I'll be speaking in a few moments
from the book of 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 7. The title of our
message today is Four Precious Things, or Unto You Which Believe,
He is Precious. Would you turn there to 1 Peter,
chapter 2? I'm going to read in a few moments
the first seven verses, or I'm going to refer to them. But here's
my text, verse 7, just one line. unto you therefore which believe,
he is precious. Now, I don't know whether knowingly
or unknowingly, whether informed or uninformed, whether on purpose
or accidentally, I don't know, but it seems like that everybody
today who talks about salvation, talks about salvation in the
past tense. Have you ever noticed that someone
will come up to you and they say, are you saved? Or, have
you been born again? And the person will reply, yes,
I'm saved. I was saved in 1951 or 1955,
or I was saved in a revival meeting, I got saved here or there. They
always talk about salvation in the past tense. I imagine you
would shock the average church member and the average preacher
if when they ask you this question, have you been saved, if you'll
reply, yes, I am being saved." Or if somebody asks you, have
you been saved, you reply, I hope to be saved. And I hope by God's
good pleasure, safely, to arrive at home. This is the way the
Scripture talks about salvation. The Scriptures, which make much
of a good beginning in faith, also stresses a continuing in
faith. Did you know that? Now, I know
the Bible talks about believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. But that
same Bible, which stresses a good beginning, also stresses a continuing
in the faith. You listen to Hebrews 3. You
might read Hebrews 3, verse 6 and 14. But listen to verse 14. For we are made partakers of
Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto
the end. Salvation does not depend upon
my works, I know that, nor upon my merit, nor upon my perseverance. Salvation is in Christ, totally,
wholly, and completely, by Him and what He did, what He has
done, is doing, and will do. But those who believe on Christ
keep on believing. The Bible, which stresses a good
beginning in faith, also stresses a continuing in that faith. He that endureth to the end,
the same shall be saved. And the Scriptures, which make
much of living by faith, also make much of dying in faith.
The Scripture says, talking about the Old Testament believers,
these all died in faith. They started life in faith, they
continued life in faith, and they wound it up believing. That's
right. I have finished my course, Paul
said. I have kept the faith. I fought
a good fight. Henceforth is laid up for me
a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge,
shall give to me in that day, and not to me only, but to all
them who love his appearing. The Bible also gives us many
examples of men who did not continue. They had some kind of experience.
They made some kind of profession. They got some kind of religion.
They followed, as it were, for a time, the Lord Jesus Christ. But they quit. And the Bible
offers for them no hope. Judas Iscariot held the highest
office in the church. He was an apostle. He was the
treasurer of the group. Also, there was Ananias and Sapphira,
whom God struck dead in the assembly of the believers. And there was
Simon Magus. who made a profession and was
baptized, who got religion, who followed the apostles. But Peter
finally said to him, your heart's not right. I perceive you're
in the gall of bitterness. Your heart's not right with God.
There was Demas, companion of the apostle Paul, of whom Paul
said, Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world.
There was Hymenaeus and Alexander, who made shipwreck of the faith.
You can go on and on and talk about those who did not continue
in the faith, who perished. They made a start, but they didn't
run the race with patience. They didn't keep the faith. They
didn't finish the course. Therefore, they perished. Listen
to Hebrews 10, 38. Now, the just shall live by faith,
but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in
him. If any man draw back. Listen
to 1 John 2, 19. They went out from us, but they
were not of us. If they had been of us, John
said, they no doubt would have continued with us. And our text
in 1 Peter 2, verse 1 through 7, now turn over there a minute.
It makes clear that salivation is not a dose of medicine that
you take and get fixed up forever. It makes perfectly clear that
salivation is not just the acceptance of a book of facts, mental assent
to a creed or catechism. Salvation is not just a moral
reformation or following a set of rules. Salvation is a new
life. It's the creation of a new person.
It's a new being. It's a living, growing, continuing
union with God. It's the bringing of a person
into the family of God. And that person continues as
a babe, as a young man, and as an elder in Christ Jesus. Now
look at 1 Peter 2, verse 1. It says there in verse 1, "...wherefore
laying aside all malice." Look at that word, laying aside. It's
not done once and for all. It's not finished all at once.
All the way through this life, we have to continue to lay aside
all malice and all hypocrisies and all guile and all envy and
all evil speaking. We have to, it's a daily. laying
aside these things. It's a daily mortification of
the flesh. It's a daily crucifying of the
old man. It's not something that you get
fixed up and finished at one sitting. As you go all the way
through life, some of God's greatest men were men who had their greatest
trials in the closing days of their lives. David, Abraham,
just go on through the list. And then look at verse 2, if
you will. As newborn babes, Desire the sincere milk of the word
that you may what that you may grow That you may grow Paul said
I haven't arrived. I haven't apprehended. I count
not myself to have apprehended. I'm not already perfect He said
this in the latter stages of his ministry not too long before
he died. I haven't arrived I forget those
things which are behind and I press forward for the mark of the prize
of the high calling of Christ Jesus my Lord Oh, he said that
I may win Christ and be found in him Or that I may know Him
and the power of His resurrection. This thing of salvation is a
growth. It's being in Christ, but it's growing up in Christ.
And it's daily desiring the milk of the Word. And then verse 3
and 4. He says in verse 3, If you have tasted that the Lord
is gracious, you keep coming to Him. You keep coming to Him,
to Him as a living stone. If you've tasted He's gracious,
you'll come back for more. If you've eaten His flesh and
drunk His blood, you'll come back for more. If you feasted
on His mercy and His love and His grace, you'll come back for
more. If you've tasted that the Lord is gracious, you'll be back.
You'll be back. You'll be a regular, you'll be
a regular visitor to His table that you might feast upon the
good things of our God. Just keep coming. To whom coming? Just keep coming. You see that?
It's a continual thing. And then verse 5, you are a living
stone. You're not a dead name in a book.
You're not just a number in a kingdom. You're a son. You're a person.
You're a living stone, living sons in the Lord's family, living
stones in the Lord's temple, a living person. You see, salvation,
have been, are being, shall be saved. It's the work of God. We're His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good work. And then there in verse 7 in
my text, And it says, and to you that believe, that are believing,
that keep on believing, He is precious. Christ is precious. Now, the Apostle Peter uses this
word precious several times in these two books, 1 and 2 Peter.
And I've picked out some of them to reveal to you, if God gives
me the grace and the Holy Spirit gives me the wisdom and the liberty
and power, to reveal to you a growth in grace. There's progressive
sanctification. There are degrees of faith. There's
a growing up in the full manhood and full maturity in the Lord
Jesus Christ, that we continue in Him. Now, the word precious
means valuable. It means to be held in highest
esteem. It means to be held in the greatest
honor. And so here are four things,
and I've tried to put them in an order. in which I believe
they come. Now, you may change the order.
You feel perfectly free to do that because this is not a scriptural
doctrine, the order in which I place them. This is my order.
First of all, there is precious faith. Look at 2 Peter 1, verse
1. The apostle Peter says, Simon
Peter, a servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them who
have obtained... Watch these words. They all mean
something. To them that have obtained like precious, valuable,
honored faith. Now, among precious things, I
believe faith has to come first. And the reason I think faith
has to come first is it's doubtful that anything spiritual will
be held in high esteem if we don't believe it. How can you
call on Him in whom you haven't believed? How can you rest in
a promise that you don't believe? How can you trust in blood that
you don't believe? How can one be precious to you
whom you don't believe? So faith has to come first. Precious,
precious faith. Do you have faith in Christ?
Do you have faith in... All men do not have faith in
Christ. All men do not believe. Our Lord said to Simon Peter,
He said, Whom do you say that I am? And Peter said, Well, you're
the Christ, the Son of the living God. And you know what the Lord
said? Simon, blessed are you. You're blessed. You have something
all men don't have. You have faith. Blessed are you. Blessed are your eyes. They see,
and your ears, they hear. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you, Peter, but my Father, which is in heaven, He revealed
that to you. You've been given a gift, an unspeakable gift,
unsearchable riches, the gift of faith to believe in Christ.
You say, Pritchard, you think faith's a gift? I know it is.
The Bible says it's a gift. It's given unto us not only to
suffer for Him, but to believe on Him. That's what Scripture
says. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of
yourself, it's the gift of God. The goodness of God led you to
repentance. It's the grace of God that brought
us to faith. Faith's not the product of the
human heart. Faith is a good work, and no good work's ever
sprung from human flesh. Darkness is our lot. Unbelief
is our lot. You will not come to me that
you might have life. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. Do you have faith? Oh, what a
precious gift. You know why it's precious? It's
precious because of its source. I told you to listen to each
word. Simon Peter, a prophet, a servant, and a prophet of Jesus
Christ, apostle of Jesus Christ, to them who have obtained, not
earned, not merited, not bought, but obtained precious faith. Where did it come from? We obtained
it. We got the same place we got
mercy. We obtained mercy. Same place we obtained grace.
We got it from Him. He's the giver of every good
and perfect gift. And He gave us faith to believe.
God gave me the faith to believe. Even the desire to know Christ
is of God. Not only is faith precious because
of its source, it's precious because of its object. To them
that have obtained like precious faith, see the word through,
through the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ, that word
is in and through. Faith in. and through the righteousness
of Christ. Faith in the righteousness of
Christ. Not just faith in his teachings,
but faith in his righteousness. That's how I come to God. That's
how I come boldly to God. That's how I come boldly to the
throne of God's grace, because I know that Christ is my righteousness.
I don't have to be ashamed. I don't have to, like Adam, run
and hide. I can come boldly before God.
I'm a sinner. I have sinful thoughts and sinful
words and sinful habits. But I can come to God perfectly
righteous in God's sight, in Christ, clothed in His beauty.
Clothed in beauty, not my own. When I stand before His throne,
clothed in beauty, not my own. Then and not till then shall
I know how much I owe. With His spotless rock garments
on, I'm as holy as God's Son. Faith is precious because it's
faith in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you
know why faith is precious? I told you to watch each word.
To them that have obtained like precious faith, like faith, like
whose faith? Like Abraham's faith, like David's
faith, like Paul's faith, like Peter's faith. I don't have faith
in the same degree that Abraham have it. I wouldn't dare say
that. But I have the same kind of faith. It's just like his
faith in nature. It may not be as strong as his.
It may not be as great as his. like He has in His nature. It's
just one kind of faith. It may be great faith, it may
be small faith, it may be little faith, but it's in Christ. And
it's not the strength of my faith that saves, it's the power of
my Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's right. Look at the vine
clinging to the pole. It's not the strength of the
vine. It may be a little old bitty vine, not any bigger than
a thread, but it's on a strong pole, and it'll stand. It'll
stand just as long as that that vine which is an inch in diameter
stand, because you take away the pole, both vines would fall.
So it's not the strength of the vine, it's the strength of the
pole. Faith, precious, precious faith. Thank God we believe. He that believeth on the sun
hath light. Well, precious promises. Look at 2 Peter 1 forward, right
on down three verses from that precious faith. He says, whereby
are given unto us great and precious promises. that by these you might
be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruptions
that are in the world through lust." You know, all that the
early believers had were the promises of God. Before Christ
came, before our Lord died on the cross, Abraham, he just had
promises. That's all he had was God's promises.
In Romans chapter 4, it says, Abraham staggered not at the
promises of God. They seemed impossible. They
seemed beyond imagination. that he didn't even have a son. And God was talking about him
having heirs as the sands of the seashore. God was talking
about Abraham having a people out of every tribe kindred, out
of every nation under heaven, nations rising up and blessing
him, and he didn't even have a son. And he was 100 years old,
and his wife was 90 years old. Talk about faith. He believed
God. It says, being fully persuaded
that what God had promised, God was able to perform. But you
and I have it better than Abraham. We have all the promises of God
fulfilled in Christ. They're all fulfilled in Christ.
The Redeemer has come. The seed of Abraham has come.
The Son of David has come. The Messiah has come. The Lord
has come. The sacrifice has been offered.
The high priest has entered into the holy place, not made with
hands, but into heaven itself, to appear before God for you
and me. These are precious promises. because they're fulfilled, and
then their precious promises because they tell of great and
wonderful things. Think about it. God has promised
to us forgiveness of sin, in whom we have redemption, the
forgiveness of all our sins. Isn't that something? Not only
promises of the forgiveness of sin, but promises of sanctification. He said we are accepted in the
beloved. We are complete in Christ. Think
about that. The greatest center, the chief
of centers, complete in Christ. And then promises of divine protection
and divine direction. And we know that all things work
together for good to them who love God, who are the called
according to His purpose. God's children, everything, good
and bad, great and small, works together for our good and His
glory. And then promises of daily provision.
He says, My God will supply all your needs. according to his
riches in glory through Christ Jesus. He'll supply your needs. David said, I'm old, I've been
young, I've never seen God's seed baking bread. Never. Never. Never seen God's people deserted.
Precious promises of eternal life. He that believeth on the
Son hath eternal life, shall not come into condemnation. Promises
of the resurrection, he said, I'll raise him up at the last
day. All that my Father giveth me shall come to me, and him
that cometh out in no wise cast out. I came down from heaven
not to do my will, but the will of Him that sent me. This is
the will of Him that sent me, that of all which He hath given
me, I'll lose nothing but raise Him up at the last day." Not
a one. I won't lose a one. I'll raise
Him up at the last day. I won't lose a one the Father
gave me. I won't lose a one that came to me. I'll raise Him up.
Promises. Precious promises. No matter
how dark the valley, I'll fear no evil. Thou art with me. I
have His word. He hath said, so that I may boldly
say. That's the basis of my confidence
and my assurance. And these promises become more
precious as our faith grows. As your faith in Christ grows,
you'll have more peace and more rest and more comfort and more
joy. You're able to enter in more and more to those promises.
So we start with faith. Like the blind man who said,
I don't know what happened. I just know I was blind now,
I see, you see. That's about all some young believers
and babes in Christ know. Then they discover the promises
of God. And they enter into a rest and
a joy and a comfort and a peace. And then they discover something
else that's precious. They discover the precious blood.
The precious blood. He said in 1 Peter 1.18, For
as much as you know that you were not redeemed, with corruptible
things such as silver and gold from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers. But you were redeemed with the
precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot. Under the blood of Jesus, I'm
safe in the shepherd's fold. Under the blood of Jesus, I'm
safe while the ages roll, safe though the worlds may crumble,
safe though the stars grow dim. Under the blood of Jesus, I'm
secure in Him. Do you know the value of the
blood of Christ? The more you learn of the holiness of God,
the awesome, immaculate, immutable, infinite holiness of God, the
more you'll value the blood of Christ. The more you learn of
your own sinfulness, the more you learn of your own wretchedness
and depravity, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. I'm aware more
and more of my shortcomings. I fail and come short of the
glory of God." The more you're aware of your sinfulness, your
wretchedness, your depravity, the more you'll value the blood
of Christ. And also as you grow in understanding of the awful
judgment and wrath of God against sin, God hates sin, God will
punish sin, God must deal in infinite justice with all sin.
Do you know that? God's not a big old white-haired
granddaddy sitting in heaven with his tongue in his cheek
and saying, well, if you don't do too much, I'll let you get
off this time. No, sir, God's an awesome, holy,
immaculately pure and righteous and just God who must deal with
transgressions, who must punish sin. And the more you're aware
of that awesome wrath of God against sin, the more you value
the blood of Christ, the more precious the blood of Christ.
I think more and more I can understand something of the thanksgiving
in the heart of those fathers and mothers in Egypt When God
said at midnight, I'll pass through the land and I'll smite the firstborn
from Pharaoh's palace down to the cattle on the hillside. But
when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. Not when I see your
works, not when I see your promises, not when I see your professions,
not when I see your good deeds, when I see the blood. That's
all that's between you and the judgment and the wrath of God
Almighty and the condemnation of eternity is the blood, when
I see the blood. When I see the blood, what can
wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
His blood has redeeming power, redeemed us from the curse of
the law. His blood has cleansing power. The blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. His blood has atoning
power. His blood speaks better things
than the blood of Abel. What does His blood speak? It
intercedes. It speaks of an honored law,
It speaks of a satisfied justice. It speaks of a reconciled God.
It speaks of a justified sinner. His blood has keeping power.
By one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.
He'll keep me till the river rolls its waters at my feet,
and then he'll bear me safely over where my Savior I will meet. His blood's precious. And then
last of all, and I believe as we grow in grace, I know Christ
is precious to every believer. But oh, how precious He is to
those who have grown in grace. How precious, how much more precious
He grows every day. His faith, the faith is precious,
the promises are precious, and the blood is precious. But 1
Peter 2, 7, my text, under you that believe, He's precious.
This is the great evidence of saving faith. Christ is precious. Not just His blessings, but Him.
Not just His benefits, but Him. And He's blessed. precious in
everything. Now, election is wonderful, but
I'm elected in Christ. Adoption is wonderful, but I'm
adopted in Christ. Forgiveness is wonderful, but
I'm forgiven in Christ. The inheritance is wonderful,
but I'm an heir of God in Christ Jesus. Pardon is wonderful, but
I'm pardoned in Christ. He's precious in everything.
He's the key to everything. He's precious compared to everything. I'm glad our nation's free, but
let me tell you something. I'd rather be a slave and have
Christ than a free man and not know Christ. Now, we're blessed
financially. We enjoy a lot that other countries
don't enjoy, but I'd rather do without and have Christ. It's
good to have friends. I've got many wonderful friends,
but I'd rather be alone and have Christ. Health is good, but I'd
rather be an invalid and know Christ than to be a healthy man
and not know Christ. I'd rather have one arm and go
through life than to have two. and be cast into hell. Christ
is precious compared to anything. You just take anything, and then
Christ is precious above all things. That at the name of Jesus,
every knee shall bow. You know, he says in the book
of Hebrews, he's greater than Moses, as the son is greater
than the servant, and as he who built the house is greater than
the house, he's greater than the angels. To which of the angels
said he at any time, Thou art my son? And he's greater than
all the Old Testament priests? And he's greater than all the
principalities and powers? Our Lord is precious. You know,
over there in 1 John 2, verse 12, the apostle John talks about
babes in Christ and young men in Christ and fathers in Christ. And he says of the babes in Christ,
I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven.
You've discovered what faith is, and your sins are forgiven. And that's what you know, and
it's not all you know, isn't it? And I write unto you, young men,
because you've overcome the wicked one. How'd they overcome him?
By the blood. You've discovered the preciousness of the blood.
You young men have. You've been around a little while.
You've discovered the preciousness of the blood of Christ. But I
write unto you, fathers, because you've known him, that is, from
the beginning. You know him. He's precious.
It becomes not the faith and the promises and the blood, but
the person.