Believers are called to be a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, built upon Jesus Christ as the living stone. This priesthood is not earned through outward appearances or education but through being born again and receiving divine life. As priests, believers are to offer spiritual sacrifices, including their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is their reasonable service and an act of worship. This involves dedicating oneself to God's will, manifesting Christ's moral beauty through one's life, and serving both God and the world.
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book, God is able to give us a few marshals that will lead to the building up of that new life that is resident in us. And now, will you please open your Bibles, First Epistle of Peter, chapter two. And we're going to begin this evening to read at verse four. to whom coming as unto a living stone. This allowed of men but children of God and precious.
He also of lively stones were built up in the spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in Scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect precious, that he thou believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you, therefore, which believe he is precious, or he is the preciousness. But unto them which be disobedient, stone which the builders disallowed.
The same is made the head of the corner. And the soul of stumbling and the rock of ascent, even to them which stumble at the words being disobedient, for unto also they were appointed. But here a chosen generation, a holy priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him, who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in times fast were not a people, but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from freshly lusts, which war against the soul. have your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that, for as they speak against you as evil-doers, they may by your good works, which they behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. Which again, believe with God, will bless you, and honor his own precious word. Now we've been looking for all these times that we've been together at this precious little book of Peter.
Certainly we have some very wholesome teaching in it, and teaching that relates to our everyday living. As we have brought before you a nice past, This is the Pilgrims' Epistle. And we have used as the key verse, this verse that we read this evening, Dear the beloved, I defeat you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. Looking at the pilgrims' possessions, stripped of earthly things, The writer seeks to encourage them by showing them that they have spiritual realities that will never pass away.
That he speaks of their salvation and those things that relate to salvation and that should characterize the life of God's children as they pass through this word. So then what we looked at last night, the redemption and are being purified by a spiritual bath, or in other words, being born again, this serves as a background to what we're going to look at this evening, because relevant to priesthood in the Old Testament, the priest of necessity must be able to establish a genealogy.
And it had to trace back to Aaron. But in order to be a priest of necessity, we must be born into God's family. Now, you don't become a priest by attending a seminary. and getting an education. I won't do you any harm, but it doesn't make you a priest. A couple of years ago, one of the Lord's servants was visiting, and in his earlier days, he had been in a group where there was a priest. And the lady asked him, and she was a priest.
He said, he was. He said, I'm a priest. Well, she said you don't have the right kind of color. She said you don't look like a priest, you don't have the proper color in your neck. So in relieving the story later, he emphasized that the type of color you had around your neck didn't make you a priest. He said, for instance, if I put on a dog's color, that wouldn't make me a dog. And if I put on a horse's collar, that wouldn't make me a horse. And certainly just putting on a certain kind of collar wouldn't make me a priest of God.
I remember years ago that we were leaving a little town after we'd given up track in the days of our beloved and departed brother T.R. McCullough. And out on the edge of town we picked out five or six soldier boys, and they hadn't had to sleep till he hit them with the gospel. That was dear Brother Tom. And this one fella, he opened up his neck. He says, you think I'm not religious. And he just tore open his shirt neck, and there was all kinds of mavericks around this neck. And he thought that he was in right relationship with God and going to heaven because he had these things hanging around his neck.
Poor fellow, he needed to learn it's not what you have around your neck that takes you to heaven is what you have in your heart. I like what a dear bed this lady said one time when we were preaching at Berea, quite a number of them attended the meeting every night. One night at the close of the meeting, she said, Well, it's not what we have over the church door that counts. It's what we have in here. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Now, we'll be looking this evening at the two aspects of priesthood. One is God's word.
The other is man's word. That evening we looked at... price that had been paid for our redemption. And only through the redemption of work can we be brought into relationship with God. That is through being born again that we receive divine life and divine nature. And by receiving the new birth we get a nature that is holy and we receive through that regeneration by the Holy Spirit a capacity to manifest that life and display it to others and the new birth of course gives us the capacity to be a priest of God Far from being born again, no one can serve as a priest in relation to God's house.
Of course, in the Old Testament days, only the sons of Aaron had the right to approach God. Now in this wonderful and blessed age of grace in which we live, we're all priests. We have all the right of access into the presence of God. It's not the privilege of all to minister, but we do all have the privilege of coming to the throne of grace, coming into the immediate presence of the living God. No longer do we find ourselves at this distance.
We find ourselves made nigh by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, we talked last night about the food that was necessary to sustain us in our priestly life and in our priestly ministry. And, of course, that food is the Word of God, and we're to lay aside those things at the beginning of the chapter which would hinder us from enjoying the Word. You know, if we eat too many dainties and snack in between meals and perhaps feed the flesh, It's gone to destroy our appetite for the things of God.
And the exhortation here in verse two is to have an earnest, a real hunger, a real desire for the Word of God. Unless you have a desire for the Word of God and feed on it and assimilate it into your spiritual being, you're not going to grow. I think that little chorus is good. Read your Bible. Pray every day, anyo, grow, grow, grow. Read your Bible. Pray every day, anyo, grow, grow, grow.
and we're to grow toward salvation. There's two words actually missing here that all other renderings put in. Grow unto salvation. And there should be a constant moral growth in view of that moment when we shall be physically transformed into the likeness of Christ. We might put it in this way, at the time of the new birth, we undergo an inner spiritual change. And from that moment onward, there should be a moral transformation in our lives.
But when the Lord comes, that will be the confirmation of God's word in us and we shall be fully and eternally changed into the image and likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you don't like some of our looks now, maybe we'll be worth looking at when you meet us on the golden street. But I think that we ought to be concerned now about this present group. and growing with a view to that time when we're going to stand before of us a bema of Christ and then we receive an acquired glory for having loved him and served him and for having obeyed his word.
Now, that brings us up to the point of our evening's message concerning the two aspects of priesthood, to whom coming as unto a living stone. You notice that this stone spoken of here was rejected and despised of men. But over again, Stath, Peter released his message to these, and of course he would comprehend all others that had believed, that had received Christ, and who loved him, and who had a real appreciation for him.
The word was divided into two complements in Peter's day, and at this late hour of the dispensation, things stand the same. We have those that just repudiate, that reject Christ. You can well remember many years ago when in Michigan, the dear man I was seeing with me took me to see an insurance salesman and he was a Unitarian. And that man had an inveterate hate for God's Christ. He just utterly rejected him.
He didn't want anything to do with him. And you know, he told something that day that spoiled a hymn for me. He said, Well, don't you know the word sings one of our hymns, nearer my God to thee? And from that day to this day, I have never been able to sing the hymn. You notice there isn't a word about Christ in it. from beginning to end. Why? Because it was written by a Unitarian. And they absolutely repudiate and reject the Christ of God. But we would bring to this man's attention that we were enjoying God's salvation, that it was a tremendous blessing in our lives.
And we would say to him, now, when we get to the end of our journey, if there is no Christ, if there is no Christ, we have gained much here and we won't have lost anything for eternity. The old lady was asked, if you get to the end of the journey and you find it's all a mess and there, and there's nothing to it. Why not in there? She said, I'll shout hallelujah. Well, I had a good time getting here. I had a good time getting here. Now, we said, but if what we believe is true and what we're putting before you is true, then what awaits you. Oh, that made him furious, furious.
Then there's you that are just as adamant as he was to the person of Christ. But you still denounces and reject him at an imposter. And yet God placed him right in the midst of Israel, right in the Holy Land, in Jerusalem, and to follow his miracles, and to fill up their cup of iniquity by saying, Away with him, Away with him, we will let of this man reign over us. But on the other hand, thank God for all those across the face of God's earth They're expected to wear the attend on Lord's day to love Him.
And He's not only precious, He's a preciousness. He's of intense value, worth to every believer. We pointed out last night that The background of this word, and we have it about three times, I think, here, seven times in all in the Episcopal, is the idea of something that's costly, something that has value. And the second place, it is the thought of highly esteeming or honoring. And certainly, he has value.
is altogether lovely in the fairest among ten thousand. And we see men, we from the depth of our being, worship Him as worthy of the highest honor and the highest glory. Many years ago, as a dear sister think of God with this thumping out of life into the presence of God, she guessed, and they couldn't guess. And she guessed again, and she couldn't guess.
But then, quite distinctly, before she entered his presence, she gasped and said, Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown him, Lord of all. Now, we would have no way of known, but my inclination is to believe that she had got her first sight of the Lord Jesus. Won't that be a thrilling thing? How will we feel? all the surges of joy and gladness that will pass through the inmost being when for the first time we look into his lovely face. For indeed we are going to see the king in his beauty.
The dear old uncle that took me under his care, got me under the sound of the gospel. The night he died he said to those caring for a man who stood by his bedside I shall not see the morning. I am going in to see the king in his beauty. And so down through the years one by one, they go in. And we have waved and hoped and desired that he might come in our day and then we will go in, in company. I wonder if we'll sing going in.
Our ten thousand voices crying, Laum of God, with one accord. And look, he sings. The sight is glorious. See the man of Saurus now. From the vice he turned victorious every knee. The heaven showed by. It's likely some of these precious songs that... So you agize him and bring before our souls the grandeur and beauty of our blessed Lord will pass through our minds as we pass into the glory, gazing upon him. Never defile looking into his face. Never defile praising him because of his preciousness.
because of the corrupt slave, Christ that he paid to redeem our poor souls and ransom us from the powers of death and hell, so that we might live in his presence forever and ever. So if he's degraded and deprecated by some, thank God, all over the face of God's earth, there are thousands of lovers, loving, and the language of their hearts is unto us, He is the preciousness. So what might note the order here?
First we read about the stone, the living stone. It's the rock that gets the priority as a title of deity in the Old Testament, so the stone is also mentioned. But it would seem as if the stone has the preeminent priority in the New Testament. The mighty, the almighty rock, contracted himself and became a stone. that he might go to the cross and die for our sins. And he's now in the glory. And someday that rock, pardon my, that stone cut out with our hands that we read about in Daniel two is going to smash the image and smash the beast and his...
a co-worker and his glory is going to fill the whole earth. Cut out without stones. I believe the implication there is virgin birth. Cut out without hands. Now, he's a living stone. And then a little farther down it speaks of us as being living stone. So you see, this emphasizes our oneness. He's the living stone and we're living stones. We have his life and we're one with him. Now then the next thing you read about the sanctuary or the priestly house.
That's where we started to read this evening. ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house, and the Holy Priest did to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. First it's the stone, and then the lively stones, and then there is then Christ is building these stones together into a spiritual house. This is about the closest Peter comes to teaching church trips. We're being built together into a spiritual sanctuary for the Lord. Now, the spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifice, and I believe this is our God-word ministry.
And one of the first things that we need to offer that the sacrifice is our body. In Romans twelve, we there that will present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service. Now, in the light of what we read last night, there will be redeemed by that blood that is infinitely precious." Of course, the word redeem signifies our being set free from the penalty that our sin deserves.
It also, of course, implies that we can be delivered from the power of indwelling sin. And the Holy Spirit is resident in us to accomplish that end. But then there is a redemption that's still future. It's the redemption of these we-ailing bodies in which we live. These bodies are permanent structures. Someday we're going to lay them aside. and be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven.
Now, if we were to turn to the first book of Corinthians, chapter six, and the last verse, it says, You're brought with a price. Don't be the servants of man. In the light of that, don't you see that it's reasonable. It's an intelligent servant. to take our body and offer them to God as a sacrifice. In Hebrews chapter ten, we read how God was dissatisfied and refused and rejected the dead sacrifices, the animals, because they accomplished nothing.
They didn't put away man's sin. Neither did they bring man into living, abiding relationship with the living God. The law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did, Lord Jesus, by which we draw nigh to God. And we ought to present our body. Our living sacrifice, holy. God won't use us unless we set ourselves apart from evil. After all, we've lost sisters here tonight.
They would never think of setting down vessels before you that had never been washed. And God wants sanctified clean vessels. So there's one prerequisite, and we expect God to use it. We must keep our vessels clean. And we're to present our bodies living sacrifices. We lend ourselves to God, lay ourselves on the altar of God, a living sacrifice which is our reasonable service. And the thought therein service is religious service or worship. It's an act of worship.
That's an act of worship, will you? Devote yourself, consecrate yourself to the living God, say, Here I am, you've bought me by your precious blood. Thy scepter will rule creation, but I've known from this moment your wounded hand rules me. And I believe the thought there is that of a burned offering, and every particle of the burned offering went up to God, with the exception of the skin. And every day the smoke of that burnt offering ascended up into heaven.
And this is the thought I believe that as we give ourselves to do God's will and do God's service, there's an incense going up from our life that God can smell and appreciate. And this is always our reasonable or intelligent service. If he has brought me spirit, soul and body, and I belong to him, and he has paid an infinite price, then, having endowed me with the free will, I should, by the grace of God, give myself, to do His will and do His service.
I told you the other night about a picture I read about that isn't prevalent today, but it's evident it was indeed gone past. And it was in connection with this verse, it was the altar and a bullet, the one speaking of sacrifice and the other speaking of service. And then the caption was, Ready for either. Ready to even die. Like the dear girl that Brother Bruce read about last night. You see, she was ready to die. And she suffered a Martian's death. And I believe I'm going to recognize her at the judgment seat of Christ as God places upon her precious head a beautiful crown.
You see, She wouldn't spit upon that picture of Christ. She wiped off the picture on the pain of death and expressed her faith in the man represented by that picture. And they took her out and shot her. And she earned the martyr's crown. Oh, brother, sister, he's worth dying for. Someone that said... anything or anyone that isn't worth living for, it isn't worth dying for. And Paul had the honor of dying a martyr's death.
Dying and sharing his blood, thus showing his devotion and love to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, there's the sacrifice of praying We ought to offer that sacrifice. Someone has said that we praise God because of who he is and because of his excellency. We thank God for what he is done for. Those are two elements in worship. Praising God and thanking God. I would have entered his court with thanksgiving and his gate with praise.
To tell you the truth, sometimes I wonder how some of our brethren can sit in their seats and send him over me. When the hands so eulogize and magnify that lovely person and picture and die on the cross, how can we sit in our seats and not write it off and pour out our hearts in adoration and praise to Him? Away back in the early days, we were having a testimony meeting back in the old country. The first second series of meetings that I ever shared in. And after a few had given their testimony that the big Irish could get up. Then he said, if I don't get up and say something, I'm going to burst. I'm going to burst.
It was so full of heaven's joy that he had to get up and give witness to the fact that God had saved them by his merciless grace. choose them by its power and fill his heart with joy and gladness. You know, it's another sacrifice. It's your giving. And all giving should be unto the Lord. It speaks of this in Philippians four and eighteen. All in thanking the believers. For a gift it sent and said it was a sweet ogre and a sacrifice.
What did he mean by that? He knew that those people didn't have a lot of money. And yet they had sacrificed to send him something, and in writing back to them, he speaks of it as a sweet ogre and a sacrifice. When in Lord's Good Morning we meet together, and that moment comes when we have the opportunity of giving a gift to God. That's worship. I don't believe that some of our dear brothers and sisters see that. But it's an act of worship. If you notice the verse I've referred to in Hebrews thirteen and fifteen, the sixteen verse goes on to speak about communicating or having fellowship.
And at practical given, That's in mind. Now, you'll notice in the Word of God that most of the instruction concerning this sacrifice is in relation to the poor. In relation to the poor. Sometimes we forget them. Sometimes we're not as exercised and concerned along this line about meeting a need wherever it exists. I was so thankful when they come out in the missionary mind has been that there have been so much money sent to Guatemala that tell them to stop sending.
Wasn't that a nice commendation? I think I'll have to tell you again about Tidman's missionary hand. Dear old Tidman lived in the old days when money was scarce. I grew up in those days too. when you didn't have a lot of nice food at the table and you got some good potato seeds and some bread, you were pretty well satisfied. Sidman had nothing but he loved the missionaries and he thought, oh, if I could just get something to give to the missionaries to send the gospel out into other areas of the world.
And one day he got a bright idea. He said, I'll dedicate one of my hands to God, and everything that's cheaper just is God's going to get. And so he dedicated a hand, and all her eggs were sold, and the revenue from the eggs went to the missionaries. But lo and behold, he one day, Piedman's hand died. He had to bury her. But you know, when he buried her, he put an epitaph on her grave. Here he writes Pittman's missionary hand. Her total contributions were four pound ten. That would be, in American money today, nine dollars.
Her total contributions were four pound ten. But though she's dead, the work goes on. For she left behind her seven dollars and one son to carry on the work that she began. Think of the reward Tidman's going to have at the judgment seat of Christ for dedicating a hand, and I'm sure he could have used those eggs to exchange for groceries at the country store or wherever he lived. Now then we must pass on the other aspect of priesthood relief.
to our witness and our testimony. And you know, it's delightful to look at how many different names that Peter describes the people of God by. It shows the affection he has. And in turn, the purpose of it was to reveal how precious and dear God's people are to him. They're dear to him as the apple of God. of his eyes. And the longer I live, the more afraid I am of hurting or injuring any of God's people. Because if you heard one of God's people, you heard the Lord Himself.
You know, think of a mother. She has all kinds of names for that little baby. All those, even in the case of a husband, Maybe he's a little free just after he gets married with these things. But, oh, she's honey and she's sweetheart and what isn't she? I hope that it isn't with some, that it was with the dear sister. She said, you know, for the first two years, everything was good. Even if I burned things, it was good. And now she said, nothing tastes good as far as he's concerned. Isn't that too bad?
Isn't that too bad? She ought to still be sweetheart and darling and honey. Tell me when you lose them, they're gone, you know their value. I get a thousand words to have mine back. I don't think there's anyone ever like her. If God asks me, honestly, John, tell me what you'd wish most under the sun. I say, make mine back a bell and send her back to me. Keep on calling her daughter, sweetheart and those precious names. Don't put on a show outside to tell her these things at the proper moment.
I heard once of a dear wife that labored and worked to get a nice cup. Her husband was, well, if someone didn't believe him, he would have told her about he wasn't very free with his prayers when things were nice. And so she worked hard and she thought, I'm going to get a word out of them. And she cooked the nicest, most wonderful supper she could ever cook. And then she waited for the Lord to pray. Never come. Then later in the evening she said, Honey, did you enjoy your meal this evening? Well, he said, if I hadn't enjoyed it, I'd have told you.
I would have told you. Now... We can't go into all these precious names. Notice in verse nine, spoken of as a chosen generation, elect generation, a royal priesthood, because we're linked with one who's a priest forever after the Order of Melchizedek. And in Melchizedek, there was a delightful combination of kingship and priesthood. and we're linked up with heaven, we're his sons, and we're a kingdom of priests. That speaks of dignity, and we ought to manifest that dignity.
Now, he also speaks of them here in verse nine, of being a holy nation and a peculiar people. And that doesn't mean that you should be armed and strange and different and sorry and morose. That's not what it means. That word means a people for a possession. If you read the fourteenth verse of Ephesians, one it's rendered purchased possession. It's a group of people that has cost them a tremendous price. He has purchased them with his precious blood. And there is special treasure, a special possession.
In fact, in Ephesians one, he speaks of the people of God as being his inheritance. He and his heaven and all his glories are inheritance, and we're in inheritance. Now, what are we to do as a royal priesthood? We're to go out into the world and show forth the virtues. or the excellent faith. It says praises here. But it's literally the praises, the virtues, the excellent faith of our blessed Lord and Savior. Oh, that we might display the moral beauty of the Lord Jesus in these lives and bodies of ours.
by dedicating ourselves to him, by doing his will and allowing the Holy Spirit to so work in us that the moral glories of the Lord Jesus would be displayed and in evidence in our lives. It's a matter of allowing God to work in us. Allowing the Holy Spirit His way to do what is in the Word of God. That's why these things at the beginning were to lay them aside. Hypocrisy in God. Because these things for God's purpose. In working out and out the moral beauty of the Lord Jesus.
Paul would have said it's not. In what you say. To you so clear, to me so dim. But when you came, you brought a sense of him. And from your heart he beckons me, and from your eyes he beckons me, and from your heart his love is shed, till I lose sight of you, and see Christ instead. Or ministry. Godward in this world, our ministry worldward. And if you go and examine the next verses, there are so many ways that we can display his virtues and his graces to a poor world that's hastening onto its doom.
You don't read their Bible, but to read our lives, and we trust that we may so live before them that they'll see our good works. and see the moral graces of Christ in our life and glorify our Father God which is in heaven. May the Lord bless you. May the Lord give this man and the people here as well grace to be holy praise, to worship and grace, to be royal praise and go out and serve and do something and manifest Christ to this poor word that needs a Savior. Father, we thank you for having been together. Fourth night.