The Lord has been good and He has been speaking through His Word. We want this morning to share what God has done, not just what God has done, but what God is doing. In this word, the apostle Peter is talking about our identity and our purpose as God's people. That's what we're going to look at this morning.

In 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 1, and following, he says, “And this is the word of the Gospel that I have proclaimed to you. Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of all kinds, and crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.  Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. Christ is the living stone– rejected by humans but accepted and precious in God’s sight.  As you come to Him, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ Jesus.  Thus says the scripture, “See, I lay in Zion a cornerstone, chosen and precious, and whoever trusts in Him will never be put to shame.” For you believers, this stone is precious.  But for unbelievers, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. And they also say, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”  They stumble because they disobey the Word for which they were destined. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. The apostle Peter is talking to us about our new identity. Jesus always spoke simply, as we have been discussing in recent weeks, he sometimes compared us to a plant, or to two builders constructing their houses– one built on rock, the other built on sand. These were simple illustrations He gave so that we could easily understand.

Now the apostle Peter is speaking about a rock and about growing and about building, but now he introduces a new idea. The apostle Peter says, “Now you are priests of God, you are a holy priesthood.”  And you know, at that time, when Peter talked about this, they understood it well because there were priests.  The priesthood was still being performed in Israel and in other nations where the Word of God was being preached.  Perhaps it is a little unfamiliar to us because the priesthood that exists today is not the same as it was back then.  And I want to explain briefly: the priesthood of the people of Israel arose in the time of Moses. Do you remember Moses?  God told Aaron, “Set apart your brother to serve me as a priest.  And not only him, but also his sons.”  This was the priesthood: people set apart for God’s service. Not only were the men set apart, but their sons were set apart as well. So the priesthood was inherited by birth and not by someone’s choice. These children grew up knowing all about it.  They were instructed in it everyday until they were old enough to go to the temple and serve as priests.  Since it was by birth, they had to start preparing from a young age. I say prepared. Prepared. That’s a key word.  The priest had to be prepared. The priests were prepared from childhood.  Why?  Because they knew they were set apart for God.  Again, they were set apart for God.  Everyone who serves as a priest in the House of God is set apart for God.  So the priest has to be prepared and set apart.  He has to be separated.  This was his purpose, his identity going back to the time that the Lord told Moses in the book of Exodus, “You will be my chosen people. I have set you apart from all the nations of the earth to be a holy priesthood before me, to serve me.  I have set you apart.”  And now the Lord speaks to us through His Word that you have been chosen as that priesthood.

You know, there’s a very serious problem in society today.  Not just here, but all over the world because people just don't know.  They have no identity. They don’t know who they are. They don’t know what they were born for, and they begin to have existential problems. There are people who don't know what they want from life. They walk without purpose and without direction.  Many young people don't know what to do. They don't know what to study or don’t really know anything. They don't know who they are, right? Now some people say, “I identify as a cat. I'm a cat.” And they want to legalize it all because people don't know what their purpose in life is. They have no identity and that's something that's happening worldwide.  That's a problem because from birth, deep down in our souls, we know we’ve here for a purpose.  Philosophers throughout history have asked themselves, “What are we here for?  What was I born for?  Why was I born here?”  And blessed be the Word of the Lord that tells us, “You were born to be set apart for me.” God says, “They were born to be mine!” Nowadays, people identify with things.  They don't have anyone else to identify with so they want to identify with celebrities, with athletes.  You look around today, and other people identify with what they wear, whether they’re wearing blue or red. The problem is that since there are several reds, it has to be very specific for someone to identify with it. And you know what?  Something strikes me that they’re not ashamed.  They’re not ashamed of identifying with that.  I’ve seen people wearing shirts, right?  Messi shirts.  Full size ones, right?  And they’re not ashamed.  I’m not saying they should be ashamed.  But there is something more valuable here!

I’ve been praying. I pray today that upon hearing this word, someone might say, “Thank you Lord, that is me.”  The one the apostle Peter speaks of is me. What a blessing it is that for a long time we can be lost, wandering around without knowing who we are or what we’re doing in this world.  But then the Word of God comes and gives us an identity and a greater purpose than we can imagine. Those people are pursuing a goal, but the goal you and I have is bigger than that. It is much greater and more important than that.  Someone gave their life for this purpose so that you and I could be here.  Those people out there don't give their lives up for anyone.  Yes, if for His purpose, the One who called us here, the One who called us to His purpose, gave His life because He knew how valuable it was.

In verse 2, we have been talking in this time of growth about what the Lord asks of us as priests of God, as those He has chosen. What does the Lord ask of us?  Well, we’ve been talking about it when we spoke about plants.  The plants have to grow and in order to grow, they have to be watered so that one day they grow and bear fruit.  Here he is using similar examples. He is talking about a house under construction.  We are like stones that build a house for God.  He's talking about some walls that are being built and now he's talking to us about a baby. And babies, well, they don't stay small for long.  Babies have to grow, right? It would be very strange if a baby stayed a baby. It's not normal. That would be caused by a disease, right? So for a baby to grow, it has to be fed. There is no other way.  It has to be fed. A person only grows by being nourished.

So the apostle says, you have to eagerly desire the Word, the milk of the Word, because that’s how you will grow.  No one lays a foundation to then not build walls, right? Nobody says, “Oh, I wish I only had a foundation over there!” Nobody says that. And it's better that they don’t say it.  They don’t go around telling people, “I’ve only had a foundation for 30 years.”  They’ve had a slab there, and they don’t do anything with it.  The purpose for laying a foundation is to build up the walls and build them high.  Nobody just builds two walls. Nobody builds a house with only two walls because if they did, it’s not a finished house.  Nobody only lays two blocks at a time to build a house because it has to be built up gradually and then everything else is added. There’s a process of growth and development.  If the plant doesn't grow, you cut it down.  If the child does not grow, you take him to the doctor because it’s not normal. Children are supposed to grow. That’s how life works.  And the Lord is telling you, as priests of God, that you must grow. You must grow through the Word of God. You need to feed on the Word.  A healthy person doesn't need to be told they have to eat, right?  When you’re well, nobody forces you to eat.  When do they force you to eat?  When you’re sick.  If you look at a child who doesn't eat, you worry don’t you?   If a child doesn't eat, then the mother goes running to the doctor doesn’t she? “Oh, look at my child. He’s so thin and wasting away!”  She goes searching for answers because it’s not normal for a growing and healthy person not to eat.  And the Lord is saying it’s not normal for you not to want to nourish yourselves in order to grow.  It's necessary to grow isn’t it?

Because when there is no hunger, it is because there is an illness in them and that's why so many times the church looks like a hospital. It looks like an emergency room but not in the good way that Jesus said. He said, "I am a doctor, and I have come for the sick; I have come for those who are unwell," but that's not the case here. I'm referring to an emergency room where only critical emergencies are being treated. Where people who are on the verge of death.  Those who have one foot in the grave. Why? Because we are sick and weak and the slightest thing knocks us down. When a person lacks proper nutrition, they get sick very quickly, right? You have to eat well. That's why so many vitamins and supplements and all that kind of stuff are sold now. It’s because we're always getting sick. So what do we do? We eat well to build up our resistance. People are mistaken when they say, "To build up my resistance, what should I do in the morning?" If they drink coffee, then those people who are already in dire need are worse off.  That’s how we treat the church many times.  We’re just surviving.  Because every problem that comes our way, we don’t nourish ourselves correctly and healthily with the Word of God.  There are people who only feed themselves on Sundays when they go to church and listen.  Imagine if you only ate on Sundays?  How would you get through your life?  How would you feel eating meals only once a week?  Well brother, that’s how we come into church.  And that’s why it seems like every Sunday we have to start from scratch like the world has just begun and we have to start all over again.  Because we come here saying, “Oh my God, I can’t take it anymore.  What’s wrong with this life?”  It’s because we are weak and sick.

The Word says you need to nourish yourselves properly and you need to be healthy.  But pay attention, there’s something very interesting here.  “Eagerly desire pure milk.”  The Reina Valera version says “unadulterated milk.”  Why?  Because it means that there is one that is unadulterated.  Do you remember, and I know that people who aren’t from here or those from other places or older people will tell us how they used to sell milk in jars that come fresh from the cow.  And it would be delivered by horse.  But that fresh milk. That was pure milk.  And what has happened over time?  Do we drink pure milk now?  What do we drink?  It’s like drinking water, but we’ve gotten used to it.  We say we’re drinking milk, but in reality we’re drinking water.  So it isn’t pure milk or unadulterated milk, but we’ve already gotten used to it.  Be careful with that, because you can get used to anything. And for us, how does that work? Adulterated milk. The word “adulterated” can mean there is a false teacher. That we’re listening to the wrong person.  Like a lot of churches that don't do what’s right because they fear people getting angry or they want to avoid offending people.  So they change the Word of God so that the people won’t be offended. That's one thing. But the other is when I adulterate it. When I change the Word. Doesn’t it happen that we say, “ah, the milk comes adulterated from over there.” But sometimes we alter the products too. For example, maybe you’ve had certain financial problems.  You buy one bottle of shampoo and then you get another little bottle and add water to have two bottles.  And even four.  Then you have the last little bit of shampoo left in the bottle and you say, “Lord, in Your name Father, just as you multiplied the fish.  We’ll add water here, Father.  And Lord, it will last all week.”  Now, do we do that?  Have we ever done that?

Here’s another example.  Have you ever been in a group of five or six people and there’s only one last little bit of soda left.  Who would add water to that?  They’d rather throw it away, right?  Who would add water to the soda so that it would be enough for everyone?  Nobody would do that.  Why?  Because it has lost its purpose.  When something is adulterated, it has lost its essence. That’s what the Word of God is like when it loses its purpose.  When we adulterate it in our lives.  The Word of God comes, and we change it.  How is the Word of God going to work?  And how do we change the Word of God?  We receive it and say, “Okay, the Word of God says this, but I’ll do it my way.”  For example, we might think, “Well, I'm at work and nobody sees me so I’m going to do what I want.”  Does the Word of God say that?  Of course not.  We say, “Well, everyone does it this way at work anyway, and we’re in the world so I’m going to follow what the world does.”  We say, “I’m going to do this because everyone does it.” That’s what it means to twist the Word. To adulterate it.  To do it my way and not according to what’s in the Word.  So when the Word is adulterated it no longer fulfills its purpose.  What is the purpose of the Word?  That we grow.  That we mature.  That we gain wisdom.  But how many times have we heard that?  How many times have we heard that the Word of God will make us grow?  Look at what it says at the end of that verse. It will make us grow in what?  In salvation.  Wow.  But people don’t take this into account because they see it as just a book.

As we discussed last time, we approach the Word with a certain reverence.  What do you see?  What do you see here?  Do you see what I see?  I see life here!  I don’t just see a book, because in this book, I can get to know my Lord.  I can get to know God through this book.  I can know His will.  I can know His plan and His purpose for me.  In this book I can get to know my Savior.  And the Word says, salvation is knowing Him.  It is knowing the Father, John 17:3. Salvation lies in knowing God and we get to know Him through His Word. So this isn’t just a simple book.  This is the foundation of our lives.  It's the rock on which we must build our lives.  Not worship or the church itself.  Not simply saying, “I am a Christian.”  But His Word because if I live according to the Lord’s Word, then God’s purposes will be fulfilled.  It says in verse 3, “All this will happen now that you have tasted how good the Lord is.”  It’s a little like what we read on Thursday. In Psalm 34:8, it says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”  Taste!  And you will see that the Lord is good!  For those who have experienced it, it should motivate us and encourage us to be faithful.  This is a relationship that must be reciprocal.  Do you know what that means?  When there’s a balance between giving and receiving, there’s a healthy relationship.  Where there is both giving and receiving and not just giving, giving, giving.  Or just expecting to receive.  A healthy relationship is when you give and you receive and that should be our relationship with the Lord.  Giving and receiving, and we have received so much!

Turn to the next page and in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 18, it says, “For you know you were redeemed from the empty way of life inherited from your ancestors.”  Can I identify with that?  I was redeemed from a very empty way of life that I inherited from my ancestors.  That’s the power of the Word.  The price of your redemption was not paid with perishable things like gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ who is like that of a lamb without blemish or defect.  We have received so much. We have been redeemed. We now have received a purpose, an identity, in the Lord.  Now let’s look at verse 4.  Christ is the stone.  Back in chapter 2, verse 4, Christ is the living stone, rejected by human beings, but chosen and precious in God’s sight.  As you come to Him, you also are like those living stones.  As you come to Him.  That is written in a tense, as the professors say, a present progressive, continuous tense.  That is, it is an action that must be done continuously.  In the Greek, in which this passage is written, this expression has two meanings.  One is that it expresses the idea of approaching with the intention of staying there and enjoying personal fellowship.  Look at the end of verse 4, “drawing near to God, come let us draw near.”  And sometimes we understand “drawing near” as “there it is, I'm getting closer.”  Are we close?  Yes or no?  Okay, we’re close.  Is that what the word means?  No.  I’m going to read it again.  The expression “drawing near” means drawing near with the intention of staying there and enjoying personal fellowship.  Not with the idea of simply approaching God in worship to offer prayer and sacrifice.  So it’s not just about being physically present and saying, “Here I am, I’ve drawn near to God.”  Drawing near to God means, “I want to have communion with Him.  I want to talk with Him, I want to get to know Him.”  He already knows me, but I’m going to tell Him about my life.  I’m going to tell Him about my life so we can get to know each other.  That’s what makes a relationship, right?  A relationship isn’t someone who’s just there but doesn’t open up and doesn’t get to know the other person.  But sometimes we think that’s our relationship with God.  As priests of God, we have to draw near to Him.  And, brother, what the apostle is saying is that is a privilege.

It’s that now you and I have this great privilege of drawing near to Him.  People couldn’t do that before but now we can draw near to God to enjoy communion with Him.  Further on in the verses, it says that He refers back to Peter and the example of the rock.  The rock that was rejected.  And that passage that the rock would be rejected was written 750 years before Christ.  It was rejected by the Pharisees at that time, but, brother, I tell you that this is still happening today.  Christ continues to be rejected.  Not only by those outside the church, but by those inside as well.  We continue to reject Christ’s authority.  We continue to reject the Lord’s Word.  But it says there that this rock is the foundation for those who embrace it.  But be careful, because that rock can cause you to fall.  For the disobedient it is a stumbling block. Be careful because it’s not talking about people outside the church.  It’s talking about us because we still continue to reject Christ.  How do we reject Christ?  Nobody says, “Oh, I don’t want anything to do with God.”  Nobody says that, but when the Word is given, and I go home, and we say, “I’m going to do it my way.”  That’s when we set God aside. In the Bible, when it talks about making important decisions, it always only gives two options.  The number two is very, very important.  For example, it talks about the fool and the wise man. It talks about light and darkness, about life and death.  There’s nothing in between those things.  There’s nothing in between the wise man and the fool, light and darkness, life and death.  There are only two options.  So when we don’t obey God, who do we obey?  Who do I obey when I don’t obey God?  Nobody says, “I’m going to go and obey the devil.”  But what we do say is, “I’m going to do it my way” and that’s the same thing. The reality is that no one just comes out and says “I’m not to obey.  I’m going to go and just do the opposite of what they said to do.”  But when we do things our way, the Word says that we are like that man who builds on sand.

Look, I want to stop here and make something clear.  We are talking about being priests and being a priest was not a job, it was a lifestyle.  That was their way of life. It was their purpose.  They would never go home and take off their vestments and say, “I’m not a priest anymore.”  No, you’re a priest here in the church and also at your house.  That’s what the Lord is saying today. He is saying, “You are my priests.  You are set apart for me.  Wherever you are, not just at church, but also in your house. In every area of your life including your children.  I have chosen you to be set apart for me.  However, many Christians are still participating in the things of the world that are wrong and they act like it is ok.  And if someone says something to them, they just brush it off.  If the Word of God touches our traditions, we say, “Oh no!  We can’t let anyone mess with our traditions and our culture.  Where does it say in the Bible you can’t do that?  Everyone does it!”  But look around today and look at how many churches are closed or empty even during Holy Week.  During Holy Week, they close down to go on vacation on the day when the church should be celebrating the greatest thing that ever happened to us.

I’m going to tell you something–about the first time I saw a possessed child.  It was at one of those September parades. She was walking with her little dress on, her heels and all dolled up in a way that was so horrible that it broke my heart.  It was so obvious, I mean you could even see it with just carnal eyes. She looked like that because her father allowed that.  And you’ll tell me brother, so what?  And I ask you, isn’t that our tradition?  Isn’t that our culture?  Our tradition says that it’s okay to take our daughters out in short dresses so that strange men can look at them, desire them, and take photos and videos of them.  Our tradition says it’s okay we’re putting makeup on them, and to teach them to do sensual dances so that the men can look at them.Tell me, where is the Holy Spirit in that?  Where is the Holy Spirit if we are a holy priesthood for the Lord?  What does that have to do with God? And it applies to so many of the things we do. Is there holiness in what we’re doing?  Is there holiness in what my children are doing? “But the Bible doesn’t say we can’t go there.  The Bible doesn’t say we shouldn’t go there.  The Bible doesn’t say I have to do this or that.”  But what does the Holy Spirit say?  What does the Holy Spirit, who has set us aside to be a holy priesthood, say about it?  Why do pastors have to chase after us and tell us what is right and wrong if the Holy Spirit is with us?

The Words say that He is the cornerstone and the cornerstone is placed in the most important place.  The cornerstone is not the same kind of stone as the others. It is the one that occupies the most important place in a building.  Christ occupies the most important place in us.  He occupies the most important place in your home.  He occupies the most important place in our families.  If we are priests of God and that is not happening, we have to work to make it so.  That is our job and our duty as priests of God. In verse 5, it says that we are like priests but it makes a very, very, very important difference.  It says that we become a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices because the original priests only offered carnal sacrifices.  They offered lambs, doves, and bulls, but our job is to offer spiritual sacrifices which are the kind of sacrifices that please God.

Let’s read where the Lord tells us exactly what those sacrifices are. In Romans 12:1, it says, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, I urge you to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, as holy and pleasing to God–this is your true and proper worship.”  Your body, let’s remember that, is the sacrifice the Lord accepts now.  Our bodies are no longer ours, they belong to God, amen. In Hebrews 13:15-16, iIt says, “So let us continually offer to God through Jesus Christ a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess His name.  Do not forget to do good and share with others what you have, for these are the sacrifices that please God.”  What does the writer say are the sacrifices?  Praise and sharing.  John chapter 4 verse 23 says, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.”  I like this part because He says, “Now your bodies are that sacrifice that I receive.  Your eyes, your ears, your hands, your body, that is what I accept.”  When we lend our bodies to the flesh, that is, to the desires of the flesh like watching soap operas or your favorite show, you’re distracted.  But remember, the priest has to prepare himself.  Is that how the priest would prepare himself to come and worship the Lord?  No, we don’t prepare ourselves to come and worship the Holy God in that way.

So two things happen when we come to the House of God when we do that. We can’t open our mouths and we can’t move because we’ve given our bodies over to worldly things.  But the Word says that we should present our bodies as a living sacrifice. Like the sacrifice that was placed on the altar and was burned.  It’s time for us to bring our bodies to the house of the Lord as a sacrifice and say to Him, “Lord, I have prepared myself for this day.”  Not just the day I’m here, but during the whole week we’ve guarded our eyes and guarded our ears and our mouths for the Lord.  Because my mouth is yours to give you praise, Father.  So when we don’t prepare, either we can’t open our mouths or our conscience dies.  Because we’ve known people who can be here, and they’re in the pulpit and they’re jumping, leaping, speaking in tongues, but  then they’re doing wicked things out there. Their conscience is dead because they have given their bodies to the enemy.  But the Lord says, you are priests and you can't do that anymore.  You have to prepare yourself just like you do for other things in life.  You have to make sure you have everything ready and in order.  No matter if it’s for a job or for coming to church, I’m ironing and cleaning my shoes to get ready.  That’s why some people get up at three in the morning to make sure they get prepared for their job.  You need to prepare.  No one says, “Well, I’m just going to trust in the Lord, and by faith there will be something in this lunch bag, so I’ll just grab it.”  Will there be something in there?  Of course not!  You have to prepare something so there’s something in that bag.  So as a Priest of the Lord, and this is for the church, we have to prepare ourselves to bring a holy offering to the Lord.

I’m not saying you’re not going to enjoy life or not go out and do things. Oh, but if we talk about enjoying life and we forget the Lord, is that what God wants.  How do we know if our faith is Biblical?  How do we know if our faith, if what we do, is truly in accordance with the Word of the Lord?  Let’s look at verse 7. Peter says that Christ is the precious rock to God.  But in verse 7, he says for you, the believers, that this stone is precious.  When something is valuable, when something is precious, we take care of it. We value it and show it off.  People can’t resist taking thousands of photos of their children and uploading them everywhere.   And you think, how cute and as a parent, you want people to look at them because you love them so much.  You want everyone to see what is precious to you. It is the same when someone has a small precious stone. They want others to see it. You see, we get carried away with what we value.  That is why people buy designer things because they like to show the value of what they own.  When you identify with something and think it is beautiful, you want to share it. In that same way, when we value Christ, we should be just as eager to show Him to the world.  The Gospel is precious to us. Christ is the most valuable thing you have. Would you give up everything for Him? Don't answer out loud. Would you give up everything for Him? Many people wonder, "What kind of title or ministry position do I have?" It's like when we're identified by our career or our title, right? People like that. I've already told you, I had a teacher who wouldn't even look at you if you didn't call him "Doctor." He had a doctorate, and if you called him "Mister" he wouldn't look at you until you said "Doctor.”  People love titles the way “real” doctors do.  I’m sure there’s even a class they take on that!  But our true value is only found in Christ.

At the University, they force medical students to keep their lab coats on all the time.  Even if it is 40 degrees outside and you’re at the mall shopping, you’re not supposed to take your lab coat off so people know you’re studying medicine.  And they love it! They walk around with their lab coats on, and maybe it’s just a regular shirt underneath, but there they are.  Why do they do that?  Why do they wear their lab coats just to do their errands?  Because it is something valuable to them.  How valuable is Christ? How valuable is that priesthood that Christ has entrusted into your hands? Your hands are very valuable and you have to take care of them. You are now a priest of God who places your hands on the altar of God. That's why you have to take care of your hands. That’s why you have to take care of your eyes and you have to take care of your mouth and you have to take care of your heart.  The devil is lurking around trying to steal what’s yours because it’s valuable.  What Christ has given you is valuable.  What He has placed in your hands is valuable.  Don’t let what the glorious Christ has put in you be stolen. What kind of lineage were we supposed to come from?  A lineage of what?  You come from the people over here and not from God’s holy nation. I want to finish with this.  Look at the end of verse 9.  He says that he called us out of darkness into His great light.  That’s what He has done for us.  Knowing that I belong to God, that I was chosen before I was born to serve God, that’s what gives me my identity.  That’s who I am. That’s who I am supposed to be, a people chosen by God.

I’m going to finish with this.  What does it mean that we are a chosen people?  You know that in some museums there are a lot of ordinary things on display such as shoes, hats, and clothes.  Have you ever seen something like that?  They’re not there because of their intrinsic value, but because they were worn by someone special like a king or because they once belonged to a famous person.  God takes ordinary people, and because He has chosen them, they become special.  That’s who we are because He has chosen us.  He is going to use us, because He can use us, and that’s what makes us special.  Today the Word tells me, “You are a Holy priesthood, you are mine.”  Brother, you have to take care of what God has given you.  If that is precious to you, then you have to take care of what Christ has given you.