this aspect of Christian identity is vital, as it instills a sense of hope and purpose in believers' lives as they navigate their earthly existence.

Last week, I brought you a message
on this station entitled, A Portrait of Jesus Christ. Now, if you
didn't hear that message and you want the tape, it'll be on
the other side of this message I'm going to bring today. And
the message today is entitled, A Portrait of Christ's Church. We had last week a portrait of
our Lord Jesus Christ from the book of Revelation, chapter 1. Today, we're going to look at
a portrait of His church, the church of our Lord Jesus Christ,
His people. Turn with me to 1 Peter, chapter
1, 1 Peter. Now, have you ever noticed that
this epistle written by the apostle Peter is called the Epistle General
or General Epistle? Now, do you know why it's called
the General Epistle? Well, it's called the Epistle
General because it's not addressed to any particular church, like
Paul wrote to the church at Galatia, church at Corinth, church at
Rome, and individual churches or individual people. He addressed
a letter to Titus and to Philemon. But this 1 Peter is addressed
to all believers in general. And it's also said, I didn't
know this till some time ago, it's also said that this is the
oldest epistle of all. You know, the Bible, the books
in the Bible are not set in the order in which they were written.
That's not how they were written. They're set in the order that
they put them in. But as they say, this one, 1 Peter, is possibly
the oldest, the first epistle ever written. Now, in the first
chapter, of 1 Peter, the apostle gives a beautiful portrait of
the people of God, the church of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
they are, who they are, and what they have. This is an interesting,
interesting study. So stay with me. Let's look at
it. Take your Bible and mark these
words that I'll be giving you as Peter describes the Lord's
church, a portrait of Christ's church. In verse 1, Peter calls
them strangers. Strangers, he said. See if they're
strangers scattered throughout the world. Strangers. God's people
are strangers. Well, they're not strangers to
God. He said, I know my sheep. Of the sheep I have which are
not of this fold, him also I must bring. Known unto God are all
his works from the beginning. He knows his sheep. And they're
not strangers to one another. The people of God love one another.
They're one body in Christ. They're the body of Christ. They're
the family of God. They're the people of God. So
they're not strangers to one another. They love one another.
They love to fellowship with one another. But what does this
mean when Peter calls them strangers? Well, they're strangers in this
world, and they're strangers to this world. You see, they're
a holy people. They're a peculiar people. There
are people who believe God and walk with God, and the world
hates them. The world hates God's people
like they hated Christ when He walked this earth in human flesh.
He said, Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. The world
hated me, and it'll hate you. Now, if you were of the world,
then the world would love its own. But because you're not of
the world, but I've called you out of the world, the world will
hate you, and you'll be a stranger. Now, some of you have experienced
this. Where you work, they consider you to be an oddball, a strange
person. Where you shop, community in
which you live, when you don't take part in all the things that
other people take part in and seem to enjoy, you're different. And you're different because
you're a stranger. You're in a strange land. This world's
not your home. Like Abraham, you're looking
for a city. And you're a stranger now, and you'll always be a stranger
if you walk with Christ. All right, notice the second
word in verse 2. Peter says they're not only strangers, but he said
they are the elect of God. Elect. See it there, underscore
it. Elect according to the foreknowledge,
and that word's foreordination. God knows something beforehand
because He ordains it. And they're elect according to
the four nations of God. He said, you're a chosen generation.
A chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, elected
of God, eternally loved and chosen of God. You see, look at those
four things he says in verse 2. He says, they are elect according
to the four knowledge and the will of God. And he says, by
the sanctification of the Spirit, that is the setting apart by
the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit sets them apart,
comes to them, quickens them, regenerates them, sets them apart
from the world to obedience, to obedience, to belief of the
truth, to obey the Lord of glory, to hear His voice and respond. And they're sprinkled by the
blood. This refers back to the Old Testament
mercy when the great high priest would bring the blood into the
mercy seat and sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat and make an
atonement. And these elect people are sprinkled
and cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. They're strangers
in a foreign land, in a world that despises them, and they're
the elect of God, special people, chosen of God, ordained of God. Whom He foreknew, He predestinated
to be conformed to the image of His Son. Whom He predestinated,
He called. Whom He called, He justified.
Whom He justified, He glorified. What shall we say to these things?
Well, if God be for us, who can be against us? All right, verse
3, Peter goes on painting a portrait of God's people. In verse 3,
he says they're born again. He says, bless God. who according
to his abundant mercy hath begotten us." You know what to beget is. To beget, to begotten is to give
birth to. And he hath begotten us again
to a living hope. Well, the first time we were
begat or born, we were born of the flesh. We were born in sin,
we were born dead to God, dead in trespasses and sin. brought
forth from the womb speaking lies. Well, by God's mercy, according
to His abundant mercy, by His Spirit, the elect have been begotten
again. And this time, not to no hope,
which the flesh is, it has no hope, not to darkness and death
and to sin, but He hath begotten us to a living hope, to a living
hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Just as
Christ our Lord died on the cross for our sins and rose again from
the dead, then we're quickened from the dead and made to live
eternally. And he that believeth on me,
Christ said, though he dies, he lives and lives forever and
lives to God. So God's people are strangers.
They are the elect. They're born again. And then
look at verse 4. He says here in verse 4 that
they're rich, they're heirs of God. You know what an inheritance
is, don't you? Probably you've got an uncle
or a father or a mother or someone who has passed away and left
you an inheritance and made you an heir, and you've received
in their will riches. Well, he says here that his people,
he hath begotten us, the children of God, to an inheritance, to
an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away,
reserved in heaven, waiting your coming." Oh, God's people are
the heirs of God. What is this inheritance? Well,
it's the very kingdom of God, the very kingdom of God with
all of its glories and riches and joys and happiness and eternal
life. We're heirs of God, our Lord
Jesus Christ. is the testator. That is, it's His will and testament. And He died on the cross and
made us heirs of God. And you know, it'll never be
contested either. That will will never be contested
because He ever lives to make sure that what He left His people,
they receive. And it's an incorruptible inheritance.
It's eternal. And it's undefiled by sin. It's
untouched by sin. Everything that's been touched
by sin will be destroyed. There'll be a new heaven, new
earth. The old heaven, old earth will be destroyed. But this inheritance
that is waiting us is undefiled, and it fadeth not away. Everything
we see and touch here on the earth is fading away. But this
inheritance fadeth not away, and it's reserved, it's kept
in heaven for you. for you." Oh, my. Well, let's go on. Verse 5, Peter
says that these people are people who are kept. They're kept people.
They're not only strangers and elect and heirs of God and born
again, but they're kept. What do you—what is something
when it's kept? It's preserved. It's secure. And we're kept—watch
this now—by the power of God. by the power of God. The power,
the purpose of God is dedicated to keeping His people kept by
the power of God. And I know that believers, I
preached on this not long ago, they do continue in the faith
and they do persevere in the faith. It says we're kept by
the power of God through faith, not without faith, through faith. But my friends, the credit and
the glory for our preservation and for our being kept goes to
God. He keeps me. I don't keep myself. I don't keep myself. I know I
hear people say, well, keep the faith. Well, by His grace, I
will be kept through faith. Let's put it, let's word it right.
He says here that He hath begotten us again unto a living hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in
heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith,
ready to be revealed in that last day. My sheep, hear my voice,
Christ said, and I give them eternal life, and they'll never
perish. And no man can pluck them out of my hand. My Father
gave them to me, and no man can pluck them out of my Father's
hand, because I and my Father are one. No one can separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. All right,
now watch this, verse 6. Peter says that these people
of God are a tried people, a tried people, a people who know something
about trials and tribulations and sorrow and suffering and
chastisement. Watch this, in Christ Verse 6,
you greatly rejoice, though now for a season you are in heaviness
through many trials. God's people are tried people.
The way of God's people on earth is not an easy way. In this world,
Christ said, you shall have tribulation, trials, but be of good cheer.
I've overcome this world. Now, many trials and sorrows
come our way, but always by the will of God and always for our
good, because he said this, all things work together for good
to them who love God, who are the called according to his purpose.
So whatever trials and suffering and tribulation come your way,
they are ordained of God, and therefore you're good in his
glory. In verse 7, he says, this is the trying of your faith,
the trying of your faith. Now, faith has got to be tried. It has to be. Untried faith is
unproven faith and may prove not to be faith. You see, faith
is tried to reveal the genuineness of it. That's right. God tries
us to reveal the genuineness of faith, and not only that,
but to strengthen it. See, trials produce patience,
and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope make
it not a shame. And faith is tried to reveal
the value of it. Faith is tried to enable us to
help others. And I tell you this, according
to this verse, when faith is tried, and when it proves to
be genuine, it'll bring glory to Christ at His appearing. See
that? All right, now look at verse
8. Peter says these people love Christ. They love Christ. He says, "...whom, having not
seen, you love." You haven't seen Christ, but you love Him.
We love the Father who chose us. We love the Son who redeemed
us. We love the Holy Spirit who called
us. And look at these three words here. He says, whom having not
seen, you love, like Peter said, Lord, you know I love you. You
know all things. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. And you know I love you, Peter
said. And then they believe him. And he says, we believe, we love
him, we believe him, like Abraham of old. And then that last word,
and we rejoice in him. We rejoice in God our Savior. All right, now you see that portrait
of the people of God? They're strangers in this world. They are the elect of God, special
chosen people. They're born again, begotten
again by His Spirit, and they're heirs of God. They have an inheritance,
undefiled, it fadeth not away, and they're kept. Kept by the
power of God through faith. And they're tried people. Tried
people. But they're people who love Christ.
And they believe Christ. And they rejoice in Christ. Now,
in the next few verses, the apostle tells us what these people have.
Then the word he uses is a word that you've heard so often. But
it's a word he uses over and over again. He uses the word
salvation. salvation. They have salvation. He says, look at verse 9, receiving
the end of your faith, the goal of your faith, the results of
your faith, even the salvation of your soul, the salvation of
your soul. Now, nobody knows a great deal
about this subject of salvation. I hear a lot of folks that sound
like they're pretty much authorities on it, but I tell you this, We
know in part. We preach in part. We see through
a glass dimly. But when that which is perfect
is come, then we're going to know as we have been known. But
this thing of salvation, the apostle Peter deals with it here
and tells us some things about this salvation. And I'll just
pass these things on to you as I look at them here. There's
the people of God. There they are. And he said,
the end of your faith, in Christ is the salvation of your soul.
Now, watch what he says about this salvation, this salvation. First of all, in verse 9, he
said, this salvation is by faith. It's by faith. The end of your
faith is salvation. It's not by works. What does
the Scripture say? For by grace are you saved through
faith. And that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." Romans
5, 1 says this, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul wrote the third
chapter of Romans and he said, this is my conclusion. Therefore
I conclude that a man is justified by faith. without the deeds of
the law. So that's the first thing about
this salvation, this glorious grand salvation. It is by faith. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. Now notice the second thing in
verse 10. This salvation is the same salvation
enjoyed by Moses and Abraham and Jacob and David. Now, this
salvation that you and I have right now, this redemption, this
salvation, is the same salvation, you know, the great Moses. We
hear people talk about the great Moses. Oh, yeah. And Abraham
and King David, the man after God's own heart. Oh, yeah. Jacob,
Isaiah, look at verse 10. Now, he said in verse 9, receiving
the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls, of which salvation
the prophets have inquired and searched diligently into." Who
are these prophets? Well, Moses. Moses, the prophet
of God. Christ said, Moses wrote of me.
Abraham, great prophet of God, friend of God. Christ said, Abraham
saw my day. He rejoiced to see my day. He
saw it and was glad. David said, the Lord said unto
my Lord, sit on my right hand. Isaiah, he was wounded for our
transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, chastisement of our
peace was upon him, by his stripes we're healed. We're saved, listen
to me, everybody back yonder, Moses, Abraham, Jacob, Isaiah,
David, they were saved by looking to the coming Christ, by faith
in Christ. And we're saved by looking back
to the Christ who came. It's all in Him. You see that? This glorious salvation is by
faith. And it's the same salvation that
the prophets of old rejoiced in. All right. Look at verse
11. And this salvation is based on the sufferings of Christ.
The sufferings of Christ. He says in verse 11, the Spirit
of Christ testified to these prophets the sufferings of Christ
and the glory that would follow. This is what Abel's sacrifice
pictured. You know, when Abel brought the
lamb and slew the lamb, shed its blood, this is way back under
after Adam fell. He was a son of Adam, and he
brought the lamb. And that's what it's showing,
the sufferings of Christ. And then the Passover that was slain
in Egypt when they put the blood on the door, that lamb was slain,
the blood was shed, and they roasted the lamb on the fire
and ate the lamb, put the blood on the door. That's the sufferings
of Christ. And then when the high priest went into the Holy
of Holies, put the blood on the mercy seat, and the glory which
followed, you see, they wrote about the sufferings of Christ,
They looked to the sufferings of Christ. They prophesied the
sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow His
sufferings. In other words, He accomplished
the redemption of God and secured the salvation of all His people,
and then no more lambs slain. You see, these Passover lambs
and these sacrifices and blood could not put away sin, but Christ
did. And that's the glory that followed
His death, His death. was the one sacrifice once for
all that justified all of His people. Now verse 14, and this
salvation, this glorious salvation makes His people to be obedient
children, obedient children. He says in verse 14, as obedient
children, not walking as you walked before, not living as
you lived before, not talking as you talked before, But as
your Father is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of life and
conversation." You see, our souls are justified by the sufferings
of Christ and by faith. And our faith in Christ is justified
by our obedience. That's what James writes. Paul
writes about the justification of the soul through the blood
of Christ. And James says, we show our faith by our works. Now, watch this. Verse 17, and
this salvation begets in the people of God a fear and a reverence
and a worship before the living God. Look at verse 17. So therefore,
if you call God your Father, pass the time of your sojourning
here on earth in the fear of the Lord. My friends, When you
read the Old Testament writings, the writings of men who knew
God, Abraham was a friend of God, David was a man after God's
own heart. When you read about these men
of God in the Old Testament, you know what is said about every
one of them? They feared the Lord. Jacob feared the Lord. Abraham feared the Lord. David
said, Come, my children, I'll teach you the fear of the Lord.
This is not a slavish fear. This is the fear that comes from
knowing the majesty and the power and the glory and the sovereignty
of Almighty God. A man who does not fear God does
not know God. And that's how unbelievers are
described in the third chapter of Romans in the New Testament.
There's no fear of God before their eyes. Now look at verse
18. And this salvation is the gift
of God through the merits of Christ. who was ordained before
the world to be our Redeemer but was revealed to us in these
last days. You see, all that God purposed
and all that God willed and all that God planned for His people
was ordained before the world began and revealed by picture
and promise and pattern and type in the Old Testament Then Christ
came and accomplished through His sufferings and His death
and His blood, and the glory followed. And down through these
years, down through these years, all of it looks back to Christ's
suffering and Christ's death and Christ's blood. And one day,
one day all of it will be manifested when God gathers His people together
in one, in Christ. Now watch this. I close reading
this, verse 18 through 20. For as much as you know, this
is what you know, you were not redeemed with corruptible things
such as silver and gold or works or traditions or religion from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but you were redeemed with the precious blood of Jesus Christ
as a lamb without blemish and spot who verily was foreordained
before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these
last times for you who believe in God, who raised Him from the
dead and gave Him glory." Now, if you want this message on a
cassette tape, it's called A Portrait of Christ's Church. On the other
side is a portrait of Jesus Christ. I'd like you to have this tape.
If you don't have the money, write for it. We'll mail it to
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two or three. Order one for a friend. A portrait
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Until next week, may God bless you.

A Portrait of Christ's Church

What does the Bible say about the church being elect?

Why is it important for Christians to understand they are strangers in the world?

How do we know salvation is by faith?

Why is the church described as being born again?

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A Portrait of Christ's Church

What does the Bible say about the church being elect?

Why is it important for Christians to understand they are strangers in the world?

How do we know salvation is by faith?

Why is the church described as being born again?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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