Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Hope Beyond Guilt Becoming Living Stones Msg 517

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Hope Beyond Guilt Becoming Living Stones Msg 517 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Contrary to popular opinion, God doesn't sit around in heaven
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Speaker 1: with his jaws clenched and his arms folded in constant
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Speaker 1: disapproval of us and everything we do. He is not frowning.
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Speaker 1: He is not ticked off at his children for all
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Speaker 1: the times we trip up and fall flat on our faces.
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Speaker 1: Remember this. Our God is a loving Father. And believe
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Speaker 1: it or not, We, his children, are precious in his sight.
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Speaker 1: How wonderful that is to remember. In today's message, we
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Speaker 1: are going to catch a glimpse of God's pure delight
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Speaker 1: in us. And even the way he refers to us,
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Speaker 1: we're going to learn how favorable that is. You're going
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Speaker 1: to find some of this pretty amazing. Need to tell
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Speaker 1: you ahead of time. So, turn with me to 1
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Speaker 1: Peter chapter 2. I want to read for you the
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Speaker 1: first 12 verses of this chapter, 1 Peter 2, beginning
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Speaker 1: at verse 1. Therefore, putting aside all malice and all
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Speaker 1: deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies,
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Speaker 1: long for the pure milk of the Word, so that
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Speaker 1: by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if
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Speaker 1: you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. and coming
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Speaker 1: to him as to a living stone which has been
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Speaker 1: rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the
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Speaker 1: sight of God. You also, as living stones, are being
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Speaker 1: built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood
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Speaker 1: to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
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Speaker 1: For this is contained in Scripture, Behold, I lay in
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Speaker 1: Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, and he who
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Speaker 1: believes in him will not be disappointed. This precious value, then,
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Speaker 1: is for you who believe, but for those who disbelieve,
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Speaker 1: the stone which the builders rejected, this became the very cornerstone,
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Speaker 1: and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.
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Speaker 1: for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word,
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Speaker 1: and to this doom they were also appointed.
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Speaker 2: But you are a.
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Speaker 1: Chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
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Speaker 1: for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the
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Speaker 1: excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness
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Speaker 1: into his marvelous light. For you once were not a people,
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Speaker 1: But now you are the people of God. You had
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Speaker 1: not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved,
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Speaker 1: I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from
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Speaker 1: fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your
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Speaker 1: behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing
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Speaker 1: in which they slander you as evildoers— they may, because
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Speaker 1: of your good works as they observe them, glorify God
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Speaker 1: in the day of visitation. For some unexplainable reason, we
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Speaker 1: seem to outgrow a close relationship with God. If your
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Speaker 1: experience was like mine, when you were real small, you
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Speaker 1: had an intimate feeling toward Him, and you brought Him the, well,
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Speaker 1: in adult world and adult talk, You brought him the
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Speaker 1: most trivial things and you just had in a childlike
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Speaker 1: faith the confidence that he cared about them and he
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Speaker 1: met the need and there was nothing too small, there
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Speaker 1: was nothing too big to ask of him. Just like
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Speaker 1: a child talking to his mother or to his dad.
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Speaker 1: He was just there and you felt free to relate
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Speaker 1: to him in that intimate way. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, however,
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Speaker 1: a distance grows. We feel increasingly less close to God
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Speaker 1: Sort of a fear builds up. Maybe by then we
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Speaker 1: have done a number of things that we're not pleased
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Speaker 1: with and certainly not proud of and maybe even ashamed of.
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Speaker 1: And though we know he forgives and though we know
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Speaker 1: he wipes our slate clean, we feel that those things
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Speaker 1: have caused that sense of distance. And how could we
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Speaker 1: ever feel as close to him as we once did?
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Speaker 1: For years, I've wondered why we don't have the closeness
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Speaker 1: in adult life that we had when we were children.
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Speaker 1: I was reminded of just how open and close children
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Speaker 1: feel when I came across a little book recently called
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Speaker 1: Dear God. It's a wonderful little book. It's sort of disarming,
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Speaker 1: and the theology isn't always great because kids don't have
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Speaker 1: great theology, but it's a series of letters that children
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Speaker 1: have actually written God.
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Speaker 2: It's terrific.
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Speaker 1: One little letter from Alan, age nine, reads, Dear God,
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Speaker 1: I saw the Grand Canyon last summer. Nice piece of work.
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Speaker 1: Isn't that great?
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Speaker 2: Who would ever think of saying that to God? Nice word.
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Speaker 1: Here was another one. Dear God and Jesus, I'm a
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Speaker 1: big follower of you guys. I root for both of
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Speaker 1: you all the time. Keep those miracles coming. Your best friend, Steven,
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Speaker 1: age 8. The next one's from Mike, age 11. Dear God,
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Speaker 1: I think that you are very kind and generous. Can
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Speaker 1: you see if I can get a bigger allowance? No
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Speaker 1: need too small, no request too great. Then this one
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Speaker 1: from Marty, age nine. Dear God, I wish I could
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Speaker 1: spend all my time with you. We could go to
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Speaker 1: beautiful places together, like Paris. We could fill all the
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Speaker 1: world with love. We could make every kid and grown-up smile.
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Speaker 1: I don't think you can do it alone. Why don't
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Speaker 1: you make me a special helper? My family and my
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Speaker 1: teachers will understand. I'm willing to give up some kid stuff.
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Speaker 1: It will be for a very good cause.
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Speaker 2: How about it? With all the love in my heart, Marty. P.S.
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Speaker 1: I would like to take my pink and white dress
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Speaker 1: with me if that's okay.
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Speaker 2: Just the closeness, just the.
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Speaker 1: Sense of caring. There is nothing too big and nothing
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Speaker 1: too small. nothing that he's not interested in. But in
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Speaker 1: the process of a period of time, as we get
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Speaker 1: to be adults, something seems to happen. There seems to
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Speaker 1: be this sense of distance. I think if I were
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Speaker 1: to ask adults to write God a letter and take
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Speaker 1: a rambling sample of what they write, I think it
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Speaker 1: would be altogether different than what they wrote as children.
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Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, I I think probably there
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Speaker 1: will be written across the pages of those letters feelings
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Speaker 1: of guilt and fear and sort of pleading for relief
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Speaker 1: from these feelings of distance. We have so much to
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Speaker 1: learn from children. That's why for the next few minutes
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Speaker 1: I want us to turn in our Bibles and get
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Speaker 1: a rather quick and simple profile of God's appraisal of us.
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Speaker 1: He has taken us in our brokenness And he has
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Speaker 1: made something beautiful of our lives. Let me take a
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Speaker 1: random sampling through the Old and New Testament for just
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Speaker 1: a few minutes. First Psalm 103. And let's remind ourselves
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Speaker 1: of God's appraisal of us. I think children write those
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Speaker 1: simple letters and have that simple faith because they really
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Speaker 1: believe God believes in them and God loves them and
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Speaker 1: God cares for them. I want us to leave with
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Speaker 1: the same sense. That God still has a care for us.
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Speaker 1: Psalm 103. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all
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Speaker 1: that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord,
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Speaker 1: O my soul, and forget none of his benefits. And
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Speaker 1: then he lists them. You wonder what God thinks of you?
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Speaker 1: He pardons all your iniquities. He heals all your diseases.
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Speaker 1: He redeems your life from the pit. He crowns you
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Speaker 1: with loving kindness and compassion. He satisfies our years with
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Speaker 1: good things so that our youth is renewed like the eagle.
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Speaker 2: Verse 11.
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Speaker 1: High as the heavens are above the earth, so great
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Speaker 1: is his loving kindness toward those who fear him. As
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Speaker 1: far as the east is from the west, so far
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Speaker 1: has he removed our transgressions from us. Just as a
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Speaker 1: father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has
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Speaker 1: compassion on those who fear him, for he himself knows
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Speaker 1: our frame. He is mindful that we are but dust.
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Speaker 1: I find that very relieving. He understands our limits. He
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Speaker 1: realizes our struggles. He knows how far we can take pressure.
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Speaker 1: He knows how extensive we can handle the tests. He
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Speaker 1: knows how.
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Speaker 2: We're put together. He realizes that.
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Speaker 1: We're really nothing but a handful of dust. His expectations
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Speaker 1: aren't that great. We set up our expectations, not God,
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Speaker 1: and we don't take our cues from him nor he
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Speaker 1: from us. We give ourselves this kind of unrealistic agenda
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Speaker 1: and then when we don't live up to it we
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Speaker 1: feel like he brings judgment down on us. But this
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Speaker 1: verse says he remembers, he knows our frame, he is
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Speaker 1: mindful that we are but dust. What is his agenda
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Speaker 1: for us? Turn from Psalm to Jeremiah 29. I just
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Speaker 1: read this today in the one-year Bible, as many of
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Speaker 1: you did. By the way, you're hanging tough on that assignment,
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Speaker 1: aren't you? Is it as tough for you as it
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Speaker 1: is for me some mornings? I would like to say
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Speaker 1: it's always easy going. Sometime I have to confess I
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Speaker 1: look ahead to see how many pages I have to
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Speaker 1: read this morning.
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Speaker 2: Oh, I'm glad I'm not the only one that does that.
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Speaker 1: Jeremiah 29, look at verse 11 and then verse 12.
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Speaker 1: You want to know what his agenda is for you
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Speaker 1: tomorrow morning? What his agenda is for you the next day?
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Speaker 1: These are his plans. He wrote them originally to Israel,
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Speaker 1: but by application they fit. Jeremiah, speaking for the Lord God,
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Speaker 1: I know the plans that I have for you, declares
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Speaker 1: the Lord. My agenda for you would be plans for welfare,
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Speaker 1: not for calamity.
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Speaker 2: To give you a future that and a hope.
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Speaker 1: Then you will call upon me and come and pray
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Speaker 1: to me, and I will listen to you.
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Speaker 2: Isn't that wonderful?
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Speaker 1: I have plans for you, and they are plans for
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Speaker 1: welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future
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Speaker 1: and to give you a hope. I had to leave
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Speaker 1: out so many, but I did want to go to Lamentations.
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Speaker 1: That's the book, that little journal that Jeremiah kept after
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Speaker 1: the after the fall of Jerusalem, over Lamentations chapter 3.
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Speaker 1: If you're not familiar with the book, it's right after
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Speaker 1: the book of Jeremiah. Locate verses 25 and 26 as
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Speaker 1: we continue.
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Speaker 2: To build this appraisal God has of us.
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Speaker 1: Chapter 3 of Lamentations, verses 25 and 26. Let me
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Speaker 1: start at verse 21. This I recall to my mind,
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Speaker 1: therefore I have hope, The Lord's loving kindnesses, plural, the
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Speaker 1: Lord's loving kindnesses indeed never cease. For his compassions never fail.
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Speaker 1: They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. The
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Speaker 1: Lord is my portion, says my soul.
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Speaker 2: Therefore, I have hope in him.
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Speaker 1: Now look at his appraisal. The Lord is good to
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Speaker 1: those who wait for him, to the person who seeks him.
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Speaker 1: It is good that he waits silently for the deliverance
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Speaker 1: of the Lord. Now, some of you are right now
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Speaker 1: waiting for something from the Lord. Most people I meet
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Speaker 1: are in a holding pattern of some kind. You have
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Speaker 1: something on the horizon that Maybe not too distant horizon
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Speaker 1: that you're trusting God for. He is good to those
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Speaker 1: who wait for him. He is good to those who
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Speaker 1: seek him. You're waiting for him. You seek him. He'll
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Speaker 1: be good to you. You have nothing to fear. Nothing
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Speaker 1: from the Lord you have to fear. Over in the
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Speaker 1: little letter to the Colossians in the New Testament, chapter 1.
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Speaker 1: We're working our way toward 1 Peter, you notice. Colossians
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Speaker 1: chapter 1 verse 12. When I was a little boy,
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Speaker 1: I called this Galatians. I had a Sunday school teacher
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Speaker 1: that corrected me.
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Speaker 2: The book of.
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Speaker 1: Colossians chapter 1 verse 12. Giving thanks to the Father
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Speaker 1: who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of
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Speaker 1: the saints in light. Look at that. Before you think
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Speaker 1: the next time God's coming down on you, remember Colossians 1.12,
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Speaker 1: you have reason to give thanks because he has qualified you.
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Speaker 1: You haven't qualified yourself. He has qualified you to share
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Speaker 1: in the inheritance of the saints in light.
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Speaker 2: Why?
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Speaker 1: Because he's done a deliverance in your life. He has
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Speaker 1: delivered us from the domain of darkness and has transferred
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Speaker 1: us to the kingdom of God. Of his beloved son.
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Speaker 1: Literally he has transferred us. To the kingdom of the
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Speaker 1: son of his love. If he wants his son there.
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Speaker 1: And it's surrounded by love. And if he wants you
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Speaker 1: and me there. Surrounded by love. The same treatment he
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Speaker 1: gives his son. He will give to us. One more.
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Speaker 1: The book of James chapter 1. Sometimes it's kind of
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Speaker 1: nice just to thumb through the scriptures and find promises
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Speaker 1: that tell us what God thinks of us, especially in
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Speaker 1: a world that's continually telling us of all the things
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Speaker 1: they have against us and all the things they see
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Speaker 1: wrong with us. It's kind of nice to find the
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Speaker 1: things God says about us that are affirming. James 1,
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Speaker 1: verses 17 and 18.
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Speaker 2: Every good thing bestowed....
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Speaker 1: And every perfect gift is from above, coming down from
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Speaker 1: the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation
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Speaker 1: or shifting shadow. Literally, that last little phrase says, or
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Speaker 1: shadow of turning. In other words, God's light, God's gifts
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Speaker 1: come constantly, and they come even when we turn away
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Speaker 1: from him. No shadow is cast on him by our turning,
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Speaker 1: seems to be the idea. There is no variation in
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Speaker 1: his giving, no shifting shadow that causes him to become
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Speaker 1: moody and hold back his gifts to us. In the
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Speaker 1: exercise of his will, he brought us forth by the
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Speaker 1: word of truth so that we might be, as it were,
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Speaker 1: the first fruits among his creatures.
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Speaker 2: You know what? All of this could be wrapped up in.
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Speaker 1: The statement Paul says in Romans 8, 31, a little
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Speaker 1: part of the verse, if God be for us, who
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Speaker 1: could be against us? I want you to remember that
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Speaker 1: for a long time. God is for us.
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Speaker 2: Say that with me, will you? God is for us.
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Speaker 1: Do it again. God is for us. You remember that
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Speaker 1: tomorrow morning. You don't feel like he is. Remember that
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Speaker 1: when you have failed. Remember that when you have sinned.
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Speaker 1: God is for you. Never, ever, ever tell your children
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Speaker 1: that if they do wrong, God won't love them.
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Speaker 2: That is heresy. There's no grace in that. The grace is, child, even.
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Speaker 1: Though you do wrong, God will continue and I will
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Speaker 1: continue to love you. God is for you. God being
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Speaker 1: for us means love. Who could ever be against us
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Speaker 1: would amount to anything.
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Speaker 2: Now, all of.
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Speaker 1: This leads me to an idea I got the other
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Speaker 1: day as I was humming the little children's tune. Jesus
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Speaker 1: loves the little children, all the children of the world,
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Speaker 1: red and yellow, black and white. They are precious in
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Speaker 1: his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.
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Speaker 1: I thought, well, what about all the grownups? So I
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Speaker 1: changed the words of that little song. Jesus loves his
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Speaker 1: adult children, all the grown-ups of the world, red and yellow,
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Speaker 1: black and white. We're all precious in his sight. Jesus
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Speaker 1: loves all the teens and adults of the world. And
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Speaker 1: that's true. Why do we think his love is just
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Speaker 1: for the little children, innocent and disarming as they are?
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Speaker 2: He loves all of his people. He loves all of
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Speaker 2: the grownups, all of the teenagers, and all of the children.
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Speaker 2: He is for us.
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Speaker 1: The reason I've begun in this vein is because in
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Speaker 1: the study of 1 Peter, I've come across six lovely
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Speaker 1: portraits that Peter paints.
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Speaker 2: Six specific titles God gives his people.
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Speaker 1: Found in verses four through 10, of chapter 2 in
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Speaker 1: 1 Peter.
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Speaker 2: They're beautiful.
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Speaker 1: They're brief, they're little pin portraits, and they're all word pictures.
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Speaker 1: I love word pictures, especially when they come from the scriptures.
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Speaker 1: They're extremely encouraging and affirming and positive. Right away, verse
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Speaker 1: 4 of 1 Peter 2 falls, the emphasis falls, on Christ.
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Speaker 1: Coming to him, by the way, the context is in
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Speaker 1: verse 3, if you have tasted the goodness or the
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Speaker 1: kindness of the Lord. Now, coming to him, verse 4 continues,
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Speaker 1: as to a living stone. Remember that word picture. rejected
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Speaker 1: by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God.
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Speaker 1: When we come to the Lord who is full of kindness,
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Speaker 1: we come to the living stone, as we're going to
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Speaker 1: read later, the choice stone, the cornerstone of the house
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Speaker 1: of God, the family of God, the living stone rejected
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Speaker 1: by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God. Now,
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Speaker 1: here's the first title or portrait of God's people. and
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Speaker 1: you also as living stones. So the first picture we
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Speaker 1: have in scripture is we are living stones in a
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Speaker 1: spiritual house.
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Speaker 2: That's verse five.
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Speaker 1: As living stones, we are being built up as a
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Speaker 1: spiritual house for a holy priesthood. We'll come back to
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Speaker 1: that in a moment. To offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable
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Speaker 1: to God through Jesus Christ. Focus on we are being
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Speaker 1: built up as a spiritual house. Maybe you haven't thought
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Speaker 1: about it ever in your Christian life, but you are
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Speaker 1: a stone in the building of God's church, the body
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Speaker 1: of Christ. Remember Matthew 16, 18, Jesus is answering Peter
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Speaker 1: who has told him, you are the Christ, the son
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Speaker 1: of the living God. And Jesus says, blessed are you, Simon,
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Speaker 1: son of Jonah. Flesh and blood hasn't revealed this to you,
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Speaker 1: but my father. And then he says, I will build
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Speaker 1: my church. And the gates of hell will not prevail
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Speaker 1: against it. I will build my church. There's a construction
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Speaker 1: project going on. Jesus Christ is in the process of
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Speaker 1: building his family. It's called the ecclesia, the church. Those
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Speaker 1: who were called out from the masses of humanity to
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Speaker 1: become a part of God's family.
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Speaker 2: You have been picked, chosen, and called out.
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Speaker 1: He has quarried you from the pit of your sin.
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Speaker 1: He has cut you and is developing you into just
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Speaker 1: the right size, shape, and preparation of development for his house.
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Speaker 1: And he is sliding you into place. You are a
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Speaker 1: part of his building project. Peter calls us living stones,
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Speaker 1: being built up as a spiritual house. Think of it
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Speaker 1: this way. Each time someone trusts Christ as Savior, another
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Speaker 1: stone is quarried out from the pit, cemented into place
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Speaker 1: through the kind work of the Holy Spirit. Now there
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Speaker 1: are a lot of prophets of doom that are saying
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Speaker 1: the church is done for, we've lost our effectiveness, we're
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Speaker 1: fast passing off the.
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Speaker 2: Scene, Our great days were yesterday. They're not going to
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Speaker 2: be that effective tomorrow. I don't believe that.
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Speaker 1: I believe God is still at work in his church,
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Speaker 1: and I believe that his church will never stop growing
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Speaker 1: until it has come to its fulfillment. He will not
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Speaker 1: have the gates of hell prevail against it. If you
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Speaker 1: love music, you have seen crescendo signs in the score.
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Speaker 1: It looks like a long arrowhead that begins here on
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Speaker 1: one side, and it gets larger and larger and larger,
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Speaker 1: and as you If you play an instrument or if
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Speaker 1: you're singing that piece of music, you play harder, you
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Speaker 1: blow harder, or you sing louder as the conductor leads
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Speaker 1: you in the crescendo. God's church is like that long
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Speaker 1: crescendo mark. It's continuing to grow in volume, in effectiveness,
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Speaker 1: in size. And in the process of growth, somewhere along
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Speaker 1: the way, you, child of God, have been placed as
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Speaker 1: a living stone in the building. None of it is
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Speaker 1: futile effort. In verses 6 through 8, Peter describes the
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Speaker 1: Lord Jesus, accepted by some as Messiah, rejected by others.
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Speaker 1: For this is contained in Scripture. Behold, I lay in
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Speaker 1: Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone. And he who
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Speaker 1: believes in the Messiah shall not be disappointed. This precious value, then,
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Speaker 1: is for you who believe, but for those who disbelieve,
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Speaker 1: He quotes again from the Old Testament. The stone which
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Speaker 1: the builders rejected, this became the very cornerstone. And a
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Speaker 1: stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. For they
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Speaker 1: stumble because they are disobedient to the word and to
24:43
Speaker 1: this doom they were also appointed. There is another way
24:47
Speaker 1: to live on this earth. And that's just been described
24:51
Speaker 1: for you as a person doomed to a life of
24:55
Speaker 1: disappointment and ultimate condemnation. And it all revolves around one's
25:00
Speaker 1: relationship with the person of Jesus Christ. To those of
25:04
Speaker 1: us who are living stones related to the Lord Jesus Christ,
25:08
Speaker 1: he has become for us the chief cornerstone. For those
25:12
Speaker 1: who have rejected him, he has become to them a
25:15
Speaker 1: stone of offense. Now back to our list. The first,
25:19
Speaker 1: we are stones, living stones in a spiritual building. Second,
25:26
Speaker 1: we are priests in the same temple. I mentioned in
25:30
Speaker 1: verse 5 that reference. We are being built up as
25:33
Speaker 1: a spiritual house for a holy priesthood. Look down in
25:38
Speaker 1: verse 9. You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood.
25:43
Speaker 2: Mentions it again.
25:45
Speaker 1: It is always a happy experience of mine to announce
25:48
Speaker 1: to congregations every chance I get that we are our
25:51
Speaker 1: own priests. We don't have to go to someone else
25:57
Speaker 1: to represent us to God. We, because of Christ's death,
26:03
Speaker 1: because of his causing the veil to be split apart,
26:07
Speaker 1: letting all of us into the holiest place of all,
26:11
Speaker 1: we now have the privilege, even the right, to represent
26:15
Speaker 1: needs to God. We also have the privilege of being
26:19
Speaker 1: a priest on behalf of one another. That's why we're
26:22
Speaker 1: admonished again and again in the New Testament to intercede
26:26
Speaker 1: for our brothers and our sisters, for our nations.
26:30
Speaker 2: For the lost.
26:32
Speaker 1: For ourselves. That's because we are priests. And priests do what?
26:38
Speaker 1: Verse 5. They offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God.
26:45
Speaker 1: One of my favorite verses out of Hebrews says this.
26:50
Speaker 1: Let me have you look at it rather than my
26:51
Speaker 1: quoting it. Chapter 13 verse 16. Verse 15. Through him then,
27:02
Speaker 1: Hebrews 13, 15, let us continually offer up a sacrifice
27:07
Speaker 1: of praise to God that is the fruit of lips
27:11
Speaker 1: that give thanks to his name. You want to know
27:14
Speaker 1: what your sacrifices include? They include the sacrifice of praise
27:19
Speaker 1: to God, the fruit of our lips that give thanks
27:24
Speaker 1: to his name. Years ago, the priests sacrificed blood sacrificed
27:29
Speaker 1: animals on altars with literal fire and literal smoke. Now
27:34
Speaker 1: the literalness is gone, but the significance is still there.
27:37
Speaker 1: We as God's people, approved by God, born again by
27:42
Speaker 1: God's power, we now are not only parts of the
27:45
Speaker 1: same building being built, we are a part of the
27:49
Speaker 1: priesthood in the same temple. Back to 1 Peter chapter 2.
27:54
Speaker 1: We're offering up spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God.
28:00
Speaker 1: Now listen, it is true that we are not all
28:02
Speaker 1: career preachers, we are not all career missionaries, we are
28:06
Speaker 1: not all career teachers, but we are all career priests.
28:11
Speaker 1: All of us. And you're not fulfilling your role as
28:15
Speaker 1: a child of God if you're not carrying out the
28:17
Speaker 1: functions of a priest. Offering up sacrifices, representing needs to
28:23
Speaker 1: the Father. Priests offer up prayers. They bring spiritual sacrifices.
28:30
Speaker 1: They represent the needs of others. They traffic in spiritual
28:33
Speaker 1: truths throughout their day. Are you faithful in fulfilling your
28:37
Speaker 1: calling as a priest? Here's a third pin portrait. We
28:41
Speaker 1: are a chosen race. See back in verse 9, you
28:45
Speaker 1: are a chosen race. Now before this gives anybody a
28:51
Speaker 1: feeling of self-appointed pride, Before you start believing something that
28:56
Speaker 1: isn't true, let me remind you that you were not
28:59
Speaker 1: chosen because you were that great a deal. Over in
29:02
Speaker 1: Deuteronomy 7, verses 6, 7, and 8, there is a
29:07
Speaker 1: great three-verse analysis of why God chose his first nation.
29:15
Speaker 1: Turn back to Deuteronomy 7, 6, 7, and 8. For
29:22
Speaker 1: you are a holy people to the Lord your God,
29:25
Speaker 1: speaking to the people of the Hebrews. The Lord your
29:28
Speaker 1: God has chosen you to be a people for his
29:31
Speaker 1: own possession out of all the peoples who were on
29:34
Speaker 1: the face of the earth. Now, if you just read
29:36
Speaker 1: verse 6, you could think, not bad. Must be something
29:40
Speaker 1: great about us. He picked us and nobody else. Well,
29:44
Speaker 1: verse 7 will help take the edge off that. The
29:47
Speaker 1: Lord did not set his love on you nor choose
29:50
Speaker 1: you because you.
29:51
Speaker 2: Were more in number than any of the peoples. For
29:55
Speaker 2: you were the fewest of all peoples. Then why?
29:58
Speaker 3: Why?
29:59
Speaker 2: Why would God choose us as a part of his
30:02
Speaker 2: chosen nation?
30:03
Speaker 1: Verse 7, because the Lord loved you and kept the
30:09
Speaker 1: oath which he swore to your forefathers. The Lord brought
30:13
Speaker 1: you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from
30:15
Speaker 1: the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, king
30:18
Speaker 1: of Egypt. I challenge you to find one statement in
30:21
Speaker 1: verses 6, 7, and 8 that describes how great we
30:24
Speaker 1: are or how great the Hebrews were. Or how significant
30:28
Speaker 1: they stood out among all the other people.
30:31
Speaker 2: It's not there.
30:33
Speaker 1: The Lord chose you because he chose to choose you.
30:37
Speaker 1: He set his love upon us because in the goodness
30:40
Speaker 1: of his own heart, he said, I want you to
30:44
Speaker 1: be mine. It's like all of us begin our lives
30:49
Speaker 1: in the midst of an enormous orphanage. And God our
30:53
Speaker 1: Father steps on the scene and says, I want you.
30:59
Speaker 1: We were too ignorant. We were too wayward. We were
31:02
Speaker 1: too unconcerned to even know what was best. And we
31:07
Speaker 1: were chosen by him. You know why I love that?
31:10
Speaker 1: Not only because it exalts the grace of God, I
31:13
Speaker 1: love it because God gets all the glory in it.
31:17
Speaker 1: As I've said on a number of occasions, we won't
31:19
Speaker 1: walk around heaven with our thumbs under our suspenders, out
31:22
Speaker 1: bragging one another. We'll spend our first number of days
31:28
Speaker 1: years in heaven, absolutely amazed that we were even privileged
31:31
Speaker 1: to be there. By the grace of God, we're a
31:37
Speaker 1: chosen nation. He's talking about Christians over here in 1
31:41
Speaker 1: Peter 2. It's a new thought, a chosen race. By
31:49
Speaker 1: the way, John 15, 16, you didn't choose me, I
31:51
Speaker 1: chose you. You didn't hunt me down, I hunted you down.
31:58
Speaker 1: You didn't work half your life to find me.
32:01
Speaker 2: I found you.
32:03
Speaker 1: Let's make sure we understand that. Let's don't get the
32:05
Speaker 1: cart before the horse. Fourth, verse nine, you are a
32:10
Speaker 1: holy nation. So we're a stone in the building that's
32:15
Speaker 1: being built. We're a priest in the same temple. We
32:19
Speaker 1: are a chosen race. We are a holy nation. Interesting,
32:23
Speaker 1: isn't it, that within this great nation of ours, there
32:26
Speaker 1: exists another nation. It's a nation that is set apart.
32:31
Speaker 1: See the word holy, we've looked at it before rather
32:34
Speaker 1: in depth back in chapter 1. Holy means to be
32:37
Speaker 1: set apart. Let me take away all the sacredness of
32:40
Speaker 1: the word. I'm wearing a tie right now. This evening,
32:46
Speaker 1: before I got dressed for this meeting, I walked up
32:49
Speaker 1: into my bedroom and I looked on my tie rack
32:52
Speaker 1: and I selected a tie. I had a number of
32:56
Speaker 1: ones to select from. I chose this one. I pulled
33:00
Speaker 1: it off the rack and I put it around my
33:02
Speaker 1: neck and I tied the knot and at that moment
33:06
Speaker 1: the tie became holy. It doesn't look holy. I can
33:11
Speaker 1: assure you it doesn't feel holy. As a matter of fact,
33:14
Speaker 1: there's a little gravy spot on it right here from
33:17
Speaker 1: the other night when I had a meal wearing this tie.
33:21
Speaker 2: But it's set apart for a particular purpose.
33:24
Speaker 1: That's holy. You are a holy nation. You and I
33:31
Speaker 1: make up this set apart body of people for a
33:36
Speaker 1: special purpose, to represent, to be ambassadors for the King,
33:43
Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus Christ. We live in a nation that
33:47
Speaker 1: we love and in this nation there is a set
33:51
Speaker 1: apart nation, a nation within a nation.
33:57
Speaker 2: A body of.
33:58
Speaker 1: People set apart for his special purpose and glory. I'm
34:02
Speaker 1: turning right now to Philippians chapter 3, verse 20. For
34:09
Speaker 1: our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly
34:14
Speaker 1: wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. That'll do
34:20
Speaker 1: something to you if you are connected too closely to
34:23
Speaker 1: things on this earth. Every time there's an earth tremor,
34:28
Speaker 1: I am so glad my citizenship is in heaven. I
34:32
Speaker 1: stopped a long time ago holding tightly to things on
34:36
Speaker 1: this earth. I enjoy them. They are lovely. They are wonderful.
34:40
Speaker 1: But they're all held very loosely. Because at any moment,
34:45
Speaker 1: my citizenship can be claimed. And I am homeward bound.
34:49
Speaker 1: All the time I'm on this earth and all the
34:52
Speaker 1: time you were on this earth, child of God, we
34:54
Speaker 1: are citizens away from home. Our citizenship is in heaven.
35:00
Speaker 1: Remember that old quartet song you've heard sung so many years?
35:03
Speaker 1: Or at least I've heard. This world is not my home.
35:07
Speaker 1: I'm just a passing through. He even talks about these treasures.
35:12
Speaker 1: They're not my treasures. Someday I'll go on beyond the blue.
35:16
Speaker 1: I'll go outside of this world and the treasures of
35:18
Speaker 1: this world will mean nothing to me. Be careful about
35:23
Speaker 1: your involvements on this planet. Don't dig your foundation too deep.
35:29
Speaker 1: As a friend of mine always says, keep your tent
35:31
Speaker 1: pegs real shallow. Keep them shallow. You're just passing through.
35:37
Speaker 1: Peter says we are a holy nation. Look at the
35:42
Speaker 1: next one. We are a people for God's own possession.
35:47
Speaker 1: I love that in verse 9, a people for God's
35:50
Speaker 1: own possession. I'm glad this section of scripture is correctly
35:54
Speaker 1: translated in the version of the Bible I'm using. For
35:57
Speaker 1: the longest time I used a Bible that said we
36:00
Speaker 1: are a peculiar people. And I saw all kinds of
36:05
Speaker 1: evidence of that around me. As if we were supposed
36:08
Speaker 1: to be odd or weird or strange. That's not the
36:13
Speaker 1: correct rendering. It's a word, peculiar, should be rendered, a
36:17
Speaker 1: people for God's own possession.
36:21
Speaker 2: Now think about that. Here's a new twist.
36:24
Speaker 1: When someone powerful or someone wealthy or someone significant owns something,
36:31
Speaker 1: that common thing becomes priceless. Did you hear recently that
36:36
Speaker 1: Napoleon's toothbrush sold for $ 21, 000? And it's an old cruddy
36:46
Speaker 1: looking thing that you'd never want to put in your mouth.
36:50
Speaker 1: Why did it sell for $ 21, 000?
36:53
Speaker 2: Napoleon had it in his mouth at one time.
36:57
Speaker 1: The car that Hitler owned sold for over $ 150, 000 just
37:04
Speaker 1: because the man one time owned it. The desk where
37:08
Speaker 1: Winston Churchill sat to study is now beyond price. You
37:13
Speaker 1: cannot buy it. It's not that great a looking desk.
37:17
Speaker 1: But Winston Churchill studied at it. He sat at it.
37:21
Speaker 1: And because Churchill owned it, It's priceless. A walking stick
37:26
Speaker 1: owned by a master poet, a house once lived in
37:30
Speaker 1: by Ernest Hemingway, a bed slept in by George Washington
37:34
Speaker 1: or Thomas Jefferson.
37:36
Speaker 2: Priceless.
37:37
Speaker 1: Not because they themselves are that worthy, but because they
37:42
Speaker 1: are owned or they once were owned by someone who
37:45
Speaker 1: is significant. Now look again at this title. You are
37:49
Speaker 1: a people For God's own possession. That'll do something to
37:57
Speaker 1: your innards when you study that. Talk about a feeling
38:01
Speaker 1: of dignity. You and I, child of God, have been
38:05
Speaker 1: purchased with a price. We are therefore to glorify God
38:08
Speaker 1: in our bodies. We are not even our own possession.
38:13
Speaker 1: You are not your own. You have been bought with
38:15
Speaker 1: a price. There's one more on the list. If I
38:20
Speaker 1: count correctly, this is number six. We are God's people
38:23
Speaker 1: who have received mercy. We are a people for God's
38:29
Speaker 1: own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him
38:33
Speaker 1: who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
38:37
Speaker 1: For you once were not a people. Let's don't live
38:45
Speaker 1: so long in the family of God that we allow
38:48
Speaker 1: our memory to be blurred and we forget what it
38:50
Speaker 1: was like when we weren't. You once were not worth mentioning.
38:57
Speaker 1: You were once not a people to him, but now
39:01
Speaker 1: you are the definite article people of God. You once
39:07
Speaker 1: had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
39:16
Speaker 1: Now the whole point of Peter is wrapped up in
39:20
Speaker 1: verses 11 and 12 where he comes to us with
39:23
Speaker 1: the words, beloved.
39:26
Speaker 2: I urge you.
39:29
Speaker 1: Now watch closely. in light of your role as a
39:33
Speaker 1: living stone in a building that will never be destroyed
39:37
Speaker 1: in light of your being these things he's described a
39:43
Speaker 1: priest in the same temple a chosen race a holy
39:48
Speaker 1: nation a people for his own possession, people who have
39:54
Speaker 1: received mercy, he says, I urge you as aliens and
40:01
Speaker 1: strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.
40:10
Speaker 1: Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles so that in
40:15
Speaker 1: the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may,
40:21
Speaker 1: on account of your good deeds as they observe them,
40:25
Speaker 1: glorify God in the day of visitation. In other words,
40:30
Speaker 1: your life will be the reason they turn to Christ.
40:34
Speaker 1: I put it together in four rather simple suggestions, and
40:38
Speaker 1: I think all four are woven into verses 11 and 12. First,
40:42
Speaker 1: he's saying, live a clean life. I urge you as
40:49
Speaker 1: aliens and strangers abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war
40:59
Speaker 1: against the soul. Don't think for a moment that it
41:04
Speaker 1: makes no difference to the lost person how a Christian lives.
41:10
Speaker 1: You're kidding yourself if you think only Christians care. Many
41:17
Speaker 1: a non-Christian this very day has his or her eyes
41:23
Speaker 1: on a Christian and is determining the truth of the
41:27
Speaker 1: message of Christianity strictly on the basis of how you live,
41:32
Speaker 1: how you work, of how you conduct yourself with your family.
41:38
Speaker 1: Peter says in order to get their attention, do something
41:41
Speaker 1: that they themselves don't do, abstain.
41:45
Speaker 2: From fleshly lusts.
41:50
Speaker 1: Interestingly, just this past week, there was another occasion of
41:54
Speaker 1: a pastor who failed sexually in his responsibilities as a
41:59
Speaker 1: man of God. That wasn't just something that scandalized the
42:04
Speaker 1: church and broke the hearts of his congregation. That was
42:08
Speaker 1: something that made the front headlines of the newspaper in
42:12
Speaker 1: the city where he has been ministering for years. Don't
42:17
Speaker 1: think it's of no concern how the believer lives. Or
42:22
Speaker 1: how the minister serves? He says, abstain from fleshly lusts
42:31
Speaker 1: that wage war against the soul. Here's the second statement
42:34
Speaker 1: or suggestion. Leave the lost no room for slander. Leave
42:41
Speaker 1: the lost no room for slander. It says here, keep
42:45
Speaker 1: your behavior excellent among the Gentiles. That's the word for
42:49
Speaker 1: the lost person. We're always concerned about how we'll appear
42:54
Speaker 1: to the saved. He says, keep your manner of life
42:57
Speaker 1: or your behavior excellent among the lost. I loved this
43:01
Speaker 1: when I found it. When Plato was told that a
43:03
Speaker 1: certain man had begun making slanderous charges against him, his
43:08
Speaker 1: response was, I will live in such a way that
43:12
Speaker 1: no one will believe what he says. He's making these
43:18
Speaker 1: slanderous charges against me and they're not true. I will
43:22
Speaker 1: live in such a way that no one will believe
43:24
Speaker 1: what he says. Sometimes you are completely at a loss
43:28
Speaker 1: to set the record straight. So you have to say
43:32
Speaker 1: what David said on more than one occasion in the Psalms.
43:35
Speaker 1: Vindicate me, O Lord, according to my integrity. Lord, you
43:40
Speaker 1: know that I'm clean. You know that my life is
43:43
Speaker 1: lived above board. You know that I have nothing to hide.
43:47
Speaker 1: You know that I haven't yielded to fleshly lusts. You
43:50
Speaker 1: know that my record is clean, pure. Vindicate me according
43:55
Speaker 1: to my integrity. Leave no room for the lost to slander. Third,
44:03
Speaker 1: do good deeds among the unbelievers.
44:07
Speaker 2: See how he puts it? That they may on account.
44:09
Speaker 1: Of your good deeds. It's very easy for Christians to
44:15
Speaker 1: be so tunneled that we limit all of our good
44:18
Speaker 1: deeds to fellow family members. You're driving along and you
44:22
Speaker 1: see someone has a flat tire and they need help.
44:25
Speaker 1: You don't roll your window down and say, are you
44:26
Speaker 1: a Christian with a flat tire? And the person says, yes.
44:29
Speaker 2: Oh, okay. And you pull over and help them.
44:33
Speaker 1: If someone is in need, it makes no difference whether
44:35
Speaker 1: they're Christian or non-Christian. Don't limit your good deeds to
44:41
Speaker 1: those in the family. Notice on account of your good deeds,
44:45
Speaker 1: not good words. The Gentile, that is the unsaved, are
44:50
Speaker 1: looking at deeds. They're not listening to words. They're up
44:54
Speaker 1: to here with words. They're watching lives. When the good
44:59
Speaker 1: deeds are indisputable, then the unbeliever says there must be
45:02
Speaker 1: something to it. Fourth and finally, never forget we are
45:09
Speaker 1: being watched. Never forget we are being watched. It says
45:16
Speaker 1: as they observe.
45:19
Speaker 2: Your good deeds.
45:23
Speaker 1: If you think the only people watching you are other
45:25
Speaker 1: fellow priests in the royal priesthood, you're whistling in the dark.
45:29
Speaker 1: You're kidding yourself. Warren Wiersbe, in a little book on
45:33
Speaker 1: 1 Peter called Be Hopeful, says in a chapter entitled
45:39
Speaker 1: Somebody's Watching You, in the summer of 1805, a number
45:45
Speaker 1: of Indian chiefs and warriors met in council at Buffalo Creek,
45:50
Speaker 1: New York, to hear a presentation of the Christian message
45:55
Speaker 1: by a Mr. Cram, C-R-A-M, from the Boston Missionary Society.
46:02
Speaker 1: After the sermon, a response was given by Red Jacket,
46:06
Speaker 1: one of the leading chiefs. Among other things, the chief said, Brother,
46:14
Speaker 1: You say that there is but one way to worship
46:17
Speaker 1: and serve the Great Spirit. If there is but one religion,
46:23
Speaker 1: why do you white people differ so much about it?
46:28
Speaker 1: Why not all agree, as you can all read the
46:32
Speaker 1: same book? Brother, we are told that you have been
46:38
Speaker 1: preaching to the white people in this place. These people
46:43
Speaker 1: are our neighbors. We are acquainted with them. We will
46:50
Speaker 1: wait a little while and see what effect your preaching
46:54
Speaker 1: has upon them. If we find it does them good,
47:00
Speaker 1: makes them honest, and less disposed to cheat Indians, we
47:07
Speaker 1: will then consider again what you have said. That was
47:19
Speaker 1: back in 1805. I think similar words are said in
47:22
Speaker 1: a different setting in this generation. I wonder how many
47:28
Speaker 1: people are saying to themselves, hmm, I hear what they've said.
47:33
Speaker 1: Now we will watch. We'll take notice of them. We'll
47:38
Speaker 1: see if what they say is the same thing they do.
47:45
Speaker 1: We are all of these wonderful things described in this
47:48
Speaker 1: passage of Scripture, all because we have received mercy, not
47:53
Speaker 1: because we deserve them. But we are living as aliens
47:56
Speaker 1: and strangers in the land that is not our final citizenship.
48:02
Speaker 1: We must be careful of the good deeds because we
48:05
Speaker 1: are being watched. I'd like for us to get quiet
48:11
Speaker 1: before the Lord for the next few moments. Let's focus
48:15
Speaker 1: on an area or two of our lives that the
48:17
Speaker 1: blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse right now. If you
48:23
Speaker 1: know the Lord, maybe it's an area of neglect or
48:26
Speaker 1: it perhaps is some overt sin that still has a
48:30
Speaker 1: domination over you. It's just kind of a personal plague
48:36
Speaker 1: that you've been living with. This is a great moment
48:38
Speaker 1: for you as a child of God to turn it
48:42
Speaker 1: over to the Lord, to confess to him the wrong
48:45
Speaker 1: that has broken your relationship with him. Remember the words,
48:49
Speaker 1: if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
48:52
Speaker 1: to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from
48:55
Speaker 1: all unrighteousness. So as a child of God, do that
48:59
Speaker 1: right now. Now, truth be told, you may not be
49:03
Speaker 1: in the family of God. You may have never met
49:06
Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus. You may have never even come to
49:09
Speaker 1: the cross and faced the truth concerning the breakdown of
49:14
Speaker 1: your relationship with the living God. So I invite you
49:17
Speaker 1: to do that now. The Lord has his arms open.
49:21
Speaker 1: His Son has paid the complete penalty for your sins
49:25
Speaker 1: at the cross. There's nothing left for you to pay.
49:28
Speaker 1: There's nothing left for you to do. Jesus Christ has
49:32
Speaker 1: done it all for us. The only thing that stands
49:36
Speaker 1: between you and him is unbelief. So right now, I
49:40
Speaker 1: urge you to make that decision, to turn your life
49:44
Speaker 1: over to Christ, to accept what he has done for you,
49:48
Speaker 1: that complete payment for your sins, and to invite him
49:53
Speaker 1: into your life right where you are right now. Simple
49:56
Speaker 1: prayer like this, Lord, I confess to you I'm lost.
50:00
Speaker 1: I'm a sinner. Nothing I can do will in any
50:04
Speaker 1: way gain your favor. but I can believe in your Son,
50:09
Speaker 1: and I do that now. Willingly, consciously, and joyfully, I
50:14
Speaker 1: take Christ as my Savior and Lord. If you have
50:19
Speaker 1: done that, you have become a believer in Christ, and
50:23
Speaker 1: a whole new beginning is open for you. Now join
50:28
Speaker 1: me in prayer, will you? Father, thank you for the
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Speaker 1: reminders we have had today. Thank you for the importance
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Speaker 1: of living a clean life. Help us to do that
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Speaker 1: by your power for your glory. Lord, help us to
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Speaker 1: leave no lost person, any room for slander in our lives.
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Speaker 1: May our behavior be excellent among the Gentiles, even as
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Speaker 1: your disciple Peter exhorted us to do. May we do
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Speaker 1: our good deeds among the unbelievers. May we live our
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Speaker 1: lives openly and with integrity before those who are lost.
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Speaker 1: And may we never forget that we are living our
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Speaker 1: lives being watched as they observe our good deeds. Thank you, Father,
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Speaker 1: for any goodness that comes from us comes through the
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Speaker 1: power of Christ. And thank you for those who have
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Speaker 1: this very day trusted in your Son. We pray they
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Speaker 1: will begin a life that will be a transforming experience
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Speaker 1: for them. May they come alongside those who can mentor them,
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Speaker 1: a good church where they can be growing up in
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Speaker 1: the faith. And may they come to know your word
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Speaker 1: and use that as the guide for living from one
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Speaker 1: day to the next. Thank you for Christ who has
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Speaker 1: loved us and given himself for us. And we focus
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Speaker 1: our full attention on him as a result of what
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Speaker 1: we have heard today Through his great name, we pray
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Speaker 1: these things. Amen.
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Speaker 3: The preceding message, Hope Beyond Guilt, Becoming Living Stones, was
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Speaker 3: copyrighted in 1988, 1990, 1996, 2006, and 2010. And the
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Speaker 3: sound recording was copyrighted in 2011 by Charles Arswindal, Inc.
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Speaker 3: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
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Speaker 3: commercial use is strictly prohibited.