PETER – 1 Peter 2
Instructions to Christians
- Are Christians priests?
What kind of sacrifices do Christians offer?
How? 1 Peter 2:5 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - For what purpose are Christians a chosen race? 1 Peter 2:9 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- (yes or no) Are Christians to submit to those in authority? 1 Peter 2:13-14 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- Peter said to __________ all men, __________ the brotherhood, __________ God, and __________ the king. 1 Peter 2:17 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- How are servants to treat their masters? 1 Peter 2:18-20 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- Servants are to follow the example of the steps of __________. 1 Peter 2:21 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- As a group, the Old Testament books of Isaiah through Daniel are classified as __________. See Lesson 166 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
<inaudible> It is time for us to get started.<inaudible> No, it’s not yet. I’ll, I’ll turn it on. When we’re done with class, we are in first Peter chapter two.<inaudible> It is amazing how quickly we’ve gone all the way through the Bible. We were in Exodus not long ago. And then first Kings and here we are, we’re all the way in first it’s first,
Peter, we’ve just really moved along. Let’s begin with a word of prayer, Our gracious and bountiful father in heaven. We bow before your throne at this time, grateful for all of the many blessings that you’ve given to us and all of the ways that you bless us each and every day we ask that you watch over us, take care of us,
protect us, but also that you through your word, guide us in right paths that we might use that word to shine the light on our path. And that we might walk in the light as you were in the light that we might be Holy, because you are Holy. We pray that at this time, as we go through this period of study,
that the things that we learn and the things that we study from this letter that Peter wrote might encourage us and bring us closer to you. And our daily walk might grow our faith and knowledge and understanding of your will. We ask that when we sin and fall short of your glory, you will forgive us of those things as we are willing to repent of them.
And we pray that you be with all those who are struggling with illnesses, difficulties, ailments, those who are dealing with the coronavirus and, and have contracted it. And those who are under concerned that they may have pray that you be with them as well. All this, we pray in jesus’ name. Amen.<inaudible> Peter writes about redemption all throughout this epistle through this,
throughout this letter, he focuses on our hope because of redemption our righteousness because of redemption, our grace that has brought about our redemption and our example in Christ, which we’re going to get to that has provided us our redemption. But even though throughout this book, he he’s, he’s talking about our state as Christians, because we are redeemed. It always draws itself back to because,
Oh God, yeah, because God did this. We have this. And here in this chapter in chapter two, we’re going to get into who we are and what we are, because God did what he did. Everything that Peter writes about. He draws you back to the reason behind it all, which has God. Yes. In james’ writing that we just finished up with James.
It has a great deal of emphasis on God, but his focus is more on us, on what we should be doing, how we should be living, what we shouldn’t be doing and the reasons behind it. But Peter has a much clearer focus on God and the results. Why that changes us, notice what he says. We’re going to pick up in verse 22.
Um, actually I’m going to go back to verse 17. He’s called upon them to be Holy. But in having said what I’ve just said, I want to get this part right here. He says, and if you call on the father who without partiality judges, according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear again,
because God is available for you to call on. And because God is Holy, you ought to do this. Then notice what he says. He says, bud, uh, or she gives me verse 18, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible, things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by traditions from your fathers, but with precious,
the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb, without blemish and without spot, you ought to be Holy. You ought to not follow your fathers. You ought to not follow traditions because God shed the blood of Christ for you. He then goes to verse 20. He indeed was fore ordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who,
through him, believing God who raised him from the dead, gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God, your faith, your all go back to because God did this. Okay? Everything that we do as Christians ought to ultimately go back to well, because God did that because God is this. And because God said to do this,
ultimately, that’s what it all goes back to the cause he exists because he’s acted and because he’s commanded us, therefore, that’s the reason for everything. That’s the reason for why we make choices. That’s the reason for living the Christian life. And that’s the reason we can have hope in eternity, but he goes on. He says, since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit in sincere level,
the brethren love one, another fervently with a pure heart, because you live a life that is redeemed because you have been redeemed from your sins, purified in your souls because you have had your sins washed away with the blood of Christ. Loved one another. You know, it’s really hard to love someone who is an evil, evil person. Isn’t it?
I mean, let’s just use an example. If, if the, the former leader of China walks through the door, knowing that he murdered and executed millions of people, that would be a person who would qualify as somebody really hard to love. But if that was somebody who was, maybe we call Saul of Tarsus, who murdered and executed people who threw Christians in prison,
who took people to prison and to death and did it believing he was doing the right thing. And then we met him three days after he went to Damascus and he’d qualify as someone who’s very hard to love. As a matter of fact, we know that that would be the situation we’d likely be in because what happened when he went before the apostles, they wouldn’t see him until Barnabas went and brought him in.
Some people are really hard to love because of what they’ve done in their past. But Peter says, once you’ve been washed by the blood of Christ, that changes everything. That doesn’t mean that those aren’t things that you will, you will pay dearly for, and that you will suffer. As a result of Jesus said, Saul is going suffer so much because of me.
And he did That. Didn’t change the fact that he was a redeemed washed and cleansed individual from every one of those sins. And so Peter says, because you’ve been purified, you love one another as if they’re Holy, because they are. But then we go, he goes on to say this because, uh, or verse 23, having been born again,
not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible through the word of God, which lives and abides forever because all flesh is as grass. And all the glory of man is the flower of the grass, the grass Withers and its flower falls away. But the word of the Lord and doers forever, because God exists because God is Holy because God acted in sending Christ.
And because God, Okay, That is our reason for everything he says, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word by which the gospel was preached to. You says, here’s, here’s the what’s behind the good news. God speaking. Paul says it this way. Turn over to second Timothy chapter three, Paul says in second Timothy chapter three In verse 10,
he says, but you have carefully followed my doctrine. That is my teaching. My manner of life, purpose, faith long suffering, love, perseverance, persecutions afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch and I conium Atlas. DRA what persecution I endured and out of them, all the Lord delivered me. Yes. And all who desire to live godly in Christ.
Jesus will suffer persecution, but evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and ministered of knowing whom you have learned them. Notice what he just said. He said, you know how I acted? You know how I lived? You know how I suffered now, you should expect to suffer the way I did,
but you need to go back to what you’ve always been taught. You need to go back to what you learned. You need to go back to the word of God. He says that from a child, you have known the Holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ. Jesus. All scripture is given by the breath of God.
It’s out by God, because God spoke. You go back to what you’ve learned. That came from the scriptures from the word of God, because God spoke because all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness that the man of God may be complete thoroughly equipped for every good work.
God, didn’t just speak in a vacuum. God, didn’t just speak to speak. God spoke because God, when he speaks, changes the world, it changes everything. We don’t live in a world that is as, as a deist would believe God spun up the world and then just let it go. No, because every time God spoke, it changed the world.
And it still does. Why? Because God’s word isn’t like the grass that fades away. God’s word. Isn’t like the flower that falls God’s word endures forever. So he says, therefore had to go back there because chapter two verse one begins with a conclusion of an argument, a drawing forward, the things that we just said, he said, therefore,
laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking as born babes desire, the pure milk of the word that you may grow, thereby because God spoke. And because God’s word endures forever, put aside sin and go to the word, go to the word, like a hungry baby goes to its mother, go to the word and desire it because he says you will grow from it.
One of the biggest struggles we have in the church are Christians who don’t grow, but you step back to the reason they don’t grow. And it’s always primary. It is predominantly one problem. They haven’t let go of sin and gone to the gospel. When we let go of sin and focus our lives on the gospel and read and study and delve into God’s word,
we grow. It’s a natural byproduct of doing that. But if delves into the word of God and studies it and reads and devours God’s word while holding on to sin, they won’t grow. They will become people who are manipulated by sin and use God’s word to their own purposes. And we know that’s true because that was the scribes and the Pharisees. They knew the word of God.
You could go to them and you could ask, what did Isaiah say about? And they’d tell you it, wasn’t a lack of knowing God’s word that caused them to be ignorant of God’s word. It was the sin that they didn’t take out of their lives saying same way. You take someone who they’re willing to remove sin, but they don’t replace it with God’s word.
And they become like Jesus spoke about the person who has seven devils removed from him. And then as a house that swept, but then not, not refurnished. When that person then doesn’t go to God, doesn’t put God’s word in the place of sin. Eventually what comes back sin and an even worse state. So it’s this combination. That’s why Peter doesn’t just say desire.
The word he says, remove sin and desire the word. But then he says in verse three, he says, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious right back to because God is gracious. And you have tasted that again, keeping the analogy of the, of the baby, the baby. If, if he is hungry and you put vinegar on his mouth,
he didn’t come back. He’s not going all. That’s what I was looking for. But one taste of his mama’s milk and he’s coming back. That’s the analogy he says, you’ve known God’s grace. And if you have known it, then the only logical conclusion is you do this. You remove sin and you go to bird. But then he says this.
He says, coming to him as to a living stone rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious God in the old Testament spoke concerning the cornerstone that he was going to lay the stone of stumbling the stone, the rock of offense. He said going to lay it in Zion, and it’s going to cause some to stand upon it and it’s going to destroy others.
And he describes there in Isaiah, what that stone, that rock was going to do. It wasn’t just going to destroy what it was laid upon. Those that were refusing those who rejected it, it was going to cause them to re crumble into dust. And ultimately it would be the entire Jewish system, the entire old Testament system and the entire power structure of the Israelites.
That would be completely annihilated because God said, if you reject me, I’ll destroy you. And they did. He says, coming to him as to a living stone rejected indeed by men, 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.
Two analogies here to the life of a Christian. He says, you are a living stone. Now this description of us as a stone is not the idea that we’re hard as rock. It’s bringing itself off of the description of Christ as the stone. When you build a house using the old systems of doing it in the ancient world, you laid a foundation stone and every stone that laid upon the foundation stone.
If the foundation was laid. Sure. And if it was laid in, in correct way, every stone was a representation of the stone underneath it, the house, the floor plan, everything was a representation, was a reflection of the bedrock. It was laid on. And so he says, Christ is a living stone, and you are supposed to look like him,
but he says, not only are you a living stone, he also says you are a Royal priesthood. What did the priest do in the old Testament? They offered the sacrifices as what, as a common person or as this in a specific role. Okay. They were representing God to the people and they were representing who to God, the people, they were a mediator.
Okay. They between God and the people, the Holy or the high priest on the day of atonement offered two sacrifices. The first was for his sins. The second was for the peoples because he couldn’t stand before God as an imperfect mediator, as an imperfect representative, he couldn’t stand before God with his sins, but he couldn’t represent God to the people with his sins either.
And so the first sacrifice was for himself. That’s why the book of Hebrews says we had Aaron’s priesthood, but now we have a better high priest, one untouched by sin. He said, Jesus Christ is not only the better sacrifice because blood of bulls and goats couldn’t take away sin, but he’s also the better priest. And he’s the better mediator of a new covenant.
Jesus Christ, the sacrifice, the priest and the mediator stands as what the priesthood represented, which was somebody who was truly Holy. Every priest was imperfect. Every priest, sinned, every priest had problems, but Jesus didn’t, they represented the true thing. They stood in the place of Christ. But now here we are. And Peter says, he’s the high priest and you’re the priests.
Hmm. So what was the function of a priest? Two things we talked about, the first thing we stated was they did what they, they represent they’re they’re they’re mediators between God and men and they offer sacrifices here. He says, he, he highlights the priests office in regards to the second item, the offering of sacrifices. But he doesn’t say everybody,
go get your goats. Say everybody go, we’ll go. Make sure you got a flock so you can offer your lambs. What’s the sacrifice we’re supposed to be offering a living sacrifice, turn over to thank you. Romans chapter 12, I was about to say Romans chapter six. And I said, no, that’s the wrong spot. Romans chapter 12,
verse one, I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies, a living sacrifice Holy acceptable to God, which is your reasonable and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now let me combine. The two passages do not be conformed to the world.
Peter says, put sin out of your life, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, which your mind is renewed through. What means spending time with the book, renew your mind, transform your mind, desire the word of God, and then offer a living sacrifice and then offer a living sacrifice, which is your life to him. That indicates to us two things you put together,
both of those passages saying basically the same thing. And it tells us two things. Number one, you can’t be a sacrificial offering to God. If your life is dedicated to sin, he won’t accept it. That one of the qualifications for a sacrifice under the old Testament is it had to be without spot and without blemish and God condemned Israel in the later chapters of the old Testament,
because they were bringing the lame and the blind and the lamb that wasn’t worth anything. And they were bringing that as a sacrifice. And God said, go offer it to your governor. See if he’ll accept it. If he won’t accept it, why do you think I will? God’s command and requirement was always, you give me your best. You give me your first.
When you give me your best in your first, you see what I’ll do for you. So God will not accept our lives as a sacrifice. If our lives are plagued with sin and given over to sin, if we won’t remove sin, we can’t be a sacrifice, but if we won’t bring God’s word into our lives, we can’t be a sacrifice.
So he says you are to be a, a living stone build up together as a spiritual house, which by the way, I know we’re, we’re not going to get very far. Uh, we’re we’re going to try, but we’re not doing very good. Um, whoever saw a house made out of one stone would be a pretty small place to live.
I mean, let’s even just take one of these cinder blocks. They’re heavy. They’re fairly good size. Let’s just use one of those as a house. Not gonna work very well as it. We were never intended as Christians to be stand alone stones. We were intended to be built together as a spiritual house because we all serve a purpose and we all have a function and we are to function together.
And without it, we’re a pile of stones, not a spiritual house, but then he says, coming to him as a living stone rejected indeed by men, 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. Therefore it also contained in scripture,
behold, I lay in Zion, a chief cornerstone elect precious. And he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame therefore to you who believe he is precious. But to those who are disobedient, the stone, which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble being disobedient to the word,
to which they also were appointed. God, put his word out there and God put his son out there. God gave his son and God shed his blood. And God gave his word to tell us all the reasons why and all the reasons why it wasn’t necessary, that we believe on him. And yet for some, they will see it and it will cause them to reject him and go the other way.
And some of us will scratch our heads and go, I don’t get it. How could you know the truth go the other way? But all we gotta do is go right back to those scriptures and right back to those scribes and Pharisees and, and go. But they knew, I mean, Nicodemus came to him and said, we know, we know you are a teacher gum from God.
Jesus asked them when they asked him concerning, uh, or asked him a question and Jesus said, answer this John’s baptism. Was it from heaven or from men? And they knew the answer, but would they say it out loud? No. So he says, but you, again, always drawing it back to us, but you are a chosen generation.
Peter didn’t write that. Just to that generation. Every Christian generation is a chosen generation, a generation of people who refuse sin and serve righteousness. He says, you are a chosen generation, a Royal priesthood, a Holy nation, his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light, who once were not a people,
but are now the people of God who have not, or who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. He States in contrast where they were and where they are, but we don’t need to skip over this without catching that phrase that he said you were created as this, a chosen generation, a Royal priesthood, a Holy generation, or excuse me,
a Holy nation, his own special people that he’s at. This all happened for a goal. What does he say we’re supposed to be or supposed to do? We’re we’re supposed to offer spiritual sacrifices. We’re supposed to show forth his praises. That fundamental aspect of being a Christian is worship and living. Not just worship, but worship and living in a way that glorifies God go right back to Matthew.
Chapter five, you are a light. You are a city that is set on a Hill that cannot be hid. You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt’s lost, its savor, what is it good for? What do you do with salt? This loss to saver, cast it out. It’s not even worthy to be trodden on why?
Because when your life changes, because God has given you the opportunity to remove sin and replace it with a righteousness and the mold yourself into a spiritual sacrifice, you ought to be producing something. You ought to look like something. You ought to look like him. And when you live that way, God says, Jesus said, the world will see you and glorify him.
Now that’s all there so that he can lead into this. That he’s about to write. He says, beloved. I begged you as sojourners and pilgrims abstain from fleshly loss, which war against the soul. I am. I implore you. I besieged you look at these things that destroy the life of a Christian and abstain from them. Kind of funny.
The, the indications, at least we’re told the indications are that, um, teaching abstinence in school isn’t effective. Hmm. That’s very strange. It’s just awe inspiring to me that that being taught abstinence by people who don’t live righteously, isn’t effective. Like you should abstain from doing something that’s wrong while I do it. I never, I never imagined that would be ineffective.
I mean, maybe if we taught the teachers first abstinence, and then maybe they taught the students abstinence, we might have some effect on, but what he doesn’t seem to, we seem to be missing a step. You know, what’s not ineffective is when righteous people teach children to be righteous. That’s not ineffective. Now there are some children who will ultimately go the other direction,
but I’m sorry, you, you go back to God’s method of teaching children to be righteous. And you’re going to, most of the time end up with righteous children. But if you go, you know what? You need to do what I tell you and not what I do. I’m going to say that the odds of that one is they’re going to go with what you do instead of what you say,
but then notice what he says. He says not only abstain from these fleshly laws, but having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, now notice the presupposition here, Peter already assumes they will. If you’re going to live righteous and you’re going to live righteously among those who are unrighteous, you better be prepared for the reality.
They will lie about you. And they will claim you are an evildoer. He says, when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works, which they observed glorify God. In the day of visitation, people came to the King and they said, King, you commanded that. Nobody should pray to anybody but you for 30 days.
And we have observed Daniel praying to the God of Israel, but the King through all those years prior had observed Daniel being a man of righteousness. And so even though the King did what the King said, because it was the law he wrote when the opportunity came to bring about punishment on the real unrighteous people, the King made sure that happened too, because he saw the life of Daniel.
Then we noticed, he says, therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the King, as Supreme or to governors as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. That’s not one of the most fun verses in all of scripture, by the way, where Peter says,
Oh, by the way, obey the ordinances of men. Now, this also should be stated is a passage where we should remind ourselves. We are to obey the ordinances of men so long as they do not contradict the laws of God also so long as they do not require us to contradict or act against the laws of God heard one preacher a year number of years ago,
make this statement. He said, if, if our country, and this was like I said, years ago before they did, it said no public prayer in school. He said, I don’t like it. I don’t support it, but I could do that. But if they said, I have to pray to someone other than God, I can’t do that.
I can not do something and still be righteous, not do something that I do in private that I can do in other ways. And other means now. But what if they said you can’t pray? I can’t do that. So there’s a gleaning here of the responsibilities. We have to understand the ordinances, the laws of men, and also to understand what God requires of us.
And we have to be able to pull those things together and know when we can obey and when we can. But when God’s laws, don’t contradict man’s laws, God says you will Bay. You do what you’re supposed to do under that King. But then he also says for this as the will of God, that by doing good, you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish man as free yet,
not using Liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bond servants of God honor, all people love the brotherhood fear, God honor the King. He said this obedience to the laws of man, to the ordinances of man. So that he says as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, he said, the reason why you obey the laws,
the reason why you obey the ordinances of men is because those laws and those governments, whether they’re, by the way, keep in mind. Peter’s writing this around a D 65 in two years, Nero’s going to be lighting Christians on fire in the streets of Rome. And yet Peter writes to Christians and says, you obey the government. He doesn’t say you obey good governments.
You, he doesn’t say you obey governments that give you freedom. He said, you obey the ordinances that you live under because that’s the will of God, because God put governments in place. Peter Jesus said to pilot, you would have no power, except it came from above because pilot said, do you not know I have the power to take your life or to give it?
And Jesus said, no, you don’t. He didn’t say no, you don’t have the power. He said, no, you don’t have it. Unless someone gave it to you. And I know who gave it to you. So he says honor, all people that phrase is, um, in, in the original language, it’s in an Eris tent.
It means you do it as a one time action. When people are worthy of honor, you honor them. But then he says, love the brotherhood, fear, God honor. The King. Those are present tense, verbs. These are things you do all the time. These are things you do and never cease doing servants. Be submissive to your masters with all fear.
Not only to the good in general, but also to the harsh for this is commendable. If, because of conscience towards God, one endures, grief, suffering, wrongfully, what credit is it? If when you take or excuse me, when you are beaten for your fault, you take it patiently. You do good. You be obedient to your masters.
You honor them. You honor the King because if you get beaten because you disobeyed the law, you got what you deserved, but he says, what credit is it? If when you were beaten by your faults, you take it patiently. But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God for, to this,
you were called because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that you should follow his steps, who committed no sin nor was deceit found in his mouth. All of this, again, he pulls right back to you do it because Christ did because God who, when he was reviled did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten,
but committed himself to him who judges, righteously, who himself bore our sins in his own body. On the tree that we having died to sin my live for righteousness. By whose stripes you were healed for, you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. We’ll say a few more things about that section on Sunday.
Let’s go through the questions very quickly. And then we’ll be dismissed. Question one. Are Christians priests? Yes. What kind of sacrifices do Christians offer Spiritual sacrifices? Um, I just want to make sure we’re all on the same. Yes. Spiritual sacrifices. Um, How All right through Jesus Christ. Also another answer that that would be is by living as a spiritual sacrifice,
um, or by how we live, um, for what purpose are Christians a chosen race? Keep replaying the phrases again. Okay. To proclaim the praises of God. Yes or no. Are Christians to submit to those in authority? Yes. Even if you didn’t vote for them. Peter said to blank, all men honor blank. The brotherhood love blank.
God Fear, God and blank. The King honor the King. How are servants to treat their masters To be subject to them? Um, with all fear, uh, servants are to follow the example of the steps of blank Christ. Uh, and then a question from the old Testament as a group, the old Testament books of Isaiah through Daniel are classified as the major prophets,
minor prophets with a book after Daniel and go till the end. Hosea. Yes. Alright. You are dismissed. We’ll have her devotional in just a moment.<inaudible> Good evening. Welcome to the Wednesday evening devotional for the Collierville church of Christ. It’s good to see each and every one of you here tonight and to our visitors, we are so glad that you chose to worship our God with us this evening.
As you can see, there are still many of us that are not able to get out. And we understand that and we hope that you are able to, uh, attend this Bible study through either the call in or the, uh, live stream, several announcements here, uh, our sick route, Ellen, Dorothy Wilson, and Joan sprayer. Please keep all these in your thoughts and prayers,
Pam chafing and Sylvia pass both are having back problems. So please keep both of them in your prayers. Ava’s sister-in-law Kay Fisher is in rehab and she is not doing any better than what we reported on Sunday. So that’s not good for her. So please keep Kay in your thoughts and prayers, Mary Joe Todaro, that’s Jenny sister-in-law is, uh, been diagnosed with colon cancer and she still is in the hospital today.
They still have not released her from the hospital. So they’re working on what the plan is going to be for treating that. Uh, we have several that have been diagnosed with COVID, uh, Taylor Hodges, which is the Sanderson’s grandson, Vicky Wadsworth, which is Becky’s sister. And then, uh, Paula’s son, Luke Danley has also been diagnosed with COVID-19.
So please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. We do have a couple of members that are self quarantined yet, and that’s, uh, uh, Maury and Barbara Phillips. And then Terry and Jenny Sanderson’s Sanderson are, and that’s strictly a precautionary measure. As of right now, we still have not heard anything on their test results. You know, Alteri had a test,
but we have not heard anything from that. And Maury and Barbara, just, you know, a precautionary thing all together, just in case. Uh, the only other announcement I have is the nationwide gospel called meeting that goes on and every night at nine o’clock, Monday through Friday, that flyer, if you did not get one is out here on the table,
in the foyer. And that flyer there that we have is for the next, you know, this week and two weeks after that, and Gary is tomorrow night, right on there again, Gary college, the speaker tomorrow night on that, uh, tonight our song leader is going to be Marie sprayer, our devotional beer and coats art, and our closing prayer will be Terry Whitley.
Thank you, please. Mark. Number 82 in your book, 628, number six to eight. If the name of the Seder is purchased to you, if it’s care has been constant and tender and true, if the light of his presence brighten your away, who will you not out of your gladness today? Who will you not?<inaudible> if the light of his presence since brighten your way,
will you not here to<inaudible> if your faith in the savior has brought in three war, if a strength you have found in the strength of your Lord, if a whole Fama arrests in his palaces, sweet. Oh, where are you? Not brother. Those Dory repeat. Oh, will you not?<inaudible> if the light of his presence since brighten your way will not.<inaudible>.
If the souls all around you are living in sin. If the master has told you to bid, then come in. It’s a sweet invitation. They never have heard, Oh, well you not tell them the cheer bringing word. Oh, will you not tell it to your name? Hey<inaudible> if the light of his presence and brighten you way, William,
Hey,<inaudible> Take your Bibles. If you will. And open them. First, John First, John chapter four, John writes verse 17. Love has been perfected among us. The world will declare to us all sorts of things. It describes as love. But John says love has been perfected in us in this that we may have boldness in the day of judgment,
because as he is, so are we in this world? The love that’s been perfected in us is God’s love, but God’s love demands that we produce love in our lives. We know that Jesus said the greatest commandment in the law was thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my strength and all my mind and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself God’s love,
produces love in us. So John says love is perfected in us in that we can stand before God on the day of judgment, but he goes on to say, there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because love involves, or she me because of fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made. Perfect in love.
We love him because he first loved us. If someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. Jesus told the people that the second greatest commandment in the law was thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy self and one man seeking to justify himself asked who is my neighbor? The clear cut answer that Jesus gives through the parable of the good Samaritan is everyone we are to love without bias.
We are to love without view of stature. We are to love the beautiful and the ugly people in this world. I fall into the second category, but it’s okay. I well loved. We are to love every race under heaven, because God said we’re all of one blood. And we are to do that because God did. We are not to love sin.
We’re not to love sin in other people or in ourselves. John, in chapter two said, if you love the world, the love of the father is not in you. But if you hate your brother, he said, the love of the father is not in you because the only reason we could have to hate our brother is because we first haven’t realized that we were undeserving of God’s love you see,
because what we would say is we hate that person and there’d be every part of our body that would want to finish the sentence because such and such and such and such and such means they deserve it. But that would be our own condemnation. You remember when the man came to David and he came with what he fought was good news. I killed King Saul.
And David said, you signed your own death warrant. You became a witness against yourself. And your judgment is death, because you said you put to death. God’s anointed. Now put yourself in the position of saying, this person is on worthy of love because of X, Y, or Z. Now, where do you stand? Jesus, put it this way to the one who will show no mercy.
They will receive no mercy. We need to be those who overcome partiality because that’s really the base thing here. We don’t love those whom we hate because for some reason we have justified or not. Can’t be thoroughly justified, but in our minds, justifiably or not, we have looked at them with partiality. Now, again, God, doesn’t say you love.
And therefore there is no judgment and there is no punishment. And we’re not talking about judgment and punishment. We’re talking about love. And God’s love said there will be judgment. There will be punishment. And I will act to keep you from facing it. I’ll send my son for you so you don’t have to be judged and you don’t have to be punished for everything you deserve.
Do we love the way God does? Or do we hold back our love? Because we’ve chosen a life of partiality towards others. What’s your life today. If you’re outside the body of Christ, understand how God loves. God loved you enough to send his son to die on the cross for your sins, that you might have redemption. One who was without sin died so that you who have sin could have eternal life.
But if you reject the sacrifice that God made, you should understand, there’s not another one. And when that sacrifice is rejected, you stand before God. With the only thing you have to declare your righteousness. But the only thing you have to declare your righteousness is actually your sin. And so you stand before God condemned. If you’re outside the body of Christ this evening,
don’t go home. That way entering into the body of Christ, entering into the salvation that is in Christ is done by hearing the word of God and believing that Jesus Christ is the son of God, repenting of your sins and confessing the name of Christ being immersed in water for the remission of those sins. And you can rise up redeemed no longer covered in sin,
no longer stained by the world, but washed in the blood of the lamb, pure white. If you remember the body of Christ and you’ve brought shame and reproach upon the church, you can come home, you can turn back to righteousness and we will pray with you and pray for You. If you have need of the invitation, for any reason, it is available.
Now, why not come as we stand? And as we sing, God,<inaudible> God<inaudible>. God is so good.<inaudible> he cares for me. He cares for me. He cares for me. He is so good to me. He answers prayer. He answers<inaudible>. Hey, answered prayer.<inaudible> Let us pray. Our heavenly father. We thank you for the privilege and honor to be in your house tonight.
Lord, we thank you for Aaron that stands before us Lord and explained your word that even the simplest person can understand it. Lord, Lord, we lift the ones who are sick, have the fear of the virus and everything, or just comfort them and bring them back. Lord, Lord, as we leave tonight, just let a slate was good to be in your house and just give us travel safety and forgive us where we fail you.
Lord, these things we ask in your name, amen.