let's turn now in our bibles to first Peter chapter 2.
Now in chapter 1 being there in verse 23 he says being born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of God which lives and abides forever. So since we've been born again by the seed of God's word being planted in our hearts bringing forth fruit in our lives, the word of god, the incorruptible seed of God's word which lives and abides forever though it is incorruptible it's amazing how some people try to corrupt it but the word of the Lord endures forever . The grass will fade the flowers will fall away but the word of God endures forever and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you so because we have been born again by the word of God you come into chapter 2 wherefore laying aside all malice and all guile and all hypocrisies and envies and all evil speakings because we have been born again these things have no longer a place or should have no longer a place in our lives so the word laying aside in the Greek is a word that is used for taking off your clothes and where you used to be clothed in malice and guile and hypocrisies you need to strip yourself of these things the malice is that evil thoughts the guile is a hype it is a deceitfulness, hypocrisy is acting like you are something other than you really are. The envying and then all evil speaking that evil speaking is a reference to gossiping these things should be set aside because I have been born again and as being born again as a newborn babe I'm to desire the sincere milk of the word that we may grow thereby. The word of God is the only thing whereby we can grow spiritually as valuable and exciting as spiritual experiences are you really don't grow with spiritual experiences. True growth only comes by the word of God and so we're exhorted to desire the sincere milk of the word that we might grow thereby if so be that you have tasted the word of God you taste it, you partake of it and you discover that God is gracious to whom coming as unto a living stone
and that is we're coming to the Lord we've discovered that the Lord is gracious and so we come to him as a living stone
disallowed indeed of men but chosen of god and precious
it's a reference coming to jesus the living stone though disallowed
by men in the psalm 118
the prophecy concerning Jesus the stone that the builders rejected minutes the same has become the chief cornerstone it is the work of the lord it's
marvelous in our eyes and jesus then makes reference to that
the stone that was disallowed by the builders or the builders refused
it has become the headstone of the corner peter is going to make reference to this again in verse 7.
the stone disallowed indeed of men but yet chosen of god and
precious it's interesting so many times men will set something aside
that God will pick up and use for his glory and so we come to Jesus the living stone disallowed indeed by men but chosen of God and precious and so you also as lively, and that's an old English word, better translation is living stones, you are built up into a spiritual house, apostle Paul writing to the Ephesians chapter 2 beginning with verse 20 said you are built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building is fitly framed together and grows unto a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God through the spirit, so the church is living stones, you remember Jesus when in Caesarea Philippi when apostle Peter acknowledged that , "You are the Messiah, You're the Son of the Living God."
Jesus said, " Blessed art thou Simon, son of Jonah; and I say unto you that you are Petros, that you're a little pebble, you're a bit of gravel and upon this rock (revelation of truth) I will build my church." So the church is built of these living stones , but we are on the foundation of Jesus Christ, no other foundation have we then that which is already laid even Jesus Christ. The confession of apostle Peter is the foundation upon which the early church is built, the confession that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God . That is the foundation for the church. Jesus Christ did not say that Peter was the foundation for the church. In just a few sentences, Jesus will be saying to Peter, "Get thee behind me, Satan, you offend me".
But Jesus Christ is the foundation for the church and so the church is though the place of God's dwelling, we, the believers, become the habitation of God . God dwells in the midst of his people, and so the Lord has built up the church fitly framed together in Christ Jesus, that we might be the dwelling place of God , the habitation of God, through the spirit, so you also as living stones are built up into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, so through Jesus Christ, we offer to Father God the spiritual sacrifices.
Now in New Testament, we do not offer animals physical sacrifices, but we offer to God spiritual sacrifices . And in the book of Hebrews, it speaks about offering to God the fruit of our lips , our praises unto him. So this evening in the beginning we were offering to God is spiritual sacrifices, as we sing to the Lord praises , songs of thanksgiving and expressions of love, these are spiritual sacrifices that we offer unto God by Jesus Christ, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ , wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, behold I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, that is elect , it is precious and he (you and me) that believeth on him shall not be confounded, he is quoting here , as he says as it is written, as it is contained in the scripture, he's quoting from Isaiah 28:16, therefore thus saith the Lord God, behold I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone a tried stone, a precious cornerstone , a sure foundation and he that believeth shall not make haste.
Now there's an interesting thing and as we move along here in the second chapter , we're going to find apostle Peter is quoting profusely from the Old Testament , practically every verse has a relationship to an Old Testament scripture, and it is fascinating to realize what a tremendous grasp apostle Peter had of the scriptures. Now when they were standing before the religious council in Jerusalem, it said that they marveled at Peter's answers to them, because they perceived that they were ignorant and unlearned men, they wondered how Peter knew the scriptures so well , when he had not gone to the Hebrew university . But what they didn't realize is that he had been at a finer university, Peter had been personally tutored by Jesus Christ for over three years and thus had a firm grasp of the scripture , and all of the apostles that have done any writing demonstrate their working knowledge of the scriptures, these men knew the Word of God, that is why the Word of God is so important in our lives , today if I want to be used of God, it is important that I fill my mind, my heart, my life with the Word of God, and to have a working knowledge of God's Word is vital and that's why we teach the Word of God, that is why we go through it (the Bible) from the book of Genesis to Revelation, in order to lay for you a solid foundation in God's Word, and the Word of God does not return void, it will accomplish the purposes for which it is sent and the beautiful thing is, as we plant the Word of God in your heart, in time of need the Word will come back to you, suddenly you'll find yourself quoting some passage of scripture or speaking some truth in, and you don't even know that you knew that scripture but it's been planted there in your spirit, the Holy Spirit then can bring to your remembrance. Jesus said, the things that I have taught you, and so as we study the Word, it is planted in our hearts it is
spiritual food for the spiritual man we grow by it and so we are desiring the sincere wor
milk of the word that we might grow thereby so peter is going to demonstrate his great knowledge of the scriptures as he will be quoting from the psalms, he'll be quoting from Isaiah and a different he'll be quoting from Exodus and throughout the Old Testament scriptures, so here he says, wherefore it is also contained in the scriptures , behold I lay in Zion the chief cornerstone, elect and precious, quoting from Isaiah 28 16.
unto you therefore which believe he is precious, now precious is not a word that is natural to a man's vocabulary you more expect women to say oh isn't that precious , for men we usually say ,well, that's okay, you know but precious is a more feminine type of word and there's probably none of the disciples as big and rugged and tough as former fisherman Peter, it's interesting to me how God can take a big tough rough man and make a marshmallow out of him, and so here is Peter this big rugged fisherman you know he was ready to take on the whole Roman officers that came down to arrest Jesus , Peter pulled his sword started he'd take them all on and yet mellowed by the spirit , it's interesting how many times he refers to things as precious , and so unto you therefore which believe he is precious but unto those which are disobedient the stone which the builders disallowed going back to verse 4 coming unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner in psalm 118 , he's quoting there the stone which the builders refused has become the headstone of the corner the Lord's doing marvelous in our eyes, Jesus Christ made a reference to this, he first of all gave a parable
In Matthew 21 beginning with verse 33, Jesus said here another parable , there was a certain householder which planted a vineyard, he put a hedge about it , he digged a wine press in it, he built a tower and he let it out or rented it out , leased it out to husbandman or put husbandman in charge of his farmers, in charge of it, and he went into a far country and when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen that they might receive the fruits of it and the husbandmen took his servants and beat one, killed another, stone another; again he sent other servants more than the first and they did unto them likewise but last of all he said unto them his son saying they will reverence my son but when the husbandmen saw the son they said among themselves this is the heir, come let's kill him, and let us cease on his inheritance. and they caught him and cast him out of the vineyard and slew him. when the lord therefore the vineyard comes what will he do to those husbandmen
now Jesus Christ is telling them a story a story of great injustice
how a man planted a vineyard now in the old testament in the
prophecy of Isaiah you have pretty much the same setting the planning of the vineyard
the putting in it the finest vines the building of the hedges around it and
the desire to have the fruit of it and the vineyard
was the nation of israel and so jesus is picking up from isaiah's
parable and giving a parable of his own and the vineyard is the nation of israel
that God established, God planted and God was desiring fruit from the
nation and he sent his prophets and they beat some of them they killed
others he sent more prophets who they beat and who they killed finally he said i'll
send my son surely they will reverence him
and they took his son and said look he is the heir let's kill him and then the vineyard
will be ours then jesus asked them the question he was setting out the bait
and then he asked them the question what will the husbandmen do
when when he comes and they said he will miserably destroy those wicked men
and he will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen which will render him the fruits in their seasons
they were correct god set aside the jewish
nation because they refuse to bear fruit and he has let out his vineyard to
others that is to the church so as we get into verse 9 we'll discover that the things
that god once said of the nation of israel he now says concerning the church that we are
the chosen people that we are his royal priesthood that we are a
holy nation a people of god that we should show forth the praises of
God unto uh the the world around us
so Jesus said unto them having given this this parable and they fell for it did you
never read in the scriptures where it declares the stone which the
builders rejected is become the head of the corner this is the lord's doing it is marvelous
in our eyes didn't you ever read that scripture the stone which the builders rejected there's an interesting
story of the building of solomon's temple
you remember that the stones were all hewn and shaped
away from the building site at the stone quarries they were hewn out so perfectly that they
didn't use mortar to hold them together the stones were interlocked but they were all hewn out
perfectly so that they would just interlock together and so there at the quarries they would have
the dimensions and all for the stones they would mark them and they would send them to the builders
so that at the temple site itself there was not the sound of a trowel because everything
was already cut so perfectly that it just fit together quite a project and
quite a feat the story goes that at the beginning or towards the beginning of the building of the temple there was
a stone that came and it wasn't marked and the builders
didn't see where it fit and so they cast the stone aside they just
pushed the stone aside and in the time of course it was over a period of
years that the temple was built in time when the temple was finished they sent to the quarry and they say
that we've completed the building however we're missing the chief cornerstone
send it to us that we might complete the building and they sent back and said
we have already sent to you the chief cornerstone and so
someone remembered that stone that had come early in the project they didn't know where it fit
and now it had been overgrown it was in the brush that had overgrown the area and they pulled out the stone
and sure enough it was the chief cornerstone rejected by the builders but it became the chief
cornerstone so it was incorporated in the scriptures the stone which the builders rejected
the same as become the chief cornerstone and it was a picture of jesus who was rejected
by israel and yet god has made him the chief cornerstone
but to the jews he is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense
and again peter here is is quoting from the old testament and from the prophet Isaiah the stone of stumbling the rock of offense
and even to them which stumble at the word being disobedient were unto also they were appointed in other words this this was all a part of god's appointed plan it's prophetic it was declared god knew that it was going to happen and so they stumbled at the word being disobedient the crucifixion of jesus paul said we preached jesus crucified which to the Jews is a stumbling block
because they were expecting the messiah to establish god's kingdom they immediately
expecting a powerful military kingdom that would subdue the world
and when jesus came and offered himself as the Messiah did not come as a threat to the roman troops of the roman government they stumbled they crucified him but then the crucifixion of Jesus Christ became the stumbling stone how could the Messiah suffer and die but now he takes the things that God said concerning the nation of Israel and he declares but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light those special privileges were first announced by God to the nation of Israel in Exodus 19:5 . Now therefore if you will obey my voice indeed keep my covenant then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all the people for all the earth is mine and you shall be unto me a kingdom of priest and a holy nation God said these are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel and then in Deuteronomy 7:6, for thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God, the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all of the people that are on the face of the earth God's chosen people but because they rejected the Son put him to death the Lord then let out his vineyard to others who would bring forth fruit namely the church and so all of those special benefits, all of those special privileges , that the Jewish nation once knew as the chosen instrument of God to reveal himself to the world, those blessings and those privileges have now come to the church and you are God's chosen people, you are to be a holy nation, you are to be the kingdom of priest, you are to be God's special people, that through you , the praises of God and the blessings of God might be revealed to the world that you might declare the excellencies of God . One of the translation says which is a very good translation so yours is the privilege but also yours is the responsibility the Jews once had the privilege but they didn't live up to the responsibility they didn't bring forth the fruit that the Father desired and we the church have a tremendous responsibility to bring forth the fruit that God is longing for in the world today that we might declare or show the praises of him who has called us out of the darkness into his light, which in times past you were not God's people but are now the people of God , which had not obtained mercy , but now you've obtained mercy. As apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians, we once were alienated from God , we were alienated to the covenants of God , and to the promises of God , they were not for us, but now through Jesus Christ we who were once aliens to these covenants and promises have become through Jesus Christ the heirs of the promises, so God has placed upon us the blessings, his church, his people, but with that, again the responsibility of being the light to the world, of being the salt of the earth, so ours is a solemn charge from God , to be light , to be salt in the world in which we live. Dearly beloved, he said, I beg you. as strangers and pilgrims that is as far as the world is concerned, our citizenship is in heaven and we are strangers and pilgrims here and thus do not live as the world. Apostle Paul said, do not be conformed to the world, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Now how does the world live, they live after the desires of their flesh and of their mind all that is of the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the mind, the pride of life, apostle Paul said, and you he has made alive who were once dead in your trespasses and sins, who in times past you were walking according to the course of this world according to the principality of the air that even now is working in the children of disobedience among whom you all once lived as you lived after the lust of your flesh and the lust of your minds and you were by nature the children of wrath even as others, but God who is rich in his mercy has brought to us the grace through Jesus Christ, and we have been born again by the Spirit of God unto a new life where we are no longer to be dominated by our flesh and by our fleshly desires but our minds are to be dominated by the spirit and we are to live after the spirit and not after the flesh, so he said, I beg you because you are strangers and pilgrims, abstain from the fleshly lust which war against your mind deny yourself jesus said take up your cross and follow me, if you want to come after me these are the things that you have to do,
the denial of self, of the flesh, of the desires of the flesh and to follow after Jesus Christ , so abstain from the fleshly lust which war against your mind , we all are familiar with that warfare, none of us are immune from fleshly desires, as long as we are living in these bodies we are going to be subjected to fleshly desires the body appetites we are not to yield to them in an ungodly way those appetites are there for a purpose. God has created them for a purpose and when they are subject to god there's no problem it's only when we use those for the fulfilling of our look to them for fulfillment for the emptiness within is where they take control over you and you no longer are free but are in bondage to your flesh Paul writing to the Galatians , said for the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these two are contrary, so we do not always do the things that we would, man is a threefold being of body, mind and spirit. The body has certain physical needs, the need for air, the need for moisture, drink, the need for food and the basic body needs, not wrong in and of themselves, only when they're perverted, do they become wrong. The soul of man or the consciousness of man. And then the third part is the spirit, but when a person's life is dominated by sin, the spirit is dead. And so, man lives in two dimensions, body and mind. But the mind is completely occupied by the body's needs. Now when your spirit is born again, when your spirit comes alive, you he , apostle Paul said, he has been made alive, once you were dead in your trespasses and sins, but when your spirit comes alive, then there comes a warfare, the warfare is over the control of the mind, if you're going to have the mind of the flesh or the mind of the spirit. Now , apostle Paul says the mind of the flesh is death but the mind of the spirit is life and peace and joy. So there are peoplewho are whose mind is dominated by their fleshly desires, there are those whose mind is dominated by the things of the spirit, being born again , there is now the spirit of God dwelling in me seeking control over my life but my body is unwilling to yield the control it has been in control for a long time and it is reluctant and unwilling to give up control. And thus I find this inner warfare going on within me, my mind being torn by my fleshly body desires and my desires for God and the things of the spirit. And apostle Paul describes this warfare that he went through in Romans chapter 7 the last few verses but then he comes into Romans chapter 8 , the discovery of the new law. The law of life in the spirit by Christ Jesus and so the victory of the spirit in my life as I yield to the spirit now apostle Paul said, don't be deceived, whatsoever a man sows that he's going to reap, and if you're sowing to your flesh, then of your flesh you're going to reap corruption, so if you're constantly sowing into your mind the things of the flesh, if you're watching those x-rated videos, if you are looking at the pornographic magazines, you are sowing to the flesh and it doesn't have to be pornographic, can be actually magazines that appeal to, oh my, the you know house beautiful or whatever I mean where you begin to lust after these things you're sowing to the flesh and the result is of the flesh you're going to reap corruption but if we sow to the spirit and that's why we're here tonight the Word of God feeds the spirit desire the sincere milk of the word that you might grow thereby and it feeds our spirit and when we sow to the spirit then we begin to reap of the spirit our minds are on the things of God upon the things of the spirit
and so there is the warfare though and we need to recognize this
39:0139 minutes, 1 secondwarfare that is going on so he says dearly beloved i beseech i
39:0739 minutes, 7 secondsbeg you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from the fleshly lust
39:1539 minutes, 15 secondsdon't give place to them which war against your mind having your manner of living
39:2239 minutes, 22 secondshonest among the gentiles that whereas they may speak against you as evil doers
39:3039 minutes, 30 secondsthey may by your good works which they shall behold glorify god in the day of visitation
39:3839 minutes, 38 secondsso live a honest life upright
39:4539 minutes, 45 secondsa life of integrity before the world among the heathen
39:5439 minutes, 54 secondsand though they may speak disparagingly of you as a christian which they often do
40:0240 minutes, 2 secondsyet in that day when the chips are down they'll be looking for you my
40:1140 minutes, 11 secondsfather was a outspoken witness for jesus christ
40:1740 minutes, 17 secondshe was always witnessing to people about their need for the lord
40:2440 minutes, 24 secondshe was a tremendous personal witness and because of his witness for christ
40:3340 minutes, 33 secondshe was often ridiculed he was the butt of jokes
40:4040 minutes, 40 secondsand and they would often make fun of my dad because of his outspoken witness for jesus christ
40:4940 minutes, 49 secondsbut it was interesting that when they got into real
40:5640 minutes, 56 secondsproblems into real trouble they'd always call my dad for prayer
41:0441 minutes, 4 secondsand and we saw it over and over again people who uh had made fun of his witness
41:1141 minutes, 11 secondswhen they really got into serious trouble they would call my dad for for prayer and for help
41:2041 minutes, 20 secondsi remember when my father first went into real estate he was working for a broker in santa ana
41:2841 minutes, 28 secondsand of course witnessing he just that christ was his life he was always witnessing of what the lord had done and
41:3541 minutes, 35 secondswas doing for him and they they used to make fun of him but then
41:4241 minutes, 42 secondsthe broker's wife had a very serious operation she was dying
41:4841 minutes, 48 secondsshe was in need of blood and so he called my dad and asked for prayer
41:5541 minutes, 55 secondsand my dad said come on chuck let's go down to the hospital and pray for her
42:0242 minutes, 2 secondsand we got down there and she was needing blood desperately they typed me out and it worked and so i gave her a quart of blood
42:1142 minutes, 11 secondsuh next to her there on the table and the lord touched her and she uh recovered but it's interesting they
42:1842 minutes, 18 secondsmay make fun of you and laugh at you but boy in the time of visitation uh they come around and and they but if you
42:2642 minutes, 26 secondsthat's if you keep your testimony pure and they keep your life before them in honesty and integrity
42:3442 minutes, 34 secondsthey may make fun but down deep they respect you and when they're in trouble they'll be looking for you
42:4242 minutes, 42 secondsyour manner of living honest among the gentiles though they may speak against you
42:5042 minutes, 50 secondsand uh by your good works they'll ultimately glorify god when they're in trouble submit yourselves
42:5942 minutes, 59 secondsto every ordinance of man for the lord's sake whether as unto the king
43:0643 minutes, 6 secondsas supreme or unto the governors as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers
43:1443 minutes, 14 secondsand for the praise of them that do well for so is the will of god that with
43:2043 minutes, 20 secondswell-doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men
43:2843 minutes, 28 secondswe are not above the law we are to submit ourselves
43:3743 minutes, 37 secondsto every ordinance of man for the lord's sake
43:4443 minutes, 44 secondspaul writing to the church in rome said let every soul be
43:5243 minutes, 52 secondsin subjection to the higher powers for there is no power but of god and the powers that be
44:0044 minutesare ordained by god and whosoever therefore resisteth the power
44:0744 minutes, 7 secondsresistance the ordinances of god for they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation
44:1444 minutes, 14 secondsfor rulers are not a terror to good works but to evil will you then not be afraid of the power
44:2344 minutes, 23 secondsdo that which is good and you will have the praise of the same for he is a minister of god to thee for good
44:3144 minutes, 31 secondsbut if you do that which is evil be afraid for he bears not the sword in vain for he is a minister of god a revenger to
44:3944 minutes, 39 secondsexecute wrath upon him that doeth evil wherefore he must needs be subject not only for
44:4644 minutes, 46 secondswrath but also for conscience sake for this cause paid taxes also for they are god's ministers attending
44:5444 minutes, 54 secondscontinually upon this very thing render therefore to all their dues taxes to whom taxes
45:0145 minutes, 1 secondare due custom tomb customs fear unto whom fear and honor unto whom
45:0745 minutes, 7 secondshonor as christians we're to be model citizens so that the name of
45:1445 minutes, 14 secondschrist is not spoken against because we are some rebel now
45:2645 minutes, 26 secondsin the time of the church there were commands made
45:3645 minutes, 36 secondsto the apostles not to speak anymore in the name of jesus or not to mention
45:4345 minutes, 43 secondsjesus anymore and there you have a different situation
45:5145 minutes, 51 secondswhere the law is in direct opposition to my conscience before god
45:5945 minutes, 59 secondsand in keeping the law it would violate my conscience before god
46:0546 minutes, 5 secondsand so when peter was commanded strictly not to speak anymore in the name of jesus
46:1246 minutes, 12 secondspeter said whether we obey god or man judge ye but we cannot but speak the
46:2046 minutes, 20 secondsthings which we have seen and heard and so
46:2846 minutes, 28 secondsbasically though the laws are intended for the good of all and we are to keep the laws peter is saying the same thing
46:3746 minutes, 37 secondssubmit yourselves to the ordinances of man for the lord's sake for this is the will of god that you might put to silence the
46:4546 minutes, 45 secondsignorance of foolish men but as free and yet not using your liberty
46:5346 minutes, 53 secondsfor a cloak of maliciousness but as the servants of god yes i am free but yet
47:0247 minutes, 2 secondsyou can exercise freedom in such a way that you come into bondage
47:0947 minutes, 9 secondspaul writing to the corinthians in chapter 6 verse 12 said all things are lawful
47:1547 minutes, 15 secondsfor me now i don't know of any broader ethic than that all things are lawful
47:2347 minutes, 23 secondsfor me but then he goes on to say all things are not expedient now
47:3047 minutes, 30 secondsas a christian i have certain set goals as paul said i'm pressing towards the
47:3947 minutes, 39 secondsmark for the prize of the high calling of god which is in christ jesus he said they that run in a race run all
47:4747 minutes, 47 secondsonly one receives the prize so run that you might obtain so i'm in this race and i'm in it to win
47:5647 minutes, 56 secondsnow there are things that can impede my progress toward my goal
48:0448 minutes, 4 secondsthey're not wrong i could do them but they would slow me down
48:1548 minutes, 15 secondsand because i have set my goals and my desire is to win the prize
48:2348 minutes, 23 secondsi will not engage in those things though they are lawful for me i mean it wouldn't be sinful it wouldn't be
48:2948 minutes, 29 secondsyou know some heavy judgment god but yet it would slow me down and impede my obtaining the goal
48:3848 minutes, 38 secondsand so though it is lawful for me i won't do it because i don't want anything to impede my progress towards
48:4648 minutes, 46 secondsthe goal all things are lawful for me he said but i will not be brought under the power of
48:5348 minutes, 53 secondsany now i can take certain things
49:0049 minutesbut if they bring me under their power then i'm no longer free you see i'm free
49:0649 minutes, 6 secondsall things are lawful for me you say can you drink yes i can drink and i drink all i want
49:1549 minutes, 15 secondsbut i don't want to because i won't be brought under the power you know you hear the term under the
49:2349 minutes, 23 secondsinfluence now i'm if i'm under the influence of alcohol then i'm no longer free i'm under the
49:3249 minutes, 32 secondspower the influence of the alcohol that is messing up with my brain cells and wiping some of them out
49:4049 minutes, 40 secondsand i can't afford to lose any so though it is lawful
49:4849 minutes, 48 secondsi don't do it because i don't want to be brought under the power and you see
49:5549 minutes, 55 secondsyou can exercise your freedom in such a way as to bring yourself into bondage and you think of the persons who have
50:0450 minutes, 4 secondsexercised their freedom to drink and are now alcoholics they're no longer free they're in bondage so all things are lawful but
50:1250 minutes, 12 secondsi'll not be brought under the power of anything and if it has the potential of bringing me under its influence and power
50:2150 minutes, 21 secondsi don't do it then in 10 23 he said all things are lawful for me
50:2850 minutes, 28 secondsbut all things edify not not everything builds me up in christ there are some things that i could do
50:3650 minutes, 36 secondsit's lawful to do it isn't sinful it isn't some gross horrible sin but it would draw me away from him it would
50:4450 minutes, 44 secondstear me down in my relationship with him and though it is lawful i won't do it because
50:5150 minutes, 51 secondsit doesn't build me up and i only want those things that will build up my relationship with jesus christ i don't want to give in to those things
that would tear down my relationship with him so you are as free but don't
use your liberty for a cloak of what maliciousness but as servants
of God you're free to serve the lord so honor all men
love the brotherhood love the body of christ the brotherhood in christ fear god
and honor the king so short little kind of injunctions here honor all men
love the brothers in christ fear god honor the king getting more specific servants be
subject to your masters with all fear not only to the good and the gentle
but also to the forward forward there were you know millions of slaves
in those days most of the christians were slaves rather than rebelling against your master running away
be in subjection but not only to that now there were masters who were kind they were good to their servants and there were others who were
mean and they would beat them and all and so he's just saying look
52:2952 minutes, 29 secondsbe subject to them not only to the good and the gentle ones but also to those that are forward for this is thank worthy if a man for
52:3852 minutes, 38 secondsconscience towards god endures grief suffering wrongfully
52:4552 minutes, 45 secondsthere therein is a real commendation if you are suffering wrongfully if you're
52:5252 minutes, 52 secondsinnocent and yet you've been accused and suffering for it if you take it and take it well
53:0053 minutesthen that's a real commendation but what glory is it if when
53:0953 minutes, 9 secondsyou've been buffeted for your faults if you're guilty ye shall take it patiently but when you do well
53:1753 minutes, 17 secondsand you suffer for it you take it patiently this is acceptable to god you know if you're guilty and and they they as a servant and they beat
you and you take it well you know you've got it coming but if you're innocent and they beat you and you take it well
then that really is a commendation and acceptable with god for even here unto it now he's going to give you a
tremendous example even here unto were ye called because christ also suffered for us leaving us an
example that we should follow in his steps who did no sin and neither was
guile found in his mouth who when he was reviled he reviled
not again when he suffered he threatened not but committed himself to him that judges
righteously so jesus is our example talk about suffering wrongfully jesus did
but he didn't when they were nailing him to the cross he didn't say i'll get even with you guys you'll fry
in hell you know he didn't threaten them
but what did he do he was praying father forgive them they know not what they do
so rather than threatening them he was praying for them, Jesus said, bless those that curse you, pray for those who despitefully use you. Jesus Christ left us the example that we should follow his steps, who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree , he's quoting now from Isaiah 53 that we being dead to sins
should live unto righteousness by whose stripes you were healed so in his own
self he bore our sins in his body isaiah said all of us like sheep have
gone astray we turned every one of us to our own ways god laid on him the iniquities of us all.
Now I want to point out something here and i think it's very important and peter is quoting or not he is alluding to Isaiah 53.
He's not giving you a word for word quotation but he's alluding to the 53rd chapter and what he is doing is drawing out the truths that are there, they are not in the same order as are written in the 53rd chapter, he's twisting a little bit the order of the things that he is saying but he is bringing the truth from Isaiah 53 and applying it,
I think it's important that we have the truth of God's Word hid in our heart , I don't think it is so important that we have a word by word exact quotation, one thing i like about all of the new modern versions is that if you don't quote word for word from King James version people don't know but what maybe you're quoting from NIV or something else but it isn't the chapter and verse that's so important as it is the truth he's not the spirit of chapter and verse he's the spirit of truth and what's important is that you grasp the truth that is there, and so apostle Peter here gives to us a good example of not quoting word for word verbatim but bringing you and drawing out the truth of Isaiah 53, so who in his own body bore our sins and his own self for our sins, in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness , by whose stripes you were healed, for you were as sheep going astray , but are now returned unto the Shepherd and the Bishop of your souls, so as you read the first part of Isaiah 53, there he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes ye were healed all we like sheep have gone astray we turned every one of us to our own ways, God laid on him (Jesus) the iniquities of us all, he doesn't quote it like that but he is using the portions and then giving commentary on them as he is bringing the truth. And so it is vital and important for us grasp the truth and be able to even put the truth in your own words when the truth is hidden in your heart , and you've grasped the truth, then share it, relate it and put it and couch it in your own words, no problem with that. A lot of times, when I'm talking with people I'll say, do you know that that's scriptural and they've put it in but the truth is there and then I'll give them the scripture that verifies what they're saying is true, it is scriptural truth though they didn't know that they were quoting from some passage, the basic truth of that passage, but the thought that was coming forth, the idea was biblical, it was truth and I often say to the young pastors that as you're listening to my sermons and as I am teaching the Word of God, when the spirit of God takes the truth and brings it to your heart, confirms it, in other words, as I'm bringing forth the teaching and I say something and you say, wow, yeah I see it , ooh you know, good I say, when it really speaks to you, it is now yours , use it , you don't have to say, well , brother so and so said, it's yours, the truth has come to your heart. Now use it and share it, and so grasping the basic truths and being able then to relate those truths is vitally important. Apostle Peter is doing that here, in the last few verses he is relating to you the truths out of Isaiah 53. And not in order as they are written there, and not the whole thing but just the basic nuggets of truth and giving a little exposition on them.
Father, we thank you, for the word of God is alive, powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword. And Lord we thank you for the blessings that you've bestowed upon us as your chosen people, a royal priesthood , a holy nation, the people of God. Lord help us that we might declare the excellencies of God that we might live, Lord in such a way that people will be drawn to you. Lord help our lives to be lived in accordance with your will. Help us Lord to have a strong witness before the world and may we follow the model and the example that has been set for us by our Lord, in Jesus Christ's name, we pray, amen.
Shall we stand again this evening the pastors are down here in the front of the church for the purpose of ministering to you to pray for you if you have any needs be it spiritual, or physical, come on down. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. And they are here to minister to your needs tonight. So feel free to come down, if you feel a need of for more power in your life , if God has spoken to you tonight and and the word of God like a mirror is, has shown some defects and you realize there are some issues , I need to take care of, you come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
