The Peculiar People (April 30 2023)

THE PECULIAR PEOPLE

Text:1 Peter 2:9-16

1 Peter 2: 1 - 10: Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5 like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in scripture: ‘See, I am laying in Zion a stone,  a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’ 7 To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, ‘The stone that the builders rejected  has become the very head of the corner’, 8 and ‘A stone that makes them stumble,  and a rock that makes them fall.’ They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy,

"There is the story about a guard who was on duty during a train trip. He had a rose in his buttonhole. A drunken man came along and snatched it out. The guard turned red but did not say anything. An onlooker said, "However did you keep your temper? You said nothing." The guard replied simply, "I'm on duty." As Christians we should remember that wherever we are and whatever happens to us, we are always `on duty'." (A. Naismith. 1200 Notes, Quotes And Anecdotes. Great Britain; Pickering Paperbacks, 1998, p. 317). This onlooker thought that the behavior of this guard was strange or odd, because it was not the usual way that most people would have acted. “Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander” (1 Peter 2:1 NRSV). The guard was acting appropriately because he was remembering who he was--- a representative of the company that he worked for. As Christians we are always on duty. 24/7/365!

We might not be a guard on a train for guard duty,but we cannot deny that we must always be on guard for the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

It has been said, that “Some Bible expositors see the rose of Sharon as Christ and the lily as the church, His bride”. https://www.gotquestions.org/Rose-of-Sharon.html The Rose of Sharon that these Biblical expositors often refer to is in Song of Solomon 2:1. If Jesus is our Savior, then we need to remind ourselves that He does not rest on some button hole in our coat, but sits on the throne of our hearts as the King of kings! If Jesus is the King of kings who sits on the throne of our hearts, then our hearts should be transformed from “malice, guile, insincerity, envy and slander” because we are supposed to graduate from milk and grow in grace! (1 Peter 2:1- 2)! What Peter is telling us is that we should not let the things of this world, nor the people of this world distract us from the business of the Gospel!

Today we want to talk about provocateurs, peculiar people and our priesthood.

PROVOCATEURS

Who or what provokes you? Does a critic provoke you?

1) Critics without: “If you are a Christian, you can expect folks to criticize, but you ought to live so nobody will believe them”. Galaxie Software. (2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press. Our world is full of critics and critics who critique each others as if one were superior to the other. Every single day in the news we hear about these opposing critics stir up strife with each other and try to gain supporters.

2) Critics within: Critics on the outside are bad enough and critics on the inside can cause conflict and factions that cause people to look at those of us in the church as flawed, distracted and lacking unity.

3) Confusion: “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints” (1 Corinthians_14:33 ESV).

What is Satan’s motive as a provocateur?

1) God’s enemy: Is Satan's motive to confuse us? God promotes unity, adds and multiplies, conquers evil and promotes life and community! It is Satan who confuses, divides, deceives and wants to destroy and kill!

2) Building Material: “The building of the tower of Babel was man’s first attempt to build a society from which God was to be excluded. “Babylon” in the Bible symbolizes rebellion against God and confusion in religion. We see Babylon opposing the people of God throughout the Bible, culminating in the “Great Babylon” of Rev. 17-18. … Their materials (vv.1-3) - “And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick” (v.4).  It is interesting to note that God builds with stone (I Peter 2:4-8) but man uses brick. Brick is simply hardened clay which man puts together.” https://www.family-times.net/commentary/the-tower-of-babel/ Satan wants us to build on dead and inanimate things, but God calls us to be established and built on Jesus Christ the living stone---the solid rock to be built as a spiritual house!