The Commands and Calling of the Royal Priesthood

Introduction

Message to the Exiled

When the people Judah were sent into exile they were not left out on their own to try and figure life out as God’s people outside of God’s Land. God sent them with prophets like Daniel. And He protected them by using people like Mordecai and Esther. He gave them instructions on how to live and to interact in Babylon through the prophet Jeremiah. And God also promised to bring them home, to gather them back to Himself and place them back in the Land.

And this is what God has done through Peter in the writing of this letter. In chapter 1, Peter calls us elect exiles. And it is in this letter that we find instructions in how to live out our exile in this foreign land. It is here that we are reminders of our glorious salvation as those who have been born again and of our imperishable inheritance and of the blessed hope of Christ’s return.

Main Point and Structure

And in this passage that we will be studying today we see that Peter continues to give such exhortation and an encouragement to us elect exiles. His message in chapter 2:1-10 and my main point for our sermon is that we have been commanded to discard our sin, and to desire God through His Word, for we have been called by Him to be His royal priesthood, His Household, and His people so that we may declare His excellencies to the world. Let me state that again, the main point today is that we have been commanded to discard sin and desire the God of the Word, for we have been called to be His royal priesthood so that we might declare His excellencies.

This is seen in the two sections of this text.In verses 1-3 Peter gives us the imperatives. We will call this section The Commands to the Royal Priesthood. And then in verses 4-10 we will hear Peter indicate who we are as those who have been born again, who are united with Christ. I titled this section The Calling of the Royal Priesthood

The Commands to the Royal Priesthood - vs 1-3

The Calling of the Royal Priesthood - vs 4-10

So then let’s start by looking at the Commands to the Royal Priesthood.

1. The Commands to the Royal Priesthood - vs 1-3

Since you Have been Born Again - 1 Peter 1:22-23

Now, it’s helpful to understand that this section, verses 1-3, are really the concluding thoughts to an argument that Peter began back in chapter 1:22. We can see this from the first word of Chapter 2:1 which says, “therefore.” Peter is pointing us back. He’s wrapping up what he said previously. So let’s go back and look at 1:22-23 which say, “22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, 23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.” Peter’s argument here in these verses is that we should love one another because we have been born again. We love one another for - or since - or because we have been begotten by God.

Discard Your Clothes of Death - 1 Peter 2:1

Loving one another is nothing short of one of the purposes for why you and I have been born again. “Therefore,” chapter 2:1, “putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander” Putting off these vestiges of the old self, the dead man, the flesh is a necessary component of our love for one another. Ultimately this is a list of sins that is an affront to our God and must be repented of out of love and submission to Him. But secondarily, these sins are major roadblocks to achieving true, real, pure love for the people sitting to your right and your left. Malice destroys any effort to achieving harmony or unity in the community of believers. Deceit and hypocrisy introduce pretense and destroys trust. These sins sow the opposite of a sincere love. Envy is the opposite of love for it despises your brother’s blessings and hopes for your sister’s downfall. We are to encourage and build up one another with our tongues, speaking truth in love. Slander is the opposite of love for it spreads falsehood and disparages the honor of your brothers and sisters.

These sins are the enemy of love, holding on to them is to hold on to the death that existed in you before you were made alive in Christ. And so Peter commands us to to put them aside. This phrase carries the idea of a man stripping off filthy, dirty, stinking garments because they are so repulsive.

During my first year in physical therapy school, I was enrolled in an anatomy lab where for 24 weeks, I dissected the human body. Before entering the lab my classmates and I would go into a locker room and put on scrubs and googles and gloves so that our normal clothes wouldn’t get contaminated by the fluids and smells of the dead cadaver body.

Now, imagine that, after spending 2 hours in the cadaver lab I went back into the locker room, took off my scrubs and gloves and took a quick shower. But then after taking a shower I put on those same scrubs and gloves with all the dead cadaver body germs on them and then went and got lunch. And then I decided to go home in my scrubs and gloves. And then I decided to spend the evening on my couch and eventually went to bed, contaminating my food, my car, my couch and my bed with dead cadaver smells and fluids. That would be disgusting. That would be repulsive. That’s stomach turning.

And that’s exactly what it is like when we do not discard the vestiges of our dead flesh - when we do not put off malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. These sins have no place in the house of the living - in the house of the Lord - in our church, in our bodies. So decisively, intentionally, and completely discard these sins.

Desire the Word - 1 Peter 2:2

So then, since we have been born again, let us instead put on a sincere love for one another. And let us also, verse 2, “2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word,” Here in verse 2, Peter switches up his metaphor from clothes to food. He paints a picture for us of an infant, of a freshly born baby who wants one thing and one thing only, mama’s milk.

I am so thankful that I got to study this passage to preach it for you because 2 years ago I was living this metaphor, well really, Anna my wife was living this metaphor. If you’ve had a baby you know that there is one thing that a baby longs for, cares about and desires above all else, and that is milk. That cute little baby could care less about how he looks in the silly patterned pajamas grandma bought him. That baby girl is not upset at all that you keep playing the same baby Mozart cd to her over and over and over again. But if mama is 30 minutes behind schedule when it comes time for milk, best believe that everyone in the house will know it. Babies want milk. Babies crave milk. They don’t scream and cry because of the color pallet or the curtains in their nursery. They scream and cry because they are obsessed with milk.

This singular focus, this intense, obsessive desire is exactly what Peter is saying we should have for God’s Word. Do you crave God’s Word like this? Am I at a place where I desire to have more of God through His Word more than anything or anyone else in this world? This is what Peter is commanding us to have. Underline, highlight, circle that phrase “long for”. Peter is urging and imploring us to long for the Word of God and the God of the Word. Moreover, this verb is in present tense indicating that this should be a regular, and habitual craving.

Such was the heart of David who wrote that God’s Words are “10 more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.” Ps 19:10. The same could be said for Jeremiah who wrote, “16 Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart;” Jer 15:16a.

Peter points out that this Word is the pure word. Meaning that it is unadulterated truth, there is nothing fake or false added in. There are no imperfections, no contaminations, no pollutants for these words in this book are the very words of the Holy and Perfect God.

Moreover, it is the same word that gave us new life, look again at 1:23, “23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.” This word that brought us life is the same word that, in longing for it, in consuming it like a baby does milk, we, chapter 2:2, “may grow in respect to salvation,” The means that God uses to regenerate us and the means that He uses to sanctify us are one and the same and they are found in this book. Put differently, if you want to grow into a mature Christian, act like a baby who wants nothing but the milk of his mother. This book is God’s chosen means to grow you.

If You Have Tasted - 1 Peter 2:3

This longing is natural only, verse 3, “3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.” Here Peter intends for us to evaluate our attitude toward God’s Word to see if in fact we have experienced the kindness of the God of the Word. Since we have been born again, since we have tasted the kindness of God in His gospel, we should crave the message that brought us life.

These words contain an allusion to Psalm 34 which we read in part this morning. It is there that David writes, Psalm 34:8, “8 O taste and see that the Lord is good” Peter is writing to us who have tasted, and we who have tasted, then, should never be satisfied with just one taste. The sweetness of the promise of forgiveness of sins and adoption into God’s family and eternal life in His kingdom should whet our appetites for more of what this word shows us of our wonderful Savior!

Looking at this from another angle, it is the natural position of the dead man to disdain the words of this book because he is filled with dread or indifference to the God of this book. But for the one who has known the kindness of God, who has met Him as Father, who has tasted His sweet love it becomes natural to shed all folly and run into His arms, meeting Him in His Word as often as we can.

Application

These verses have been so convicting to me this week. I know I am not alone when I raise my hand and confess to Christ that I do not desire Him and long for His Word like this. So what do we do? How do we cultivate this craving? There are three answers in this text for us.

First, we must shed our sin, particularly our hateful heart attitudes towards on another that are mentioned in verse 1. The author of Hebrews uses the same word and concept for discarding our sin in Hebrews 12:1 when he says, “let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us,” Unrepentant sin is a hinderance to us as we approach His word to feast on it. It is a poison that numbs the tastebuds so that we cannot fully taste the sweetness of the Holy Scriptures.

Second, we must come to this word to taste of Christ, to have more of Him. This must be the motivation of our heart when we open His Word. When we approach reading the scripture as something that we ought to do or have to do like a daily objective, we will not taste the kindness that is here. When we approach God’s Word to find some inspiration or motivation for our day we are treating this word selfishly. And that’s not to say that we shouldn’t find our encouragement in this book, we should and we must. But, as one of my favorite pastors, John On-wu-check-wa puts it, “we must approach the Bible like a window instead of a mirror. We must not come to it and primarily see our selves but instead we should come to it to look through it and see God.” So then in our devotion time we must have the mindset that we are coming to meet God, to see Him and all His beauty and glory.

Lastly, we must not approach reading God’s Word like we are reading any other book. Surely reading is a natural act. We use our natural eyes to see, we use our natural mind to understand. But our eyes are eyes that have been opened by the Holy Spirit, our minds are minds that has been renewed by the Spirit’s work of regeneration. What I am getting at is that we need to seek God’s help when we read God’s book. In order to read this book different than how we read any other book we must, every time we open it, seek God’s help. May we learn to pray with the Psalmist, who pleads with God saying “18 Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law.” Psalm 119:18. There are wonders here, things more marvelous than the most epic movie or novel or show. There are precious truths here more valuable than all the money you could earn in a lifetime. Let us pray that the God would help us to see.

How do you grow in your desire for God’s Word? Put off your sin, come to His Word to have more of Him, and ask for His help to behold His wonders that lie within.

Transition

Let’s turn our attention to our second point - the calling of the royal priesthood - let’s start by looking at that first phrase of verse 4,

2. The Calling of the Royal Priesthood - vs 4-10

Coming to the Living Stone - 1 Peter 2:4

“And coming to Him...”First, note that this verb in verse 4 is not placed in the past tense but in the present. Peter is calling his already born again readers to come. This is not a call to conversion, this is a call to communion. Those who tasted the kindness of the Lord and long for Him through His word like a new born longs for milk, they now come to Him in verse 4.

Now, who is this Him to whom we come, look at vs 4 in its entirety “4 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,” A living stone? A living stone is a paradox? But this is why the Him must only be Christ Himself. For He died, but He didn’t stay dead. On the third day the day the dead stone that kept Him in His tomb had to be rolled out of the way to let the Living Stone out! Romans 6:9 says this, “9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.” He is a living stone!

But notice that in the rest of verse 4 there are two opposing views about this Living Stone. Peter says, that this Living stone has been rejected by men. This word means disapproval after being examined. And this is exactly what we see in the Gospel. Jesus came to His people, and instead of receiving Him they rejected Him after examination. He was run out of His home town, He was constantly rebuffed by the religious leaders, He was arrested, beaten, scoffed at, mocked and crucified in His own capitol city. But that isn’t the only view of this living stone, look one more time at verse 4, In His Father’s eyes, Jesus wasn’t rejected upon examination, He is choice and precious. The word precious word denotes something of unequaled in value, costly and irreplaceable. The Son was precious to the Father

Living Stones Built Into a Spiritual House - 1 Peter 1:5a

So then, when we appraise Jesus the way that the Father does, as precious, and we come to Him we become shaped to be like Him - verse 5, “5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house” As we come to Him, the living stone, we are made into living stones. He is a living stone and ever since the first time we came to Him, we have been made into living stones as well. His life, His living has become ours.

What Peter is doing here is he is using an architectural illustration when he calls Christ and us living stones. Look at that phrase “precious cornerstone” from verse 6. When erecting a stone building, the builders would go to a quarry where they would hew out the foundational stone, the first stone, the cornerstone was carved. Then every stone in that building measured by and lined up with that cornerstone. The shape and the position of all the other stones in the entire building were determined by and modelled after the cornerstone.

Dear church, Christ is our cornerstone. We are being built up together, living stone by living stone to be, verse 5, “a spiritual house”. And who is the builder of this Spiritual House? Christ has promised, Matthew 16:18, “I will build my church.” He builds individual living stones, individual Christians into a spiritual house into a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. We do not go to a Temple to meet God, we are that Temple and God is here.

A Mix in Metaphors - 1 Peter 2:5b

In the next phrase, Peter mixes his metaphor when he says that we are being made into a spiritual house, “for a holy priesthood.” So then, not only are we the household where God dwells with us but, in coming to Him we are called to be a holy priesthood. We are not just the house of worship we are the active participants in that worship.

In his commentary, Luther frequently states that our title as priests should be as common and widely used as our title as Christians. And I think he is right in saying so. There is no such thing as a nominal Christian in Peter’s mind. Christianity is not another religion that we can add to our facebook profiles. No, we are called to be His holy priesthood. This is not an office reserved for a few special Christians, but this weighty and holy calling is for each one of us.

So what is this office of priesthood? In the old testament the priests were men from the tribe of Levi who had the honor of serving God at His temple. They acted as mediators between the people and God which meant that they represented the people to God and God to the people. They did so by carrying out regular sacrifices to God for the people. And once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest, and Him alone, was allowed to enter the innermost part of the Temple, the Holy of Hollies and there offer sacrifices for atonement for sin.

But this system has been transformed into something greater. In Hebrews we read that Christ is the great High Priest. Hebrews 9:11-12 teaches that, “when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; 12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” Hebrews 9:11-12. Therefore we as the New Covenant priesthood have no need to offer sacrifices for sin for Christ has made that sacrifice of Himself once and for all on our behalf.

So then, what is our responsibility as a holy priesthood? Peter writes, verse 5 that we are called, “to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” What are these spiritual sacrifices? Well from Paul we see that spiritual sacrifice entails offering up all of who we are for God’s purposes, “1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” Romans 12:1. In Hebrews we see that other spiritual sacrifices are praise, thanksgiving and doing what is good, “15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name 16 And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” Hebrews 13:15. And from our text in 1 Peter we see that only those sacrifices offered through Jesus Christ are acceptable to God. I found Calvin so helpful with his comment on this verse, “There is never found in our sacrifices such purity, that they are of themselves acceptable to God; our self-denial is never entire and complete, our prayers are never so sincere as they ought to be, we are never so zealous and so diligent in doing good, but that our works are imperfect, and mingled with many vices. Nevertheless, Christ procures favour for them...when he says, that they are accepted, not for the merit of their own excellency, but through Christ.” This is our calling as a holy priesthood dear church and fulfilling that calling demands that we rely on Christ our High Priest.

The Precious Promise - 1 Peter 2:6-7a

Now, what we have in verses 6, 7 and 8 are three old testament quotes that Peter exposits to support the metaphor as Christ as the chief cornerstone.

In verse 6, Peter quotes from Isaiah 28:16. In this passage we find a message of judgement on the people of Israel who scoff at God with disdain and unbelief. They do not trust in Him and they do not worship Him. And yet in the midst of this passage of judgement, there is a promise of hope, Isaiah 28:16, “Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” Peter’s point is to highlight this promise - those who believe in Him, who have faith in the living stone - the risen savior, they will not be disappointed. They will not experience judgement but instead salvation. This is a forward looking promise. Our present faith will not be in vain when He returns. Believe in Him and you will not be disappointed. Underline this promise. Cling to this promise for as Peter puts it in verse 7, “7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe;” Notice the same word, precious from verse 4 and 6. For us who believe, this promise of future salvation and vindication is unequaled in value, costly and irreplaceable. Jesus, the precious cornerstone, offers the precious value of unquestionable and undeniable hope of salvation in Him. Do you believe this?

The Builder’s Rejection - 1 Peter 2:7b-8a

In the next two verses Peter elaborates on this contrast between those who do believe and those who scoff at Christ and reject him. Look back at verse 7 “but for those who disbelieve, “The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word.” Peter here is quoting from Psalm 118 which was also quoted by Christ in the Gospels. It is there that Jesus applies this passage to the religious leaders of Israel. Listen to Jesus from Matthew 21:42, “42 Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone; This came about from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. 44 “And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.” The religious leaders who should have been looking for the cornerstone for they were masters of the scriptures. But instead they stumbled on the stone and Jesus indicts them for their lack of knowledge saying, “did you never read?” To them He was not the cornerstone but a rock of offense. They scoffed at Jesus and His gospel. They refused to obey it’s call to repent from their sin and believe in Him. This was the heart of those who yelled “crucify Him” at the trial of our Lord. And this was their heart when they persecuted the church, stoning Stephen, imprisoning John and Peter, running Paul out of town after town for preaching Christ crucified. So then for those who do not believe, then and now, they will be disappointed, they will be put to shame. As Jesus said in Matthew, they will be scattered and broken by the Living Stone when He returns.

Appointed Stumbling 1 Peter 2:8b

Now, before we move on, I must touch on the last phrase of verse 8, “ and to this doom they were also appointed.” First, this word, doom, is added on by the translators. It’s better reading would be, “ and to this they were also appointed.” Now, what the word “this” is referring to is the stumbling and disobedience of the builders. Thatt stumbling was appointed by God. So then, we need to quickly answer to questions here. What does Peter mean here? And why did he say this?

First, what is Peter saying? I think an answer can be found when we look at what he says on this same issue, regarding these same builders in his first sermon in Acts 2:22-23, “22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— 23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.” Listen to that, Christ was delivered over, He was crucified according to the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God. But then just after that Peter indicts the men of Israel saying they nailed Christ to the cross. They put Him to death. God sovereignly appointed the death of His Son to accomplish His redemptive plan made before time began. And yet this plan included the betrayal, arrest, trial and crucifixion of His Son all of which were carried out by human hands who rejected Christ in their hearts. And this is the same paradox that we find in 1 Peter 2. Peter does not exempt the builders from their human responsibility, and yet he highlights God’s sovereign hand in giving them over to the disobedience already present in their hearts. They are not free from the guilt of their sin. And in rejecting Him they did not thwart God’s plan but instead God appointed their sin to accomplish that plan.

Now why did Peter chose to emphasize God’s sovereignty here in verse 8? There are two reasons. First, this truth to reassured his readers that those who rejected Christ and persecuted them did not do so outside of God’s control. He reigns even over those who oppose them. And secondly, to underscore the beauty and the magnificence of what he is about to say in verses 9-10. Look down with me to verse 9.

Chosen By God - 1 Peter 2:9-10

“9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession,” You and I were sovereignly chosen by God. from all the tribes and tongues and nations to be His chosen race, His holy nation. Think about that - God chose you. This is your new identity. I am chosen by God. We do not deserve this sovereign grace. In fact we deserve to be given over to our sin and unbelief like the builders in verses 7 and 8. But instead God chose us. We did not earn this choice, we did not merit this choice, we didn’t meet any conditions to be chosen. We are God’s elect, that is who we are. And when we look down at verse 10, we see that our election was a choice motivated by the mercy and compassion of God, verse 10 “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.” Here Peter is talking to us gentiles who were far off from the promises of God. But now, as Paul says in Ephesians 2:13, “in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” We were not a people but through Christ we have become God’s people again quoting from Ephesians 2, “19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” And how were we brought near? Because we have received mercy. God in His heart full of love and compassion has chosen to bring us to Himself and make us His people before the foundations of the worrld.

In chapter 1:1 Peter addresses his readers as elect exiles and here in these verses he is elaborating on what that identity means. Those first readers were exiles and sojourners in a foreign land, they had no real home country or physical citizenship that they could cling to in this world. And yet, Peter calls them and us a holy nation. They have been drawn out from their birth nations to be set apart and sanctified to be God’s nation. As Christians, our citizenship is not one of this world, our nationality is not found in a kingdom on a map. No, we are God’s chosen race, His Holy Nation. What a glorious privilege then, to be elect exiles belonging to the Holy Nation of God. As the author of Hebrews writes Hebrews 12:28, “28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.”

To Proclaim His Excellencies - 1 Peter 2:9b

Moreover, we are a royal priesthood. See here that Peter is double emphasizing our identity as priests to our God, with one slight difference. In verse 5, we were called a holy priesthood. Here we are called a royal priesthood. We are a priesthood who serves the King who is Himself the Royal High Priest.

Now phrase is actually quoted from Exodus 19 where God, at Sinai, calls the entire nation of Israel a kingdom of Priests. They were to function on a national level as priests between God and the other nations. The nations came to God through Israel and Israel was to represent God to the nations. So too are we, as priests to Jesus our King, representatives of Him to the nations when we fulfill our calling found in verse 9, “that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” This is what we are here for. Our duties as priests are fulfilled when we proclaim HIs excellencies. We have been chosen so that we might proclaim His excellency in choosing us, so that we might magnify His mercy, so that we might declare the sweet taste of His kindness, so that we might herald the coming of His Kingdom of which we have been made citizens.

He is the One who, as Peter says, called us out of darkness. This is a reference to God’s power displayed in Genesis. Out of the darkness God, with His Word called forth the sun and the stars and the moon and the earth and the oceans and the land and all living things. And He exercised this same power as Creator God to call us out of the darkness of death. Upon coming to the tomb of His dear friend, Jesus said, “Lazarus come out! And the dead rose to life.: And so He did with you and I. He called us out of our dead state and we came out of the darkness into His marvellous light. This is what we proclaim! His power and victory over death. This hope is what we carry to those who are still dead in their sins around us. This is the good news that we proclaim to every nation and every tribe and every tongue. Missions and evangelism are not programs that we have the option of participating in. Missions and evangelism is what each and every one of us has been called to do as Royal Priests. Dear saints, we are His royal priesthood and this is our full-time destiny, from now until all eternity - to proclaim the glorious of our King. This is our calling

Conclusion

To The Weary

Now before I am done I want to make some final applications for you. If you are sitting there and you are worn out, if you are feeling beaten down, if you are tired and weary and struggling know dear saints that this word is for you. Peter was writing to people who felt like you feel. His purpose for writing this entire book, according to 1 Peter 5:12 is that they and you would stand firm in the grace of God. These truths were written to encourage you and strengthen you. Like a husband nourishes and cherishes his wife, Christ is nourishing and cherishing you with this Word today.

So look back at the text with me. In verse 4, Peter notes that Christ is precious in the sight of God, He was costly and rare and prized in God’s eyes. And then in verse 5 we see this connection, this uniting between Christ, the precious living stone and us who are also called living stones. And here’s the point I want to encourage you with, since we are united with Christ, we too are precious in the sight of God. And don’t just take my word for it, look at verse 9, we are a people for God’s own possession. Peter is quoting from Moses back in Deuteronomy 7:6 and there in this passage Moses is recording God as He speaks to His people saying, “you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples.” Dear struggling Christian, remind your soul with this truth: you are precious and treasured in the eyes of your God.

To The Overwhelmed/Doubting/Unbelieving

Now maybe you are here and you have not followed Christ, you have not yet believed the gospel or you are doubting whether or not you are chosen and loved by God. I want you all to look back at the text with me one more time and highlight or underline or circle two key phrases. Let’s start in verse 3, underline the phrase “if you have tasted.” Now drop down to verse 4, and mark the phrase, “coming to Him.”

Here are my questions. Have you tasted? Do you know that Christ offers something that this world can never come close to offering - satisfaction. If you taste His kindness, His grace, His love, if you eat and drink of Him you will be satisfied. Here the voice of Christ who said, John 6:35, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” We are creatures made to desire. And as you know, when you seek to fill your desires with money, or sex, or drugs, or friends, or things, you’re never satisfied. Because Christ alone can satisfy and He will do so for all eternity. Have you tasted?

Second question, what’s keeping you from coming to Him? Do you think that you are too dirty? Do you think that you are too broken? Do you think that there is no way that a holy God would want me to come? Oh dear friend, know this, the Holy Son of God came to you. He came to this earth to make unclean sinners like you clean. He left the glories of heaven to heal broken people like you. And He is the same now as He was then when He walked this earth. These are His words to you, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30, ESV) Oh dear friend, taste and see that the Lord is good!

Concluding Argument

In conclusion, we have been chosen by God to be His royal Priesthood, and as such we must discard our sin, desire Him through His Word and declare His excellencies to the world. These are our commands, brothers and sisters. This is our calling dear saints. This is who we are to be as elect exiles.

Prayer

Christ, we are overcome by your love for us. We have tasted your kindness today through your word. We have beheld how wondrous and excellent you are. Help us oh God to long for you through your word this week. Help us to put off our sin and put on love for one another. Help us to be faithful to our calling as your Royal Priesthood. We pray in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Benediction

Dear Saints, as elect exiles we are called to discard our sin, and to desire God through His Word for we have been chosen by Him to be His royal priesthood so that we may declare His excellencies for all eternity. Let us obey the commands of our gracious Lord and let us fulfill the calling He has called us to.

Now “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (Revelation 1:5–6, ESV)