Following the Master's Plan John Kane

Welcome. I'm glad you're all here this morning. Many are not here, and our hearts and our prayers are with you, wherever you're at, whatever you're doing. But we're grateful that we can bring this time to you, that we have the opportunity to worship and to put this together in these trying times.

I know last week we spoke of trusting God, especially in times of trial, but one emotion that can separate us from our fellowship with God, and that is fear. Fear is not good if we feel that our circumstances are beyond what God is capable of controlling, that we're acting outside of the realm of God's ability.

That fear is sin, actually. And so, I was reading from C .H. Spurgeon this week, a passage from Deuteronomy 33 .12. It says, The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him who shelters him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.

It goes on to say, What a covering is that which the Lord gives to his chosen. Not a fair roof shall cover him, not a bomb-proof casement, nor even angels' wings, but Jehovah himself. We have that cover.

We don't need to fear, because God is with us. So, let's have that confidence in God, and he will remove those fears. We still have concerns abounding, but let's remember that. 1 Timothy 2 .1 -4 says, First of all, then, I urge you, and this is what we can do, I urge you that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God, our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. That's where we need to be, and that is to help be part of that mechanism to bring, to allow that message, that gospel message to come to the world.

We're going to begin our worship in Psalm, with Praise the Father, Praise the Son. He is perfect. Next Sunday, judges, and that's all we're doing. Today, obviously, it's a shorter service, and I was looking at the message in Judges.

Following the Master's Plan for Christian Living

So, you know, just doing my devotions and thinking through different things, my mind was drawn to a passage that we're going to go to in a moment. We'll be in First Peter in a moment. But it's pretty much stopped right now because of COVID.

But over the past few years, if you're a news junkie like I am, I mean, I don't watch the news. I read the news and I get news headlines all the time. There have been some amazing construction projects built and building projects around the world.

For example, by the end of 2019, not 2020, 2019, two of the top three longest bridges in the world were finished in China. Two out of three of the longest bridges. Also in 2019, the tallest building in the world was finished in Dubai.

Structures like these are engineering marvels. And they were designed and they were planned by experts. And all these structures were built by workers that carefully followed the blueprints and plans for what they were building.

And this morning, I want to speak with you about following the master's plan, not for a bridge or a building, but for the Christian life. Amazing bridges and buildings have been built following the designers' plans.

And a humbling, remarkable truth taught in the Bible is that a mighty, all-powerful, all-knowing God has a plan. God has a plan for every single person that he saves. And a question that I want to put in front of you to ask yourself today as we work our way through the text that we're going to be working our way through.

And please do it humbly and do it honestly, is this. Am I following the master's plan for my life? I say I'm a Christian, that I am born again. I attend church as much as we can with COVID, right? But am I following the master's plan for my life?

And that is the message title, if you have the notes, following the master's plan. Christians should be so encouraged as they understand that God has an incredible plan when it comes to living out the Christian life.

And I could dump in this building a dump truck full of scripture that tells us that God has a design and a plan and a purpose for saving each and every person that he saves. Look at this in Ephesians chapter 2.

You know verses 8 and 9. In fact, every fundamental of the faith Bible study, every discipleship course that I've ever seen has this verse as a verse to memorize. And it's verses 8 and 9. Look at them.

You know these verses. But here's the verse I want you to look at carefully, verse 10. Look carefully at this verse. For we, talking about believers, listen to me carefully. We, the people who have done what verse 8 and 9 say.

We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. I really want to encourage you to think deeply for a moment about what God is saying in verse 10.

Christians, first of all, nobody comes to God unless he calls them.

Whoa.

Then they are saved by grace through faith alone for a purpose according to the master's plan. And one of those purposes is to do good works. And the thing that blows my mind every time I read this verse is that God prepared them when?

Beforehand. Before verse 8 and 9 happened. God prepared. I don't have the time. This is a skim across the top message because the goal is to finish at 10 to 12. Of course, we started 10 minutes late because of our technical difficulties.

So I'm going to try to finish because the elders have, and I totally agree, they have some very important things to share with you. And they want to have the time to do that. OK, but it's just so humbling that God prepared this plan before any Christian was ever born for them to do these works.

And the good works here have eternal purposes. The good works here are divine in nature. God has a plan. You see, bridge builders and people who design buildings have a plan and the workers follow the plan.

And then the thing is built. I have so many illustrations. So much on my mind. And then to hear this morning, one of my daughters, this is just has nothing to do with anything except it's so cool. So first of all, this song that we just sang, I heard them practicing it at the beginning of the week.

I've been listening to it all week and I've fallen in love with it. I'm working and it's on YouTube and I'm playing it over and over and over. And then I was off out of time.

Did you hear that?

I mean, I do it.

My kids did. But on top of that, one year ago today. Pastor Stan Bernstein preached a message from the very text that I'm preaching from today. Because one of my daughters has it marked in her Bibles.

We were here on this Sunday in September in 2019. And I had no idea. I just happened to ask her as we were getting ready to walk out the house this morning. Hey, sweetheart, can you check your Bible? Because she writes the dates down in certain notes.

She goes, yeah.

First Peter 2. Pastor Bernstein.

Whoa.

So the question that we should be asking ourselves seriously today. Listen, is am I following the master's plan? And even more important, do I know what that plan is? So the master's plan. Following the master's plan and three integral components of God's design and plan.

And like I say, we're just skimming across the top. The cream is sitting here. The good stuff is going to come to the top. We're going to scoop it off with the spoon and and then leave the rest for another time.

OK, so let's pray. Father God, I thank you for this day that we can gather together to worship that we are together. What a blessing.

What a joy.

May the Holy Spirit be our teacher. May I stay out of the way, God, that you might do a work in us that only you can do. Father, we pray in Jesus name. Amen. All right.

First Peter.

This message has been approved. Now, our focus is going to be three verses where Peter lays out three key parts of God's design and plan for Christian living. And again, there's so much here. There's so much here.

I'm just going to take the spoon and skim across the top of the good stuff that settles to the top. And one of one of the amazing and humbling truth here that I just wish I could develop with you is that God has selected all kinds.

Listen, all kinds of in perfect people to accomplish his plan. I mean, you got to think about Peter, Peter, a simple fisherman. Peter, the man with perpetual foot and mouth disease. My name should be Peter.

The man who denied the Lord Jesus Christ three times wrote this very letter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And in the end became a powerful witness for Christ. It would not even be crucified the way our Lord was, but said, do it upside down.

I don't deserve today to die the way my Lord died. So what are some key parts of the plan that Christians can be following in order to be plugged in and following God's design? How can Christians get plugged into and stay plugged into the master's plan?

Putting Off Sin as Part of God’s Plan

First of all, by purposing, by purposing to consistently put aside sin. The first way that Peter says Christians get plugged into God's design and plan is by purposing to consistently put aside sin. Look at verse one.

Therefore, and this goes all the way back again, if you're going to do this right, you would read all of basically all of chapter one. Verses one through twelve is really a single thought. Verses 13 through 25 is basically a single thought because he ends chapter one by saying, now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

Therefore, here it is laying aside all malice, all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and evil speaking. So Peter is talking here about sin. Sin, what is sin? It is a violation of God's law. Sin is a violation of God's plan.

And part of God's plan when someone is saved is that they enter this new life that is designed by the master to display holy conduct and Christ likeness. And Peter here identifies certain attitudes and certain actions, certain sins that are incompatible with God's plan for a Christian's life.

Now, this term laying aside is quite interesting. Some Bibles have putting aside. It's an action verb. It's something that we do. It's active voice. It's a participle. And it's in the continuous tense, which means this is an ongoing thing.

It doesn't mean we get saved and we're perfect. This is an ongoing plan for our life to be putting aside, laying off. And the term was used for like taking off a coat. OK, so it's taking off a coat. It's taking off, putting it off, hanging it up in the closet, actually burying it and putting to death.

But that's another sermon. The idea is for believers to be in this ongoing process of taking off of putting off the behavior that doesn't follow the master's plan. Ephesians 422 says that in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self.

Take it off, which is being corrupted in the lusts of deceit and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and you put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.

This is the master's plan. Consistently be in the process of putting off the old and putting on the new. Now, what does God tell Christians to put aside? Listen carefully to put aside what will corrupt his plan.

It begins with malice or wickedness. Now, this is a general word. And basically, in the original Greek, almost any sin can fit under this. Almost any kind of sinful behavior. And notice how he puts it.

Look carefully.

Don't miss these little important words. He says all malice. All deceit. Guess what the word all means in the Bible?

All.

Just like we use it. Eat all the ice cream. Yeah, you're going to leave two scoops, right?

No, you're not.

Put the cake out. Eat all the cake.

Come on.

What's your favorite cake?

Come on. Go ahead.

Eat all of it. Yeah, you're just going to have one piece. The word malice I already told you, right? General word. Deceit is dishonesty. Hypocrisy is pretense or two-facedness. It's being a hearer of the word and not a doer.

Hypocrisy is living out, listen, is behavior that is inconsistent with God's plan. Envy is jealousy. Slander is speaking ill of others, assassinating people behind their back. Slander is claiming to love fellow believers.

But gossiping and running them down behind their back. All of these kinds of things do not have place among the people of God because they're not part of God's plan. And see, try as you might, listen, try as you might, you will not find them anywhere on the blueprint of God's plan for the Christian life.

You can go through page after page, all the blueprints, you will not find these on the blueprints. People are born again, will purpose by God's grace through faith, in an ongoing manner, to be putting off, to be taking off, to be laying aside these things, and all of them are sin.

Now, did anything pop out in those three? Anything just, did you go, huh? Well, if you're looking at your notes, I might have put it there. These are relationship sins. These are almost all relationship sins.

Now, why does Peter put those? Why does he limit this list? These are all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy. These are related, evil speaking, because these are the things that destroy relationships. And hence, they destroy community.

They destroy what's in the home. They destroy what's in the church. And we're going to see in just a moment that an incredible part of God's master plan for believers, listen to me, is the church. That's one reason why what's going on in our country is so devastating.

Not only is it economically devastating, it is spiritually devastating, what's going on. So, first of all, Christians follow the master's plan. They stay on track with his design. First, by purposing, by faith, to consistently.

Does it mean perfection?

No.

No, it's not perfection. It's the ongoing process, putting it off. Second, Christians follow the master's plan by purposing to be consistently fed by God's word. Peter says, therefore, putting aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking.

And then another part of the master's plan, he says, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby. Right here on the blueprint of the master's plan is for Christians to have an intense appetite and hunger for the pure milk of the word.

So let me give you a hard question to ask. Just look in the mirror a moment. Ask yourself this hard question. Are we as hungry for God's word in the same way that a hungry baby cries out for their mother's milk?

I'm going to tell you something.

I'll be quite frank with you. Right now, I'm craving In-N-Out. See, we made the decision this morning because of the way the plans are that we're going to do In-N-Out. And I can already smell it. That's nothing compared to the way a baby longs for its mother's milk when it's hungry.

What do they do? Do they say, milk, please?

And if you don't get that milk, the screaming gets louder.

OK, listen, be honest with yourself this morning, Christian. Is that how you feel about this book? Psalm 119. The master planner tells us to hide God's word in our heart. In Romans, he tells us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes by the word of God.

In Hebrew, the master planner tells us that God's word is powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, and is able to judge the thoughts and the intentions of a man's heart. Jesus himself said, man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Believers should desire and long for the word of God. Not that you're crying and having a fit because you can't have it.

I gotta have my devotions.

No, but it's a longing for God's word.

Why?

That you may grow thereby.

Friends, get Peter's word picture, please.

Without a mother's milk, a baby dies. Without God's word, a Christian will die.

One of the things that's going on with the church in America is that very thing. They're dying. So what is Peter talking about here? He's not talking about a sip. He's not talking about a single slice.

He's not talking about coming to church on Sunday and saying, I got my fill. Try raising a baby with one, you know, a little milk, one bottle a week.

Come on, mothers.

You know, right? The idea is feeding. The idea is constantly and consistently feeding and taking the word of God in and getting soul nourishment. And I want to point out something. It's so interesting.

It's just a little thing. Again, verse three. He says, if indeed. So the New King James, the Nazby, the King James, Young's literal. I went through seven translations. All of them have the word if there.

In the Greek, the word is not if. In the Greek, are you ready?

In the Greek, the word is since. So change that word. As newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby since. Indeed, you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. What is he saying?

Does that change the meaning? Yes, because if as a condition, conditional conjunction. Since is not. It's a fact. In fact, two English translations have the word now that. As newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby now that you have tasted that the Lord is good and gracious, meaning this, if you're truly saying this is the way you are and this is the way you want to be.

And if you're not, you need to go to God and repent.

God, I'm guilty.

God, forgive me.

I'm going to get up.

I'm going to spend time in the word that I may grow thereby.

Please give me that hunger again. So what is what is part of this master's plan for building and living out the true Christian life? First of all, purposing by God's grace and strength to consistently put aside sin.

Secondly, by purposing by God's grace to consistently long for the pure milk of word that you may grow thereby. And now, number three. Believers follow the master's plan. Here it is. Listen carefully by being and remaining an integral part of the building project.

See, the master engineer builder has a plan. And it isn't building the longest bridge in the world, and it isn't building the tallest building in the world. God has designed a plan to reconcile simple people to himself.

And God has designed a building that he calls a spiritual house. And here's what's so important.

Christians follow the plan.

By being an integral part of the building project of this spiritual house that God has planned. God has designed a building which he calls a spiritual house. And again, we're just because of time. We're just skimming across the surface.

But look at verse four.

This is all flowing out of right. Since you believe now that you're a believer, you're laying aside sin, you're longing.

Verse two.

Now coming to him as a living stone. OK, now get this. You're stones.

Got it.

Is the pastor telling me I'm a stone? Yeah, you're a living stone. You're not a dead stone. You're a living stone. You got a cardiovascular.

Everybody breathing. Breathe in. Breathe out.

Yeah, right.

OK, good.

Look carefully.

Rejected indeed by men. Christ was rejected, but chosen by God and precious.

You also.

As living stones are being built up. A spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Now, again, remember, I told you we're just skimming across the top.

I have to end in three minutes. The floor is going to open up. There's so much here. First of all, notice how Peter identifies the purpose of the living stones in verse five. You believers. As living, breathing stones.

So you're living. OK, you're being built up. Into a spiritual house. A holy priesthood. For the purposes of offering up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ, which, by the way, is taking all of the new Old Testament narrative and squishing it into the purpose of our life today as a Christian.

Right.

God has a plan. Every true Christian is a wonderfully made unique living stone that God saves for the purpose of bringing him glory. And this is done as believers share the gospel and fulfill the unique purpose within a local church that God has before ordained for them.

God brings these stones together and they're stones of all shapes and sizes. So that verse nine. We we the stones believers in the local church may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Now, I had the privilege of going to Bible college, the president of the college. His father was a literal master stone mason. He wasn't a mason, the Masonics. He was a stone mason. And we've got I'm telling you, every week we got illustrations about how stone houses are built and how each stone is dependent on the forces and the positions of the other stones.

And when you take out even one stone out of a stone house, even just one, the design is actually compromised. And the more stones you remove from a true stone house, the weaker the house. And see, God's perfect plan and purpose for believers is to be living stones.

And God is talking here about people of all different ages, shapes, sizes, ethnicity, background.

Look at your hands.

Each pinky isn't the same, right? Each finger isn't the same. Each thumb isn't the same.

Your feet, your ears.

These glasses are always going like this. And we have a doctor in our church. He's an optometrist. And he's saying, well, John, you know, everybody's head isn't perfect. You got your left ear is a little higher than your right ear.

So they're going to be like this.

Isn't that true? And that's the church.

In the same way that all kinds of dead and lifeless stones can be used to build a physical house. God uses all kinds of living stones to build his spiritual house, which is the church. And notice the foundation.

He identifies the purpose. What is the purpose, right? To build this house that proclaims, right?

Come on.

Don't miss it. Proclaims the praises of him who called you. I mean, this wonderful gift of salvation.

We are proclaiming. We are sharing.

Now, any structural engineer, I don't know if Harold will get up and share this, but any building contractor would get up here and tell us that the house, the quality of the house, the integrity of the house, it has a direct correlation to the integrity of the foundation.

Bad foundation, bad house. On a stone building, the single most important stone is what's called the cornerstone. And any stonemason will spend most of their time on the cornerstone. It has to be perfect.

Who is the chief cornerstone? You want to know one of the things that's going on in the church in America? Fasten your seatbelt. This is free. They're preaching a different Jesus. It's not a biblical Jesus.

You see, if the foundation, if the cornerstone is off, right? The whole thing is off. Then you take from there the foundation and doctrine is off in the church. So the whole church is falling apart. You got churches saying, oh, we're not going to meet till next year.

And look how he describes him. Verse four, rejected. Christ was rejected by the leaders of Israel. Notice he says, it's so interesting, the language, I don't have the time to develop here. Verse six, the chief, the chief or the very cornerstone.

You see, Jesus is not just one of many possible cornerstones. Jesus Christ is the only cornerstone. Jesus is the very one God sent. And that's why Ephesians 2 .20 says, the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.

Listen, Jesus Christ, the cornerstone. Your Christology has to be solid or the whole building is out. Then your doctrine has to be solid or the building is even worse. And then he says it's precious. He says it twice.

Jesus was a rejected stone. He is a cheap cornerstone. He's a precious stone. Peter uses the word precious three times.

I'm out of time.

This is part of the master's plan. And what a wonderful way to see if a Christian is building according to plan. You want to look at the blueprint for your life? Can we look together at the blueprint that God has?

And can we turn to the page? Oh, it's actually, it's right off the cover. God's church, the master plan, we open the cover page. There's Jesus Christ. Here's the question to ask yourself. How precious is Jesus Christ to me?

How much do I honor and prize him in his church? You see, the master's plan is for Christians to be living stones. And therefore, believers need to be a part of a local church. God has designed local churches to be made up of living stones.

And it's God's plan for these living stones to work together with the other living stones. Of all shapes and sizes to build Christ's church and his kingdom. And these living stones proclaim the praises of God by doing their individual part.

By laying aside sin, by growing in maturity. And believers are then living stones working together off of the chief cornerstone, off of the foundation. You know, it's my understanding that it took 2 ,000 years to build the Great Wall in China.

Did you know that? That thing? 2 ,000 years. In our day, it took 10 ,000 workers four years to build the third longest bridge in the world. The master engineer builder has a plan. And it's infinitely more and eternally more valuable than a bridge.

In fact, it's so precious. It's so precious. It's so valuable that God gave his only begotten son for it. Peter calls it precious value. Christians are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that believers should walk in them.

What is the master's plan? One, Christians must purpose by God's grace, because it's going to come up, 1 John 1, 9, but consistently laying it aside. Second, they must be growing by the pure milk of the word.

That means we must be people of the book. We will know when the lie comes along because we know the truth. And Jesus said, you will know the truth.

Help me.

And the truth will what? Set you free.

I can't tell you.

Because I teach part time in a Christian school, I meet Christians from every walk of life and from every church you can imagine. And you can't believe sometimes when you talk to them about God's word.

And they go, I didn't know that.

Talk about basic Christianity. Number three. We must understand the truth that we're all living stones created in Christ Jesus to be joined together with one another, with other living stones together being built up into a spiritual house, into a holy priesthood to proclaim the excellencies of him who saved us.

Hallelujah.

So take a moment before Harold comes with the closing song. Take a moment and use this time. Keep your Bible open to that passage or the notes that you have. Ask yourself the hard questions and pray with me quietly to yourself.

And then Harold will come after I pray. I'll give you a moment or two just to reflect on the notes you took or on a particular verse that jumped out at you. And then I'll pray and then I'll ask Brother Harold to come.

Please use this time to pray. Father, it is so wonderful to be a Christian. It is wonderful to be God's child. God help us as the Holy Spirit brought different truths from this passage to our hearts and minds that it might indeed bear fruit in our lives.

God, we ask in Jesus name. Amen.