Privileges for God's People, Part 3b

If you've got your Bible, turn with me to Luke chapter 20 for a moment. This is what Jesus says, And he began to tell the people this parable.

A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to vine growers. He went on a journey for a long time. At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine growers in order that they might give him some of the produce of the vineyard. But the vine growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And he proceeded to send another slave. And they beat him also, and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. And he proceeded to send a third.

And this one also they wounded and cast out. And the owner of the vineyard said, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Perhaps they will respect him. But when the vine growers saw him, they reasoned with one another saying, This is the heir. Let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What therefore will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy these vine growers and will give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it they said, May it never be.

No. He gives a parable about the vineyard. Israel knows about the vineyard. All you have to do is go back to the book of Isaiah where Israel is the vineyard. And their God is that great vine dresser in that vineyard. Here he uses a parable where he looks to help us understand that the vineyard is Israel. The owner is God Himself. But the vine growers are the religious leaders. The servants are the prophets. And the son of course is Jesus Christ. Helps them understand that these servants, these prophets would come and they would kill them.

They got rid of them. They beheaded John the Baptist. They dealt with Zechariah by stoning him to death. They realized that Elijah was a threat so he was thrown out by the monarchy. They went against all of God's prophets. God sent his son. They killed him. And these people said, May this never be. But listen to what Christ says.

He says, He looked at them and said, What then is this that is written? This is important. The stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief corner stone. What's he doing? He's quoting Psalm 118. The Messianic Psalm. He's quoting the same Psalm that was quoted in Luke 19 by the people when he rode into Jerusalem through the triumphal entry. For in that same Psalm, in Psalm 118, it says that this corner stone was going to be rejected by men. And then he says this, Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces.

But on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust. It will shatter him. It will destroy him. Whoever doesn't believe in this stone will be broken to pieces. And that stone will then fall on them and shatter them into dust. It's the destruction of the people of God who don't believe in him. You see, what Christ was doing was helping us to understand something very significant. To those who believe in him, he is precious. He's valuable. But for those who don't, they could care less about what they do to him.

They disbelieve. They reject him. They rebel against him. They refuse to submit to his authority. And Christ would quote the same Psalm that the people would quote in Luke 19 about us coming in to show these people that this parable is true. It's gonna happen just like he stated it. He's gonna die. But even though he dies, he will rise again and he will come and destroy all those who oppose him. Now turn back with me to 1 Peter 2. And Peter says this, For they stumble because they are disobedient to the Word.

They won't believe the Word. They disbelieve the truth. And then let's look at what Peter says. He says, And to this doom they were also appointed. Now we need to stop right here for a second because there are some people who believe that the people who disbelieve were appointed to disbelief and therefore they were doomed.

There's a whole group of people that believe because those who are Christians are chosen to believe than those who are unbelievers are chosen to disbelieve and they use this verse to prove the fact that they were appointed to disbelief. The problem with that is is that that's not what the verse says. They were appointed to what? They were appointed to destruction. They weren't appointed to disbelief. The unbelieving came exactly because they weren't committed to the Word. And there was a penalty for their unbelief.

And the penalty for unbelief is destruction. What was appointed is the destruction not the unbelief. The destruction appointed for unbelief was appointed in ages long ago. The unbelief is not appointed. Let me share it to you this way.

Turn with me to Jude 4 for a moment. Jude 4, Jude is talking to refute apostasy. To describe to us what the apostate looks like. And this is what he says, Beloved, verse 3, while I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ.

That phrase marked out maybe your text says ordained is used to prove that these people who are apostates were ordained to be apostates. But that's not what the text says. The text says these who are marked out are ordained in fact it's used four times in the New Testament this word used for ordained and only one time is it translated ordained the rest of the other times it is translated properly and that is to write beforehand. What was written beforehand? Simply this the condemnation for those who apostatize the faith.

It was written down long ages ago that if you decide to apostatize the faith to turn against God and walk away from Him there is a condemnation. That which was marked out you can read about it in Isaiah 8, Isaiah 9, Isaiah 47, Jeremiah 5, Hosea 9, Zephaniah chapter 3. It's the condemnation that's been marked out in long ages ago. Apostasy was predicted as a condemned thing a long time ago. Don't fall into the trap of believing that because we are chosen by God to believe in Him in eternity past that those who do not believe were chosen to be condemned.

Were chosen to be destroyed. That is false doctrine. That is heresy right out of the pit of hell. It's called hyper-Calvinism. It's wrong. The Bible doesn't teach that. Christ demonstrated that in Luke chapter 20. In Luke chapter 20 when He said these words and I read it to you earlier. He said, Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces. In other words, everyone who doesn't believe in that stone anyone who doesn't commit themselves to that stone will be broken. The result of that now the result of that is that that stone now will fall on them and scatter them to dust.

That's the result. But that comes because of their unbelief. That comes because they choose not to believe in God. And the Bible is very clear about that. Man goes to hell because of his unbelief. Not because he was appointed to hell. That's not what the Bible teaches. It nowhere ever says that in the Bible. You've got to misconstrue the Greek text to come up with that view. And that's how cults began and that's how heresy develops. And that's wrong. That's not what the Bible teaches. And Peter proves that.

Christ proved it in Luke 20. Jude proved it in Jude 4. And we need to understand that. To us He's precious. But to those who disbelieve they reject Him. They turn against Him. They disbelieve the Word. And when you disbelieve the Word the Bible says that if you don't believe in Him you are condemned.

You will be condemned. And that is a very, very important point. But to those of us who believe He is precious. Because we'll never be disappointed. That's our satisfaction. That's our rest in Him. But it goes further. And that's the first part of verse number nine.

This is our election. It says this. But you are a chosen race. You are a chosen generation. You are an election. Now listen.

There's a strong contrast here. But you have been chosen by God. You have been elected by God. This is our election. And we understand that God's choice of us is equivalent to God's choice of His Son. Remember earlier it says that He is a choice stone in verse number six. He is an elect stone. Let me help you understand election from this standpoint.

How was it Jesus Christ was elected? Did God look down the corridors of time and see a man called Jesus and say I choose Jesus. And Jesus will die on the cross. That's what I'll do. No. That wasn't God's plan. The plan He enacted from eternity past happened just like He determined it to happen. God doesn't look down the corridors of time and say oh they're going to believe in me. Therefore I'll choose them. No. We are a choice just like Jesus Christ was a choice. When was Jesus Christ chosen to be the chief cornerstone?

Eternity past. When were we chosen to be a part of the generation of the kingdom of God? Eternity past. Nothing was based on us. It was all based on God's free choice. His election. The Bible says very clearly in John 15 and 16 you did not choose me I chose you.

1 Thessalonians 1.4 Knowing brethren beloved of God His choice of you. 2 Thessalonians 2.13 God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation. And over way back in Deuteronomy chapter 7 it says for you are a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the people. For you were the fewest of all peoples.

But because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. God chose Israel simply because He loved them. He chose them because He wanted to love them. He chose them because He wanted to choose them. That's how we were chosen. And Peter says this is part of our privilege. We've been chosen by God. But He didn't choose you because of what you bring to the kingdom.

He didn't choose you because of your expertise. He didn't choose you because of your intellect. He didn't choose you because you were well-groomed, well-dressed, well-educated, well-spoken. He chose you because He wanted to. He chose you because that was His desire. And just like He chose His Son, which happened all eternity past, so He chose you. Just like the book of Revelation says in Revelation 13, 8 and Revelation 17, 8 that your name was written in the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the world.

Before you ever existed, your name was written in the Lamb's book of life. So, He chose you way, way, way back when. Just as He chose His Son. But there's another privilege, and that is the privilege of separation. He says that you are a holy nation. We covered the royal priesthood when we covered the holy priesthood up in verse number five. But you are a holy nation. You are a people set apart for the purposes of God. And that separation gives you a unique identity, a supreme identity. You are set apart to serve your God.

You are a holy nation. You are set apart as a particular group of people for the purposes of your God. You sing a different national anthem than everybody else sings. You pledge allegiance to a different flag. Why? Because you are a part of a heavenly kingdom. Your citizenship is in heaven. You've been chosen to be different. You've been chosen to be separate. We are set apart to follow our leader, to follow our ruler, to follow our Messiah, to follow our king, not to follow anyone else. Yet they lead us away from that king and that director.

And that separation is a privilege of ours. No one else has that who's an unbeliever. Only the believer has that. But it goes beyond that. He says this, a people for God's own possession. Now, I thought how I'd illustrate that. And so I came up with something that I thought would really drive home the point. Tonight I brought with me my toothbrush. And I thought what I would do tonight is auction off my toothbrush. This is my toothbrush, okay? It's my own possession. And I've had it for about, oh, maybe three or four months.

So the bristles are still pretty good. See that? So I'm gonna start the bidding at $50. Do I have a bidder? 50 bucks for my toothbrush. This is my toothbrush. Do I hear 50 bucks? Come on, folks. You gotta be kidding me. Okay, forget about the toothbrush. How about my 2004 Chevy Suburban? It's out in the parking lot? We'll start the bidding at $75,000. It's my Chevy Suburban. It's a 2004. It's got 28,762 miles on it. And I will begin the bidding at $75,000. You say, well, I could buy a brand new one for $36,000.

Why would I wanna buy yours for $75,000? That's the point. It's mine. Better yet, how about this? I'll auction off my golf clubs. Okay? And I can golf, believe me. Tell them, Ted. I can golf. I'll auction off my golf clubs and begin with a bidding price of $300. You heard they don't work that well. For that, we'll begin at $400. Do I have a taker? Do I have a taker? Of course you don't have a taker. Why? Because they're mine. And you could care less that they're mine. But I want you to notice something.

That when they auctioned off Napoleon's toothbrush, they got $150,000 for it. When they auctioned off Hitler's car, I'm sorry, Napoleon's toothbrush went for $21,000. It was Hitler's car that went for $150,000. It was JFK's golf clubs that went for $772,000. Why? Because of who owned them, right? Hitler, Napoleon, JFK. How about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis? When they auctioned off her pearl earrings, they went for $211,000. Why? Because of who owned them. That's why. You see, it all depends on who owns it as to how valuable it is, right?

I'm nobody. Nobody wants my toothbrush, nobody wants my car, and nobody wants my golf clubs because I'm nobody. But JFK, Adolf Hitler, Napoleon, they're somebody, see? And that helps you understand we being a people of God's own possession, what makes us valuable? Not us. A toothbrush isn't valuable because it's a toothbrush, right? It all depends on who owns a toothbrush. A person isn't valuable unless he's owned by God. And if God owns him, he's of supreme value. And this is what we call the privilege of possession.

We are a special people because God owns us. We've been bought with a price, 1 Corinthians 620, Acts 20, 28. He purchased us with his own blood. The value of even the most common thing is enhanced if it's owned by someone significant. And we as individuals are prized possessions, not because of who we are or what we've done, but because God owns us. He shed his blood for us. He bought us back because he wanted us for his own. Folks, that's a privileged people. That's a privilege that we have, that we are his possession.

And that should cause us to rejoice. But not only that, there's a privilege of proclamation. We are his possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. To proclaim the excellencies of him. It's a word that means the heroic deeds of God. We are called for a purpose. We are possessed for a purpose that we might somehow declare out loud for those who otherwise would not know and not understand the heroic deeds of God, the mighty acts of God, the wonderful works of God.

And the last privilege is compassion. That's the way it says, verse 10. For you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God. You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. God's mercy is God's compassion on his people. He withholds the just punishment for our sin. We were not a people, but now we are the people of God. We had not obtained mercy, but now we do have mercy. The Bible says in Micah 7, verse number 18, Who is a God like thee who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious acts of the remnant of his possession?

God says in Romans chapter 9, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.

Psalm 57, 10 says that the mercy of God is great unto the heavens. Psalm 136, 1 says, O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good and his mercy endures forever. We have obtained mercy. The people of God receive the compassion of God, the mercy of God. We deserve to burn in hell forever, but God has compassion. He's merciful. And that compassion, because as Lamentations says, is new every morning. And God's faithfulness never, never fails. It never falters. God is always demonstrating his compassion and mercy toward his people.

We had that privilege. And Peter says this is what makes the people of God so special. Their union with God, their admission into God's presence, their satisfaction with their God and in their God. The very fact that they have been elected by him, their election, chosen by him to be a possession, to proclaim the excellencies of him who called them out of darkness into his marvelous light, to obtain compassion and mercy from him. That's what we have. That's what we experience every single day. That's how God wants us to be used.

And that's where our identity is based. It's all based in the marvelous mercy of God himself. And like Fat Albert could sit on that little chair and people could mock him, people could scoff at him, and he could very gently rebut all they said in a very kind, low voice and tell them that he was special and share the gospel with those people because he knew who he was in Christ. He understood the privileges he had in Christ. And we've got to ask ourselves the question, do we understand those privileges in order that we might live as he wants us to live?

You need to understand these. You need to get a hold of them. You need to reread them. Why? Because they're going to lead us into the next section of 1 Peter 2 to help us understand how we live in this world and be holy doing so.