October 1 | Wednesday Evening

Amen. What an encouraging song. Thank you, Miss Julia. That's beautiful. I think we can say with John, even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen. That's wonderful. I'm glad that that is a reality. Uh, whether we exit this life by, uh, by death or by rapture. I'd like to see the rapture. That'd be wonderful. But either way, the assurance that to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord or the rapture, then just immediately changed into his likeness. That's wonderful. I appreciate the hope of the believer. Let's not forget that we're just pilgrims passing through this land. This world is not our home. Uh, we are passing through and, uh, we need to keep our eyes on him. That's for sure.

First Peter, 1 Peter chapter number two. Let's read together First Peter and chapter number two. We'll get back into our series in First Peter. We're going to do a good amount of re, uh, review, uh, covering some ground we've covered and, uh, then we're going to look at a couple verses here tonight. I think that'll be very helpful to us. First Peter chapter number two, we'll read about our savior in these verses. In fact, Peter, I love the way he refers to the Lord. Um, and you can just tell how much he loved him. You know, Peter wasn't perfect, right? He wasn't perfect. He, uh, he had his struggles along the way, but he loved the Lord. He did. He loved him. All right. First Peter 2. Okay. Verse number one. Wherefore laying aside all malice and all guile, [clears throat] and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speakings. As newborn babes, he says, as newborn babes, desire the sincere, sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby. [snorts] If so be that you've tasted that the Lord is gracious.

To whom coming, he says in verse four, to whom coming as unto a living stone? To whom coming, as unto a living stone. I'm glad it's not a dead stone, [snorts] but a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, [snorts] and precious. [snorts] See how Peter feels about him? And precious. Ye also as lively stones are built up a, uh, 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 what? [snorts] Precious. 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. [snorts] A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, wherein to also they were appointed. I like these next two words. But ye, that's how they are. They're disobedient, stumbling at the word. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people. I'm sorry, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye 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. And then he's going to make the application in verse number, verse number 11, when he says, "Dearly beloved, I beseech you, strangers and pilgrims, that you abstain from fleshly lust which war against your soul." And we'll save that for, uh, next week.

Tonight in our series here, the sermon number 13, so be ye holy. That's the series title. So as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy. Uh, that's really the theme, I believe, of First Peter. We'll try to make that case once again as we get into it. And the title of the message tonight is this. Things are different now. Thank God for that. Things are different now. And so may God help us to live in light of that. Uh, things are different now. So, you may be seated as we get set and ready here for [snorts] our next installment of 1 Peter chapter 2. [clears throat] [snorts] [clears throat]

Well, things ought to be different when you sign with a new team. Ain't that right? When you sign with a new team, they're [snorts] going to take your picture in a new jersey and, and if you allow for a sports illustration here for just a little bit, we'll get into the Bible and move on. But, um, I watched a little bit of the Cowboys Packers game on Sunday and just as Brother Sam used to say, be culturally relevant, just to be aware of what's going on in society. Micah Parsons. Um, in my estimation, I don't know a lot about football, but I've been watching it since I was a kid, and he's at another level when it comes to a defensive end. [snorts] I mean, just the way he can come around. I honestly, if the guy was coming at me, I'd run the other way, and he'd still get me, but it'd be worth the effort. The guy's scary. Honestly. Unreal. Well, he played, um, from his entrance into the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys from 2021 to 2024. He just, he just put on the Packers jersey. So, there's a few in this room, no doubt, that's excited about that. Just a few. [snorts] They played Sunday and if I remember right, they ended in a tie, which seems un-American to me. [snorts] Can I get a witness right there? We don't tie. Stop. Finish the game. It doesn't matter if it takes till midnight. Finish the game. Anyways. Okay. It's un-American. Un-American. All right.

Now, can you imagine what would happen if Micah Parsons, instead of going out and playing with his new team, the Green Bay Packers, if he took his place as a defensive end back on the Cowboys and started going after Jordan Love, the quarterback for, uh, the Green Bay Packers? I'm sure everybody, uh, in Green Bay would be thinking, "What in the world are you doing? You're, you're on our team now, right?" Because his new identity ought to change his goals. [snorts] Is that right? He doesn't play for the Cowboys anymore. Now, wait a minute. He knows how to play for the Cowboys and he could, and there was a long time that he was going after other quarterbacks, but once he signed with a new team, that really ought, that changed things. He shouldn't be playing for the other team.

Alex Caruso. Uh, once I put on a white headband, we kind of resemble each other. That's pretty much the extent of it, though. Alex Caruso, I mean, superb in defense and offense for that matter. But I, I mean, incredibly defensive player. Am I right about that? Again, I don't know much about, about this, but I know he played for the Lakers in 2017 to 21 and the blue, even before that, here in Oklahoma City, but then he went to the Bulls from 21 to 24, but then he came over and played for the Oklahoma City Thunder and helped us win a national championship, I might mention in passing. November the 12th of this upcoming, uh, new season, we play, uh, the Los Angeles Lakers. Uh, it's on a Wednesday night, so you'll be here, but you can hear about it later. [laughter] But can you imagine what would happen in the Paycom Arena if, if Caruso turned on us and started guarding SGA or started guarding Jaylen Williams? I mean, we would be thinking, "What in the world are you doing? I know you used to play for the Lakers, but you got on a Thunder jersey now. You don't play for the Lakers anymore. You play for the Thunder." We would all understand that your new identity means you got new goals. [snorts] Don't pass the ball to LeBron. He's going to call for it, but don't pass it to him. [snorts] Am I right? [snorts] Yeah. Your new team, your new identity means there's a whole new set of goals, [snorts] a new purpose. We would say you're helping the wrong team. I'm afraid there's too many believers that are helping the wrong team, [snorts] that are oftentimes in specific ways playing for the wrong team. I, no, I, I have to confess and admit to you that in fact, I pro, I would have to admit probably along with the vast majority, in fact, I'll just say all of you, that even as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and naming his name, having a new identity, there are times throughout my day still when I make decisions, act in ways that's not according to my new identity in Christ, but my old ways. [snorts] Because our, our flesh is so pervasive, our flesh is so, um, antagonistic towards the spirit that oftentimes I find myself in the flesh, and I imagine that you do as well, if you're being honest about it. I'm not proud of that, but it's reality. And, and I think we need to be constantly under the challenge of the word of God so that we'd understand our new identity in Christ gives us a new purpose in life. And I think that's largely what, what Peter is writing to do. He's helping, and he's writing to them to help them to understand that your new identity in Christ means that you have a new purpose in life. [snorts] And in one word, it would be this. You're supposed to be set. That's not one word. Hang on. [laughter] You're supposed to be set apart to God. Yeah. One word right there. There it is. Okay. In one word, holiness. [snorts] Yeah. Our lives ought to be marked by holiness. I mean, we're, this seems too trivial even to say it this way, but we're on a different team. [snorts] We're, we've got a new identity. We're, we, we've trans, we've been transferred. We've been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Folks, we ought to live like that. But sometimes in our words, and sometimes in our attitudes, and sometimes in our values, and sometimes in our choices. Sometimes in our entertainment choices. Sometimes in our appearance. Sometimes in, in the way that we come across, or sometimes in the way that we may hold grudges, whatever it may be. Sometimes we act a lot more like what we used to be than who we are now in Christ Jesus our Lord. [snorts] And every one of us needs to be challenged that we might live in light of who we are, not in light of who we were. [snorts] Right. Peter was challenging those of his day and time that the nature of their life was to be determined by the one who had called them, not by the na, not by the nature of the culture that surrounded them. I want to run that by you one more time. I'm doing a little bit of review here because I, it's been a while. I mean, mid-August since we were in First Peter, since we've been, uh, we've had special meetings and I've been gone and things of that nature. And so Peter's trying to get across in a very clear and a very strong way, something I think that every one of us, regardless of our generation, but certainly in this day and time, we need to take to heart that the nature of our lives is to be determined by the nature of the one who has called us, not by the nature of the culture that surrounds us. [snorts] And this culture is, is antagonistic towards the things of God and towards Christ and such. And so we could be, be very easily fit into that mold. In fact, that's the easy way to go. Leonard Ravenhill said this. The greatest miracle that God can do today is to take an unholy man out of an unholy world and make him holy and put him back into that unholy world and keep him holy. [snorts] That's God's goal. He saved you out of an unholy world. He made you holy through the Lord Jesus Christ. He put you back into that unholy world to keep you holy while you're out there so you can make a difference. Amen. [snorts] G. Kendall Morgan said, "The church has done the most for the world when the church is least like the world." [snorts] We as Southwest Baptist Church here, folks, listen. I, I know it may seem like I'm beating a drum that we need to, that, that is just over and repetitive. I don't, I don't think that it is. You may not even have that sentiment. I don't know why I said that, [snorts] quite honestly. But we need to understand this, that Southwest Baptist Church is going to make the biggest difference in this world if we are least like the world in order to reach the world. We can't be like them to reach them. We've got to be like Christ to reach them. [snorts] That's our example. [snorts] That, that's the way that we're to be. We're to be like Christ. And Christ reached the world. Would you agree with that? He reached the world without compromising. He reached the world without looking like the world and acting like the world. He reached the world. And so can we if we'll be like Christ. That's the main goal. [snorts] Uh, one other man said this. He said holiness is, it does not mean separation from sinners. Although I want you to understand what he's saying. He's saying in a pharisaical way. Holiness must not mean, must not mean separation from sinners. Like complete, [snorts] total separation from sinners. You get what he's saying right there? I mean, we need to be se, separated from sinners in the sense that we're separated from sin. But our savior interacted with, with sinners. And we too must interact with sinners. You've interacted with sinners all day long. And maybe you didn't even leave the house. But probably a lot of you have worked, you know, worked out there in the world and you've interacted with sinners. I've worked with sinners all day long as I've been here at the church, and they've interacted with sinners as they've interacted with me. I mean, we're interacting with sinners all the time. But I think you get what I'm saying, that listen, God has made us to be salt and light in this world, which means we've got to be salty and we've got to be filled with light. [snorts] A.W. Tozer said this, is one of my favorite quotes on holiness. It's not our being in the world that ruins us, but suffering the world to be in us. [snorts] Just as ships sink not by being in the water, but by allowing water to get into them. [snorts] It's not a, it's not a problem for a ship to be in, in the water sailing the seas. But it does become problematic when water gets into that vessel and begin, and keeps coming into that vessel, and keeps coming in, and eventually it's going to sink. Well, listen, it's not a problem for us as Southwest Baptist Church to be in the world. But if we let a worldly mentality of any type begin to come in, eventually this ship will sink. [snorts] Warren Wiersbe identified the unholy bent of modern churches when he said this. We try to sell the church to the world by conveying the unbiblical idea that Christianity is fun. And every pagan ought to join in the club and start living on the sunny side of the street. Whatever else he goes on, whatever else the church may be known for today, the buildings, the budgets, the crowds, the busy schedules, it certainly isn't known for its holiness. We seek to live a holy life not because, not that we, listen to what he's saying very carefully here. We seek to live a holy life not that we might be known as a holy people, but rather in order to please a holy God. [snorts] That's why we need to be set apart unto him in all of our ways, as he says here in the scriptures, in all manner of conversations. Dear friend, we need to make sure that all of our ways are pleasing unto him. Again, Tozer said, "Much of our difficulty stems from our unwillingness to take God as he is and adjust our lives accordingly. We insist upon trying to modify him and bring him nearer to our image." [snorts] Did you hear that? [snorts] In fact, a man named Guthrie followed up and saying, "If we've gotten comfortable with sin, why can't he get comfortable with our sin?" As we've seen here throughout the book of First Peter, if we take the a single theme in terms of just how much it's emphasized, in fact, one man counted, and I, I have not counted to verify this, maybe you could in your own personal study, but 75 out of the 105 verses in First Peter, that would be 71% in some way is related to the matter of holiness or separation unto God. Either the reason why we ought to be separated or how and what that looks like. And we're about to get into some of the particulars of what it means. In fact, he went on to say this. He said, "Really, this epistle or this letter could be called the epistle of sanctification or the epistle of holiness." And I tend to agree with him. How, how often that it is emphasized in our life. And, and folks, listen, I, I hope you don't get weary or tired or or think about holiness as being, um, something that is, uh, to be avoided in our life. Actually, it should be something that's, uh, embraced in our lives. [snorts] Peter wrote, I think, at a very pivotal time in the lives of these believers. And, and folks, as Southwest Baptist Church, no doubt, at all times, we're at a very pivotal time, but, but we're at a very challenging time within our nation today. The anti-Christianity, uh, mode of operation is picking up steam and, and believers are compromising just like it was in Peter's day. It is in our day. It's just easier to assimilate into the culture. But we've got to remember this, dear folks, that the one who has called us to live for him has also called us to live like him. The one who has called us to live for him has also called us to live like him. And, and Peter's getting across to them in this, in, if I could just say it in this way, in a broad way. He's saying, listen, your future as the people of God depends on your answer to the call to holiness. [snorts] And I would say to Southwest Baptist Church here, once again, that our future depends on our answer to God's call of holiness in our lives. A shorter way to say that maybe is that our future depends on our holiness. Would you agree with that? [snorts] Is that most absolutely true, isn't it? Because if we cease to be holy, or we cease to be set apart unto God, then the only alternative, dear friend, is that we would become assimilated into the culture in which we live, and thus we lose our identity and we start playing for the wrong team. Right. [snorts]

So, in the first part of the letter here, as we're still just reviewing things, in the first part of the letter, he's emphasizing the why of holiness. And I love what he does here because he's emphasizing just how great Jesus is and just how great salvation is. And he takes the better part of the first chapter to do that. Before he ever says, "Be holy as I am holy." He says, "What a great savior that is." I love that the winery sang stood up here a moment ago and sang maybe what was an old hymn. I'm not sure. I'd never heard it before, but just looking forward to seeing our savior, seeing his face, and seeing his nail-scarred hands and, and to hear Miss Julia sing for us that soon we'll get to see him. Hey, listen. If we would just live in light of just how holy and righteous and great that he is, then really holiness doesn't get to be a burden. It actually gets to be a blessing. That I am separated unto him is a good thing, not a negative thing. [snorts] I believe it's only worldly Christians that view holiness as a negative thing. Come on. [snorts] He spends the first part of the chapters here just emphasizing grace. By the way, by the way, please get this. We got to get this before we move on. We need to be motivated by grace, not by guilt. [snorts] Guilt is not a good motivator. Guilt brings fear. And I realize that when we're guilty, we need the Holy Spirit of God to use the word of God to to show us that we're guilty. I'm not saying that we need to avoid guilt at all costs. That, that, that's anti-Bible, too. But that's not a, that's not the deep motivator. That's not what will keep you serving him day by day. We ought not to be motivated by guilt. Nor should we be motivated by greed. [snorts] Like if I live this certain way, I'll get what I want. No, it ought to be this way. We ought to then be motivated by the good grace of God. [snorts] That God in his mercy and his loving kindness, though we are sinners undeserving of such mercy and loving kindness, that he has in his grace and mercy shown us such. And so because of that, then I want to live my life for him. [snorts] That's motivated by grace. That's not motivated by guilt, nor greed. [snorts] That's the why. And that's why Peter is emphasizing, hey, listen, you are recipients of such a great salvation that even the prophets like Isaiah and Malachi and Micah, that they pinned things that they didn't even understand. But here you are. You get to know who the Messiah is. And angels desire to look into this salvation thing that we get to be a part of. [snorts] So if the angels want to look into this and the prophets that foretold this would love to know what you and I are blessed to know and sometimes what we take for granted. [snorts] Peter is saying, listen, in light of that, yes, you are a recipient of his grace. You are a recipient of his plan of salvation. So since you are a recipient of his plan of salvation, then you should be a participant in his plan of sanctification. [snorts] Is everybody getting this? We are recipients. If you're saved by the grace of God here tonight, would you just say amen? [snorts] All right. So if you're saved by the grace of God, that you're a recipient of his plan of salvation, then you also ought to be a participant in his plan for your sanctification, [snorts] because he saved you to be holy. He saved us to be holy, which then folks calls for sober-minded living. [snorts] And that's why he says in chapter 1 and verse 13, wherefore gird up the loins of your mind. You can't live the Christian life with loose thinking. [snorts] You need to gird up the loins of your mind. Think soberly. In fact, uh, he, he says, "Think soberly and for the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Mercy. Hadn't thought about that. He's saying this, "He's coming again. [snorts] Live like it. [snorts] That's it. He's coming again. Live like it." That takes intentionality. You will not live a wholly separated life coasting through this world. [snorts] You will naturally gravitate towards selfishness. Selfishness. You will naturally gravitate towards pride. You will naturally self, uh, uh, what am I saying? Gravitate towards whatever comes easiest. [snorts] But he's not called us to easy. [snorts] He's called us to holy. And so that's where he comes in and says, "As it is written, as he is holy, so be ye holy." And, and that's the main goal that we have. We have the reason as to why we ought to be holy. And we have the how as to how we to be holy. And, and that means that then we, we come to chapter two. And there are some things in order to be holy, we got to put aside. Malice and, and, and clamor and, and guile rather, and hypocrisies and envies. We got to put all that aside so that, beloved, that you may grow. [snorts] I believe there's too many weeds in Christian lives here today. [snorts] Too many weeds at times in my life that takes away from the, from, takes away the nutrients of the word of God that ought to be going into my life and how I ought to be living for Christ. It's easy to let weeds take over. [snorts] It's easy to let the flesh take over. So, so pastor, you might say, I get it. I understand. In fact, I agree with you that we, we ought to be holy and set apart unto him. Here's the question. How do I do that? Just keep coming to him. [snorts] The word brought you to him for salvation. The word will also bring you to him for sanctification. [snorts] The same word that saved you is the same word that can sanctify you. [snorts] That's what he's getting across. I love, I, I just fell in love with verse number four where he says, "Unto whom coming?" Unto whom coming is present tense. It's active. It means this. You just keep on coming to him. [snorts] You just keep on coming to him. Don't you wish that that when it comes to education, all you had to do, uh, young people, children that are here that go to elementary school or high school, don't you wish it was that all you had to do was just go one day and you were done? Like all I had to do was just go in August one time and I'm educated. One time. One. That's all I need, Mom and Dad. That's all I need. And then I'm educated. I'm right there. I'm done. I'm done. One time. One time. No, it's not that way. You got to go back tomorrow and then the next day and then the next day and then the next day and you get to go home for the weekend, but then you got to come back and go the next day and the next day and the next day and the next day. You just got to keep coming to school. [snorts] Not getting a lot of amens right there, but it's the truth. [snorts] Don't you wish it was that all you had to do was just one piano lesson? Next thing you know, you're playing like Miss Alberta or Brother Kevin. [snorts] But it's, amen. But it's not that way. You got to go to this lesson and that lesson and, and you got to practice, practice, practice, practice. Don't you wish it was that you could just every time you touch the ball, you run a touchdown? But no, you got to practice. You got to run that play over and over and over and over again. Don't you wish it was that you could birdie every hole? [snorts] Amen. Or at least some of them. Don't you wish it was that every time you picked up a golf club, it just went straight and far when you wanted it to do that. [snorts] Usually, if I'm at the green, it's going farther than I wanted it to. Anyways, don't you wish it was that all you had to do is just swing one time, then you had it down? No, but it's practicing over and over and over again. Hey, listen. I'm just here to tell you tonight, dear friend, listen. If you are going to be sanctified, set apart into him and growing spiritually, you've got to come to Jesus. [snorts] Come to him every day. You came to him today. That's great. I hope he helped you grow. I know that he's willing to if you're participating with him. But you know what you got to do tomorrow? Go back to him again tomorrow. And you're going to have to do on Friday. Go back to him again on Friday and on Saturday and on Sunday and on Monday and on Tuesday and on Wednesday, on Thursday and Friday. You just got to keep coming to him. Unto whom coming, he says, as unto a lively stone, a living stone, not a dead stone, but unto a lively stone. And what happens then is he makes us alive. We too are lively stones. We're not dead. We're alive as a body of Christ here at Southwest Baptist Church. We're living and he's at work in our life. And we just need to keep coming to him, dear friend. That'll, that'll make you grow. [snorts] Amen. We are built up a spiritual house. We're a holy priesthood. He is precious unto us, but unto others, he's not. But here's what we have in Christ Jesus our Lord. We have a brand new identity. [snorts] Yes, they, they stumble at the word. Yes, they are offended at Jesus Christ. Haven't we seen that here even at the, at the, at the assassination of Charlie Kirk? We've seen some who have taken it, taken that with great joy and glee and glad that he's gone and his voice is silenced. But you and I who know Jesus as our savior and know the importance of the gospel understand how important it is that that message goes forth. Still, [snorts] there's a dichotomy here. There's, there's some who are offended at, at people that name the name of Christ and stand for him. And then there's others who consider him to be precious and want to live for it. [snorts] You can tell right here as we, as we look at verse number nine, he says he's, he's so thankful that there's something different about their lives. He says, "That's how they are. But ye." But ye. Now, wait a minute, dear folks. Please, please get this. You got to understand this is not just a certain section of the church. It's the whole church. [snorts] But ye are a chosen generation. You are a chosen generation. You're part of that chosen generation. You, there, as you've trusted Christ as your save savior, you're part of that chosen generation. We're all part of that chosen generation. If you're saved here tonight, [snorts] if you're not saved, he'll save you even tonight. [snorts] Make you part of that chosen generation. Don't trip up on that word chosen. Don't trip up on the last part of verse number eight at all. To think that God has appointed some to wrath, just arbitrarily choosing some to salvation and some to experience his wrath. No. Listen, friend. Calvinism, there's not an ounce of truth in that. He's died to save all people. And all people can be saved because he shed his precious blood for all the people of the earth. Therefore, all people can be saved. He has sovereignly chosen to save anybody that would come to him by faith. That is his choice. And thus, you and I, the way that you got saved was on the basis of his grace by grace through faith and of, and, and repentance towards the Lord Jesus Christ. And as a result of that, then we got a brand new identity, dear friend. [snorts] We're a chosen generation. Chosen generation. The word generation there means people. I, I'm kind of getting ahead of myself. Hang on just a minute. I'm going too fast. Let me slow down. Peter's using a lot of Old Testament terminology as he, as he comes to them. And he's, he's actually using a lot of verses from the Old Testament, things like this that, that Israel was a peculiar treasure. I'm just going to highlight some verses for you from out of Exodus 19. He says about Israel, "You're a peculiar treasure unto me." Does that sound familiar to First Peter? He also says this, "You're a holy nation." He said this about Israel. You're a kingdom of priests. He said to Israel also in Exodus chapter 19, in Deuteronomy 7, he says, "You're an holy people. You're a special people." In Isaiah 43 and verse number 21, he says they are to Israel to show forth my praise. Does that sound like First Peter? Show forth my praise. It's the same terminology. Peter's just stacking verses here in this letter from the Old Testament. But here's what he's not saying. I want to say this before we move on. He is not saying that you and I as a church have replaced Israel. [snorts] The, the early disciples didn't understand that. They didn't, they didn't say, they didn't think for one millisecond that Jesus had taught them that now they're the new Israel because that's why in Acts chapter number one they said, "What's going to happen to Israel?" "When are you going to set up your kingdom?" [snorts] Everybody get that? That means this. They understood we are not yet in the kingdom. He's just going to set it up. He said they also recognized this. We are not the new Israel that's replaced Israel. No. Listen. You read the book of Romans chapter 9, 10, 11 and you see that God still has a plan. I said God still has a plan for ethnic Israel and Israel will be ruling and reign and Jesus the Messiah will rule and reign literally in Jerusalem. [snorts] All right, that's a blessing. [snorts] So what was, what was Israel's intent? What was Isra, God's purpose rather for Israel? Israel was supposed to be in the world as a light to the darkness of that world. They were supposed to be a people group that would shine forth the glory of God. But instead of doing that, they became like the Canaanites [snorts] and they assimilated into the culture. And thus they lost, they lost their identity as the people of God and started living for another purpose. And Peter is saying right here, listen, just like God had planned for them, he's got a plan for you. And just like you could be so worldly that you lose your effectiveness for the Lord Jesus Christ, just like they lost their, their identification as the people of God, not losing their salvation, mind you, never, never once does the Bible ever teach that. But it can certainly and does certainly teach this, that we can become so like the world, we've lost effectiveness for God. [snorts] And that's what happened in the case of Israel. And that's certainly what can happen in our generation. But Peter is saying, "Listen, there's something different about your life now. He has saved you. You are now a chosen generation. You, my friend, listen to this here just a second. You are a royal priesthood." [snorts] This teaches the priesthood of the believer. [snorts] That means this. Everybody in here that's saved. How many of you here saved? Say amen again. [snorts] Amen. That means you have just as much access to God through Jesus Christ as anybody else does. That's saved. [snorts] That means this. You don't have to go through a priest. You don't have to go through Mary. You just go directly to the Father through the Son. [snorts] Priesthood of the believer. [snorts] That's why we don't call one another around here priest. Priest Gatis [snorts] and Priest Albert [snorts] or Priest Andrew or St. Andrew. No. Now he is a saint, but that's another story. Okay. So am I. [snorts] Amen. [snorts] But we don't call each other priests in that sense, like there's some kind of a hierarchy within the church. Like you got to go through us to get to him. No. Listen. You are a priest. [snorts] Brother Brandon, you're a priest. You can go directly to God through the f, through the Son. Directly, Brother Dylan, you can go directly to the Father through the Son. I'm telling you, dear friend, you are, you, if you're a believer here tonight, and there's ladies here tonight, you are also part of that priesthood. He says here, a royal priesthood, which simply means this. You belong to the King. He makes us under our God, kings and priests. I'm telling you what a, what a transaction takes place in our lives. Unworthy as we are. [snorts] He lets us have access. [snorts] The veil was torn from the top to the bottom because God took the initiative to make it possible for you to get to have access directly to the Father through your Son. [snorts] You're a royal priesthood. You are a chosen generation. You are a holy nation. The word nation there is ethnos. You can hear like ethnicity in it. He says you are a holy nation. It doesn't matter what nation you come from. It doesn't matter your background. When you're saved tonight, you're placed into Christ Jesus our Lord. And thus, we are a holy nation under him. [snorts] And then he, then he goes on to say this. Let me tell you what else you are. You ready for this? You are peculiar. [snorts] Somebody say, you say that again. [snorts] There's some peculiar people. Well, there's some peculiar people in here. Peculiar. Peculiar. He says, "You are a peculiar people." But I had to look that up. Here's what it means. It comes from a verb that means this, possession for possessing, possessing for oneself, which means to buy for oneself, possessing for oneself that which is acquired, presumably with considerable effort. He says this, you are purchased. Can I say it that way? You are acquired with considerable effort. [snorts] You are his peculiar treasure. Yeah. [snorts] The idea is simply this. I don't know if everybody's getting it, but I, I believe if you do, it'll bless you. It means this. You belong to him. [snorts] You are his particular possession. [snorts] Now, here's what happens. If you take something that is ordinary and then it's owned by somebody that is famous, that elevates the value of whatever it is that's ordinary. You go, you go down to Fort Worth area and you go down to the stockyards. You can go through the John Wayne, uh, the John Wayne American Experience is actually a great museum. And there you can see the hat. You can see the bandana. You can see the blue shirt. You can see the tan vest. You can see the light tan pants. You can see the gun, the rifle that he had. Listen, those are ordinary hats. That's an ordinary hat. That's an ordinary bandana. That's an ordinary shirt. That's an ordinary vest. Those are ordinary pants. But what makes it so valuable? Why couldn't I walk out of there with them? Well, I would have been arrested. You say, "Well, it's just a hat. It's just a bandana. It's just, it's just a vest. It's just pants. It's just a shirt." But here's what makes it so valuable. [snorts] Who owns it? [snorts] You and I are just ordinary, friend. There's nothing special about you. There's nothing special about me. We're just ordinary humans. We're just ordinary people. We're just dust. And we'll go back to dust. But I'll tell you what gives us value. [screaming] Who owns us? [snorts] Because God owns us, then that makes us valuable. And we ought to live in light of that. That means this. You may feel insignificant, but you're actually rather significant. It does not matter your background, your age, how how long you've lived in sin. When he saved you, friend, he bought you with a price. Therefore, you ought to glorify God in your body and your and your spirit, which are his. And, and you ought to, you ought to bring attention to him because he's the one that saved you. And that gets us to our next part, the purpose. See, our new identity gives us a new purpose. [snorts] Our new identity in Christ gives us new purpose in life. [snorts] You are a chosen generation. You are a holy nation. You are a peculiar people. You are a royal preacher. I didn't get those in order, but you get what I'm saying. You are all those things that, that, that what that you should show forth the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. [snorts] Show forth, announce, proclaim. I like this. This is what I found. Tell it everywhere you go. [snorts] Tell it everywhere you go. [snorts] I was in darkness. I was in sin. My life was headed for hell. But God intervened in my life. [snorts] See, when we do that, we're praising him. We're not saying anything good about us. We're saying something good about him. What he did to show us mercy. What he did to show us grace. What he did to be kind to us, unworthy sinners. We get to show forth, proclaim, tell everywhere we go the praises, the excellencies of the one that saved us, called us out of darkness into his marvelous. And when I looked that up, it meant this, incomprehensible, wonderful, magnificent, incredible light. He saved us out of such a bad life and bad future, and he saved us and brought us into his marvelous light. [snorts] Now, how in the world could we live a selfish, self-centered, prideful life that's saying, "I know what the word of God says about holiness, but I'm going to live the way I want to live." [snorts] You're playing for the wrong team, friend. [snorts] You're putting on the wrong jersey. You're on the wrong team. You're defending against the wrong person. If you're against, you're against somebody that's trying to help you live a holy life, you're against your parents and they're trying to help you, or you're against your pastor that's trying to help you. You're against your teachers that are trying to help you live a holy life. You're playing for the wrong team, dear friend. [snorts] Playing for the wrong team. We need to understand he's called us to holiness. He called us out of darkness to get us in light. Why do we want to live like we're in darkness still? Amen. [snorts] Are you telling me that the one who has made you a royal priest, a kingly priest, is okay with you listening to music that is has vulgarities laced throughout it, that is endorsing sex amongst teenagers in rampant proportions? Are you telling me that the one who called you out of darkness is okay with that kind of junk? [snorts] Are you telling me that he's okay and that he endorses immodesty? Are you telling me he's okay with the wrong use of a cell phone? Or you tell me that it's okay, then listen friend, you can't say that's okay and say that you're royal in the priesthood and holy and you're living. [snorts] If he's got you in this new identity, you need to be living like it and stop messing around with the world. [snorts] Hey, can I remind you verse 10 says you weren't a people, but now you are a people. [snorts] Can I remind you that you hadn't received mercy, but now you have received mercy? My soul. How could we begrudge at all in any way any kind of any effort to try to live a holy, separated life? Man, they're just narrow-minded there at Southwest Baptist Church. They don't partner with anybody except independent fundamental Baptists. [snorts] You're welcome. [snorts] Yeah, that's exactly right. And, and even some independent Baptists, we [snorts] can't partner with [snorts] because some independent Baptists are falling the way with Southern Baptists, and Southern Baptists in many ways are falling the way of reformed theology, [snorts] which denies the blood atonement of Jesus Christ sufficient for everybody, [snorts] and that is, uh, locked in with those that are ecumenical in their doctrine. [snorts] And if we say that we believe by grace through faith and that alone, then why would we participate with somebody that says otherwise? Does [snorts] this make any kind of sense? [snorts] You see, it's easy to preach on holiness till you get to some of the particulars. [snorts] And it's like, preacher, you better back off saying all that kind of stuff. [snorts] Not if the blood matters. [snorts] Not if, not if holiness matters. None of godly music matters. And all those things do matter, friend. We can say it doesn't matter, but as he which has called you is holy, so be holy. Listen, friend, that's still in the book. That still matters. And it ought to matter to us as well. Amen. [snorts]

Peter tried to help the believers understand that their new identity in Christ determined their new purpose in life. And I'm just simply saying to you here tonight, and we're done. Your new identity in Christ determines your new purpose in life. We ought to live like it and show it. And as we do, we give him glory. And as we do, we send the right message to the people that are around us. Otherwise, we have them saying, "I thought you were a Christian." [snorts] And that is an indictment. If we have any right to say that we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and God's peculiar treasure, then we ought to show that day by day and choice by choice throughout our lives and collectively as a church. Dear Father, thank you tonight. I know there's more application that could be made and no doubt we will as we get [clears throat] into the particulars that Peter gets into. How it ought to show up at work, how it ought to show up in the home, how it ought to show up in our relationship with government, how it ought to show up in the relationship with old friends and people that come around and want us to participate with them. Oh God, you've called us to holiness. Help us not to have any other goal. Help us now tonight. Help us to respond to you. Thank you for the new identity in Christ that determines a new purpose and goal. I pray in Jesus holy name. Amen.