Do You Know What You Are? I Peter 2:9-12 (NKJV)

Transcription

1 Message for THE LORD'S DAY EVENING, September 6, 2015 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister TOPIC: Christian Living Do You Know What You Are? I Peter 2:9-12 (NKJV) Please turn with me in your Bibles to I Peter chapter two. And let's read verses 9,10. I Peter 2:9,10 (NKJV) P R A Y E R 9 But 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 into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. 11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. ************************************* ILLUSTRATION I N T R O D U C T I O N Back in June of 1983, I served on the faculty for a Junior week of camp at Southern Illinois Christian Assembly at West Frankfurt, Illinois. This camp had a beautiful facility. Rather than the normal dormitories, like most Church camps have, this camp had beautiful octagon shaped cottages that would house about twelve campers and two faculty members.

2 As I was moving my things into the cottage I was going to be staying in, I noticed one particular boy who was causing trouble for some of the other campers. I walked over to him and told him to knock it off and leave the other guys alone. He made some smart remark and darted out the front door. I didn't see the young man again until bed time that night. Well that night when we turned the lights out for everyone to go to sleep, this same young man began his reign of terror. In the first fifteen minutes after we turned the lights out he was out of his bunk 5-6 times. And when he was in his bunk he would put his feet on the mattress above him and push up and down nearly knocking the kid in the top bunk out of bed. Then he got his flashlight out of his suitcase and walked around the room shining it in the other camper's faces. Well my patience finally ran out. I got out of my bed and walked over to the boy and told him to come with me to the restroom. After I closed the door, I asked him, What's going on, why are doing all that stuff? He got this smirky grin on his face and swore at me. I said, Young man, do you know what you are? I said, 'DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE? I said, You are a trouble-maker with a capital T. All He responded with another smart remark, which meant I had to resort to PLAN B. I decided that what this boy needed was a little exercise to help him wind down, so I took him outside the cottage and told him, I want you to walk up to the front office and back. (Now this camp had really nice sidewalks that connected every building on the campgrounds, so I didn't think I was asking him to do anything harmful or unreasonable.) So this bra-a-t, I mean, young man took off walking. He got about fifty yards away from our cottage when all the sudden I heard him let out a holler that could be heard clear across the campground. I went to him to see what was wrong and he told me he had stepped off the edge of the sidewalk and scraped his foot. So I picked him up and carried him back to our cottage. I took him the restroom and turned the faucet on to wash his foot off. And when I stuck his foot under the faucet he let out another scream that woke up everybody in our cottage.

3 I said, What is wrong? He said, That water is scalding hot. Thinking he was just being a baby, I stuck my hand under the running water and guess what, he was right, IT WAS SCALDING HOT! I quickly yanked my hand back and apologized to him. Then I had prayer with him and followed him back to his bunk. Needless to say, We didn't get off on the right foot that week. (no pun intended!) But do you know after that first night, I didn't have a lick of trouble out of that young man. In fact, by the end of the week he and I were pretty good buddies. ************************************ This evening for a few minutes I would like for you to ponder that same question I asked that young man at Church camp many years ago: Do You Know What You Are? First of all, let's consider... I. What You Are To The World (v. 11) v.11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 1. Peter uses two terms in this eleventh verse to describe our relationship to this world. (A) First of all, Peter says we are SOJOURNERS That word sojourner refers to someone who is a STRANGER or a NON-RESIDENT ; or someone who is a GUEST. Some translations use the word ALIEN instead of sojourner. That is a word we can relate to in light of our current situation with illegal immigrants. As non-residents of this country they are aliens here.

4 And think of those poor people who have fled Libya to get away from the ISIS terrorists. They have sojourned into several European countries and discovered in many places that they are NOT WELCOME. As sojourners or aliens, we as Christians are not very welcome in this world. In fact, many in the world view us with contempt and hostility. They don't want us here. (B) Secondly, Peter tells us we are PILGRIMS. A pilgrim is WANDERER, one who is moving towards an ultimate DESTINATION. As Christians, we are NOT tourist in this world, we are pilgrims. 2. On the day you and I were born we began our sojourn, our pilgrimage through this world, and our journey will not be completed until we reach our heavenly home. 3. The cold, hard reality is that to this world you and I are nobodies. In fact, we are little more than a number. -On your birth certificate there is a number that was assigned to you on the day you were born. It is a file number that verifies you were born in such and such hospital, and delivered by such and such doctor, on such and such date. -To the United States government you are known by your SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER. -To your mail carrier you are known by YOUR ADDRESS NUMBER AND YOUR ZIP CODE. -In the phone book you are known by A TELEPHONE NUMBER.

5 -Your insurance company knows you by your POLICY NUMBER. -Your bank knows you by your ACCOUNT NUMBER. -Your electric company, your gas company,and your satellite or cable TV providers all know you by your CUSTOMER NUMBER. -If you go into the hospital you will be given a PATIENT NUMBER. -Your credit card company knows you by your CREDIT CARD NUMBER. -And if the police happen to pull you over on the highway the first thing they are going to do is check your LICENSE NUMBER. 4. While your life and mine matters to our family and a few friends, basically you and I are just one of 7.3 billion other people who live on this planet. 5. D.C. Egner writes: As sojourners and pilgrims in this world, we need to travel light, not burdening ourselves with an undue attachment to the material things of life. The more we care for the luxuries and possessions of earth, the more difficult will be our journey to heaven. (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, Michigan) Well now that we have considered what you are to the world, let's consider...

6 II. What You Are To God? (vs. 9,10) 9 But 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 into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. 1. Remember while ago we learned that in this world you and I are basically identified by a number. Well, to God you and I are NOT a number, we are something far more special! 2. In verse 9 Peter reveals four special titles God has given to us; all of them due to our relationship with Jesus Christ. (A) You are one of God's CHOSEN GENERATION (v.9a) Some translations say we are a chosen race. Let's not overlook the importance of that word chosen. That word chosen tells us that it was by God's grace, and His grace alone that we were included in His family. In John 15:16 (NKJV) Jesus says, You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. As you know, for many centuries the only way one could be one of God's chosen people was to be born of the Jewish race. The Jews were God's covenant people in the Old Testament.

7 But by His grace, GOD CHOSE YOU AND ME...GOD INCLUDED YOU AND ME. It has nothing to do with our race, our color, or our ethnic origin. By the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ you and I were able to become one of God's chosen generation, His chosen race. As God's chosen race you and I are NOT better than everyone else; nor are we superior to everyone else, but we are more blessed than everyone else. We are blessed with certain privileges and responsibilities that no one else in the world has. DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE? YOU ARE ONE OF GOD'S CHOSEN GENERATION! (B) You are one of God's ROYAL PRIESTHOOD (v.9b) In the eyes of God, you and I are royalty! Now, you and I may not feel like royalty. And when we look at ourselves in the mirror when get out of bed each morning, we certainly don't look like royalty do we? But we must remember that you and I are a child of the King and that makes us royalty! Under the Old Testament law, the only ones who could ever serve as God's priests were men from the tribe of Levi. No Jewish man from any of the other eleven tribes could ever be a priest; nor could any Jewish woman, even women from the tribe of Levi.

8 But through Jesus Christ, who is both our KING and our HIGH PRIEST, every Christian can have the wonderful privilege of rendering service to the LORD. We refer to this as the priesthood of all believers or the ministry of all believers. The apostle Paul describes it this way in I Cor. 12:4,5 There are diversities of gifts (different kinds) but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same LORD. (I Corinthians 12:4,5 NKJV) Your pulpit may be in an office, or at the mill, or in a factory, or a mechanic's shop, or in a truck, or in the cotton fields and corn fields, or in a school, or anywhere your vocation takes you. You are one of God's ROYAL PRIESTHOOD. (C) You are a citizen of God's HOLY NATION. (v.9c) Have you ever heard the term dual-citizenship? When one has dual-citizenship it means he has legal status in two different nations. For instance, there are many people living along the northern border of our country who have dual-citizenship in Canada and America. In fact, they are called Canadian-Americans. As Christians, you and I have dual-citizenship. Physically speaking, we are citizens of the United States of America. But spiritually speaking, we are citizens of the kingdom of Heaven.

9 If you have ever traveled to a foreign country I'm sure people recognized you as an American as soon as they saw you. You looked like an American. You sounded like an American. You acted liked an American. Likewise, people ought to be able to tell that you and I are citizens of God's Holy Nation by the holiness they see in our lives. They should recognize that we act differently, and think differently, and talk differently, and live differently, than those who are NOT citizens of God's Holy nation. You are one of God's CHOSEN GENERATION. You are one of God's ROYAL PRIESTHOOD. You are a citizen of God's HOLY NATION. (D) You are one of God's SPECIAL PEOPLE (v.9d) Some translations say, You are a people for God's own possession. That is simply saying, We belong to GOD for we have been bought with a price. God purchased our salvation through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ. The Greek word for special that Peter uses here has an interesting meaning. It literally means to draw a circle around something to mark it as one's own. When you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, it was as though God drew a circle around you and said, You belong to me! You are special. You are one of my treasured possessions.

10 C O N C L U S I O N ILLUSTRATION Near our house on Highway 264 there is a sanitation dump site we commonly refer to as a roll off. Every now and then I will spot something someone has thrown away that looks like it has some value. For example, a few years back I saw two LASKO fans still in their boxes. In fact, they had never even been opened. Apparently someone decided they didn't need them, so they just threw them away. Linda and I are still using those fans today. Last year someone had thrown away a fairly good-sized tool box that looked like it was in pretty good shape, so I reached down and got a hold of the handle and lifted it out of the dumpster. I could tell by the weight of it there was something inside. When I opened it up it was full of all kinds of filet knives, paring knives, butcher knives, and meat cleavers. And everyone of them had a razor-sharp edge. In this world, you and I seemingly have little or no value. Sadly, to many we are little more than a name and a number. But GOD saw great value in us; such great value in fact that He saved us and wants us to live with Him for all eternity. So when you get down or discouraged and you start thinking your life doesn't matter, JUST REMEMBER WHAT YOU ARE TO GOD. You are one of God's CHOSEN GENERATION. You are one of God's ROYAL PRIESTHOOD. You are a citizen of God's HOLY NATION. You are one of God's SPECIAL PEOPLE.

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