The People and Purpose of the Church

With everything taking place in Israel in recent weeks, it truly is only by divine providence that we’re here tonight both literally and spiritually speaking. A few months ago, as summer was wrapping up, I was praying about where God wanted us to go during these Wednesday night study times and initially I wanted to go through a book by Carl Trueman that we’ll put off for next Spring on the sexual revolution in our world and what our response as Christians must be. I wanted to go that route, but felt like it wasn’t time and that we needed to go verse by verse through a book of the Bible. Through prayer, it was clear that 1 Peter was in fact that book. Now, I’m not saying that I have a spiritual antenna that knows when the next major world event will take place, but I will say that whenever we seek the Lord’s will and walk in obedience, God’s timing and providence is remarkable and timely. It is no accident that we find ourselves tonight studying a text that is among the most misunderstood in Scripture as people wrongly apply this passage to one set of people and miss out on the glorious truth that God has a people and a purpose for His Church. Consider the context of 1 Peter - sure, in some of these congregations and communities there likely were Christians who converted from Judaism, but the primary context of this letter is thought to be Gentile Christians… or non-ethnic Jews. Last week, we saw how Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith - that without Jesus, you aren’t saved, just as a house without a cornerstone won’t stand firm. Peter shared last week that these believers are also a “living stone” and being built up into a holy priesthood. Tonight’s text will dive into what that means even deeper. What do most people think the purpose of “church” is?

Have fun

Gossip

Judge others

Make connections

Grow

Sing songs

Learn stories

Wear fancy clothes

Help others

Sadly, some of these things might be the focus and purpose of some congregations, but we know that our main purpose as a church is to glorify God in everything that we do! I’ve heard many people say the following sentence after service, especially as a college student, “I just didn’t get much out of worship today.” If the Gospel wasn’t preached and proclaimed, then that’s a fair statement. But, if we say that because our preference wasn’t met or because we didn’t leave feeling as positive and good about ourselves as we would have liked, then we replace contribution with consumption. We have a role to play as a church in worshiping Jesus and we all must contribute towards that end or else we will fall short. This is something that all Christians inside of the church participate in - as Revelation 5 tells us, the church is comprised of people that don’t just look like us, but people of every nation, tribe, and tongue

Revelation 5:9–10 CSB

9 And they sang a new song: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slaughtered, and you purchased people for God by your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth.

What we will see tonight is what is true of the church - all who are bought by the blood of Jesus Christ and born again. We will see who we are and what our purpose in this life is to be!

1 Peter 2:9–12 CSB

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul. 12 Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits.

You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy - aren’t you thankful for that truth this evening? Let’s dive into this passage of Scripture and answer 2 questions

Who We Are: God’s (9-10)

Go back to the first verse of 1 Peter and we are reminded that our identity is not found in self but in Christ - this is true for us as believers exclusively. In our world, people want to know who they are because identity seems to be everything. Why do so many people struggle with their identity?

They worry too much about their image

They want to fit in

They don’t want to be alone

They look for their identity in the wrong places

Look at what what God says about the identity of these people in verse 9: Chosen Race, Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation, People for His Possession. These are quite the identifiers! The second word in verse 9 is the word “you” - this is a crucial word in understanding these people. Who is “you” in reference to in 1 Peter 2:9?

Go back to 1 Peter 1:23

1 Peter 1:23 CSB

23 because you have been born again—not of perishable seed but of imperishable—through the living and enduring word of God.

This is CLEARLY in relation to those who have been born again, those who belong to Jesus Christ

This is also the same word in verse 6 of 1 Peter 2 as Peter shared that Christ was the chosen cornerstone who never shames those who believe in Him - now that same word appears not in a singular form but a corporate form. “You” are a chosen race - same word as Christ was a chosen cornerstone. This brings back Old Testament language here, doesn’t it? What do we see in places like Exodus 19 and Isaiah 43 concerning God’s chosen people?

Isaiah 43:20 CSB

20 Wild animals— jackals and ostriches—will honor me, because I provide water in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people.

Exodus 19:5–6 CSB

5 Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine, 6 and you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.”

Isaiah 43:21 CSB

21 The people I formed for myself will declare my praise.

Let’s parse this out together - in the Old Testament, God chose the Israelites not because they were stronger and mightier and greater than all the others nations, in fact it was because of the opposite! It was so they would declare God’s praise. God identified them in Exodus 19 as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation - words that appear here in 1 Peter 2! How can Peter say what he says in 1 Peter 2:9 to people who are not all Jewish? Get this, because God made a promise to restore His people through a new prophet, a better Moses of sorts that Stephen talked about in his sermon in Acts 7

Acts 7:37 CSB

37 “This is the Moses who said to the Israelites: God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.

So Jesus comes, this better Moses, and He delivers His people from their sins. Those who believe in Jesus are saved and given this designation of being His people. A part of this chosen race that includes people of every nation, tribe, and tongue as Revelation 7:9 tells us - this is only true by belonging to God and being saved by grace through faith in Christ. Peter is ascribing this Old Testament promise from Isaiah 43 and Deuteronomy 7 that God made under the Old Covenant to believers in Jesus under the New Covenant. We are now a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession. There are some who fight against this and say that this is only true for ethnic Israel - only the Jewish people are a chosen race and a royal priesthood and a holy nation. We see the context of 1 Peter is to the “church” which includes Jew and Gentile alike, but consider what the Word of God teaches us in Romans 11 about this subject as well

Romans 11:17–27 CSB

17 Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them and have come to share in the rich root of the cultivated olive tree, 18 do not boast that you are better than those branches. But if you do boast—you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 True enough; they were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but beware, 21 because if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. 22 Therefore, consider God’s kindness and severity: severity toward those who have fallen but God’s kindness toward you—if you remain in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. 23 And even they, if they do not remain in unbelief, will be grafted in, because God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut off from your native wild olive tree and against nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these—the natural branches—be grafted into their own olive tree? 25 I don’t want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you will not be conceited: A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 27 And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.

Lots of verses here and we have to be more brief than we’d like to be but here’s the point. God’s promises were never meant to just be for one person or one group of people - the covenant that God made with Abraham in Genesis 12 was that all the peoples on earth would be blessed through Abraham’s offspring. How? Through Jesus! Through Jesus that gate is open to Jew and Gentile alike - we can enter into that forever family. We see in Romans 11 that some “natural” branches (ethnic Jews) were broken off due to unbelief (v. 20) and a wild branch was grafted in through faith. Some stop here and say that God is done with the Jewish people and that the church completely replaces the Jewish people. Romans 11 answers this question: If they do not remain in unbelief, they will be grafted in… A partial hardening has come upon the Jewish people until the fulness of Gentiles has been grafted in. Partial hardening. God is not done - today there is still time for Jew and Gentile alike to be saved and be a part of this new people, the church. Again we have to ask and answer this question: How are we brought into God’s family?

By grace through faith in Christ

See John 14:6, Acts 4:12, and Ephesians 2:8-9 as clear examples of this

There are some ethnic Jewish people who have rejected Jesus, many in fact, and they are not saved - they are still dead in sins and trespasses as Ephesians 2 tells us.

Romans 9:6 CSB

6 Now it is not as though the word of God has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

Romans 2:28–29 CSB

28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, and true circumcision is not something visible in the flesh. 29 On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart—by the Spirit, not the letter. That person’s praise is not from people but from God.

Our prayer is that all people, Jew and Gentile alike would repent and be saved by grace through faith in Christ, and we know that God’s Word tells us that His Word doesn’t return void and that many more will repent and be saved - this is what we see that we are called to do in the end of this verse

When you think of the purpose of your salvation, what comes to mind?

Glorify God

Share the Gospel

Declare and Display God’s Work of Salvation

Look at the end of verse 9, why are we saved? So that we may proclaim the praises of our God - the One who called out of darkness and into His marvelous light! The purpose of the church is to declare God’s Gospel - that the light of the world has come to pierce through the darkness. Think of holiness as we talked about on Sunday morning in Hebrews 12 - to be holy is to be set apart. How are we, as a chosen race, royal priesthood, and a holy nation, in this new covenant called to be set apart from a godless world? For one we have a “light” that has been given to us that we are called to let shine (Matthew 5:13-16). Salt preserves things and slows decay - we live in a world of darkness and decay and our world needs salt to slow the moral decay of our world and our world needs light to see in a dark and hopeless and confusing world. This is the mission given to who? Born-again followers of Jesus Christ called by God to be His witnesses

Acts 1:8 CSB

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

This is our call! Why? Because we are God’s. Look at verse 10. Once we had no hope… We were not a people. But now we are God’s people. We had not received His mercy but now we have! If this is your identity, you are charged and commanded to share the goodness and graciousness and salvation message of our Lord and Savior to a lost and dying world that is still blinded by the darkness. This is the call for all of God’s people - including FBC Salem.

What We Do: Glorify Him (11-12)

So, how do we do this? How do we live out this changed status and identity in our lives? We follow God’s Word and glorify Him as we do so - this means that we stand out in a divisive and corrupt and aggravated world.

Why is it so challenging to live out 1 Peter 2:11?

See Romans 7, we have a heart bent towards selfish inclinations and we desire to do things that we know we shouldn’t do and we have an internal desire to not do things that we should do according to God’s Word.

We see a world that celebrates sinful desire and wages war on anyone who says that living in sin is wrong

We are tempted to fight fire with fire

The word Gentiles in verse 12 is better translated “pagans” here as we know that there are some Gentiles in mind here who have already been saved by grace through faith in Christ. What is our purpose? To glorify God by personally abstaining from sinful desires AND conducting ourselves honorably before unbelieving people.

Think through this together: Why is escapism (disengaging from culture) not an option for Christians?

Because the world is our mission field

Because we’re called to be in the world - just not of it

Because souls are priceless and valuable to our Creator

Sharing the Gospel and living a holy life in a fallen, sinful, messed up world is a way that we do in fact glorify our God. Even whenever people slander us and disappoint us, we can choose to glorify God as we point people to Jesus with what we say and what we do.

I was reading more commentaries than usual in preparing for this lesson and I came across multiple stories of slander that early Christians experienced from the unbelieving world. Did you know that during the 1st century, Roman leaders believed that Christians were cannibals, atheists, and rebels?

Cannibals: They participated in the Lord’s Supper which Jesus said was His body and blood - some outsiders believed that this meal was literally the eating of another person and that Christians were murderous cannibals

Atheists: Christians did not worship the Greek and Roman Gods and they didn’t participate in cultural parades and worship festivals of these local deities. Therefore, some said that they didn’t believe in a real god.

Rebels: Christians failed to bend the knee to Caesar or say that Caesar is Lord. They weren’t seen as team players throughout the Roman Empire. Paul and other missionaries preached the Gospel and even whenever they were put into prison, they kept on preaching the Gospel.

This is slander. Christians weren’t cannibals, atheists, and they might have been rebels in one sense, but they weren’t trying to overthrow Rome or anything like other rebellions of the day. They were slandered and many Christians today will be slandered as well.

What are some ways that Christians today are slandered unfairly?

We’re intolerant of others/prideful

We don’t believe in science

We only care about money

How do we “prove” the contrary?

By glorifying God and demonstrating good works before others

By looking to Jesus, not the ways of our world

By taking the high road and conducting ourselves honorably

Why do we strive to glorify God in all that we do?

It’s what God calls us to do

It is the means through which God saves sinners as His people live a life that glorifies Him and points others to the Word of God and the God of the Word

Because we know that He is coming back!

Sermons from John Piper (1990–1999) Christian Identity and Christian Destiny

Doug Nichols, the International Director of Action International Ministries, made the excellencies of God known in a tuberculosis sanitarium in India in 1967—he was a missionary with Operation Mobilization and got TB. He was in the sanitarium for several months. He tried to give tracts and copies of the gospel of John away, but no one would take them. They didn’t like him and assumed he was a rich American.

At one point for several nights he would wake up coughing at 2 AM. He noticed a little old emaciated man trying to get out of bed. The man couldn’t stand up, and began to whimper. He lay back into bed. In the morning the stench in the ward was terrible and everyone was angry at the old man for not containing himself. The nurse who cleaned up even smacked the old man for making such a mess.

The next night the very same thing happened. Doug woke up coughing with his own terrible sickness and weakness. He saw the old man try again to get out of bed. Again he couldn’t stand, and began to cry softly. Doug got out of bed went over to the old man. The man cowered with fear. But Doug picked him up with both arms and carried him to the bathroom which was just a hole in the floor, and then brought him back. The man kissed him on the cheek as he put him down in bed.

At 4 AM another patient woke Doug with a steaming cup of tea and made motions that said he wanted a copy of the booklet—the gospel of John. Through that whole day people kept coming to him and asking for his booklets even though he could not speak their language.

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