Chosen, Royal, Holy
1 Peter 2:1-3
[1] So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. [2] Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—[3] if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
In the last two weeks we’ve been in 1 Peter 1 and learned about a “Living Hope” and our assurances on the past, present and future….then we learned about the preparation, price, purification for being a Holy People…and in the middle of that a simple fact that love changes us. Peter is emphatic that we are are a new people, God’s Holy People. Let’s see what He has for us in the first part of 1 Peter 2. This is the Practice of Holiness.
1 Peter 2:1-10
[1] So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. [2] Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—[3] if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
[4] As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, [5] you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. [6] For it stands in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
[7] So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”
[8] and
“A stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
[9] But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. [10] Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
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So our question is:
Are you satisfied (content)? Or dissatisfied? Have you grown up? Or are you still wallowing in immaturity? Have you refused to see, or have you tasted? Tasted that the Lord is good?
Let’s break down the passage about the practice of Holiness (or maturity or growing up)
- Grow up
1 Peter 2:1-3
[1] So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. [2] Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—[3] if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
- Put away malice – Malice is wickedness from within
- No deceit, hypocrisy, envy or slander – Stop it!
- Grow up
- If you’ve grown up…then you’ve tasted and seen that the Lord is good
- You’ve experienced it
- You know Him
- You are used to talking to Him
- You are used to listening to Him
- You are used to reading about Him
- “A habitual personal coming to Jesus”
- Time & Intention
- John MacArthur says here’s how to develop a desire for the truth
- Remember the source (God)
- Eliminate sin from your life
- Admit your need for God’s truth
- Pursue Spiritual Growth (spend time with Him)
- Remember your blessings
- Know that God knows you and live sacrificially
1 Peter 2:4-5
[4] As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, [5] you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
-
- We are precious in His sight
- We are built this way to form a living thriving church (stones gathered together to build up)
- Even if we have been rejected by friends, family, the world we are not rejected by Jesus
- So since we know this we are to live sacrificially to draw others to Jesus…..How?
-
- Offer ourselves and lives to God
- Praise Him
- Do good
- Share your resources with others in need
- Bring people to Jesus
- Sacrifice your desires for the good of others (consider others better than yourself – Phil 2:3)
- Pray
- Chosen and Precious (repeated)
1 Peter 2:6-10
[6] For it stands in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
[7] So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”
[8] and
“A stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
[9] But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. [10] Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
- Jesus is the cornerstone
- We are to be like Him
- You are not rejected
- You are Chosen
- You are Precious
- You are Royal
- You are owned by God
- Called out of darkness and into the light
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Do you suffer from stinkin thinkin?
Neuroplasticity – everything isn’t always science, but everything doesn’t have to exclude it either….everything ultimately is spiritual though.
Mental Health Summit Dr. Karl Benzio PhD in Psychiatry
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s capacity to continue growing and evolving in response to life experiences. Plasticity is the capacity to be shaped, molded, or altered; neuroplasticity, then, is the ability for the brain to adapt or change over time, by creating new neurons and building new networks.
Historically, scientists believed that the brain stopped growing after childhood. But current research shows that the brain is able to continue growing and changing throughout the lifespan, refining its architecture or shifting functions to different regions of the brain.
The importance of neuroplasticity can’t be overstated: It means that it is possible to change dysfunctional patterns of thinking and behaving and to develop new mindsets, new memories, new skills, and new abilities.
Matthew 13:15
[15] For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them.’
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One more thing
But you don’t understand preacher…all the bad things I’ve done
God could never forgive. …….that’s the wrong way to think
[10] Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
- You have received mercy
“In Jesus’s parables:
- One sheep gets more attention
than 99.
- One-hour workers get the
same paycheck as 12-hour
workers.
- A widow’s two pennies are
worth more than “huge sums.”
Mercy and grace are terrible math.
Hosea and Gomer (Hosea 1-2)
Hosea 1:4-9
[4] And the LORD said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. [5] And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”
[6] She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. [7] But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”
[8] When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. [9] And the LORD said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”
……………
Then God describes Israel in the same way in chapter 2 (very graphically)
Hosea 2:13
[13] And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals
when she burned offerings to them
and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry,
and went after her lovers
and forgot me, declares the LORD.
But then….he says
Hosea 2:14-23
[14] “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
[15] And there I will give her her vineyards
and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
[16] “And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ [17] For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. [18] And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. [19] And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. [20] I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD.
[21] “And in that day I will answer, declares the LORD,
I will answer the heavens,
and they shall answer the earth,
[22] and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and they shall answer Jezreel,
[23] and I will sow her for myself in the land.
And I will have mercy on No Mercy,
and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’;
and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’”
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Have you tasted and seen that the Lord is good? If not, Please come to Him today. I want you to see that God’s mercy is sufficient, that He can redeem us. He can help us change. We do not have to live the same way in the same cycle. We don’t have to repeat our past mistakes.
If you know the Lord. Remember that you are chosen and precious. Be Holy, Serve the Lord, Sacrifice for others, draw people to Him with your walk.
