Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION:

Down through the ages … many Christians have faced a choose -

They can either

Deny Christ and live

OR

Proclaim Christ and die.

And often horrible deaths … stonings, hangings, burned alive, eaten by wild animals ....

And,

The book of Acts records the first martyr of the Gospel- Stephen.

While Stephen was being stoned for proclaiming Christ - we read this incredible testimony.

Acts

What is it about Christ … that made Stephen look to Christ even as he is being stoned.

And to be more concerned about those who were stoning him then his own life.

And

Stephen’s testimony and commitment to Christ is incredible,

but he is not alone.

He is just the first.

Early Church father, Ignatius of Antioch.

“Now I begin to be a disciple.…

Let fire and cross, flocks of beasts, broken bones, dismemberment … come upon me, so long as I attain to Jesus Christ.”

Jon Hus - the Pre-runner to the reformation.

“Lord Jesus, it is for thee that I patiently endure this cruel death.

I pray thee to have mercy on my enemies.”

Both gave their lives for the Gospel.

And the list goes on.

What is it about Christ … that made Stephen, Ignatius, Jon Hus, and countless others choose Christ over their own life?

We could say >>>> you won’t die for something you don’t believe in,

but I would challenge us >>> you won’t die for something you are not in awe of.

These people had learned of a Christ - who left them in awe of what he had done for them.

A Christ who was so valuable and wonderful … they would rather die then give him up.

In the Same way,

We won’t die for a Jesus we are not in awe of.

But neither will we live for a Christ we are not in awe of.

We won’t spend time and sacrifice telling others about a Christ we are not in awe of.

Our passage is a passage that ought to stir our hearts today.

Stir our hearts for an awe of what Christ has done.

And stir our hearts to share our Christ with those around us.

Let’s read our text - .

(ESV)

We ought to declare the mercies of Christ to the lost around us.

and this text will tell us why.

The big question - a Stephen, a Ignatius, a Jon Hus, a Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Jim Elliot … leaves us with.

Why?

Why would you give your life up to tell others about Christ?

Why would you give up the American dream and American privileges and nice retirement … and risk your life to tell people about Christ?

Peter tells us it is because of - what Christ did for us.

What did Christ do for us?

Well -

1) Christ made us God’s own chosen people.

Peter in this passage is not so much telling us how we get saved.

but what it means that we are saved.

but what

What does it mean that were saved - And according to Peter -

According to Peter, if you are a believer born anew by the death and resurrection of Christ … then observe what God has made you.

(ESV)

1) Christ made us God’s own chosen people.

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

b) King’s priesthood.

c) Holy nation.

d) Prized possession.

Peter gives us 4 titles of the church … that tell us what it means that we are saved.

First, we are

a) A chosen race.

Chosen carries the idea of being picked.

ILLUSTRATION:

If you remember as a kid and at recess,

2. Royal Priesthood.

What does every kid want to be?

They want to be picked.

>>>> Whether Basketball, dodge ball, or tag;

every kid wants to be picked.

Now being, picked at recess is really trivial.

For most of us, not being picked or being picked is a vague memory of the past.

We studied the idea of a “Royal Priesthood” as we understood that Peter tied the Holy Priesthood of with the Royal Priesthood of .

Therefore, I will not fully explain it this week.

But I do want to remind us that it is in our text this morning.

We need to remember we are a Royal Priesthood in worship of King; that is Christ the King.We need to remember that we are simply ambassadors in this World.

Though we may submit to the government of this World, our ultimate allegiance actually goes back to Christ the King.Which means our loves and our passions are not found in this world, but principally found in the Return of Christ.

Our hearts look forward to see the day that the promises that the Lord has made are fulfilled in our very sight.

A day in which we no longer are ambassadors in a foreign land, but a priesthood in the Kingdom of God.

We ought to praise God because we are His Royal Priesthood.

So Peter has called us a Chosen Race, a Royal Priesthood, and thirdly, a

However, let me tell you about something that is eternally true

God picked you.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ and his perfect sacrifice for your sins,

then God has picked you.

Out of his great love, God picked you to bless.

And our text says - a chosen race.

3. Holy Nation

We are a chosen race, but what kind of race are we?

This is not the idea of an ethnicity or from a certain place.

We are not a race made of people from a certain place.

This idea of race is We are not a race made of people from a certain place.

Christians literally circle the globe.

People in every land,

The word nation is an interesting word.

This has the idea again of being constituted as a people, a nation.

Particularly, a nation is separated and divided by political allegiance as much as geography or race.

ILLUSTRATION: What makes the nation of China different from the nation of Japan?