Let us turn back again this evening
to 1 Peter chapter 2. We're going to be looking at two verses
tonight, verses 9 and 10. But I believe we'll read the
second chapter, verses 1 through 10. Wherefore, laying aside all malice
and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speakings,
as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may
grow thereby, if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious,
to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men,
but chosen of God and precious, You also, as living stones, are
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also
it is contained in the scripture Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded. Unto you, therefore, which believe,
he is precious. But unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made
the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense,
even to them which stumble at the word being disobedient, whereunto
also they were appointed. But you are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, and 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 entitled my
message this evening, An Holy Nation. In the scriptures that
we looked at last week, verses four through eight, we saw how
that the church The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is there
pictured as a building or as a temple. The Lord Jesus Christ
is presented as the living stone, the living stone that gives life,
and he is the cornerstone which unites all together in one, and
we also saw that he is a stumbling stone. Tonight, and looking at
verses 9 and 10, a holy nation. If you will, keep your places
here, but turn back with me to Matthew chapter 21. I want us to read a parable that
our Lord spoke. Matthew chapter 21. beginning with verse 33. Matthew
chapter 21, beginning with verse 33. Here, another parable. There was a certain householder,
which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged
a winepress in it, and built a tower, and 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 husband that they might
receive the fruits of it. And the husband 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 on his inheritance. And they caught him and cast
him out of the vineyard and slew him. Now before we read on in
this parable, it's easy, isn't it, to understand the parable
that God is the one who chose the vineyard and fenced it round,
and he sent messengers, that is, prophets, and some of them
were stoned, some of them were killed, some were sawed asunder. Many different ways they treated
the prophets that God sent to the nation of Israel. And then
he sent his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, his only begotten son,
saying, surely they will reverence him. the husbandmen do. They said, here's the heir. Here's
the heir. If we take him and kill him,
then the inheritance will be ours. And that's exactly what
the high priest said. That's exactly what Caiaphas
said. When he said, if we let this
man alone, all the world is going to go after him. If we let this
man alone, that is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Romans are going
to come and they're going to take our position, our places. Now let's read on. When the Lord
therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbands? They say unto him, that is the
people, answered and said, 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? Now here's the stone which was
disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, that is the Lord
Jesus Christ. We saw that last week. The stone
which the builders rejected, the same, is become the head
of the corner. This is the Lord's doing, and
it is marvelous in our eyes. That verse of scripture is in
Psalm 118. Therefore say I unto you, the
kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation,
a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall
fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall,
it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and
Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived, they understood
the parable, they perceived that he spake of them. But when they
sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude because
they took him for a prophet. But the point I wanted to make
is the Lord Jesus Christ told them that day, In this parable,
the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation,
bringing forth the fruits thereof. That's this holy nation that
we read about here in 1 Peter, in our text tonight. Israel was
a family. Jacob had 12 sons. That was a
family that went down into Egypt. And when they came out of Egypt,
they were a family and they were constituted a nation at Mount
Sinai. When God, through the typical
mediator, that is Moses, when he established that covenant
with them at Mount Sinai, they were constituted then a nation
before they had just been a family. Now they were a nation. Remember
when that covenant was ratified, that Moses took the blood of
animals and he sprinkled it on the book of the covenant and
upon the people, showing it was ratified. Now the Lord Jesus
Christ, when he came into this world, what did he say? The night
he instituted the Lord's table, he said, this is my blood of
the New Testament, that is the new covenant, which is shed for
many, for the remission of sins. The kingdom of God was taken
from that nation, that national nation of Israel, and it was
given to a nation, bringing forth fruits thereof. In Ephesians
5 and verse 5, the apostle Paul wrote, and I bring this out because
sometimes people will say, well, there's a difference between
the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Christ. In Ephesians 5, in
verse 5, the apostle said, the kingdom of Christ and of God. It's the same kingdom. There's
one kingdom and there's one holy nation. Now, there are six things
that we're going to look at here in this passage in 1 Peter 2,
verses 9 and 10. Six things which are declared
about every one who is part of this holy nation. Number one,
if you have your Bible open there. Number one, those of this nation
are a chosen generation. Now the word generation here
is the same word that is often translated kindred, kindred. And it means those of this nation,
this holy nation, are all of one race. We're all of one race,
and the Lord Jesus Christ, we're all part of his family, and he
is the root, he is the root of Jesse. In other words, he's the
stock from which this whole family, this whole kindred, this whole
generation comes from, the Lord Jesus Christ. Just like he's
the living stone, and everyone that is that is laid upon that
stone receives life from him, and we become living stones. So everyone, same people, right? Same people. We're talking about
the church. It's presented once as a building. And so we look at those stones,
Christ a stone, and then we become living stones, those who are
part of this building, the church. But now we're looking at the
church as a nation, as a nation that brings forth fruit unto
God. And the first thing we are told
about this nation is it is a chosen generation, or those of this
nation are a chosen generation. Notice the second thing about
this holy nation. Every member is of a royal priesthood. Verse nine, look at this scripture,
but you are a chosen generation, and the second thing, a royal
priesthood. I've emphasized this quite a
bit recently because I feel like it is so important that all of
us realize that we believe in the priesthood of believers,
that every child of God is a priest. There's not a separate order.
in the church of priest and laity. Every believer, every child of
God is a priest, and here we are called a royal priesthood,
a kingly priesthood. I want you to keep your places
here, but look back with me, if you will, to the book of Leviticus. I thought this would help us
tonight as we think about members being priests, In Leviticus chapter
8, the book of Leviticus, you see Levi, don't you, in that
title, because it concerns the priest. The tribe of Levi, all
the priests of Israel came from the tribe of Levi, from the family
of Aaron. And the tabernacle, the The pattern
for the tabernacle was given in the book of Exodus, but the
setting up of the priest, the setting aside the priest and
the sacrifices which were offered in the tabernacle, all of them
picturing the Lord Jesus Christ in some way. But that's all given
here in the book of Leviticus. And here in chapter eight, we
see the tabernacle has been set up and now it's time to set apart
and consecrate the priests, those who are going to officiate, those
who are going to do the work of the priesthood in the tabernacle. Chapter eight, verse one. And
the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take Aaron and his sons with
him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and a bullock
for the sin offering, and two rams, and a basket of unleavened
bread. and gather thou all the congregation
together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
And Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the assembly was gathered
together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Moses said unto the congregation,
this is the thing which the Lord commanded to be done. Now notice
this, and Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them
with water. That's the first thing in setting
them aside to the priest, to be priest under that old covenant,
the first thing that Moses said God commanded them to do was
to wash them, to wash them. Now, they were washed in water. They were washed in water. But
this royal priesthood, of whom every believer is one, we are
washed, but not with water. Right? We're not washed with
water. What are we washed with? With
blood. With blood. The water can cleanse
the outside, But only the sacrifice of Christ can deal with the inside,
the sin. Revelation chapter one, you're
very familiar with this verse, these two verses actually. Revelation
one, verses five and six, unto him, that is Jesus Christ, unto
him who loved us and washed us. There it is. It's like those
priests of old, the first thing about them being consecrated
to the priesthood, they had to be washed with water, but the
Lord Jesus Christ has washed us from our sins in His own blood
and hath made us kings, a royal priesthood, kings and priests
unto God, His Father. All right, number three. This
is true of everyone who is a member of this holy nation, a peculiar
people. The third thing we are told,
but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation,
a peculiar people. Now, if you have a Bible that
has a marginal reading, you notice before that word peculiar, that
little number, And you look in the margin of your Bible and
you see that it could be translated purchased. Purchased. A purchased people. All of God's
people have been purchased. Everyone that is a member of
this holy nation has been purchased. I thought of these two verses
of scripture which speak to us of believers being bought. 1
Corinthians 6 and verse 20, for you are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God's. You are bought with
a price. When Paul said his goodbyes to
the elders of the church at Ephesus. This is recorded in Acts chapter
20. He told them, take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the
flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers
to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own
blood. God's people are ransomed with
the blood that is the blood of Christ, and purchased. Now, there's a difference in
talking or speaking or writing about God's people being ransomed
and God's people being purchased. For the Jews, to be married,
they would purchase their bride. In other words, they would give
a dowry. There was no getting a wife without
a dowry. They purchased. And so we find
that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the bride of Christ,
is purchased. As a people of Christ, we were
ransomed. Ransomed. It is, when we read
about being purchased, it reminds us that we are the bride of Christ. that he purchased us. Now, John
Gill made this comment, I wanted to read to us on this. He said,
Christ indeed did not, now listen, did not purchase his church to
be his spouse. This is important, you get this.
Christ indeed did not purchase his church to be his spouse,
but because she was so. But then his purchasing of her
with his blood more clearly demonstrated and confirmed his right unto
her as his spouse. He betrothed her to himself in
eternity. In eternity, in the everlasting
covenant of grace, he chose his bride. He betrothed her, as Mr. Gill said, He betrothed her to
himself in eternity in the everlasting covenant of grace, but she, now
his bride, with the rest of the individuals of human nature,
fell into sin. He betrothed her to himself before
the foundation of the world, but she fell into sin, along
with all men fell into sin. And so, under the sentence of
the law, into the hands of Satan and the captivity of the world. To redeem her, Wentz, and by
so doing to own and declare her his spouse and his great love
to her, he gave himself a ransom price for her. Every member of
this holy nation is purchased, purchased with the blood of Christ,
purchased to be his holy bride. We know there's coming a day
when there shall be the marriage supper of the Lamb. When all
of God's purchased people, all of those that Christ purchased
with his blood, we shall all be together in God's everlasting
kingdom of glory. and sat down with him to eat
the marriage supper, to celebrate the marriage supper of the Lamb. Now here's the fourth thing that
we're told. Those of this nation are a called
people, but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
and holy nation, a peculiar people, purchased people, that you should
show forth the praises of him who hath called you, called you
out of darkness into his marvelous light. The Lord Jesus Christ
said that many are called, but few are chosen. These are all
chosen, chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world and
called in time. by the gospel, called in time
by the gospel. And I like the way Peter says
this, called out of, called into. You see that? Called out of and
called into. He hath called you out of darkness
and into his marvelous light. When we think about this darkness,
out of which we have been called, out of which everyone is called
by the gospel. Man's inability to please God. We come into this world and we
just have that innate understanding that we can please God, that
we have it in our ability to do that which will satisfy God. We don't need a savior. We can
take care of ourselves. That's darkness, isn't it? That's
extreme darkness. Darkness. Not only out of that
darkness, but the truth about God. Darkness. Most people think of God in a
manner like they would think of an old grandfather type figure,
you know, setting up in the heavens with a long beard and in a rocking
chair or something like that. and just hoping, kind of wringing
his hands, hoping everything's going to turn out okay. No, no. That's darkness. That's extreme
darkness. God's not like that at all. God
is a spirit, and God sits upon his throne and reigns and rules
over all, always has and always shall. Darkness. Darkness about free will. Man,
are in extreme darkness about the ability to make a choice,
a moral choice, whenever it pleases them. People think, well, the
scripture says, seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call upon
him while he's near. Well, I'll take care of that
when I'm on my deathbed. When I realize my time on this
earth is almost finished, that's when I'm going to get serious.
I'll make my choice. No, that's darkness, my friend.
That's extreme darkness. Today is the day of salvation,
the scripture says, today. We've been called out of that
darkness. I think about the nation of Israel. The apostle Paul said, let me
read this to us in Romans chapter 10 in verse 4. to being ignorant of God's righteousness, going about to establish their
own righteousness. That's verse three. For they
being ignorant of God's righteousness, that's darkness, darkness, extreme
darkness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness unto everyone that believeth." Everyone. He's called us out of darkness,
and not only that darkness like that, but sinful darkness. Such
were some of you. You read about that in 1 Corinthians
chapter 6. Those people that the Lord had
saved there at Corinth, Some of them had engaged in some of
the most wicked sin, iniquity, but they've been called out of
it, called out of darkness. And notice, called into. Isn't
that wonderful? Called into, not just His light,
but His marvelous light. His marvelous light. God is light,
isn't He? Scripture says, God is spirit,
God is light, God is love. God is light. And the Lord Jesus
Christ, he said, I am the light of the world. He that followeth
me shall not walk in darkness. We've been called out of darkness
into God's marvelous, marvelous light. Now we can see. I once was blind, but now I see. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. Number five. Those of this nation
are the people of God. Notice in verse 10, which in
time past were not a people, but are now the people of God. This no doubt especially refers
to the Gentiles. The Gentiles that he is writing
to in this letter, who in time past were not a people. In Ephesians
chapter 2 and verse 12, Paul is speaking to those believers
who were Gentiles by nature. He said that at that time you
were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
that's the nation, right, commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from
the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the
world. But it would also here, when
he says, you are now the people of God, it wouldn't just refer
to Gentile believers, but I believe also to Jewish believers as well,
because in the book of Hosea, there was a time when one of
Hosea's sons was named Lo-Ammon. Lo-Ammon. You are not my people. Remember that? Yes. The nation
of Israel. Well, here's the sixth thing, and I love this. You have to
love this. Those of this nation are a people
who have obtained mercy. Mercy. 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. They one and
all are members, who are members of this holy nation because of
God's mercy. Not because of dessert, not because
they were better than someone else, more educated or wealthier
or anything like that. That's the way the world thinks.
No, they are part of this nation because they obtained mercy. The Lord God said, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. God's mercy in salvation we know
is sovereign mercy. Now, before I let you go, let
me give you a few thoughts about the people of God as a nation.
I think I have five things I've written down here. First of all,
as we think about a nation, a nation has boundaries. A nation has
boundaries. If you were part of this nation,
you couldn't be living over in Europe. In other words, to be
part of this nation, you're in the boundaries of this nation,
whatever they are. You're in the boundaries of this
nation, right? Well, the nation, this holy nation,
what are the boundaries? The new birth, the new birth. Only those who have been born
again of the spirit of God are in this nation. So the boundaries
are the new birth. Our Lord said, except a man,
verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water
and of spirit, He cannot enter into the kingdom of God. So a nation has boundaries. Number
two, a nation has its own statute books. It has its own book of
laws. Just like when Israel was constituted
a nation there at Mount Sinai, God gave them the covenant. Now
the covenant was no doubt the Ten Commandments. That's what
was placed in the Ark of the Covenant, the Ten Commandments.
But we know there were many other statutes, many other laws, dietary
laws, laws concerning your dress, concerning just everything about
their lives. A nation has certain laws on
the books, as we would say. And what is this holy nation?
What is the statute book? It's the Bible. It's all the
word of God. As the psalmist David said, I
esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right. When
the scriptures tell us that God created the heavens and the earth,
and that God created all things that we see in nature, God created
man, we reject this so-called theory of evolution outright. That's a lie. That's a lie which
Satan has propagated. We reject that. Why? Because
our book, our statute book tells us God created man in his own
image. And the same thing is true about
marriage. for us to be living in a day
when people say that two men can be married, that's a lie.
God instituted marriage and it was between one man and one woman. That's marriage. These other
things, whatever they are, that's not marriage. And we could just
go on and on through the scriptures. But we have a book of laws. a
statute book, just like every nation does. A third thing, a
nation usually has a common language. In this holy nation, we have
a common language. We all speak the same language.
What is that language? Grace. Grace. God's grace. I am what I am by
the grace of God. And I don't care if a person
speaks Portuguese or any other dialect or language in the world. If he's a child of God, he says
the same thing. I am what I am by the grace of
God. And a nation has one head. Now, our nation has a president
who's the head of our nation. We look to him as the head of
the nation. Some nations have a different office, maybe a prime
minister, maybe a king, maybe a dictator, but there's still,
there's one head. And this holy nation, we have
one head, and that one head is Christ. Look with me in Ephesians
chapter one. in Ephesians chapter one. At the very end of the chapter
where the apostle is praying for these believers, but in verse
20 we read, which he, that is God, which he wrought in Christ
when he raised him up from the dead and set him at his own right
hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and
power and might and dominion and every name that is named,
not only in this world but also in that which is to come, and
hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head
over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness
of him that filleth all in all. And the last thing, a nation
has a common bond. And that common bond is love,
is love. I'm talking about the common
bond of this holy nation is love. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. And every one that loveth him
that beget Everyone who loveth God, who is the one who birthed
us, everyone that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that
is begotten of him. I'm sure many of you have had
this experience. that I have. You may be in a
foreign country and you meet a believer, and maybe you can
communicate a few words, but there's a common bond between
believers, and that common bond is love. God's people love one
another. May the Lord bless the message
to all of us tonight.