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This is part four of the Chosen Stone and His Chosen People, and I would like to invite you to turn with me in your Bible as we continue our study in the first epistle of Peter. Chapter 2, 1 Peter 2, beginning with verse 4.
This is a wonderful text, isn't it?
And it's rich.
I'm reading from the NASB translation this morning. So hear the word of the living God as I read, beginning with verse 4 to verse 10. And coming to Him as to a living stone, which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
For this is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed. This precious value, this precious value, then, is for you who believe.
But for those who disbelieve, the stone which the builders rejected, this became the very cornerstone, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. For they stumbled because they were disobedient to the Word, and to this doom they were also appointed.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
For you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God. And had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. May God richly bless the reading of His holy Word to our hearts this morning.
Now, let's seek God's face and help of His Holy Spirit within this hour of worship as we continue to look to Him. Our Father and our God, Lord, we beseech You, and Lord, we come to You, and that we are a people.
And we thank You, Father, that we are Your people. Lord, we are a people that's in great need today, great need of a great God, and God who is our Savior.
Lord, we need Thee every hour. Oh, Lord, how we truly need Thee.
So, Father, I pray, help us to see the only one who is worthy of all praise and glory, and that is Your only beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, I pray that You would hide me behind the cross, anoint each and every one of us to have ears to hear what the Spirit would say to the church.
And may our utterance and may our cry be as Samuel. Lord, speak, for Your servant hears. And we ask these things in Jesus' name.
Amen and amen.
One of the simplest, most rewarding methods of Bible study I have found in my personal life is to take just one word from Scripture and see how it is used in different parts of the Bible. And I find this quite rewarding.
And I did this this past week, and I've been thinking about it all along as we've been going through the book of 1 Peter, but I found out through 1 Peter and 2 Peter there is one word that really stands out in our study as we've been looking at this wonderful text.
And in this study, in this time of worship, we will consider this one word. And this one word is called precious. It's a wonderful word. And it is a word which the Apostle Peter uses several times in connections in his letter.
Not only in 1 Peter, but also in 2 Peter he uses it. Because this word meant something to him. And it was given to him by the Holy Spirit. So again, I believe if the Apostle Peter was here with us today, of course we'd be hearing him preach, right?
And read the letter or read whatever he had to say. But he would go along with the truth saying this is revealed by the Spirit of God. I can assure you of that because I don't believe it was something that he came up with.
The Spirit of God gave him this word. So let's consider this word precious. When something is precious, it means it is of great worth. Great worth. It's also of great value as I looked at definitions.
And it can also mean it is something of very highly, something that is very highly esteemed. Something of great cost. Something that is of infinite value. For example, if someone or something is precious to me, then he or she or it will bring about certain reactions.
Obviously, if we cherish something, we will consider that of great value to us. First, my thoughts will be full of that person or thing. My thoughts will be full of that. Second, I would cherish or guard that person or thing with great care.
And third, I would dread any thought or harm or loss coming to that person or thing in that sense. And also fourth, I will also find it almost impossible to live without that person or thing if I truly understand that word precious.
Because that word means something. Now, my question to you and to myself this morning as I apply this, and we will be seeing other applications, but I want to begin with a question that will stir your heart this morning.
And that question is, what is it that fills your heart and mind? And what or whom do you cherish and guard within your mind and heart today? More than anything else in this world, in this universe, that is what we will consider is this word precious.
Our text before us tells us actually that fills Peter's mind and heart. And it is the Holy Spirit that is breathing upon him. But at the same time, it is something that is part of him. It is what he cherishes and it is what Peter guards.
That which is precious. That which is precious. What is precious to you today? That which has infinite value above everything in the entire universe without any reservation. Well, within our text, we have been studying for the past several Lord's Day.
We have seen that Jesus Christ Himself is the chief cornerstone. And the text tells us from verse 4 that He is choice and precious in the sight of God. Now, I would like for you to see that because when precious comes to mind, the first thing Peter writes down is that Jesus Christ Himself is precious.
He is the one that is precious. It is the Lord Himself, the person of Christ, that is precious. And He is the only one that is precious. And He is the only so precious to believers. Now, to unbelievers, it is another story.
He is not so precious, is He? Jesus alone is precious to the believers because of all that He is in Him Himself. He is glorious in His person. But also because of all the blessings He gives to His people as well.
Now, we know that the true believer will love the God of mercy, just not the mercies of God. Even though we do love the mercies of God, don't we? Because it is the compassion of God that has come to us.
But why has the compassion of God come to us? Because of the God of compassion. Because of the mercy of God. Because of who He is. We benefit from it, but we just don't look at the benefits, do we? We look at the God of the benefits.
We never want to lose sight of that. But that is where He starts. But it doesn't mean that we are not going to look at His blessings and benefits that He gives to us out of His loving kindness and His mercy and His grace.
So He does.
Scripture actually says, do not forget all of His benefits. In Psalm 103. So we are not to forget His benefits, are we? Now, that is what we are going to look at this morning. We are going to look at some of these benefits, but we are going to behold the One that gives the benefits as well.
So let us consider this great word, precious, this morning, that has become ours when we come to know Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior and come to know Him more intimately. As we grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and progress in our sanctification, and as we grow in being like Christ, and knowing Him more and more and deeper and deeper, that Jesus is precious in everything.
Now, my first question is, why is Jesus precious? That is a good question, isn't it? Why is Jesus precious? Well, from that question there, I would like to give you several reasons why Jesus is precious.
Why is Jesus precious to you? Why is Jesus precious to me? Well, the first one is this, that the very first reason Jesus is precious is because He shed His precious blood for you and me. I think that is a good reason, isn't it?
Because the Lord Jesus Christ shed His precious blood for us. And notice I said precious blood. Everything about Jesus is precious. He shed His precious blood for us. Now, where do we find this? Well, if you look at 1 Peter chapter 1, look at verse 18 -21.
If you go back just a little bit, 18 -21, in the previous chapter, we have already looked at this, and like I said, we are going backwards a little bit, and we are going to go forward. But here, notice what He says in verse 18, knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for your sake, who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
But notice with me what He says, that expression, precious blood, the blood of Christ. Now, beloved, that needs our full attention this morning, doesn't it? It needs our full attention. It occurs many, many times throughout the entire Old Testament and New Testament, because there is a scarlet thread that runs from Genesis to Revelation, and that scarlet thread is the lineage of Jesus Christ, that He is the seed, the promise, and it all leads to Calvary's cross.
Every bit of it. Precious blood. The word redeemed and ransom as we have looked at, but I'd like to bring this back to our attention again. Because, again, it means to buy back. Buy back someone from bondage by the payment of the price, and to set free by payment and ransom.
In other words, a price had to be paid to a holy, just God, which, by the way, in the parentheses here, is which is impossible for us to do, but God did it, sending His own Son into the world as the Lamb of God.
God made provision and paid the payment of our sins.
Infinite value.
The precious blood of Jesus Christ. And our Lord Jesus did this when He sacrificed Himself and laid down His life willingly upon the cross of Calvary. I love what Jesus says. No man takes my life from me.
I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it back up again. And that word power means authority. He has all authority.
So no one really took His life.
He really willingly laid it down.
He even said at His arrest, when they came to arrest Him after Judas kissed Him,.
He said,.
Do you know that I have the power to call down legions? I believe He said, Ten thousand legions of angels right to my side to deliver me. All you have to do is speak the word. He had that much power in speaking a word.
And as you well know, in the midst of a storm that terrified the disciples,.
Jesus said,.
Peace be still to the storm, and it immediately calmed. And after it was all over with, they were more terrified because they said, What manner of man is this? Such power in His word. But He had all power to back away from this if He wanted to, but He went all the way to the cross for you and me and paid the price so that you and I may have eternal life and salvation today.
He paid the price, He paid the ransom, He redeemed us by His precious blood. Romans 5, 8 and 9 is one of my most favorite passages of Scripture. The Apostle Paul says this,. But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more, there's more, than having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. Now I want you to put a sealer right there and think about that. Much more than having now been justified by His blood.
Underscore this. We shall be saved from the wrath of God. The blood of Jesus Christ will save you. Because there's enough power in the blood of Christ to save you from the wrath of God. Because God says, when I see the blood, I will pass over you.
And Jesus is the Passover Lamb. Praise God.
Through Him. Through Him.
And no one else.
Hallelujah, what a Savior. I like what John Newton said, and he really underscored something here. He says, as precious as sanctification is, it is not the ground of my hope. You know the doctrine of sanctification is very important, isn't it?
But that's not the ground of our hope. Our sanctification is not the ground of our hope. We are to be sanctified. But what sanctifies us? We are first justified. But what did Paul say here? But we're justified by what?
His blood.
By faith. But the faith is in His blood.
The faith is in His sacrifice. The faith is not in faith, which is heresy. The faith is in Jesus. Isn't that great? It's in Jesus and Jesus alone and what He did. That's why it's precious. And John Newton knew that.
He understood that everything comes out from the cross. Beloved, I was thinking more about the cross. We must be cross-centered. We must be Calvary-centered. Because your victory, my victory, our faith, and everything that we have in God through Jesus Christ is all because of the cross.
There is no victory outside of the cross. There is no eternal life outside of the cross. Everything is within the cross. Aren't you glad for the cross of Calvary? The ground of our hope is in the precious blood of Jesus.
You know, beloved, this is why the Apostle Paul could say in 1 Corinthians 2 -2, For I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. When Paul said that, he was talking about this was a man that was learned in the law of God and he knew the Scriptures.
And he says, I don't know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Spurgeon says, all my theology is summed up in these words, Jesus died for me. And this is what our attention is on. Though Paul could expound the whole counsel of God to the churches and he taught the word of God in the churches, his focus in his preaching and his teaching to believers was Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
A quote by Spurgeon, speaking of Spurgeon, is right here. He said this, There may be some sins which a man cannot speak, but there is no sin which the blood of Christ cannot wash away. That gives cause to praise Him.
He says, no sin in sacred history ever gladdens the soul like the sin of Calvary. And he goes on to say, Nothing puts life into man like a dying Savior.
Hallelujah.
So, the shedding of His blood, the precious blood accomplished our redemption. That He purchased us from the slave market of sin. Now we are God's own possession. Every believer may know these great truths.
And I'm going to just give you some bullet points real quick. But there's much more. But because of time, I'm just going to give some bullet points. Number one, He has redeemed us. Two, Christ is our substitute.
Verse 19. Third, in eternity, God was making provision for His salvation. In time, when Jesus Christ was revealed, in the fullness of time, Christ came.
For of Him.
In verse 20.
And fourth, because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, His perfect sacrifice was accepted by a just and holy God. That's the gospel. In verse 21. And all this is true, beloved, because the blood of Jesus Christ was shed.
No wonder the Apostle Peter says, It is precious blood. Precious. How precious the blood of Jesus Christ. And we are helped to see how precious Christ is in Himself. Because of His blood. Well, the second reason is that the Lord Jesus is precious because of the faith that we have received from Him.
Now, as I was looking through these scriptures, I said, this is another wonderful, precious gift from God. Look with me very quickly to 2 Peter 1 .1. 2 Peter 1 .1. I'm jumping ahead a little bit, but the reason I'm doing this is because it's word precious.
The verse starts out with this, Simon Peter, a bond servant and Apostle of Jesus Christ. And notice what he says. The very first thing he says in 2 Peter. To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
Now, I personally like the New King James translation or the Old King James translation here because it says to those who have obtained like precious faith. Like precious faith. The faith that we have is precious.
This is not just a faith in faith. Like I said, this is a faith in God. This is a faith that rests in the character of God. It's what makes us believers. It's like precious faith. Did we attain it? By no means, God forbid.
It's impossible for us to attain it. It's impossible for us to work for it. We cannot summons it up. We cannot work it up.
It is a gift.
We received it. We obtained it. Not attained it, but obtained it. Because faith is a gift from God. Now, how does this work? How has God done this? He did this out of His own heart through the new birth of regeneration.
Not as a result of our efforts, like I said, but it was implanted.
That would be the word there.
Implanted in us by the Lord through the divine power of the Holy Spirit in regeneration.
Being born again.
That's how it happened. It was supernatural. Regeneration is a supernatural work. It is the divine work of the Holy Spirit and this faith is precious.
Why?
Because it brings us into union and communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2 verse 8 is well familiar to us. But may we be spared from the apathy, God forbid, may this be fresh to us as we first came to Christ.
For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves.
It is the gift of God.
Not of works.
Least anyone should boast.
No one can boast. No one will be able to boast. You know, that should keep us humble, shouldn't it? So it is God's grace, His unmerited favor that He has graciously bestowed upon us as a gift of faith.
And that's why James says, every good and perfect gift comes from above. And in that context, He's talking about eternal life. He's talking about regeneration. He's talking about life eternal that comes to us by the power of the Holy Spirit that brings us right into God.
Isn't that great? We give Him glory for that, don't we? We praise Him. So as we see how precious the faith is, we are helped to see how precious the Lord Jesus Christ is in Himself. It is His gift to us and it unites us with Him.
Very quickly, go with me to Romans. I shared this with Brother Keith earlier, but if you look at Romans chapter 9, this is a wonderful text. Now this chapter gets hopscotched a great deal.
You know that.
Because a lot of people cannot really receive, I guess you could say, that is God's sovereignty and salvation that takes place. And a lot of people just cannot handle that God is the one that is in total control of people's salvation.
People like to say, I have something to do with my salvation. I cooperate with God. I have something to do with it. But we have nothing to do with our salvation. Isn't that glorious? Even repentance is a gift from God that's granted to us to turn from sin that faith is given that we may take a hold of Christ.
See, those are twin gifts, Spurgeon said. But the text I'd like to look at in connection to what we're looking at from 1 Peter is verse 30 of chapter 9 to verse 33. And notice the Apostle Paul quotes Isaiah just the same as Peter did.
But in verse 30 he says, What shall we say then? The Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness? Even the righteousness which is by faith? But Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law?
Then he says this.
Notice that. Question mark.
And notice what his answer is. Because they did not pursue it by faith. They did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. And then he quotes Isaiah just as it is written.
Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of a stumbling and a rock of a fence, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed. Isn't that a great word? How many times that we see that text given to us in the pages of Holy Writ.
Isn't it? Well, let me go to the third point now. There's another reason that Jesus, our Lord, is precious. He's precious because of His shed blood. He's precious because of the life, precious faith that He has given to His people.
But He's also precious because of the grace that has been given to us. Grace.
Now this is a whole sermon.
These points are whole sermons.
Notice with me in 1 Peter, our text, chapter 2, verses 3 -6. There's a great deal. He first says in verse 3, If you have tasted of the kindness of the Lord. If you have tasted of the kindness of the Lord.
That's God's grace. That's God's grace. Everything here, coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men. But is choice and precious in the sight of God. You also, as living stones, are being built up in a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
It's all because of grace. Yes, faith. His precious blood. But it's because of God's unmerited favor that has been given to us. Grace. Because the church of the living God is described here as a building that Christ is building that church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it because Christ is building it.
Jesus Himself is that chief head cornerstone that the whole structure of the whole entire church is built upon because He's alive. He's a living stone. He's risen from the dead. Risen from the dead. And believers are united with Him as living stones like He is.
We are raised from the dead too. Why were we died to our sins? Because Christ died for our sins. And became a sin offering. He became sin. That's what scripture says. Not that He was a sinner like us, but He was looked at upon like a sin offering.
He that knew no sin became sin, a sin offering.
That you and I might be the righteousness of God in Him.
That's the gospel.
It never gets old, does it? But we are building, being built up as a temple, a sanctuary. We are precious stones before God because we are built into the precious stone who is Jesus Christ Himself who is precious.
Kind of like we are bricks into this building. You know, you see these brick buildings and it looks lavish, doesn't it? But each brick matters. Brick by brick. It takes every brick in its precision, in its place.
And that's what God's doing. He's taking brick here and brick and He has the mortal and He puts it together and He's building His sanctuary for Himself. Christ being the head cornerstone of the whole structure.
Because in Him, why? Because in Him is life. And we are united to Him by faith. We become living stones for we share in His life. 1 John 5, 11 and 12 says this. And the testimony is this. That God has given us eternal life.
Eternal life. And this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life and he who does not have the Son does not have the life. Then Paul says in Colossians 1, 26 and 27 that is the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations but has now been manifested to His saints, the holy ones and His elect to whom God willed.
God willed it. Grace. To make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. What's the mystery?
Which is Christ in you.
There it is.
Christ in you. Christ in you.
The hope of glory.
Everything in Christ.
All in Jesus.
Christ in you.
Eternal life. All because of Jesus' sacrifice. His death and His resurrection. All of heaven because of His death and resurrection. All the inheritance that God has is yours and mine. All because of His death and resurrection.
The glory to come in heaven for eternity all yours and mine because of Christ's death and resurrection. A future resurrection that we will be raised to a glorified body all because Jesus died and was risen again as the first fruits.
I wish I could sit there and keep on going and preach right there but I got to go on. Fourth point. The Lord Jesus is precious another reason because of the word He has given to us. He's given it as His word, hasn't He?
Pastor, will you see this? Look at 2 Peter 1 .4. 2 Peter 1 .4. The Apostle Peter says this. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises.
Don't you love the way Peter.
Through the Holy Spirit uses this word precious? His precious and magnificent promises. So that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
That is so loaded. Precious and magnificent promises of abundant and eternal life found only in Jesus Christ and Jesus alone. Not religion. Not good works. But Jesus. All this comes to the believer because of Jesus.
And through regeneration of the Holy Spirit the new birth being born again and being born from above. 2 Corinthians 5 .17. One of my favorite verses. Therefore if anyone is in Christ in Christ he is a new creation.
A new creature. Old things have passed away. Behold all things have become new. A transformation has taken place because he is a new person. I don't care what people say out here. They can call themselves Christians.
But if there is not a change if there is not true repentance if there is not a transformation in that person's life he is not in Christ. Now pastor who made you the judge? I am just telling you what the Bible says.
Because the Bible says when that happens he is a new creation. Old things pass away. Behold all things become new. You cannot be the same person when you are in Jesus. You are not the same because you have died to your sins and you are alive with Christ and you become more and more like Jesus and the self dies.
That is what Jesus said.
Deny yourself. Take up your cross. Follow me. That is what it means to be a disciple. People don't like to hear that nowadays but that is the gospel. And I make no apologies for that. In Christ.
As a matter of fact.
If people are not in Christ on judgment day it is eternal damnation and hell. Because that is the only thing that is going to get people into heaven is being in Christ. But you know it is just not heaven to come it is heaven begins here, right?
Because Christ comes in here. The temple of the living God. The Holy Spirit dwells within us and takes up residence.
And changes us.
Aren't you glad for that? It is all because of grace. It is all because of His word. He has given us His precious promises. Exceedingly great and precious promises. Magnificent promises. Because everything we have in God is all because we are in Christ.
We have eternal security because Jesus took the wrath of God because of our sin. Our acceptance with God because Jesus alone the Father is pleased. And the believer's future assurance in Him who is the resurrection and the life and guarantees the believer an inheritance forever.
The believer's participation in divine nature in Jesus Christ.
It is His eternal word.
What is more glorious than that? That is precious, isn't it? I would die for that, wouldn't you? I would. We may be facing that. Because nowadays people don't want to hear this. It is precious to us but people do not like to hear this because they are blatant in sin and they love their sin and when the truth confronts them and offends them and they hate it and they will want to snuff you out of the way.
But the message continues. They may snuff the messenger out of the way.
But the message continues.
You can't kill the message.
You can kill the messenger.
You just usher him into glory. Well, there's a fifth point. And it's final.
There's much more to be said.
But I'll make this the last one. The Lord Jesus Christ is precious because of the way He deals with His own. Now, I want you to think about this. Look at 1 Peter 1, verses 6 and 7. Okay, He says this.
The proof of your faith being more precious than gold. More precious than gold. You know what Spurgeon said about this? We need the winds and the tempests in our life to exercise our faith.
He says this. To tear off the rotten branches of self-reliance and to root us more firmly in Christ.
We should welcome troubles.
We should welcome discipline. We should welcome the testing of our faith because it helps root us in Christ more. Sister Lillian knows what I'm talking about. The sufferings that come,.
It helps root you in Christ.
In other words, it shows that your faith is authentic and it's something to rejoice about. The very purpose of God allowing trouble to test the reality of our faith in Him. Peter declares the fact that faith has been tried or tested just as gold has been tested and tried.
And you know how gold goes through the fire. It does not take away from what gold is. It just melts it. And there's a purification that takes place. The purity is more when it goes through the fire. So why does God deal with us in this way?
People say, why the sufferings? Why the troubles? To test your faith so that your faith will be stronger in Jesus Christ. That we would see and prove our faith to be authentic among so many reasons. One is that God loves us.
That's one of the reasons. But here's just a few I just wrote down.
Number one.
In order that our eyes may be taken away from the things of this passing time of this world in a sense and set upon the things of eternity.
1 Peter 1 .4.
He says to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away reserved in heaven for you. Peter was encouraging the persecuted believers in his day how to look past their past and their troubles which is momentary and light compared to the glory that was awaiting.
And then he was saying, look to the eternal reward. And he's getting this theology and this teaching from Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount. Because Jesus said, how are we to react when we are persecuted for righteousness?
He just didn't say rejoice. It's seedingly glad. Amen, Brother Keith. It's seedingly joyful. Be it seedingly joyful because your reward is great.
And second is in order that we may prove in our own experience the awesome and wonderful keeping power of God. That God is preserving us. 1 Peter 1 .5 Who are protected or kept by the power of God through what?
Through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. And third, in order that we may rejoice even in the midst of our trials just not rejoice it to come but be rejoicing in the midst of it that we're counted worthy to suffer for His namesake and be tested for His namesake.
1 Peter 1 .6 And this, you greatly rejoice even though now for a little while. Don't you love that? It's just for a little while. In comparison to eternity, it's just for a little while. Just for a little while.
I'm sure Sister Lillian knows this. That Candice knows right now that all of her sufferings that she had momentary is all worth it because now she has an eternity ahead.
Forever and ever.
And she will be praising God with a glorified body. She don't have to worry about the sufferings here now. It's all gone. She's with a reward. And who's her reward? God Himself. Abraham says, this is my exceedingly great reward.
God. Oh, heaven and heaven. Heaven wouldn't be heaven without Jesus. In order that we may be purified. That's the next one. 1 Peter 1 .7. So that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold which is perishable even though it be tested by fire may be found to the result, the praise and the glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Fifth, in order. Here's the next one. That the name of the Lord Jesus Christ might be glorified. It's about glorifying His name. And that we might have a special opportunity of proving our love for Him.
1 Peter 1 .8. And though you have not seen Him, you love Him. And though you do not see Him now but believe in Him you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible, unspeakable and full of glory. Well, my time's almost out.
But let me give you an application. The primary characteristic of a true believer, beloved, is this one thing. And you can mark this down. You could tell the goats between the sheep on this one mark. Is our affection for Jesus Christ.
Our love for Jesus Christ. This precious value. That Jesus is the pearl of great price. For you who believe in Christ is contrasted to unbelievers that reject Him. They are disobedient. And it becomes a stumbling to them.
But to us He is precious. Now, the first part of that verse could be translated to you who believe He is precious. And the word precious, as I said, is valuable, costly, without equal.
Irreplaceable.
Infinite value. Jesus Christ is all in all. But only believers who recognize the supreme value and the worth and regard Jesus Christ with love and affection. And you know something? It's because the love of God's been poured in our hearts.
Because our hearts are so vile and wicked. We could not love God within ourselves. He pours His love right into us. And then we bring it back to Him as worship, right? But the mark that marks the tares from the wheat and the goats from the sheep is the mark that we love Jesus Christ.
The believer loves Christ above everything. More than father, more than mother.
Jesus said that.
He says, you cannot be my disciple unless... And He said this, hate your mother and father. And He didn't mean hate in the sense of hate. It's basically what He was saying. You've got to love me in comparison to like hate.
That's what He's saying. In other words, I must be of far more worth value than even your father and mother. Jesus must be above all everything. Just not a part of our life. He's got to be everything.
I asked the common barnyard so-called Christian today this. Do you love Jesus? And see what kind of answer you get. R .C. Sproul says, you cannot love Jesus apart from loving His Word.
Isn't that the truth?
And you know, the affection for Jesus Christ, the bottom line mark is believing in Him. But also in believing in Him, you cannot separate believing in Him from loving Him. Because they're inseparable.
So what does it do?
You know where I'm going.
Obedience.
This is everything. John 16, 27, Jesus said it.
Listen to the words of the Master. Listen to the words of the head of the church. The Father Himself loves you because you have loved Me and you have believed.
Hear that?
John 14, 15.
You love Me.
If you love Me, keep My commandments. Verse 21. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father. And I will love him and manifest Myself to him.
Now that word manifest is a great word. It means taking residence.
Abode.
And then when Jesus was speaking this, one of His disciples by the name of Judas, not Iscariot by the way, in parentheses. You can see this in chapter 14. And this is one of the most awesome questions He ever, that is asked from the disciples.
And said to Him,.
Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us and not to the world? Now I love that question, how, don't you? Little Felicity told me the other day, I usually don't bring things up like this, but I was telling her to be patient.
And she said, Peepaw, how?
How?
And I had to bring it down to her level. Try to explain to her about some self-control. It was hard for her little mind to wrap her mind around being patient. Because she can ask, she gets on something, she'll ask something all day long.
And it'll be constantly, I'll be constantly coming up before you, Peepaw, Peepaw, Peepaw, a hundred times. She said, how? Isn't that a great question? Well, this disciple says, Jesus, Lord, how are You going to manifest Yourself to us?
Good question.
And not to the world.
Jesus gives them the answer. Look at verse 23 and 24. Jesus answered and said to them, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. Again, He points that out. If he loves Me, he will keep My word. And, something's going to happen here.
God honors that obedience. Now this is to the regenerate believer, not the world, okay? Because it's not something we work for, but this is something that is an expression out from regeneration. Because the Holy Spirit takes residence within us, but then He says, My Father will love Him and we, notice what He says, we will come to Him and make our home or abode with Him.
Isn't that beautiful? He comes in a real way. And then He says, He who does not love Me does not keep My words. And the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me. You know what this means?
Love of willing, not love of feeling. That's why we do not live by our feelings. We love God and we show it by faith. And our faith is demonstrated in believing and trusting and obeying.
Trust and obey.
For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey. One word, obedience. Obedience. To obey is better than sacrifice. 1 John 3 .18, listen to this. The Apostle John carries this on to his letter.
Little children. He speaks of little children now.
There's a growth.
Young men.
Older fathers. Little children. Let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. 1 John 3 .23 -24. This is His commandment. Whose commandment?
Jesus.
John's speaking of Jesus' commandment. This is His commandment. That we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. And love one another just as He commanded us. And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him.
And He in Him.
And then He says this.
We know, this is how you know, by this that He abides in us. By the Spirit whom He has given us. So He has given us His Spirit to abide within us. 1 John 4 .19. We love Him because He first loved us. We cannot do it unless He's first loved us.
So the Lord Jesus is precious. Why is He precious? We realize this because of the precious blood that He shed for us. The precious faith we have received from Him. The precious grace. And His precious word He has given us.
And the precious way He deals with us. Oh how precious is Jesus. And I close with this thought. And we say with the psalmist, David, in Psalm 139. 139. 17 -24. How precious.
How precious.
David knew it, didn't he?
How precious also are your thoughts to me, O God. How great is the sum of them. If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand. And when I awake, I am still with you. Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God.
Now listen to his prayer. It's just. He knows God is a just God. Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty man. For they speak against you wickedly. Your enemies take your name in vain. He had a love for God's holiness, didn't he?
Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate you? That's right. And do not I? I not loathe those who rise up against you? And he says, I hate them with a perfect hatred. And I count them my enemies. But that song doesn't end there.
There's a transition. And then all of a sudden the searchlight of the Holy Spirit is turned on his own heart. Because in verse 23 he says this. Search me, O God. And know my heart.
Try me.
Notice the me's. And know my anxieties. And see if there's any wicked way in me. This is the godly man. And lead me into the way of everlasting. What a song. What a prayer. That's a prayer of a righteous man.
That's a prayer of a godly man. Even though he loved what God loved. And he hated what God hated. And wickedness rightly so. But all of a sudden he felt the snug of all. The pull of his own vileness of his own heart.
And then the searchlight of the Holy Spirit turned on him. Isn't that the way it is? That happens to me quite often. I have to search my own heart. Amen and amen. Let's pray. O God our Father. You are God and God alone.
You're good and good alone. You're good beyond all thoughts.
But O Lord we are vile.
I am vile. We are wretched, miserable, blind. O God help us this day I pray. My lips are ready to confess. As the Puritan said. But O God my heart is slow to fill. My ways reluctant to amend. We bring our souls before you.
And we would ask to break it.
Wound it. Bend it. Mold it.
Lord would you unmask to me and every one of us here. Sins, deformity and horrific horrors. Father that we may hate it as you hate it. And abhor it as you abhor it.
Flee from it.
O God and we need your grace to do this. O how we need your grace to repent. And sackcloth and ashes. God give us grace to trust you more. That's the prayer we need to pray. Give us grace to trust you more.
Grace to cling to you. Grace to lean on you by faith alone.
Work in me O God.
Work in us. As the Puritan prayed. More profound and abiding repentance. More profound and abiding repentance. Give me the fullness of a godly sorrow and grief that trembles and fears. And yet ever trust and loves you.
Father I pray. Grant that through tears of repentance. That we may see more clearly the brightness and the glories of the saving cross. Through the precious shed blood of Jesus Christ. We ask this in Jesus name.