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Welcome to Church Foundation Baptist Church. You can find your seats and grab your songbooks and turn to page...
number what?
Page number 39. Sorry for that. Good night.
That was a Joe Biden moment. Taken after my dad.
No, just kidding.
Song 39, Crown Him With Many Crowns. In your Blue Him books.
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Song number 39, Crown Him With Many Crowns. Let's sing it out on the first.
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1st Peter chapter 2 so we'll have the first one tonight
and then our so many times are listed below
do we have any salvations today?
ok no salvations
but people did go out
so anyway I appreciate all those that went out tonight
and our praise report you can see the salvations
and baptisms and attendance totals
from it's actually a couple weeks ago but
anyway that'll be updated on Sunday and then
on our right inside cover
we have our upcoming events
we have next week
is going to be our Yakima soul winning trip
our annual trip that we take
up to Yakima we've knocked
most of the reservations
that are up there but we're
knocking Yakima proper
and Yakima is a pretty good sized area
it's like all together
I think it's around 250,000 people
the whole surrounding area so
it's a pretty good sized area
but it's very receptive and that's why we like going there
so if you're
tired of running into nose
around here all the time
it's a good trip to go on
and who all in here is going to that trip?
not very many
but some
so it's going to be a great trip
and the first night
so I think Wednesday brother
Robert, did you guys already book a hotel?
so brother Robert is going to be there a night early
he's going to be like Nehemiah
he's going to just walk around
and look at all the spots
and Wednesday he's willing to go soul winning
I think in the morning
so if anybody wants to get there earlier
they're more than welcome to do that
I don't think you can check into the hotel until 3
but if the rooms are ready
you can call or just go inside
and see if your room is ready
everybody has their own specific rooms
there is an extra room
up for grabs so if there's singles
that are having a room together
maybe somebody can take the Collins room
they're not going to be able to make it
but anyway
so Wednesday evening we'll meet
at Sea Galley after all the soul winning is done
and we'll have dinner
together the next day we'll have breakfast
provided
and then we'll go out soul winning
and then we'll have dinner
at Sea Galley again that evening
and then Friday we'll have
our soul winning then at
5 o'clock we're going to have
Panda Express I know everybody's excited
about that because it's that teriyaki
anyway
Panda Express for dinner
that'll be at 5 o'clock at the hotel
in the conference room
and then at 6.30 we're going to have a
church service so brother Robert
are you planning where's brother Robert at?
he's dealing with children okay
so I just want to make sure if brother Robert if you can hear
the sound of my voice right now
that you would make sure that we have all the stuff
that we need for filming
and whatever is there anybody
that's going to be able to play piano up there?
I think Miss Kayla's going to be there possibly
so we might need to bring the
keyboard and
all the other stuff that we need to film
and do the live stream
but the preaching service will be Friday night at
6.30 and then Saturday we'll
just usually we just have breakfast and whoever
wants to do the clean up maps
like maps that weren't done
anybody that wants to kind of do some soul winning on the way out of town
is welcome to do that
so that's kind of what we usually do
so then we'll just head home
and business as usual
we'll be back for church on Sunday
and then October 8th we have Miss Amy's
baby shower that's going to be at 11 am
here at the church building she's registered on Amazon
and if you have any questions
see Miss Alejandra
she's the baby shower
queen here
she's better than the queen of England
no I'm just kidding
but she is
October 22nd we have the busy
farms pumpkin patch trip
and that is for all the church members
are welcome to go to that it's not just a homeschool
activity and so
if you want to go please sign up inside the group
and our whatsapp group that's going to
meet at 11 am so
if you want to bring a friend or
family member just let me know who
all is coming how many you need
how many kids you're having come
with you and all that good stuff and it's absolutely
free so you're welcome to come
to that so October 23rd
we'll have Pastor Roger Jimenez preaching for us
at the 1030 am service
and so we'll be excited
to see Pastor Jimenez here preaching for us
and it's always
assuredly going to be a great sermon
so very excited to see
Pastor Jimenez and then October 27th
there's going to be a preaching service in the
Seattle area there's more to come
on that and then October 28th
is the soul winning trip to Blaine Washington
and I got to
say that these events are
up in the air at this point because
supposedly Canada is going to open
their borders on the
30th of September so
if that happens
then we are going to hit the northern
border and we're going to go and have a church
service with our brethren up there
supposedly it's going to be no restrictions
no masks
no shots
no jabs none of that stuff
and so I think you do
have to have a passport and your children
probably I think have to have their birth certificate
but other than that
it'll be free to go but
there's a possibility with
the leader that they have there
that they might change their mind about that so
we'll just play
that by ear by the 30th we'll
know for sure but
Pastor Jimenez isn't going to be able to make it
for this trip either so
Pastor Jared Pazarski is going to be preaching
regardless of whether we have the place
reserved at the border where we're always
meeting so that's locked in
so but we haven't paid for the building
we just have it kind of reserved for now
but if the border opens up
we're going to change that whole schedule
there Pastor Pazarski
will be preaching but it'll be Saturday
so anybody is welcome to stay throughout
the weekend if that happens
me and Pastor
Pazarski are going to fly home
we have a men's preaching night here we have a chili
cook off thing
I'm here but anybody's welcome
to stay for Sunday
but the service is up there if that's what we do
anyway it's a lot of what ifs right
but we'll know for sure really soon
next week we'll know so
and then we also have
yeah I already mentioned everything
so anyway we're a family
integrated church that means children and infants are
welcome during the church services please utilize
the mother baby rooms for your convenience
make sure that the dads are going to the
dad baby room with their children and then
put moms into that building or that
door back there and
reserve the backrest for families with young children
we have a lot of
space in here tonight so I'm not really too worried about it
but the gliders
and rockers are for pregnant nursing mothers
and elders only
please no men going into the
mom baby rooms or vice versa
during the church services no unintended
children in any area of the building
and then please
make sure you're not eating in here
and silence your cell phones
if you would at this time or place them
in airplane mode
escorts to your vehicles are
available by the ushers
to take you to your car
should you need to after the service
just tap one of the shoulders
of one of the guys that have the pin on their jacket
that says usher and our
online donations are available on our website
and our text giving number
the tithes and offerings that have come in so far
are at the bottom of the page
and then of course we have
brother Ramon's
birthdays today he's not here but
happy birthday brother Ramon
and we sang happy birthday
to him anyway so
also congratulations to the Ortega family
for the birth of Celisa
Laurel Ortega
she weighed seven pounds
and three ounces and she was
nineteen and a half inches long she's very cute
and so make sure that you congratulate the Ortega
family they should be coming back to church
fairly soon and uh
let's see anything else
nothing else in the bulletin
so let's sing another song and then we'll receive the offering
alright our next song is song number 585
softly and tenderly
song number 585
in your blue hymn book softly and tenderly
song 585
softly and tenderly let's sing it together on the first
softly
and tenderly
Jesus is
calling
calling for you
and for me
see on the
portals he's
waiting and watching
watching
for you
and for me
come
home
come home
ye who are
weary come
home
earnestly
tenderly
Jesus is
calling
calling oh
sinner come
home
why
should we tarry
when Jesus
is pleading
pleading for you
and for me
why should we
linger and
heed not his
mercies
mercies for you
and for me
come home
surely you
are weary
come home
earnestly
tenderly
Jesus is calling
calling
oh sinner
come home
time now is
fleeting the moments
are passing
passing
from you and
from me
shadows are gathering
when death
are coming
coming
for you and for me
come home
ye who are weary
come home
earnestly
tenderly
Jesus is
calling
calling oh
sinner come
home
come home
for thou wonderful
love he
hath promised
promised for you
and for me
thou we
have sent he has
mercy and
pardon pardon
for you
and for me
come home
ye who are weary
come home
earnestly
tenderly
Jesus is calling
calling
oh sinner
come home
amen
Alright, thank you for playing that Gnia and we are going to go through our prayer requests here, and got a call from Dr. Drew, Br. Drew and he's been having some health problems
some health problems so he wants us to pray for him. Also for my wife, Ms. Sherry, she was
in the ER today. She's been having some complications from a procedure that she
had on Monday, so if you would just keep her in your prayers. Also, we have the mothers
who are expecting Ms. Chantel, Ms. Amy, Ms. Madison, Ms. Nikki, and also I have an unspoken
for tomorrow. If you would pray for me tomorrow, I'd really appreciate it. And also for
Ms. Lisa Taverner, an unspoken for her. For brother Steve Bogman, for a prayer for wisdom
and mercy in God's grace. Brother Ramon for an urgent unspoken prayer. Also for Ms. Amy,
for medical issues that she's having. And also for
her mom and grandma to have smooth transition into new housing. Ms. Alana has an unspoken.
The Luwai family has a prayer request for Chris to get up quickly and get home
and so they can get back to California. And they're also asking for prayer that they
be able to get back into a housing place down there once he gets back. Sarah Miller,
prayer for employment and also any prayer for serenity and endurance.
I think they have some other newer ones up here. Let's see, just for a hedge of protection about
our churches and churches of like faith that God would just protect us and help us to be bold.
Also for Canada's borders to open up for sure, that'd be a great prayer. And we do have a building
in theory for Spokane, so pray for that to go through. I should probably hear something
tomorrow about that. And also for our church in the UK, a prayer for him all around. And for,
let's see, the Bada family's unspoken for brother Alex and Mishila and Ethan for
prayers for losing loved ones. And also for a great trip in Yakima. That's a great prayer there.
We would see many saved and we'd at least plant some seeds for sure, but we want to see many
saved. And we have some Spanish speakers that are going to be going there and that'll be very useful
for us because there's a lot of Spanish-speaking people there. So anyway, let's go to the Lord in
prayer for these prayer requests. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for this great church
and we pray that you just bless it and continue to help us to be just a church that would just
go out and continue to preach the gospel no matter what happens. And Lord, pray that you
help us to always stand up for what's right and true. Pray to watch over all the
ladies that are expecting our church that they'd have safe and healthy deliveries.
Pray for all those that are mentioned with the health issues that are going on. Pray that you
just watch over to bless them and keep them. And we pray, Lord, for those that are looking
for employment or having other issues. Lord, for all the unspoken that I mentioned, Lord,
pray that you just bless those and answer them according to your will. Lord, help us
with your grace and mercy. Watch over the churches that we have as satellites in this church here.
Lord, help us not to get complacent and start just backsliding. Lord, we don't want to be backsliding.
We want to always be moving forward. Pray that you just bless these prayer requests as they've
been read and prayed for. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Verse one, the Bible reads,
A spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices,
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture,
Behold I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not
be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner.
And a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word,
being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises
of him who hath called you out of darkness into the marvelous light, which in time past were not
a people, but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts,
which war against the soul, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles,
that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may be your good works,
which they shall behold glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves to every ordinance
of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme or unto governors, as unto them
that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do
well. For so is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance
of foolish men. As free and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants
of God. Honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. Servants be subject to your
masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the frower. And this is
thankworthy if a man for conscience, conscious, toward God endured grief, suffering wrongfully.
For what glory is it if, when you be buffeted for your faults, you shall take it patiently. But if,
when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even
here unto were you called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you
should follow his steps. Who did no sin, neither was gallop found in his mouth. Who, when he was
reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that
judgeth righteously. Who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being
dead to sins, should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep
going astray, but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls.
Brother Brandon, will you pray for us?
Amen. Well, we're in 1 Peter chapter number 2, and we've already had a couple sermons out of this,
out of the first chapter, and now we're going to have two sermons out of this chapter. So this is,
I guess, part A or part 1 of this chapter. So let's look down at our Bibles at 1 Peter
chapter 2 verse 1. The Bible says, Wherefore, laying aside all malice and all guile and
hypocrisies and envies and all evil speakings. So right off the bat, Peter's taken people to
task for not living a holy life and saying that we need to lay those things aside.
So if you remember the first chapter of 1 Peter, basically we kind of, I was just like,
the first sermon I preached was kind of an overview, and that overview basically talked
about how he wrote this to strangers. So I believe that he's talking about just people
that are saved, that are not necessarily Jews, but maybe they could have been converts that got
converted after they were converts, because when the Bible talks about strangers in the Old
Testament, it's talking about people that would become Jews and then attach themselves to that
faith, but the faith got corrupted, and so now Peter's talking about strangers, and he talks
about them a lot, and the actual book is written to the strangers elect according to the foreknowledge
of God. But maybe it's just a little play on words. It could be that he's talking about a
different kind of strangers, and we'll get there as we move along in here, but I did want to just
kind of, you know, one of the themes about Peter is he kind of admonishes us to live a holy life,
and any preacher that's worth his salt is going to admonish and even reprove and rebuke people
to live a holy life, and that's what he starts out doing. He did it in the last chapter,
talking about girding up the loins of our minds and being sober and hope to the end of the grace
that is brought unto you at the revelation of Christ as obedient children, and so on and so
forth. So he's preaching us great doctrine in these books, but he's also, you know, admonishing
us to do right, to do good, and here in verse one he says, wherefore laying aside all malice.
So that would just tell me that, you know, obviously as Christians we are capable
of having malice and guile in our hearts and hypocrisies and envies and evil speaking.
So, and I'm just going to define some of these words for us because we might not use these words
in modern vernacular, like most people don't say malice in their regular vocabulary,
and they might not even say guile. I mean they're words that we know, but not necessarily some word
that we use on a regular basis, but hypocrisy, that's one that people got down when it comes to
Christians, people that aren't Christians, and people that are, and then obviously envy is
another word that's not usually, I mean we use it, people use the word jealous, you're just jealous,
but in reality they're not using that word right. So jealousy is something that you're,
you're, you know, you're wanting, you know, you're upset about something that's infringing
on something that's yours, like your wife, you'd be jealous for your wife, and today that's like,
it's like a bad word or something. Why are you so jealous of your wife? It's like, well we're
supposed to be, you know, God is jealous of us and doesn't want us to worship other gods,
well as a man you should want other men to look at your wife or want your wife or try to, you know,
do something with your wife, that's your wife. So jealousy is okay, jealousy is the right thing to
be, but malice is where that person might not belong to you and then you want them and you're
upset with the fact that you can't have them. So malice means the intention or desire to do evil,
you have ill will towards someone, so we need to lay those things aside, we need to lay aside
malice, we need to lay aside that, why? Because we shouldn't have an intention or desire to do evil,
that's why, because as Christians we are supposed to be different, we are supposed to,
you know, live a cut above, we are supposed to live a good life in front of other people,
why? Because we want other people to be saved. So if you're the Christian on the block that's
screaming and yelling, you know, and obviously that happens sometimes, but like if people look
at you and they're like, there's those Christians, there they go again, that's a bad testimony,
it's a bad testimony to you, it's a bad testimony to your church, and you know, again, obviously
things happen, you know, sometimes we get in arguments, sometimes, you know, we're yelling
at the kids or whatever, but you know, when people see that they go look at, so they talk
about being, you know, having these great marriages and stuff and look at theirs, it's a mess. So we
don't want to be where we're, you know, the ones that are causing someone to stumble and fall and
not get saved, right? Or making another Christian fall because of our bad behavior, right? So guile
is the word guile is defined in the dictionary as insidious cunning or deception or duplicity. So
insidious cunning or deception. So when Jesus saw Nathaniel, he said he was without, you know,
truly an Israelite who was without guile, right? And basically he's saying, you know, he's a man
that's not a deceptive man, and another way of saying that would probably be he's very blunt and
honest about things. You know, in this world, if you're blunt and honest with people, people get
really upset. And it's just like, now you can be blunt and honest without being rude, you can be
blunt and honest without being mean, but sometimes you have to be blunt and honest with people,
because that's the only thing that will get through to them. And I was reading this thing
because I just came back from the UK, but before I went there, I was like, what are some of the,
you know, the top problems in the UK? And one of the articles I was reading said that they don't
really say what they want to say. So they might mask it in some kind of words to, and that would
be guile, right? So they're masking how they really feel, but at the same time taking a jab at them
with their words that they're saying, you know? And Canadians, you know, a lot of Canadians I know,
they don't do that. They just like say, they'll just be like super blunt. And it's just like,
wow, you know? But I like that. You know, it's a little different when you're not used to it,
but Americans are the same way as the British are. We don't want to be really rude and what we would,
you know, we would say rude because if you're blunt with somebody, people think it's rude,
but it's not necessarily rude. But it's just like in the South, you know, people say, well,
bless your heart, you know? But that's an insult. They're not really saying, you know,
God bless your heart. They're basically saying you're stupid, right? So it's not really, you
know, oh, bless your heart. It sounds sweet. It sounds nice, but it's rude, isn't it? So, I mean,
we got to be, we got to say what we mean and mean what we say. And so to not have guile, to not have
some insidious, cunning or deceptive way to talk with people. You know, you're always looking for
the angle. You're always looking for a way to say something without saying it. You know, sometimes
people will say things and they'll say they're joking, you know, and we all do that. But sometimes
people are saying it and saying they're joking and they're really not joking. They're really just
trying to take a jab at you and then pull it back so that you can't say anything. Well, I was just
joking. You know, that's what people do. So obviously, hypocrisies, we all kind of know what
that is, but I just kind of looked at the definition anyway. It's the practice of claiming to
have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform or to pretend,
you know, that you're something that you're actually not. Now, I believe that there's different
degrees of hypocrisy. The Bible talks about some hypocrites that are just devils. You know, their
end is to be burned. When Job is talking about hypocrites in the Bible, he's talking about
ones that are pretending to be Christians. They're pretending to be saved, but in reality,
they're not. And so that is a really truly evil person, someone that would pretend to be saved or
pretend to be a Christian so they could get in and do some kind of evil damage. That's the worst kind
of hypocrite. Now obviously, Peter's talking about Christians here. He's saying, hey, we need to lay
these things aside. Let's lay aside the hypocrisies. And, you know, when you say that you have some kind
of, you know, you have some high standard, but then you're breaking that standard behind closed
doors, then that's not right. That's hypocrisy, isn't it? But I mean, some, you know, everybody's
a hypocrite at some point in time, probably every day to a certain degree. Or we'll have a real high
standard over here about this and a real low standard over here like this, but then you'll
look down about to people maybe because you have a high standard here and you keep that high
standard, but your standards in another area are low, that could be another way of being a hypocrite.
But, you know, people that are not saved can be hypocrites too. You know, one of the things
that people like to say against church and about organized religion is that, you know, it's just
the church is just filled with hypocrites. Well, you know, the funny thing about that is if you go
to Target, Target's probably filled with hypocrites too. The bank is probably filled, definitely
probably filled with some hypocrites. You know, there's just, there's hypocrites everywhere.
Everybody is a hypocrite to one way and, you know, here's one thing that people like to say,
the, you know, and this is a common saying in America, maybe it just started off as some kind of
movement, but it's passed down from generation to generation. I'm not sure how far the saying goes
back, but I know that everybody in this room has probably heard this. There's nothing I hate worse
than liars and thieves. Who's heard that before growing up at some point in time?
There's nothing, you know, there's nothing I hate worse than liars and thieves and it's like,
but you're a liar. Are you sitting here telling me that you're not a liar? You know, obviously
someone's a compulsive liar. You can never get the truth out of them. They're always just constantly
lying. That's annoying. You know, people that like have to lie to kick it or whatever, you know,
they have the better story than you did. You're telling a story and you're like, well,
that's nothing. You know, I caught a fish that was this big one time and it drug me into the lake
and, you know, so they're called one uppers, right? Those types of people are really annoying.
So obviously there's degrees of these things, but what's Peter saying? He's saying, hey,
we need to lay that kind of stuff aside and we need to lay aside evil speaking.
Now, Michael Johnson might have a four point sermon off of this verse, off this word alone,
these two words together. He probably has a series about how that means cussing, but it actually
means slander. When you're speaking evil about somebody else, it's called slander. So slander
is obviously something that we don't want to get into. You're basically talking about people
and you're lying about them. So evil speaking, so what is evil? Well, evil doesn't necessarily mean
the minions of Satan. It can mean that, but what does evil mean? It just means harm.
So if you want to do harm to somebody, you could speak slander about them and lie about them,
and that's called evil speaking when you would slander somebody else. So as Christians,
obviously from verse one, you know, Peter's just kind of unloading the shotgun on us right there
and just, you know, because all of us probably have issues in one part of these things that he's
talking about. We're just in verse one. You know, we need to clean up our lives and so what better
way to do that is to go to church and have somebody get up and tell you what the Bible says,
that you should clean up your life and that we need to get better. You know, that's why we preach
the Bible. That's why I'm not doing a salvation sermon on every sermon because, you know what,
there's other stuff in the Bible besides salvation. Great, I'm glad you're saved and if you're not
saved, I'd love to talk to you about that after the service, but you know what, we're supposed
to be edifying the saints. If the saints are already saved, then there's no reason to preach
a salvation sermon on every single sermon that you preach. And I've heard, I've had people get
up and criticize and say, well, you know, that was good, but you know, you should have the Gospel in
every single sermon. Well, how about you just go out and preach the Gospel every single week like
you're supposed to and then maybe things would be better. So don't get lazy and just think that you
can just get by by only doing it in a sermon that you preach. You know, get out there and actually
do it. Verse number two says, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that you may
grow thereby. What's the Bible talking about here? Well, babies desire milk, don't they?
When they even get close to their moms, they can kind of smell it. They're just like,
you know, they want that milk, don't they? They desire. It's like, you know, desire,
another word for desire could be covet. So, but this isn't a bad covet. This is like, hey, I need
milk, because why? Because I need to grow. And babies, you know, you feed them milk, you feed them,
and then they grow. And then they start eating food. They start getting teeth. They start eating,
you know, harder foods and things like that. And then next thing you know, they're eating steak and
you know, putting you out of budget as a, you know, when you have four teenagers in your house
at the same time and you're having steak, you know, it's just, it's like, hey, you know,
we got these hot dogs for you. These are hot dog steaks. If you cut them in the half and put them
on the grill, don't worry about what we're eating. You guys just eat them hot dog steaks, okay?
They're really good. These are gourmet hot dog steaks. Well, our parents used to do that with us.
And I hated that just as much as any kid today would hate that. But, you know, what's Peter
talking about? He's talking about the milk of the word. So what is the milk of the word? Well,
it's the words that you're going to find in this book right here. It's the words of God.
And milk is something that's easier for a baby to handle. So if you're newly saved,
you should be reading the easier parts of the Bible. And once you've consumed the easier parts
and the easier to understand parts of the Bible, then you can move on to meteor stuff.
But a big mistake that a lot of Christians make is that they start trying to get into things that
are way over their learning ability at that time. See, God wants you to learn the basics first.
It's just like babies have their basic essentials that they have to have. Well, babes in Christ
also need to have those essentials. And the essentials are, you know, learning what is
salvation? What, you know, why do we believe eternal security? Why do we believe in baptism?
What is baptism for? Those are the types of things that we need to know. The first
principles of the word of God. So Peter's saying that we as Christians should desire this. We
should desire this milk of the word that we can grow thereby. See, what is Peter saying? He's
saying, hey, we need to stop being a baby at some point and we need to grow up and be able to start
reading and understanding the harder things in the Bible. So, you know, maybe you're a few years
older in the Lord, so as a Christian the Bible says we're born again. So that's a spiritual
rebirth. So you could be 33 years old, but you could be zero as a Christian. You could just be
newly saved and here you are physically, you're a 33 year old man, but spiritually you're a little
baby that just came out crying, right? So what is Peter saying? He's saying, hey, read the Bible.
Get your milk and read it. And the Bible says, I'm not going to have you turn there, but in
Isaiah it talks about here a little, there a little. You know, we're supposed to slowly
learn from the milk of the word. We take a little bit from here. We compare scripture over here,
here a little, there a little, and that is how we build our doctrine. So if you want to know the
Bible, you're going to have to build your doctrine and you're going to have to start with the basics.
So if you're a newly saved person in here, I would recommend that you start reading the easier parts
of the Bible. Instead of trying to figure out the exact timing of the rapture, why don't you figure
out why you get baptized? You know, those are, you know, you ever heard someone say take baby steps?
Take baby steps. You know, start slow and work your way up. When you start a new job,
most people have to go through an orientation where they're learning the basics of their job.
Then they put you in a job that maybe has more menial tasks. You're not using the full capacity
of your brain and all that stuff. You're just learning how to get good at what you got hired
and then when you move up, it's because you've gained knowledge, right? You've leveled up to
another level. So maybe you started as a box boy in the back, you know, cutting up boxes at a store
and then now you're a team leader or you're, you know, in charge of a few people because you've
learned what to do. You know your job and you can train other people and then, you know, obviously
you work your way up. You level up. That's how you level up in the real world. That's how you
level up in Christianity too. You level up by, you know, partaking of the type of meat or milk
that you're supposed to partake in. So you don't go right to the steak. Babies don't have teeth,
do they? Babies couldn't even gum a steak down if they wanted to. They'd cry. They'd probably die,
you know. Steak is actually something you're supposed to feed your children when they're
old enough to actually chew and sometimes kids don't always chew all the way, do they?
They'll go, you know, they're like, you know how dogs do that? Some dogs will just go and then it's
just gone, right? You seen dogs do that before? They're just like, you didn't even taste that,
bro. It's like, what's wrong with you? So, you know, we need to understand that as Christians
and maybe sometimes if you, and I would say this, if a person's backslidden, you can go back in
years. You can regress, you know, like they'll say like in child training though that child's
regressed a little bit or whatever, but we can regress as Christians and when you get backslidden
you're going to forget the things that you were really into and you might have to relearn those
things. So, you know, we need to get on our level and stop trying to be above the level that we're
at. You ever know those people that like they just started and they're already trying to tell
you how to do the job better than, you know, yeah, my old job we did it like this and this,
just shut up, man, all right? Just shut your mouth and you just started here, buddy. Don't tell me
how to do things and of course you don't say that to them, but you want to say it, you know. Well,
at this place that I worked or on this team that I played on or whatever it is, you know, you're
going to find people in life that are like that and those people usually are really annoying and
they, you know, usually are just trying to wing their way into something that they're not really
that good at. So as Christians we look at what it says in verse three it says, if so be that you
have tasted that the Lord is gracious and you know what the Lord is gracious and so once you taste
that you've, you know, you've believed on Christ, you know that He saves you by grace, then you know
that you need to start drinking that milk so you can grow up and be an effective Christian and be
someone that, you know, God is, you know, not proud of necessarily but like He's happy with
the work and the, you know, the work and the the works that you are doing for Him and He's happy
that you're growing. You know the Apostle Paul when he got saved the first thing he, you know,
he started going out and preaching the gospel, I'll give you that, but he also went to Mount Sinai
and then for didn't come back for like, you know, he learned from Jesus, didn't he? He learned from
Jesus and got his knowledge from Christ. Obviously I'm not saying that Christ came down from heaven
and gave him everything but he did teach Paul. Paul was like a prophet and an apostle and he
got revelation from Christ. The Bible says that in Romans, I mean, excuse me, in Galatians chapter
number one. It explains that he went to Arabia for three years and guess what? All the other
disciples trained with him for three years too. All the apostles trained with him for three years.
So why would he not do it? And you know why? And so why is he able to say, you know,
drink the milk first because Paul drank the milk first too. He didn't just know everything
instantly. You know, nobody just knows everything instantly. It's not like you just take a little
disc and download it into your brain. All of a sudden I know Kung Fu or something. It doesn't
work like that. You know, you have to learn here a little, there a little, you know, drink your
milk first, get some teeth, work on the doctrine, start learning the more complicated things later.
So that way when you're in a complicated sermon, you can follow along and you're like,
hey, I understand what the pastor is saying because I've read this before like five times.
You know, when you just read the Bible through, you know, I don't have a, my Bible doesn't have
necessarily any notes in it. And I think that that's what we should go with. Don't get some
stupid study Bible that's going to tell you what some unsaved person from the 1800s has to tell
you about what the verses say. Why don't you just let the Holy Spirit that God has placed inside of
you, once you're saved, why don't you let the Holy Spirit guide you into all truth and not
John Gill or Charles Spurgeon or C.I. Scofield or any of these other bozos that don't even
understand the Bible because they weren't even saved. I mean, come on. Spurgeon was a Calvinist,
folks. He wasn't saved. So, and he was also had the biggest church in all of England,
just like Joel Osteen has the biggest church in all of Texas, I think. I mean,
and do you think Joel Osteen is a good preacher? Is he on your playlist at home? You're subscribed
to him. I know you are. Just kidding. I hope not. Anyway, it says in verse four,
to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious.
So, you know, we got to come to that living stone and it says we've, you know, we've tasted that
the Lord's gracious, then it's talking about him being a stone, right? And a stone is hard,
right? A stone is a representation of Christ because Christ is, you know, he's something
that we can count on. When you sit on a stone, you pretty much know it's going to hold you up,
right? Is wood necessarily going to hold you up? I mean, you know, obviously you sit in your chairs
every day, but, and you probably don't think about this, but, you know, if you have faith in a,
you know, I'd have a lot more faith in a rock holding me up than a rocking chair, right?
There's some rocking chairs in here and I've sat in a couple of them just after church. I'm like,
I like thought I was about to die. I was like, did I ruin this chair or was it already like
that when I got here? But anyway, so, you know, a rock is something that we can count on, but it
says disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. So God chose Jesus Christ to be that
precious rock, that precious cornerstone for us. Verse five, he also has lively stones are built up
a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Christ
Jesus. That's a mouthful, isn't it? But w w you know, Christ is a living stone. He's the stone
that made us all be able to have life. You know, when Moses smote the rock in the wilderness that
was representing Christ, the water that flows out, that saved all of them, cause they're all whining
about not having water. Well, and that represent the living water that comes from the rock, which
is Christ. And so we are built up as lively stones. Once we get saved, then we're like,
you know, we're smaller stones. What Peter was called was, you know, it meant a stone, a rock,
a smaller rock, right? And his name was Cephas. He called him Cephas and he called him Peter,
but, uh, Peter's the one he's, and he's sitting here talking about, he's the one writing this
book right here. And he says that you're built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood. So
we're as, as saved Christians, we do have some titles that are pretty amazing in the Bible.
You know, we think of ourselves as like, you know, maybe we don't think as high,
we're not supposed to think high of ourselves, but I mean, sometimes we think too low of ourselves
also. You know, there is a middle, a middle that you can get into, but you know, if God says that
we're, uh, lively stones that are built up a spiritual house, God is trying to build the
kingdom of God through us because Jesus isn't here anymore. And so he's built what? You know,
he's the, he's the precious cornerstone in which everything else is built upon. When you make a
great building, you know, sometimes you'll see like an old building. I was, when I was in England,
I went to a castle that was a thousand years old. It's called the Tower of London. William the
Conqueror conquered England in 1066. And there was actually a foundation that was already there
built by the Romans. And he took, you know, a great foundation and built this giant castle with
15 foot thick walls, 90 foot towers. And it was the biggest thing in town at that time. But,
you know, he built that upon something that was a good foundation already. The Romans had already
left them a good foundation to build upon. And, you know, so Christ is the foundation stone.
Sometimes you'll see in buildings, old buildings, they'll say, this is the foundation stone that was
laid at whatever date. And that stone is the most important stone piece of that building.
And the foundation, in case you didn't know, is on the bottom, right? Isn't that when you,
when you talk about a foundation of a house, it's at the bottom. So Christ is that, is that stone
that we're all built upon because he was the one that lived the perfect life. You know,
he died on the cross for us. He shed his precious blood. He built the house. You know, the house is
built upon what he did and all the, and, you know, taking all of our sins upon his back,
being humiliated and stripped naked in front of everybody and bleeding and being, you know,
putting the crown of thorns upon him, mocking him, spitting in his face, punching him in the face,
putting a bag over his head and hitting him and saying, who, who smote you? Who hit you?
You know, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, he's the one that built the spiritual house. And
you know what? He triumphantly rose from the dead. He put, placed all the sins of the whole
world upon himself and he built the house. Anything that came before him was still built upon him.
And that might be hard for people to understand, but, but it says that we are a holy priesthood
and that we are lively stones built up upon a spiritual house. And so to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Christ Jesus. So what are we supposed to do? We're supposed
to offer up spiritual sacrifices. We don't have to bring oxen and the red heifer and the pigeons
and all the animals for the priest to cut and bleed out to picture Christ and his sacrifice.
Now we don't, we don't have to do that. So we are supposed to offer up spiritual sacrifices. Well,
what does that mean? Well, once you're saved, God wants you to work for him. He wants you to work
for him. Now, are you forced to work for him? No, you're not forced to work for him. But if you do,
you are his servant. You follow him and you do what he says. And you know, who wants a,
someone that works for you that never does anything that you say. I mean, it's annoying,
isn't it? When someone works for you and you hired somebody and they're just like everything
you do or everything you say, they have a reason why they can't do it. They don't get it done when
they're supposed to. And you know, they, you're always constantly bickering back and forth. You
know, how do you think that that works when it comes to God? You know, how, how can we do that
to God while people do it all the time? They know they're supposed to be doing things for the Lord
and yet they don't do them. But we're supposed to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God.
It's only acceptable to God by Christ Jesus. So any works that we do are laid upon that foundation.
And so we're lively stones laying upon the foundation that was already put there before us.
And it's only acceptable if it's put upon that foundation. There's a lot of people in this world
that think that they're saved by works. But you know what? You're not saved by works. As a matter
of fact, if you're not saved and you're doing works and you think that's saving you, then you're
not saved because you're putting it on your own foundation. You're putting it on yourself and
saying, hey, I'm doing this. This is me. But really someone else already paid the price for you.
You're adding to the foundation that he's already built. And that's why we have to understand that
we can't build it on some other foundation. It's got to be built upon Christ. Turn to Hebrews 10
verse 4. Hebrews 10 verse 4. The Bible's very clear about this. I had a guy email me yesterday.
I've been getting all kinds of emails. But I had this one specific one. The guy says,
I found one of your invitations. And he's talking about, you know, he's like 84 or something.
And but first he like goes through and talks about how what we believe you have to do to be saved.
And he kind of just basically regurgitates the invitation. At the end, he said, sure,
Foundation Baptist Church is useless. And it's like, hold on a second. You found one of our
cards. I don't know where he found it. Maybe it was on his door. Maybe it was just on a bus stop
or something like that. I don't know where he found it. But that card has the key to eternal
life. We put the verses on the back that show you how to be saved. Obviously, we believe that
a preacher is supposed to preach to you so that you can get saved, right? But there's videos that
you can link to that has the Bible way to heaven, that has the message of the cross. It has very
interesting documentaries attached to it. It has an invitation to our church so you can come and
learn more about the Bible. But this guy's like, your church is useless. I was just like, I kind
of thought about it for a minute and just molded over us. It's like, you know, but really it isn't
useless because you picked it up. And you know, just because you reject it doesn't mean that
somebody else is going to reject that truth. We do have a choice. But he, I said, so like basically,
what do you have to do? What do you believe you have to do to be saved? He's like, well,
I was baptized like all these years ago. I'm just like, so you took a bath and you think,
and you're going to sit here and condescend me about salvation, buddy? You just took a bath.
That's it. If that's what you think is saving you, that you got baptized, you walked into a thing of
water and that saves you, you're not saved. That's not what the Bible teaches you. He goes, the
waters of baptism wash away your sins. Where's chapter and verse on that, buddy? I was like,
you don't understand the Bible, sir, because if you did understand the Bible, you wouldn't be
believing that garbage. I said, you're going to die and go to hell unless you get saved.
You know, so he did a little bit of back and forth with me. Hopefully he ends up getting saved.
Hopefully he watches those videos and sees that the Bible says something different than the thing
that he's been trusting in that he took a sponge bath or something like 80 years ago.
That's not how you get saved. So we have to put, you know, we have to fall upon the rock for mercy
and then we build our life and we build our works upon what's already been built before us.
You know, there's no foundation that we can build on our own. That foundation is going to get burned
up. And even anything, if we put anything on the foundation that isn't even really a good work,
it's going to burn up anyway, too. So you can put your little Jenga things on top of,
you know, Jesus's rock, but what's he say it's built out of? Lively stones. Lively stones and,
you know, precious jewels, you know, winning someone to Christ, winning someone to the Lord,
and that person's going to be in heaven when you go up there and they go, hey, thank you so much
for getting me saved. That's something that's worth something. You know what's not worth anything?
Beating some homeless person that refuses to work and is shooting drugs outside of our church
and then using it for a public restroom. That is not what it takes. That's going to be wood, hay,
and stubble. I'm not saying don't help people. I want to help people. But you know what?
Someone that just does that is, you know, I don't want to help them. I want to help them get out of
here because this isn't a haven for drug use and drinking. I can't wait till the wall gets built
out there so that we don't have to worry about it anymore, you know, but they'll probably still
climb the fence anyway. I'll have to put barbed wire and pit bulls back there or something.
Anyway, sorry, I got off on that. It's starting to make me mad. But, okay, so I had to turn to
Hebrews 10. Look at verse 4. It says, for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats
should take away sin. Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering
what's not, but a body hast thou prepared for me. See, Christ's body was the sacrifice, right?
And it says, in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Did he have
pleasure and sacrifices before? What did it say? Thou hast had no pleasure. Now skip down to verse
9. It says, then said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that he
may establish the second. What's he talking about? He took away the Old Testament so he could
establish the New Testament, which is the second one, right? By the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. See, we're sanctified by the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. Not our own works, not taking a bubble bath,
not, you know, repenting of all your sins. We're sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once and for all. So there's nothing added to that that saves you. We do good
works because we want to, because we want to further the kingdom of God, but not because we
have to to keep us saved. Look at verse 11. And every priest standeth daily ministering and
offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. No matter how much you
sacrifice in your life, without Jesus, you're not getting into heaven. It says, but this man, after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. So how long is
forever? It's forever, right? So he offered one sacrifice. That's all it took because he was
that ultimate sacrifice. We just had to wait for him to come. He came at the appointed time. He did
what he was supposed to do. And then after he had sacrificed himself, that's all it, that's all
was needed. And that's why he is the rock. He is the one that we build everything upon. He is the
one that we put our salvation upon and nothing else, nothing that you do. Now look at what it
says in verse 14. For by one offering he hath perfected, what, what does it say there? Forever
them that are sanctified. There's a good verse about eternal security right there.
By one offering, which was him, he hath perfected forever. So how long are you perfect for? Forever
them that are sanctified. Who's he talking about? People that are saved.
Now turn to Romans chapter 12 verse 1. Romans chapter 12 verse 1. See Peter was talking about
offering up spiritual sacrifices. But just know this, that the sacrifice for sin and the sacrifice
for salvation was already paid and it was paid by Christ. It only had to be paid one time and it
lasts forever. And it sanctifies people forever and it perfects people forever. Romans 12 verse 1.
A very famous verse, one of the most famous verses in the Bible. It says, I beseech you therefore
brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is your reasonable service. So it's our reasonable service to what? Make our bodies
a living sacrifice for God. Holy. He wants us to live a holy life. He wants us to be sanctified.
That's what that means. Holy, set apart, different than other people. Acceptable unto God. See God
doesn't, in the Old Testament, he didn't accept just any sacrifice. You couldn't just grab some
gnarly old goat that has been in someone's backyard for 10 years and just bring that up to
the temple and have it sacrificed. That was detestable unto God. They had to be acceptable
unto God. They had to have no blemish. They had to have nothing wrong with them. They had to be like
perfect. So why? Because the picture is that that animal was a perfect picture of what Christ was
going to be, which was perfect without blemish, without stain, without spot, without sin.
And so that's why when we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, we should be holy also. Now
obviously we're not going to be perfect, we're not going to walk on water, but we should try our best
to live a life that's acceptable unto God and to serve him with that body, okay,
which is our reasonable service. Not your leftovers, not the best you have to offer
in your service. I mean you should have, you should offer the best you have of your service.
So the first part of your time, the first part of your talent, the first part of your money,
okay, doesn't it say to give of the first fruits of all your increase? So if you're
given the first fruits, so what are we supposed to give God? The best of what we have. What did
they give to God in the Old Testament? What were they supposed to bring to the temple? The best
they had! Not the worst leftovers and the ugliest, you know, spotted brown cow that they had. One
that was blind and diseased. No, he said, bring the best. Bring the first. Put me first.
Why do we start, why do we have church on Sundays? Because it's the first day of the week.
It's not because the pope changed the times and we're here because the pope or whatever these
people are saying, these Seventh-day Adventists. We put it, we give God the first day of the week,
that's a, it's just a symbol. You know, we could have church every day, it wouldn't matter.
You know, it's not some sacred holy day, but it's just the time that we give to God because
it's the first day of the week. What's everybody else doing? Watching football, watching baseball,
going shopping, having barbecues, going boating, riding four-wheelers, whatever else that people
do in this world, that's what they're doing. They're not giving their first and best to God,
but as Christians we are supposed to be holy, acceptable. So it's not like, hey,
haven't seen you in a few weeks. Oh, thank you for gracing God with your presence in church this week.
It's like, you know what, get your hineys in church. Quit making excuses to miss church for
every little thing. I have to be here. You gotta be here. Why do I have to be here and you don't
have to be here? You're like, well, you weren't here for a couple of years, but I was somewhere
else at church. I don't just skip church because I'm like, well, you know, someone else can preach
tonight. Call Alex five minutes before the service. Hey, Alex, I need you to preach. Nobody
wants that pressure, but yeah, I mean, let's give God our first. Let's not just be a people that's
just like, oh, you know what, if I have time for God, then I'll just work it in somewhere.
If I have time to go to church, that's garbage folks. We need to, you know, be, you know,
our reasonable services to be acceptable to God. Let's do that. Look at verse number six,
back in our text, it says, wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion
a chief cornerstone, elect, precious. Now notice that the Bible says that it's the chief
cornerstone. That means the head, the main cornerstone. Elect, Jesus was one of the elect,
wasn't he? Precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Does it say
he that takes a bath shall not be confounded? He that jumps in the baptismal shall not be
confounded. No, it says he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Skip down to verse seven,
it says, unto you therefore which believe he is precious, and who's the you? It's you,
people that are saved. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious, but unto them which be
disobedient the stone which the builders disallow, the same is made the head of the corner. So what's
he talking about here? Well, he's talking about, see, we find Jesus precious. We think that he's
precious, we've believed on him as the chief cornerstone, elect, and precious, but there's
other people that are disobedient and they don't want to get saved. And that stone, they rejected,
they said, I don't want that stone. You know, and instead of putting their faith and putting
their works upon Christ, they put it on themselves. Because isn't that what most people say when you
ask them at the door, are you 100% sure you're going to heaven? Yes, I am. Well, how do you know?
Well, I'm a good person. I mean, nine times out of ten, someone's going to say, I'm a good person,
that's why I'm going to heaven. But that is not why we're going to heaven. But even people that
would reject Christ outright, just that don't believe in any God, you know, it says that they
are, they're disobedient. Because the Bible says we're supposed to obey the gospel, what does that
mean? God is commanding us to get saved. But he's not forcing us. There's a difference. I command,
you know, if you're at work, I mean, you probably can refuse to do so, especially nowadays.
I mean, I've seen some really turd workers that come in, I saw a person that just refused to get
out and help while everybody else is helping and they're sitting in there on their phone with their
headphones on. And then when the person comes over to tell them, hey, why don't you come out
and help? He tells them to F off. So, I mean, things have changed. There was a day when that
person would have been thrown from the truck and, you know, hard and feathered off the property for
that. But that's not how it is today. But you know what? We shouldn't be like that. That's the whole,
that's really kind of the underlying part of the sermon is that we ought to be different.
But these people here, they're disobedient. And they've rejected that stone. They've rejected
that rock. Turn to Matthew chapter 21. Matthew chapter 21 verse 41. Matthew chapter 21 verse 41.
So there's two types of people in this world. There's those people that have, you know,
they've trusted in that rock. It's sturdy, it's steady, it's always there. It's paved
the way for everything else. And there's people that go to that rock and they're like,
I don't want that rock. That rock's ugly. That rock's bloody. That rock, you know, offends me.
That rock isn't the rock that I want it to be. We think it's precious.
But when Jesus Christ was up on the cross, do you think he looked precious?
He looked ugly, didn't he? He was battered and bruised and beaten and you couldn't hardly tell
that he was a man because of the beating he took. There's a lot of people that don't want
Christ because they feel like it's ugly, it's bloody, it's gory. And it is. Because that's what
it took to save people is to have someone that would do that for you so that you could actually
make it to heaven. But look at Matthew 21 verse 41. It says, they say unto him, so Jesus is giving
this parable where he's just, you know, talking about how he sent prophets and they've beaten
them and some of them they've stoned, some of them they've killed and cast out of the vineyard.
Because God's the one that lent the vineyard out to people, okay. He said to the Jews,
do this work. Here's the commandments. Here's what I want you to do. And he lent out his vineyard to
other people. And these people wanted to take it for themselves and ultimately they killed the son.
He said, I'll send my son, surely they'll reverence the son. And then they killed him and
cast him out of the vineyard. And Jesus asked them, what do you think the Lord of the vineyard
is going to do when he returns? And here's what their answer is. They say unto him, he will
miserably destroy those wicked men and let out his vineyard unto the other husbandmen which shall
render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith unto them, did you never read in the scriptures
the stone which the builders rejected? The same has become the head of the corner. This is the
Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore I say unto you, the kingdom of God
shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever
shall fall on this stone shall be broken. This is talking about saved people. You fall on that
stone, you're broken, but you're still good. Maybe you're broken because of your sins.
You fall upon that rock for mercy. But it says, but on whosoever it shall fall it will grind him
to powder. So there's two types of people. Those that fall on the rock for mercy and those that
get ground into powder when the stone rolls upon the top of them. Two types of people. Some that
find the rock beautiful and precious and some people say that's an ugly rock, get it out of
here. I don't want anything to do with it. Those are the two types of people. Those that are saved,
those that are not. And it says, let's see, let's move on to 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 8. Let's go
back to our text. So, but here's the thing. He's still God whether people want to believe in him
or not. People can still reject him, but that does not mean that he's not God still.
I like that saying where it says you can believe that a semi-truck is a Stay Puft marshmallow,
but when it hits you, it's going to kill you and splat you all over the pavement, right? Why?
Just because you believe it's a marshmallow doesn't mean that it actually is. It's a semi-truck
and it's rolling right towards you. So you can believe whatever you want. You can believe that
God's not real. You can believe and reject Christ all you want. You can say that stone's ugly and I
don't want to have anything to do with it, but in the end, that stone's going to roll and crush you.
So it says in verse 8, back in 1 Peter chapter 2, it says, and a stone of stumbling.
People be tripping over that rock, don't they? A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. It
offends people. Even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient where into also
they were appointed. Where are they appointed? The people that are disobedient. They're appointed to
hell. That's where they're appointed. So people are offended by Jesus, people that stumble over
the words of the Bible, people that trip over that rock of offense, they have an appointment
and it's not heaven folks, it's hell. But it says, look at what it says about us though,
the people that are saved, but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation,
a peculiar people that you should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light. Now I've already preached like a really long sermon series about
this verse here and I love this verse. I think it's great. I'm not going to take the time to
totally break it down, but look at the things that it talks about that we are.
Chosen generation, a royal priesthood. Now what does that mean? Well we're royalty.
According to God, a holy nation. So even though we live in America, anybody that's saved is that
nation. A peculiar people and that doesn't mean a bunch of weirdos. The people might think we're
weirdos because we love the Bible and we follow the Bible and they might not agree with us,
they might not like us, they might not like what we teach, but it just means that we're different.
We're set apart. We're holy. We're supposed to be. And that you would show forth the praises
of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. There's only one type of
light that's marvelous and saving. It's the light of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because see,
the Satan is called the light bearer, right? Lucifer. He's the light bearer, right? That's
what these Satanists like to say that he's the one that he's giving people knowledge that God
doesn't want us to have. You know, and maybe it's just knowledge that God doesn't want us to have
because it's not good for us. It's bad. It's knowledge that's going to hurt us and harm us,
but the fact is Jesus Christ is the light of the world. When God said let there be light,
that light is Jesus. And when he made the sun for light, that was on day four. How do you explain
what the light was before that? It was Jesus Christ. Look at John chapter one. John chapter
number one. So he's called us out of the darkness that we were in, the darkness of sin, and called
us to his marvelous light. Not the light of the sun. Not to worship the stars and the sun and on
the moon and all this other stuff. His marvelous light. Look at what it says in John 1.1. It
explains to us what this is. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word
was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him and without him was
not anything made that was made. Who made everything? Jesus made everything. He was with God.
He was God. In him was life and the life was the light of men. See he's called us out of the
darkness to his marvelous light. It says and the light shineth in the darkness and the darkness
comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. Talking about John the Baptist.
The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all men through him might get
baptized. Is that what it says? No it says believe doesn't it? Because getting baptized doesn't save
you. I'm just riding this guy tonight. But you know what it just it upsets me. How many people
out in this world has he deceived and told people that all you have to do is be saved is to get
baptized? Well how stupid are you? It's like come on man. But anyway the light shineth in darkness
and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man named John. So he was sent to bear witness of
the light. And isn't that what we as Baptists should be doing too? Bearing witness to the light.
Not to our religion necessarily. You know but to that light. What's the light? It's Jesus.
That's what our job is. To just bring people to the light. We bear witness of the light that
all men through him might believe. He was not that light. Talking about John. But was sent to bear
witness of that light. That light was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into
the world. See God does give every single person a bit of light doesn't he? Isn't that what it says?
He was in the world and the world was made by him and the world knew him not. He's literally
walking around as a human being people don't even know who he is. The light of the world. The life
of men. Now turn to John chapter 3 19. John chapter 3 19. The Bible says and this is the
condemnation that light is coming to the world and men love darkness rather than light because
their deeds were evil. So the light comes to the world but see the problem with men is that we
love darkness don't we? And some people love darkness rather than light. They'll they'll
shun the light. What what are the things that are in the night? What do they do when a light shines
on them? They want to run. They want to get away from it. What do cockroaches do? They scurry away
don't they? When you shine a light in the face of someone that's in total darkness it blinds them
and they want to get away from it. It says because their deeds were evil. Some people love their sin
and the way that they're living their lives more than they want to be saved. They want to stay
here. They want to be in this darkness and they don't want Christ. See there's two types of people
isn't there? There's people that want the light and people that don't want the light. Most of the
people want the darkness and it says in verse 20 for everyone that doeth evil hateth the light.
They hate the light. Who's the light? The light's Jesus isn't it? Neither cometh to the light
lest his deeds should be reproved. Why don't they want to come to the light? Because they don't want
their deeds the things that they're doing the way that they're living the sin that they love to be
reproved. They'd rather just try to claim ignorance and go oh yeah yeah well get this light out of my
face and that's what happens when you come and knock on someone's door with the gospel the light
you're there to bear the light you're there to bear witness to the light and when you're at their
door they're like oh the light and they'll do anything they can to close the door won't they?
You know I mean some people will just start to close the door as you're talking don't they?
and I already know that it's just I just keep saying things because I know that that's my
responsibility but you know I know what they're going to do they're going to close the door on me
and we're not there to force people some people want the light though some people want that light
so that they can find their way the right way the true way and the gospel sheds the light
in people's hearts so that they can find that right way because there's only one right way
Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father but by me
there's no other way any other religion is a false religion all the others that came before him are
thieves and robbers buddha all these other people they'll go although these religions are older
but it said Jesus said they're the ones that came before me are thieves and robbers
Jesus came 2,000 years ago so yeah of course there was gonna be other religions before him
but who started those religions the devil satan but it says in verse 21 but he that do with the
truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in god see
there are some people that do want the light there are some people that come to that true light there
are some people that you know they want their deeds to be made manifest that they are wrought
in god that means you know god helps them with the work you know we are co-laborers together
with god and he wants us to work with him what other god you know small g god in this world
you know wants to be working together with us he loves us to the point where he sent his only
begotten son for us I mean there's no other religion like that there's no other religion
that teaches that you have to believe in what god did for you as opposed to what you can do for god
god doesn't need our works our works are filthy disgusting putrefying rags before him if you just
walk up with all your works that's what it's like a big nasty bunch of rags who wants that
I would even want to touch a big bunch of rags like that disgusting that's what god thinks of
it though when we try to bring our own works to him but but my baptism not going to cut it buddy
it's not going to cut it first peter chapter 2 verse 10 the bible says which in times past were
not a people but are now the people of god which have not obtained mercy but now have obtained
mercy what's he talking about here well he's talking about the gentiles of the past you know
they were you know the the jews were given and is the nation of israel is given the oracles of god
they were supposed to branch everything out and you know I'm sure that there was gentiles that
were saved of course there were David surrounded himself by names like you know Uriah the Hittite
and you know so and so the Canaanite and Jesus one of the disciples was a Canaanite you know there
was different there was different people that were gentiles but they had put themselves into that
you know nation of Israel but by and large the gentiles were lost okay but now
god's grafted the gentiles in together and we all are equal in Christ Jesus
are all equal in Christ Jesus and that was always the plan so people will say well that's because
the jews rejected god and then now the plan is the gentiles no that's not true in the old testament
he was talking about that he was a light to the gentiles and so how do you explain that then and
how isn't it funny how I forget what verse it is I think it's like Acts chapter 10 where it talks
about the prophets all the prophets give witness you know that the way of salvation is basically
through faith or what is it the propitiation no what I don't know I can't remember what the verse
is right off the top of my head but I really I really like the verse huh 1043 yeah I'm gonna
turn that real quick since I decided to bring it up without any notes like an idiot all right
Romans 10 43 says to him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth
in him shall receive remission of sins so what do the prophets in the old testament give witness to
that the through him whosoever believeth in him should not should we receive so people say oh
there was a different way of salvation back then is that true is that what the bible says right
there no it says that the prophets all give witness all these prophets what are they pointing
to the same thing salvation has always been by faith at one so let's see Ephesians chapter 2
verse 11 Ephesians chapter 2 verse 11 I'm almost done wherefore remember that ye being in times
pat and time past gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the
circumcision in the flesh made by hand so this is interesting because he's saying in time past you
were gentiles in the flesh so okay verse 12 and that at the time you were without Christ being
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise having
no hope and without God in the world so he called them gentiles didn't he and then he calls them
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and then strangers from the covenants of promise strangers
right but now in Christ Jesus you ye who were sometimes were afar off are made nigh by the
blood of Christ were made near to God by the blood of Christ for he is our peace who hath made
both one and hath broken down the middle wall partition between us having abolished in his
flesh the enmity even the law of commandments contained in ordinances for to make in himself
of twain one new man so making peace and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the
cross having slain the enmity thereby and came and preached peace to you which were afar off and
to them which were nigh so he preached to the to the Jews and to the gentiles and through him
we both have access by one spirit unto the father now therefore you're no more what's it say
strangers who's peter writing to strangers who is paul talking about in this gentiles
who were called strangers right now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners
but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God so we're no more just gentiles
you know and the Jews will call us scum and goyim and cattle and all this stuff now but what's God
say what's the bible say that we're the same we're all the same we're all equal but you know you have
to be saved to be of the household of God of the fellow citizens of the saints and of foreigners
and you know we're foreigners and we were foreigners and strangers but now we're fellow
citizens with the saints now we're in the household of God and it says and are built upon the
foundations of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone i don't
know how it gets any more clear than that Jesus Christ the chief cornerstone were built upon the
foundations of not only the apostles but the prophets also the prophets were in what testament
the old testament but Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone right in whom all the building fitly
framed together groweth into an holy temple in the lord in whom you also are building together
for an habitation of God through the spirit now let's go back and finish up in first peter two i
got two verses left then i'm done so we're building together for an habitation of God
through the spirit we are fitly framed together to grow into a holy temple we are built upon the
foundation so that means we're part of the building blocks right remember in first peter where we
first began where it says that we are lively stones built upon the foundations that's what
paul's saying too first peter chapter 2 11 says dearly beloved i beseech you as what to say
strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lust that which war against the soul so he brings us
back again after preaching us some doctrine to saying hey you need to start living right
you know i beseech you as strangers you're you know you were once these strangers and and
and your pilgrims you're living in a world that's not really your home just like abraham lived in
cain it wasn't really his home we live in america this is our home but really we are part of a
nation we are part of the people of god we are part of the household of faith and you know we
have uh we are basically really just pilgrims walking through this life and our end is not
going to be here where we're at now our end is going to be part of that holy city that spiritual
nation that spiritual kingdom of zion right the uh the israel you know the uh new jerusalem
excuse me so having your conversation verse 12 honest among the gentiles
that whereas they speak against you as evildoers they may be excuse me they may by your good works
which they shall behold glorify in the day of visitation so maybe there's going to be a day
when someone visit visits them and because even though they speak evil of you now even though
they think you're weird now even though they think that you believe a bunch of weird garbage now
but when you have a your conversation honest it's not talking about the things you talk about
necessarily it's talking about how you live your life that whereas they speak against you as
evildoers that you they may by your good works which they shall behold they see you doing them
glorify god in the day of visitation so you know maybe they're going to get saved because of that
now that would that would be what people would call like lifestyle evangelism right
i'm not preaching that it's just lifestyle evangelism only or something but how we live
our life does have an effect on those that are around us there's no doubt that's what it's saying
isn't it yeah you can't deny that so and i'm not saying that that's you know well people be like
well i'm not going solo anymore i'm going to be just showing people my good works and then that's
how people are going to get saved now the bible says that people are saved by the gospel and
that's what we're supposed to preach and we're supposed to go and do all right so that's the
end of first peter chapter well not the end but it's uh the the end of the first part so let's
pray god bless uh this church lord and we thank you so much for um everything that you do for us
lord i pray that you just bless the upcoming trip that we have and lord this weekend also that
lord people will just make it a priority to be in your house lord because you always have something
special for us you always have something good from your word and lord you also have great fellowship
with other believers in a time where we can go and let people see our good works lord that we
could do those good works and that lord people when you visit them might be saved by seeing what
we do and how we act and how we uh handle ourselves when we're out doing the good works
that we do lord i pray that you just help us to have a heart for the people that we go to their
doors and the people in our daily lives that we would think about the things that we do before we
do them lord because sometimes we lose it we lose control and then we make fools of ourselves or we
do something that we we shouldn't be doing in front of someone that we shouldn't be doing it
in front of lord and i pray that you just help us to stop and think about the things that we do
stop and think about how we're living our lives stop and think about how we're acting in front
of people that might not be saved that are watching us to see how we're going to how we're
going to respond to things and help us lord as we go through the rest of our weekend and bring us
back to church on sunday in jesus and we pray amen all right that's the last one song number
578 just as i am in your blue hymn books song number 578 just as i am
the song 578 just as i am let's sing it out together there on the first
just as i am without one plea but that thy blood was shed for me and that thou
this be come to thee oh lamb of god i come i come just as i am and waiting not to rid my soul
of one dark block to thee whose blood can cleanse each spot oh lamb of god i come i come
just as i am though tossed about with many a conflict many a doubt
fightings and fears within without oh lamb of god i come i come
just as i am poor wretched blind side riches healing of the mind all i need in thee to find
oh lamb of god i come i come just as i am thou wilt receive will welcome part and plans relief
because i promise i believe oh lamb of god i come i come amen