Let us turn back in our Bibles
now to Psalm 33. The title of the message is The Blessed
Nation. I thought about bringing this
message saying that tomorrow our nation, this country, celebrates
its 248th birthday. since 1776 to 2024, 248 years. I want to make a few comments
as we read the psalm again, working our way down to verse 12, our
text. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous,
for praise is comely for the upright. Praise the Lord with
harp sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. The righteous, the righteous
here, rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous. Righteous, those who
are made righteous by the righteousness, the imputed righteousness of
Christ, because that's the only way anyone is righteous or is
justified before God. Having the righteousness of Christ
laid to our account, God therefore declares us to be just. And we're encouraged here to
praise the Lord, to rejoice in God our Savior. This is one great
difference between the righteous and the unrighteous. The righteous
praise and worship God. We worship Him and praise Him
for all of His benefits, for all of His blessings. We recognize
that every good and every perfect gift that we receive in this
life, that they all come down from Him. They all come through
His hands unto us. And it's no hard thing for God's
people to rejoice and praise their Lord. And then in verse
three, we see the righteous once again are exhorted to sing unto
him a new song. Sing unto him a new song. Well,
where, how, and when does anyone get a new song? A song that's
always new, never grows old. Continually, it's a new song.
Well, look over to Psalm 40 just a moment. We see it here in this
psalm in verses two and three. He brought me up also out of
an horrible pit, out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock
and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in
my mouth, even praise unto our God. Now, how is it that we have
a new song? It is because the Lord God in
his grace and mercy has brought us up out of a horrible pit,
a pit in which there was no water, a pit in which we were sure to
be destroyed. He brought us out with a mighty
hand. Not only did he bring us out,
But he set our feet upon a solid rock, the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 4, back in Psalm 33,
in verse 4, the righteous are reminded that the word of the
Lord is right. For the word of the Lord is right. All his works are done in truth. You know Psalm 119 that speaks
to us about the word of God over and over. In verse 128 we read,
the psalmist said, I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things
to be right, and I hate every false way. The word of the Lord
is right. Aren't you thankful tonight that
you have a book in your hands, a Bible? that is inspired without
error, that it is a word of the Lord God. It's a written word
which reveals a living word. On every page we see Christ. I was reading recently this statement
in a book about Lorraine Boettner. He said in the year 1861, the
French Academy of Science published a list of 51 so-called scientific
facts, each of which it was alleged disproved some statement in the
Bible. Today, and that book was written
in the 1940s, he said today the Bible remains as it was then,
but not one. Not one of those 51 so-called
facts is held by men of science. That doesn't surprise us, does
it? But it's the truth. Men, you know, they make statements,
and men write books, and people are deceived, but we have the
book of books, and his word is right. No matter what he speaks
upon, whether it's creation or providence or salvation, his
word is right. Then in verse 5, we see the righteous
are reminded that the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. Everywhere you look, the earth,
God's earth, He loveth righteousness and judgment. The earth is full
of the goodness of the Lord. We have, I think, mankind as
a general rule, we for some reason major on things that are not
so good. And we see those things, but
we overlook all of the goodness of the Lord in this world. We see a person who is sick and
diseased in body, and sure, we feel sorry for them, we have
pity upon them, we pray for them, but let's not forget the thousands
of people that are healthy, that are not sick. The goodness of
the Lord. We see it everywhere. If the
Lord will just touch our eyes, that we might see. Then in verse,
6 through 9, the righteous here, by the word of the Lord were
the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of
his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the
sea together as in heap. He layeth up the depth and storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord. Now notice this, let all the
inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. We see God's creation. We are to admire God's creation. We are to observe God's creation. In this way we glorify God. We are his creatures and he would
have us to recognize his hand in creation and for it to affect
us in such a way that we stand in awe of the Lord God Almighty. Verse 10, the righteous are told
that the counsel, the will, the purpose of God, or the counsel
and purpose of the wicked will come to none effect. In verse
10, the Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught. He
maketh the devices of the people of none effect. Think about When
we read here, the Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to
naught, think about the book of Esther, when Haman made his
plans, didn't he? Even built a scaffold on which
he was going to hang Mordecai. But it didn't come to pass, did
it? God's counsel, it stood. Yes, all, as next verse we read,
the righteous are told that the Lord, the counsel of the Lord
stands forever in verse 11. The counsel of the Lord standeth
forever. I have purposed it, I will also
do it. That's what he says in Isaiah,
isn't it? I have purposed it, I will also
do it. And every purpose of God, there's
no change in his purpose, no change in his will. And that's
a comfort to each and every one of us as his children. But now we've come to my text,
blessed, verse 12, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord
and the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance. And that passage begs this question,
is there a nation, is there a nation whose God is the Lord? And is
there a people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance? Well,
you know the answer to both of those questions is yes. There
is a nation whose God is the Lord. You won't see this nation's
flag flying at the UN. If you look at the list in an
encyclopedia of all the nations of the world, you won't find
this nation listed, but nevertheless it is so. There is a nation whose
God is the Lord, and there is a people whom he has chosen for
his own inheritance. Let's read about that. If you
turn to 1 Peter with me, 1 Peter chapter 2, First Peter chapter two and verses
nine and 10. But you are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, and holy nation. There it is, a holy nation. A peculiar people. that you should
show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light, which in time past were not a people,
but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy,
but now have obtained mercy. I want to mention four things
about this nation. Comparing the nations of the
world, our nation, and this nation that is spoken of here in First
Peter. First of all, every nation has
a founder, has a foundation. It may not be just one man. When I was in school many years
ago, we were taught that George Washington is the father of our
nation, the father of this country. And no doubt he was a great American,
a statesman. But there were other men involved
in the founding of this nation. But this holy nation has one
foundation, has one founder, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the foundation. And if you
notice, he's a stone. upon which the nation is built. In verse 8, we read, and a stone
of stumbling and a rock of a fence. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
foundation stone, but he is described here as a stone of stumbling,
a foundation, a rock of a fence. Have you ever stumped your toe?
I'm sure we all have. You never stumped your toe on
a big old boulder, have you? No, you can see that boulder
so well, you're not going to stump your toe on that. That's
not going to be a stone of stumbling. But a stone of stumbling usually
is a small stone that doesn't make that great an appearance. We know that's the way the Lord
Jesus Christ was when he came into this world. That's one reason
he was rejected by the builders. You say, who are the builders?
They were the religious leaders of the nation of Israel. And
he was rejected because he was such an offense to them. He came
riding into Jerusalem on the foal of an ass. And they were
expecting someone on a white charger, someone, a great general. Look with me in Matthew 21, just
a moment. Keep your place here in 1 Peter,
but turn to Matthew 21. Our Lord tells this parable here
in this passage in Matthew chapter 21. And beginning reading in verse
33, Here another parable. There was
a certain householder which planted a vineyard, hedged it round about,
and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, let it out
to husbandmen, and went into a far country. And when the time
of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen
that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took
his servants and beat one and killed another and stoned another.
Again, he sent other servants more than the first, and they
did unto them likewise. But last of all, he sent unto
them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the
husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is
the heir. Come, let us kill him, and let
us seize upon the inheritance. And they caught him, and cast
him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When the Lord therefore
of the vineyard cometh, this is our Lord's question to whom
he spoke this parable. When the Lord therefore of the
vineyard cometh, he's just told the story. Man had a vineyard,
he fenced it in, built a wine press, and when it was time to
receive the fruits, he sent a servant. They mistreated him, sent another
servant or servants, they mistreated them and finally sent his son
saying they'll reverence him. But what did they do to the man's
son? They cast him out of the vineyard
and killed him. And our Lord asks this question.
When the Lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he
do unto those husbands? They say unto him, he will miserably
destroy those wicked men and will let out his vineyard unto
other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their
seasons. Jesus saith unto them, did you
never read in the scriptures the stone which the builders
rejected? The same has become the head
of the corner. This is the Lord's doing, and
it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore, now notice, therefore
say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and
given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. The nation that is given the
kingdom is, of course, this nation we're reading about here in first
Peter chapter two. It is the church. In the Old
Testament, the Old Dispensation, the kingdom of God was manifested
in the nation of Israel. But since they rejected the son,
now the kingdom of heaven is manifested where? In the church. Not in any nation here upon the
earth, but the church itself is referred to as a nation, a
holy nation. And that brings me to the second
point. Every nation has citizens. Every nation has citizens. And
I've got seven truths here I want to go through hurriedly about
the citizens of this nation whose God is the Lord. First of all,
every citizen of this nation, not the United States of America,
I'm talking about this nation that is spoken of here in 1 Peter
chapter 2, every citizen of this nation is chosen, is chosen. We see that in verse 9, but you
are a chosen generation. No one, no one is a citizen of
this nation who God did not choose in old eternity. You know, I'm
not ashamed. Are you of the doctrine of God's
sovereign election? I'm not ashamed of it. I'm not
ashamed to preach it. I love it. I know you do too.
Because if we deny the truth about God's sovereign election,
we just erase the fact that salvation is by grace. If there's no election
of God, sovereign, unconditional election of God, then salvation
is not by grace. And you and I, We rejoice in
the truth, don't we? That by grace we are saved through
faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. And you
can't mix grace and works together, just like oil and water. It just
won't mix. Salvation's either of grace or
it is of works. But it's not a combination of
the two. It's by grace. We're not ashamed
of this truth. Peter, if you look back into
chapter one of this letter, he addresses the whole letter to
the elect of God. First Peter chapter one, Peter,
an apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia elect according
to the foreknowledge of God. Now, I'm not going to take the
time. I trust that you understand what
that means according to the foreknowledge of God. I'll just say this. It doesn't mean that God looked
down through history and saw who would choose him, and based
upon his foreknowledge, he chose them. That's a lie. And that's not what the scriptures
teach about God's foreknowledge. Actually, the word foreknowledge
means love, his forelove. He loved his people with an everlasting
love. So every citizen of this nation
is chosen. Number two, every citizen of
this nation is born a citizen. He's born a citizen. You know,
we have citizens of our country that are naturalized citizens.
But not this nation. Everyone who is part of this
holy nation that Peter's writing about is born a citizen. He's
born of God, born from above. The Lord Jesus Christ said, Nicodemus,
verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, born
from above. He cannot see the kingdom of
heaven, cannot enter or perceive, understand the kingdom of heaven. And Paul wrote in Philippians
3, for our conversation, and they tell me, the authors do,
the writers do, that word conversation means citizenship. For our citizenship
is in heaven. From whence also we look for
the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The new birth is a birth from
above, a birth from heaven. And to be part of this nation
that Peter writes about, a person must be born again. Third, every
citizen of this nation is kin to every other citizen. Every
citizen of this nation that Peter is writing about here is kin
to every other citizen of this nation. We live in this nation,
and we have kin folks, but we're not kin to everybody here, are
we? No. But we are in this nation, every
one of us, we're all akin to one another. Verse nine, again,
but you are a royal generation. That word generation, the Greek
word is translated here generation. It's used 19 times in the New
Testament, but it's only this one time translated generation. Most of the time, it is translated,
or at least twice, it's translated nation, but most of the time,
it is translated kindred, kindred. Every citizen is kin, for we
all have the same father. Every one of us here tonight
who are citizens of this nation, we all have the same father.
He's our heavenly father, isn't he? Our Father, which art in
heaven. And we all have the same hope.
We all have the same Savior. We all have the same Holy Spirit
living in us. We're all kin, one to another. A fourth thing, every citizen
of this nation is a priest. Notice what he said there. But
you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. A kingly
priesthood. This is what we read in Revelation
1, verses 5 and 6. Unto him that loved us, and washed
us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests
unto God and his Father, to him be glory. and dominion forever
and ever, amen. Hold your places here, but look
back with me to the book of Exodus just a moment. Exodus chapter
19. This passage speaks to us of the nation of Israel coming
out of Egypt and being led to Mount Sinai. And we know at Mount
Sinai, the law would be given through Moses. But here in chapter
19, remember this is the chapter where God told Moses, you know,
to put boundaries around the mountain. Don't let anyone touch
the mountain because if you touch the mountain, you're gonna die. No animals, no person. We read
in the third month when the children of Israel were gone forth out
of the land of Egypt, the same day came they unto the wilderness
of Sinai. For they were departed from Rephidim,
and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the
wilderness, and there Israel camped before the mount. And
Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the
mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob
and tell the children of Israel, you have seen what I did to the
Egyptians, how I bear you on eagles' wings and brought you
unto myself. Now therefore, now watch this,
this word if, it's very important. If means it's conditioned, there's
a condition here. Now therefore if, you will obey
my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a
peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth
is mine, and you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and
an holy nation. You see, that was a conditional
promise, wasn't it? If, if you will obey my voice,
if you will keep the commandments of God. Then, but only then,
would they be made a holy nation, a kingdom of priests. But here
in the New Testament now, we have been made a nation. If we're saved tonight, we're
citizens of this nation. And every citizen of this nation
is a priest. We believe in the priesthood
of the believer. That's one of the things that
distinguishes so much the Protestants from the Roman Catholic Church.
They have what they call a laity, that is people in the pews, and
then they have a separate order of priest. No. No, the scriptures don't teach
that at all. The scriptures declare very clearly
that we are all priests unto God. Every child of God, you
are a priest unto God if you are saved tonight. Well, a priest,
what does a priest do? He offers gifts and sacrifices. That's what we read in Hebrews. Well, what kind of sacrifices?
do we offer? Look in verse 5 here in our text,
1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 5. You also as lively stones are
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. We certainly
don't offer blood sacrifices. That flies in the face of the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ, doesn't it? To even hint that
that sacrifice was not efficient to put away the sins of his people. We don't want to have anything
to do with that. No, the sacrifices that we as
priests offer unto God is a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips,
the scripture says. Verse nine here in this verse. But you are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people that
you should show for the praises of him who hath called you. And
that brings us to the fifth thing. Every citizen of this nation
is a saint. That word holy, that word holy
is the same word that is translated saint in so many places. How
many letters does the New Testament contain where Paul began the
letter writing to the saints? The saints. I saw the other day
on the news, you probably saw it, that they claim they've made
a young man a saint. He's the first saint of the millennial
generation or something. And they've made him a saint. Well, If a person doesn't leave
this world a saint, he'll never be a saint. And we are saints. We are holy. Made holy by the holiness of
Christ, in his holiness, in his righteousness. The word holy
simply means separate, doesn't it? Separate, sanctified, set
apart. Number six, every citizen of
this nation is called out of darkness into marvelous light,
verse nine. Who hath called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light? How dark. How dark is the darkness
in which lost men live, move, so dark that it may be felt. Darkness. But oh, what a blessing
it is to be called out of darkness into his marvelous light, to
be able to see our need, first of all, and to see Christ as
the answer to all of our needs. And the last thing, that every
citizen of this nation has obtained mercy and burst in, which in
time past were not a people, but now the people of God, which
had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. If it were not for the mercy
of God, we wouldn't be a citizen of this nation, but we've obtained
mercy. A third thing, and very briefly,
Every nation has laws. Every nation has laws. And the
laws of this nation, this holy nation here, is all based upon
these two principles. Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy
being, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Every law
is Every nation rather has its laws. And this nation, every
law that we that we observe is based upon love, first of all,
to God and then love to our neighbor. And the last thing, every nation
has a language. Every nation has a language.
What is the language of the citizens of this nation whose God is the
Lord? It's a language of love. It's a language of grace. We have a language, don't we?
I think of it as being a language of love because the Apostle Paul
said, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels
and have not love. I'm become as a sounding brass
or a tinkling cymbal. We're blessed. We're double blessed. We are part of this holy nation,
and God in his providence has allowed us to be members, citizens
of this nation, where we enjoy a lot of freedom, don't we? A
lot of blessings of God. upon our country. And my prayer
always is that it will continue to enjoy the blessings of God.
But I'm thankful that I'm part of another nation, a holy nation. And my citizenship is in heaven. And I'm looking for him to come
back to receive his bride. We'll sing a hymn before we're
dismissed.