[0:00] let's turn in our bibles to the portion of scripture we read in first peter chapter 2 and as god would help me by the concentrate on verse 9 first peter chapter 2 verse 9 but you are a chosen generation a royal priesthood a holy nation his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light who once were not a people but are now the people of god who have not obtained worship but now have obtained worship what an important word the small word but is but god is i think it's 48 times in the bible but now it's 70 times i think it is in the bible but you which we have here in the beginning of verse 9 it's over 200 times in the bible the topic context is talking about the disobedient christ rejecters christians are meant to be different from the world and it's very important when we're doing our outreach when we're doing evangelization not to hide these things from people who tend to say oh don't don't don't tell them that or they'll never come they'll have to be truthful christ never held back from those he was speaking to about the difficulty of being a christian in the world he promised them i promise you in the world you will have tribulation but that doesn't stop you being cheerful be of good cheer i won't work out the world you're in me we're going to a better place for a little while for a little while there'll be difficulty but then glory glory glory christians are not meant to be odd but they are meant to be noticeable but you christians you are different you're to stand out for your principles you're to stand out for your beliefs you're to stand out for your faith you're to stand out for your love people from the world might come in and see the church and say well i don't understand them but boy do they love their saviour whatever he is i don't understand why they do this but they're faithful people how can you expect them to understand when they've never met christ when they've never been convicted of their sin when they've never seen and realized what christ has done how can they be changed how can they be different but they are meant to see that we are different we do have a reason for living the way we're living we've been looking at the testing of christian faith the origin of christian faith the growth of christian faith tonight we're going to look at the recipients of christian faith how can we tell them in what ways are they different from others and i just really wanted to concentrate on these four terms that are given to them here in verse 9 chosen generation a royal priesthood a holy nation his own special people first of all a chosen generation or a chosen race not not individuals the christian church ought not to be a group of individual maletics what we have the term generation or race refers to their origin our origin our kindred spirit the kindred spirit of all believers were of one generation were from one source were all the recipients of one working of one spirit of one god he says you're a chosen race you're a chosen generation now what would you say if you went home tonight the phone went and your friend phone went and said hey have you heard
[5:48] Fred's been chosen what would you say what would you say chosen chosen for what nobody's just chosen they're chosen for something they're chosen to do something and of course to feel different from the people of God that chosen grace chosen for what chosen to do something or chosen to be something but the immediate context is they're not chosen to stumble over Christ they're chosen not to be disobedient as I said already the context is disobedient and
[6:48] Christ being a stumbling stone do you want to know why you're a Christian do you want to know what a Christian has that you don't have it's a relationship of Christ if that is confusing to you then you haven't met Christ you don't understand what the cross is all about God's people have been chosen to embrace Christ to love Christ to see why he died I'll never forget when I was doing open university to prepare for the ministry we had to do a course in world religions it absolutely terrified me because I thought I would lose my faith over it but blessed be God instead of weakening my faith it actually strengthened my faith I remember we were getting a lecture when we were studying Christianity getting a lecture on the crucifixion and it was wonderfully biblical wonderfully accurate and I was so chuffed and so encouraging
[8:01] I went to the tutor afterwards and said I'm so glad you're a Christian that was a wonderful good dress and well he says I'm not Christian I said you gave a wonderful account of the crucifixion well he says I believe it happens no intelligent person can question the crucifixion of Christ but I didn't believe he was there digging how he said it see the difference why did Jesus allow himself be captured scourged and crucified do you remember when he just announced the term who are you for Jesus I am he and the announcement of that statement I am he they fell backwards they fell to the ground power in the words of his mouth and yet shortly afterwards he allows himself to be taken and be crucified why do you understand why
[9:12] God's people are being chosen to understand why to be the substitute to be the scapegoat for all the sinners to pay God for all the sinners of all who believe on him and will be in heaven that they have been chosen to trust Christ with their souls to depend on him for their souls that's what they have chosen to do you people say no I don't know if I'm elect well why not you don't know what the elect are elected to do do you trust Christ with the forgiveness for your sins for forgiveness have you handed over the responsibility of your wrong behaviour have you handed that over to Christ he'll take care of you he'll take care of you let him be responsible for your sinfulness
[10:21] God's people have been chosen to do that they've been chosen to stick with them to be obedient to them and above all to love him and praise him for what he's done how can you accept that without being full of gratitude and thankfulness for what he has done on your behalf so that you can tell if you're chosen or if you're elect by that what you believe how you live who for is Christ all and in all can you honestly say take away the cross take away Jesus from the bible and I would absolutely nothing for a time or for eternity you have chosen grace you have from now may I use it you have from the same state a chosen generation a chosen race a royal priest once again not royal priests but a royal priesthood implying working together
[11:49] I think we're not in the morning saved to serve priesthood now what is the royal priesthood what is the one area the one realm where even kings cannot enter what is the one realm why did King Saul lose his throne what was his sin entering the priest doing what only a priest can do why did Uzziah touch something King Uzziah go to the King Uzziah he touched one day he touched a king and he can remember why the king all power all power all power he entered and he touched the only the priest can touch kings can't enter the priesthood and you know today even in pagan cultures the inauguration of a king that all the some religious representative giving the author taking the oath even today what does our
[13:17] Bible tell us about Christians you're a royal priesthood isn't God wonderful what he's given Christians I'm sure I've mentioned it before mercy is not getting what you deserve grace is getting what you don't deserve the Christian gets both mercy and grace we don't get what we deserve we deserve the wrath of God in hell forever we don't get that because isn't God wonderful he gives us what we don't deserve as well he gives us heaven he gives us glory free without money and without price a royal priesthood now priests have access to God in Old Testament times if you had business to do with God you couldn't do it directly you had to go to the priest and the priest then dealt with God on your behalf even if you were a king even if you were a king we
[14:43] Christians kings and priests together priests offered sacrifices to God it was the priest that offered it to God not the giver the man had to present the offering to God and the priest had to examine it was the offering acceptable the priest vetted and inspected the offering and I remember reading once when you offer a lamb to God as a sacrifice it mustn't be lame mustn't be blind must be perfect whatever the beast the animal was that was offered had to be perfect and I remember reading once well you know the Pharisees the Pharisees were a very very strict if an animal seven discolored hairs a hair in the lamb of Peter seven discolored hairs it was rejected that was the script that it loved the
[15:49] Pharisees we have a perfect sacrifice in Christ the lamb of God perfect and you and I don't need to go through a minister don't need to go through an elder you and I can go straight to God and confess our sins for the sake of the substitute for the sake of the sacrifice on behalf of sins perfect perfect holy harmless undefined quite separate from sins that's our saviour well a priest also interceded for others and you and I can do that we're chosen to intercede on behalf of others and what a wonderful privilege what a wonderful glory has been given to us we're both kings and priests a chosen generation a royal priesthood thirdly a holy nation now interesting thing about a nation a nation can have many different races within the royal nation look at them and this can have a nation put in many different races within it
[17:35] I would have to confess it's not all that long so now you know the exodus from Egypt Exodus chapter 12 verse 38 did did you know there were Egyptians amongst that multitude that went out of Egypt a mixed multitude worked out they're wonderful God's God's not God's not niggered about these people keep them out there's no ethnic cleansing of God chosen to believe anyone anywhere that believes in irrespective of who they are one of the most glorious things that I can think of you remember how the communion table the water supper is a New Testament equivalent of the Passover and the
[18:36] Exodus and you remember what the Passover was all about God the angel of death passing over the children of Israel that's distinct from the Egyptians and you remember an angel was commissioned to go to every house in the land and ensure the oldest son was dead they were to kill the oldest son unless unless when they came to the door there was blood on the side posts and across the lintel at the top now when the angel came to say the oldest son in the house on these occasions they saw the blood they just passed on to the ex-house no questions asked they did not ask hey any Egyptians in there before we passed by any Egyptians there no no anyone in the house was safe my friend it doesn't matter who you are it doesn't matter what your background is it doesn't matter what your past was like it doesn't matter what your behavior is get into
[19:59] Christ and you're safe the angel of death will pass you by Christ receives sinners of any human color any background when I see the blood I will pass by whoever is inside whoever is underneath the shelter of the blood is safe a holy mixed multitude mixed cultures mixed backgrounds but all trust Christ for forgiveness the holy nation how holy hey look at some of us how can we see we're holy two ways we're separated to the holy whether we do it or not we're still separated to it created unto good works whether we perform them or not that's the purpose of our being chosen to praise his name and to bring forth good works as we've been reading in this passage already we're dedicated to that we're set aside for praising
[21:35] God if God's people don't praise him who will we're set aside holiness means set aside set apart specifically for that place however good we are at it it's another ritual another ritual but that's what we're set apart for to do to be so in that sense we're a holy nation but there's the other sense in which all believers are holy we're holy in Christ that is the only way we're going to get to heaven in heaven God looks at us through Christ as through 3D glasses filtering away our sin he looks at us through 3D glasses that filter away sin it's not that we're sinless but in
[22:42] Christ in Christ we're sinless God sees Christ around us he sees us through Christ just simply by believing what a wonderful blessing what a wonderful prayer for Jesus what hope there is for those who can't be good enough my friend you will never ever ever get to heaven by being good enough you can only get to heaven only Christians get to heaven by depending on Jesus to take up we read there in Romans 8 there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in
[23:45] Christ Jesus that's the definition of a Christian in Christ but what's a description what's a description of a Christian they walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit or after the spirit I find that hugely encouraging the command to Christians is walk in the spirit but the description given of us is what we walk after the spirit as if to say well they don't quite make it they're not perfect yet the description of them down here is we're striving to walk after the command is to walk in but we can't walk in perfectly but we can strive after we're all chasing after it as it were that's the description the Bible gives us for those who are in Christ they strive after holy but that's the best we're getting this world a striving after and never quite achieving a peculiar special people fortunately a chosen generation a royal priesthood a holy nation a his own special people or his own peculiar people again not persons the church needs to work together people are gathering together now this term is a bit it's a difficult term it's used in
[25:31] Ephesians chapter 1 verse 14 and it's translated there with regard to the type of people a purchased possession Christ's people have been purchased not with silver and gold not with silver and gold but with a precious blood of Christ that we purchased it belong to Christ because it's been paid for by his blood now another situation we have here in the King Genesis is all special people why are they special what's special about them maybe you're saying you can't I'm not special there's nothing special about me they're special because they belong to Jesus you say how can you be special by belonging to someone else well
[26:42] I'll never forget the illustration I heard go to a museum you see here and the stalls there you see a notebook you see a man alive that's a notebook right look at this old time you know corners and all that there's a whole lot of marks and smudges and why are they keeping that old dirty notebook for and then the curator comes along oh she's very special special with that dirty notebook notebook oh she's that's Shakespeare notebook that's the notebook Shakespeare started writing with somebody in it true hey you've got the next table a dirty smelly old pipe you see throw that fellow dirty there's a smelly oh she's don't touch that why not she's that's
[27:46] Henry that's the pipe he had when he asked Ambaline the liar it's worth probably 1.4 million dirty smelly old what's special about you paid for by the blood of Christ God's very poor special people very special because of who he belonged because of the price he paid for you will that not make us different should that not make us rejoice in God our Saviour is he not worth following cleaving to stinging to stinging to well let us one word last word to Christians let us unashamedly be Christ's let's unashamedly be different because of what he did he's worth it we're not worth it but he is the last word this very special if you are a Christian here tonight verse the following verse verse 10 this very special people were once not a people they were once not a people but now are the people of God at one time they had not the people of mercy but now we're back to this great word but but now maybe you walked in here tonight disinterested coming here back you always do you always do
[29:40] I always come I always take so so so does me first Christ name you are not the people of God when you came in but now back now you can be you can be if you got called Christ if you got hand your sins over to him and trust in him for time and for eternity that's it this state special people at one time were definitely not the people of God but now they definitely are why could you depending on Christ to forgive them and take them to glory and may God grant that blessing belong to every single one of us let's pray to to