If you will, turn in your Bibles
with me to 1 Peter, chapter 2. 1 Peter, chapter 2. We all recognize today as an
important date in the history of the nation in which we live. Today marks 245 years since 56
men declared independence from Great Britain. And this nation,
after gaining independence, became known as the United States of
America. And you and I, we are all blessed
that God in his good providence had us to be in this land. But I'm not here to speak about
this nation, that is, the United States of America. But I want
to speak to us today about the nation that the Apostle Peter
writes of, if you notice, in verse nine, an holy nation. About in the middle of verse
nine, an holy nation. This is the nation that David,
the psalmist, wrote of when he wrote, blessed is that nation
whose God is the Lord. and the people whom he hath chosen
for his own inheritance. I have two parts to the message.
First of all, I want to give us 10 truths from this passage
of scripture, 10 truths about those who are part of this holy
nation, 10 truths that we see here. And I trust the Lord will
bless his word to each one of us. The first truth about all
who are part of this holy nation is they are all new born. If you notice in verse two, 1
Peter chapter two and verse two, all who are part of this holy
nation, we are all new born. As newborn babes, When we come
into this world, without exception, all of us, when we come into
this world because of our covenant relationship with Adam, who was
the head, the federal head of all of his posterity, of every
man, woman, boy, and girl that comes into this world, Adam was
our head. And because of his disobedience,
because of his sin, he broke that covenant of works with God
Almighty. And because he disobeyed God,
you and I, we came into this world with a fallen nature, a
sinful nature. No one escapes it. I know we
like to look at our little babies and think how precious, and they
are precious, but still, they come with a fallen nature. That's just true. But those who
are made to be partakers of this holy nation are all new born,
that is born again. The Lord Jesus Christ, speaking
to a religious man, a religious leader, in fact, Nicodemus, a
ruler of the Jews, a teacher, and yet Our Lord told him, Nicodemus,
verily, verily, I say unto thee, except, without exception, except
a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Because, you see, that sinful
nature that we inherit from our father Adam means, as the apostle
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, The natural man, and that's
all of us, by nature, the natural man does not receive the things
of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither,
now listen, neither can he know them, for they are spiritually
discerned. When we were young, we were taught
the difference between the word can and the word may. Mother, may I? Yes, you may. Mother, can I? Can has to do
with ability, doesn't it? Can I? And the Apostle Paul,
writing about all of us by nature, neither can he know them because
they are spiritually discerned. That is the gospel, the things
of God, are spiritually discerned. And until a person is born again,
he cannot understand the things of God. He cannot see, he cannot
perceive the kingdom of God. A man must be born again. The new birth is mysterious. Now I think sometimes preachers
make it more mysterious than it really is. But the new birth
is mysterious. Our Lord said that. It's like
the wind that bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the
sound thereof, but canst not tell from whence it cometh or
where it's going. It's mysterious and it's sovereign. There's no doubt about that.
It's sovereign, the new birth. is the sovereign work of God. But it's also, if you look back
to chapter one here, 1 Peter chapter one in verse 23, we also
see that the word of God, that is the written word of God, is
involved in the new birth. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveth
and abideth forever." Someone would say, well, that's talking
about the eternal word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe. But if you look in verse 25,
this is the written word. But the word of the Lord endureth
forever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached
unto you. In other words, as has often
been said, you cannot come back from where you haven't been.
And you cannot believe the gospel if you've never heard the gospel.
No one can. And God is chosen by the foolishness
of preaching, and it's preaching the gospel. It's not just preaching.
It's preaching the truth about who God is. First of all, is
God the little being that most people believe in today, a God
that may be manipulated and changed according to the whims of men
and women, or is God the sovereign Lord God who rules over all? And we must learn about God from
the Word of God. Not, I think this, or I feel
like this. No, what does God say? What does the Word of God say?
Men are born again by hearing the word of God. As some old
Puritan said, and I've always liked this since I read it, the
Holy Spirit comes riding in the chariot of the gospel. The new
birth is the work of the Spirit of God, no doubt about it. But
he uses his word, he comes to men and women, and men and women
are born again of the Spirit of God. Most of the time under
the preaching of the gospel. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. That's what I meant when I said
I believe sometimes preachers make the new birth more difficult
than we really should. Those who believe in Christ are
born of God, believe that he is the son of God. Peter. told when our Lord asked them,
Peter, whom do men say that I, the son of man, am? Well, some
say this, some say the other, but Peter, who do you say that
I am? Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. Blessed
art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed
this unto thee, but my Father, which is in heaven. So everyone
who is a part, a member of this holy nation that Peter writes
about here in our text is a person who are newborn. And one of the indications, one
of the indications that a person has been born of the spirit of
God, now listen, is a desire for the word of God, the written
word of God. Peter says in the text here,
as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may
grow thereby. One of the evidences that a person
has been born of the spirit of God, he has a love and a desire
for the written word of God. Just as a creature is born into
this world of its mother, immediately it seeks food. It seeks the milk
of its mother, and it needs that milk. And even so, when a person
is born of the Spirit of God, this is the word, this is the
milk of the word here. A person who's born again desires
the milk. And we must have this milk to
grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the second thing, the second
thing that is true in this passage of all who are members of this
holy nation, notice in verse three, they have all tasted that
the Lord is gracious. If so be you have tasted that
the Lord is gracious. In other words, we have experienced
the grace of God in our salvation. Salvation is not by works, for
by grace are you saved through faith, the Apostle Paul wrote.
We know that so, and we have tasted, those who are born of
the Spirit of God, we have tasted that the Lord is gracious. He wasn't obliged to save me,
to save you, if you're saved this morning. He didn't owe you
salvation. He didn't owe any man salvation.
He's not any man's debtor in any way. And a person who's born
of the Spirit of God has tasted the grace of God in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He was gracious unto me. And
many of us, we marvel, don't we? We marvel at God's grace. We think about friends that we
had when we were younger, maybe, If you're like me, older, friends
that we grew up with, and why God would
reach down and save someone like me, where sin abounded, grace did
much more about. That's all I can say. I've tasted
of the grace of God. I didn't deserve to be saved.
I'll never deserve to be saved. I've tasted that the Lord, he
is gracious. I think about the words of the
apostle Paul wrote to the believers in the church at Corinth. Maybe
they were getting a little proud, you know, and boasting of their
gifts and their abilities and, and looking down on other people. What did the apostle write? He
said, for who maketh thee to differ from another? You didn't
make yourself to differ. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? The only thing that any man can
call his own is his sin. That's it. Sin, that's my sin. Everything else we've received. And those who are saved, those
who are born of the Spirit of God have tasted of the grace
of God. What hast thou that thou didst
not receive? Now if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou have glory as if thou didst not receive it? We've
got a saying, and think about this. There go I, but by the
grace of God. I don't care what it is, how
awful, how wicked, how evil a person's sin may be. A believer is always
able to say, there go I, but by the grace of God. We've tasted. that the Lord is gracious. I've
always liked the words of the hymn. I believe it was written
by Hart, Mr. Hart, but he said, why was I
made to hear thy voice and enter while there's room when thousands
make a wretched choice and rather starve than come? "'Twas the
same love that spread the feast "'that sweetly drew me in. "'Else I had still refused to
taste and perished in my sin.'" Amen? We've tasted. Everyone that's a member of this
holy nation is newborn and has tasted that the Lord is gracious. Now here's the third thing. They
all continue coming to Christ, verse 4. To whom? Coming. In the 20th century in our country,
among those who are called evangelicals, this teaching developed that
a person could walk down a church aisle, make a decision, sign a card,
pray a sinner's prayer that some preacher puts into his mouth,
and everything's okay. I'm on my way to heaven, I've
made my decision, that's all over, that's all taken care of.
No, my friends, the truth is, this is in the present tense,
to whom coming. There is an initial coming to
Christ, an initial looking to Christ, no doubt about that.
But if it's real, there's also a continual coming to Christ,
a continual looking to him. a continual eating his flesh
and drinking his blood. You say, well, how does a person
eat his flesh and drink his blood? Does that mean that we continue
to observe the Lord's table? No, that's not what our Lord
was talking about. God's people do continue to observe
the Lord's table. They eat the bread, which represents
his flesh, and drink the wine, which represents his blood. But
we don't eat his flesh and drink his blood by taking the Lord's
supper. We eat his flesh and drink his
blood by faith, by believing and trusting and by coming to
him. Content to whom? Coming, the
apostle said. And the apostle, the writer of
Hebrews said, looking unto Jesus. We have that beautiful type in
the Old Testament of the serpents, the fiery serpents that bit the
children of Israel and they were poisonous. There was no remedy
until God told Moses, you make a serpent of brass and put it
up on a pole. And everyone who looks at that
serpent will be healed. Everyone that's bitten, if they
look to that serpent, they will be healed. And the Lord Jesus
used that as a type of himself, didn't he? In John chapter 3,
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish but have everlasting life. Looking unto Jesus, the
author, yes, there's an original looking to Christ, looking away
from self, looking away from anything we can do And looking
only to Him and His sacrifice to save us, to cleanse us, to
justify us. There's an original looking to
Him, but it's a continual thing. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and the finisher of our faith, that faith There's one faith,
the Apostle Paul said, the faith, the gospel. Who's the author
of that gospel? Christ is. And who's the finisher? And who's all in between? He's
the alpha, he's the omega, and he's all in between. The Lord
Jesus Christ. To whom? Coming. That we may
run the race. The apostle said, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, that we may run
the race with patience that is set before us. All right, here's
the fourth thing. Those who are members of this
holy nation, they all are living stones in God's spiritual house. Again, in verse five, you also,
as lively stones or living stones, are built up a spiritual house
and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable
to God by Jesus Christ, wherefore it is also contained in scripture,
behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Everyone
that is a member of this holy nation is a living stone. Now the Lord Jesus Christ is
the living stone, the elect of God, the elect stone, the foundation
stone that God laid, the chief cornerstone. And in this spiritual
temple, the temple of God, every believer is a living stone because
we're all built upon Him. We don't have any spiritual life
or eternal life in ourselves apart from Christ. He is our
life. And he's the foundation upon
which this Holy Temple rests. All the weight of our salvation
is upon Christ, upon his person and his work. It all rests upon
him as the foundation. We sing that hymn sometimes,
on Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. Yes. He's the solid rock. He's the
foundation stone. He's also the cornerstone. You say, well, what's the difference?
Well, the foundation stone, every believer is built upon him. The
cornerstone brings the two walls together, doesn't it? The two
walls, both Jew and Gentile. We're not separate anymore as
they were until the coming of Christ and he broke down, tore
down that metal wall of partition that separated the Jew from the
Gentile? No, we're all one now. Christ
is the one who brings us together, the cornerstone. You know, if you look at this
text here, The Apostle Peter quotes from the Septuagint translation
of the Old Testament. That was that Greek translation
that was made between the two testaments during the time of
Alexander the Great. The Hebrew text was translated
into Greek and Peter quotes from that translation and it says,
he that believes on him shall not be confounded. In other words,
everyone who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ shall not be
disappointed What is our expectation? Our hope. Our hope is salvation
by Christ and everyone that believes on Him shall not be confounded,
shall not be disappointed. Christ is an able Savior and
He'll save everyone that looks unto Him, everyone that rests
his salvation upon Him. But if you look at the text,
the Hebrew text, the translation from Hebrew to English in the
Bible, Isaiah chapter 28 and verse 16, it says, he that believeth
shall not make haste. One translation of the Septuagint
says shall not be confounded. The other is he shall not make
haste. He will not through haste, a
person who is built upon Christ will not through haste or mistrust
seek after some other way of salvation. Those who are saved, we're not
looking for another way. He is a way. And once a person
has found the way, you say, well, why don't you study these so-called
major religions of the world? I don't need to know what they
believe. When you've found the fountain, you don't need to go
looking at other broken cisterns and places to drink that have
no living water. He that believeth shall not be
deceived. Disappointed shall not make haste
to look somewhere else. Number five. They all are believers and to
them Christ is precious. Notice that in verse seven. I've
already spoken about the fact that we're believers, but to
all believers Christ is precious. unto you therefore which believe
he is precious. That's another evidence of the
new birth. If you say, I wonder if I've
experienced a new birth, is Christ precious to you? Is he? He is to those who've been born
of the spirit of God, to those who truly believe Christ is precious. We sing the precious name of
Jesus. When you think about his names,
I think about that cluster of names in Isaiah chapter nine
and verse six. Wonderful. Christ is wonderful. Counselor, the mighty God, the
everlasting father, the prince of peace. and each and every
one of his names, and that's just a few of them. They're precious. We love to hear about his name.
We love to hear about his person. We love to hear about his work,
what he has accomplished for us. He's precious to us. We love to hear about his offices.
Some people go to churches and they never hear, I mean, they
can go there for years and never hear that Christ is a mediator
between God and man, the only mediator between God and man. He's our prophet. He's our priest. He's our king. He's precious. No matter which way you look,
no matter how you observe him, he's that precious jewel. If
you look at it from this side or this side or that side, no
matter what direction you look at Christ, you hear about Him
and learn about Him and study about Him, you come to the same
conclusion. He's precious. He's precious. Number six, they're all a chosen
generation. Notice that in verse 9. Everyone
who is a member of this holy nation is a chosen individual,
a chosen generation. Because of God's love, they are
chosen. The apostle Paul said chosen
in him. Christ is God's first elect.
And all believers are chosen in him as our head. Chosen in
him before the foundation of the world. When we hear that
scripture, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.
God's love isn't of yesterday. It's everlasting. And because
of his love, he has chosen those that he loves. Scripture says, a chosen generation, chosen in
him before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy. You know, people, man, natural
man does not like to hear that God is sovereign. Now that's
all there is to it. He just doesn't want to hear
that. Lost people, they don't want to hear that. They don't
want to hear that God chose those to redeem, those to save, regardless
of good or evil. That's what the Scripture says.
He didn't look down through the ages and see who would be good
and who would be bad. And because this person would
be good, he chose that person. And because this person would
be bad, he passed over that person. The scripture clearly tells us,
the children having done neither good nor evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand. It is written. The elder shall serve the younger. Jacob and Esau. In many ways,
when you read the account there in Genesis, it looks like Esau
was a better person as far as outwardly. God didn't choose
Esau. God chose Jacob, the supplanter. Why would God do that? That's
his business. Because it pleased him, the scripture
says, it pleased him to do so. Chosen in him before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy, not because we were holy,
but that we might be holy. And without blame before him.
And in love predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself. Number seven. They're all a royal
priesthood. That also is in verse nine. Now,
royal, the word royal or royalty, speaks of kings, doesn't it? Kings. And this is what Christ
has made each and every one, a king, a kingdom of priests. Look over just a few pages. One
of our favorite verses in Revelation chapter 1, verse 5, Revelation 1, verse
5, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the
first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the
earth, 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. All who are members of
this holy nation are a royal priesthood. They are a kingdom, make up a
kingdom of priests. and we offer up spiritual sacrifices. We don't offer a blood sacrifice. That flies in the face of what
the word of God tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished. For by one offering, he hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified. The very thought
of men now offering some kind of a sacrifice to atone for sins
is an abomination unto God. Christ paid the price once and
forever. The sacrifices that we offer,
those who are members of this kingdom, that we offer are spiritual
sacrifices. Even praise, thanksgiving, worship,
and even these things must be presented through Jesus Christ. You see, even our prayers. need
to be cleansed by his blood. Even our repenting, our tears,
our witnessing, whatever, to be accepted must be presented
through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Lord. And here's the
eighth thing. They all are a peculiar people. A peculiar people. That doesn't
mean they're peculiar because they dress different, Or they
walk different, or they talk different, or any of these things
that false religion has come up with, you know, over the years
to make people stand out. No, I'll tell you why they're
peculiar. They're peculiar because God has his eye upon them. They are as the apple of his
eye. And he keeps them, he protects
them, he takes care, he provides for them. They are peculiar in
that way. And then also they are peculiar
in the sense that they are zealous of good works. You don't have to beg God's people
to serve him. Not if our hearts right with
the Lord, you don't have to beg God's people to come to church.
You don't have to put over the years. I've seen all kinds of
gadgets. I'm sure you have to, to get people to come. Remember
back in time, they put $20 bills in a song book, and if you happened
to sit in the right place, you'd get a $20 bill. God's people love to worship
him, love to be with God's people. We're not going to be forsaken
the assembling of the saints together as a matter of some
years, not if our hearts right with him. They love to be with
his sheep or gregarious animals. They love, they must be in a
flock. They must flock together. If
you see a sheep out by himself somewhere, he's sick or lost. God's people are sheep and we
come together to worship him. The peculiar about that, in that
way. Number nine. They're all called
out of darkness into his marvelous light. That you should show forth the
praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light. And how dark was that? Midnight
dark. Midnight dark. We couldn't see
our hand in front of our face spiritually. Just about everything
we thought was so was not. Not when God brought us into
the light. He calls us into the light and
that allows us to see. In his light, the psalmist said,
we see light. And the last thing here, verse
10, they're all now the people of God. See that in verse 10?
which in time past were not a people of God, but are now the people
of God. Everyone who is a member of this
holy nation, whose God is the Lord, as the psalmist said, we're
all now the people of God. Now let me take just a few minutes,
and I mean a very few minutes, to answer this question. We are
members, if we've been saved, we're members of a holy nation.
But we live in another nation, a nation of this world. What
should be our attitude toward the nation in which we now live? We know, according to the word
of God, that we are pilgrims and strangers in this world,
that we are seeking a city which hath foundations, whose builder
and maker is God. Our Lord prayed not that we would
be taken out of the world, but that we should be kept from the
evil. What is our attitude toward the
nation in which we live? I believe the words that God
spoke through Jeremiah to the Israelites in Babylon answer
that question. Now, God had sent Israel into
Babylon 70 years into captivity. The time that they were going
to be released was on God's calendar. And while they were there, God
through Jeremiah wrote to them and told them this, seek, seek
the peace of the city, whether I have caused you to be carried
away captives and pray unto the Lord for it. For in the peace
thereof, you shall have peace. What is our attitude toward this
nation in which we live? We love our country. There's
no doubt about that. And we should, with all of its
faults. I understand that. But we love
this country in which we live. We don't love all the things
it has done or is doing. But what should our attitude
be towards this nation? pray and seek for the peace of
this nation. In other words, we should be,
Christians should be good citizens in this world, in this land. And we should pray that we have
peace. Why? So that we can continue
to worship the Lord, so we can continue to preach the gospel
here. But we're not going to be here
forever, and we're not going to bring God's kingdom into this
world. That's just not going to happen.
We're to be the salt and we're to be the light in this country. And I was reminded this past
week in reading about Lot. Lot was a righteous man. Scripture
tells us that. He was a saved man, but he was
living in a wicked, wicked city, Sodom. But until God took Lot
out of Sodom, the angels could not rain down fire. upon Sodom. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
going to come again for this holy nation, for his people,
and he's going to take us to be with him, the scripture says.
And then judgment is going to come, not only on this nation,
but on all the nations of the world. The church of the Lord
Jesus Christ has always been apolitical. We're in this world
and the church has has been in countries that were under all
kinds of different governments. And thank God we have been blessed,
as I said at the beginning, to be born in this country. God's
providence. We didn't win a lottery. I heard
that a few years ago, didn't you? We won a lottery and so
we were born here in this country. No, we didn't win a lottery.
God put us here. And God's going to take us out
of this place on His time. But in the meantime, though we're
members of a holy nation, we should seek the peace and pray
for the peace of this nation. And those who teach that after
the Lord comes, there's going to be another day of salvation,
another opportunity for people to be saved, they're reading
a different Bible. They're reading a different Bible. My Bible tells me today is a
day of salvation. Today. I trust the Lord will
bless these words to all of us here this morning. And let's sing the hymn number
344. I need thee every hour.