A Holy Nation
Happy Birthday America! We are 235 years old tomorrow! So, fitting as it is, the title of the sermon this morning is “A Holy Nation”. So, that begs the question, what is a Holy Nation? No, it’s not something we holler when we’re angry. There are some from both sides that say we are a Holy Nation, and others that say we aren’t. I’ll leave that for you to decide. The current state of our country could be much better. But it also could be a lot worse. Our focus has slipped away from God towards other things, and perhaps that is why we are straying a bit. But if I say the words Holy Nation within the context of Scripture, what do you think of? Israel? Christianity? Today we are going to look at 1 Peter 2:9-12. This is the part of the letter in which Peter talks about us being living stones which are in the process of being built into a spiritual house, with the capstone being Christ himself. We will pick up in verse 9.
9 But you are a chosen people, 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. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Does verse 9 sound familiar? It should. It echo’s Exodus 19:6 which reads, “6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” This was spoken through Moses to the nation of Israel. Peter here is describing not just the nation of Israel and the Jews, but also Christians who are part of the building being built by the capstone, Jesus Christ. God has called us out of the darkness by his son and now, we have received mercy and are called God’s people, fulfilling the promise to Abraham that God would bless all nations through him.
However, there is a condition to the promise of being a Holy Nation of God. Let’s read verse 5 in Exodus 19, “5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.” God is telling Israel through Moses that they must obey God fully and keep his covenant, and then he goes into the part we read earlier that talks about them being a Holy Nation. This does carry over into the NT where Peter is talking. The condition of being the royal priesthood and a Holy Nation for Christ is that we obey God and keep his covenant made through Jesus. Not part of the time or when we feel like it, but all the time, every time.
This next part can help us during the times of great trial and temptation. Peter uses the phrase, “as aliens and strangers in the world”. It sounds a bit funny at first, but if we look into this a bit more, we realize that Earth is not our intended home. This is an alien world we live in. We belong to God, in Heaven. We do not fit here. Peter urges us to abstain from the sinful desires that war against us to waste our souls. My friends, war is not just a metaphor used in Scripture. It is literal. We battle spiritual forces that try to bring us down so that they can waste our soul. The Devil already knows he’s condemned…he’s trying to take as many people with him as he can. Be cautious of everything in your life…question whether or not anything is for the purpose of drawing you away from God.
Being strangers in the world, people are going to look at us and accuse us of wrongdoing, call us hypocrites, ‘bible thumpers’, or even ‘holy rollers’. Peter tells us to continue in our good deeds and works for the Kingdom so all the glory can go to God. He is the reason we do good works.
So, what does this have to do with us on Independence Day? What does this amount to? A hill of beans? A mole hill? Well my friends, while we should be proud of our American Heritage, we need to remember that our true home is not on Earth, it is in Heaven with God. There will always be a constant battle between the flesh and spirit. Our nation, while immensely blessed, has started down the path of other nations. Leaning less on Christian principles and the need for church and God, and more focus on acceptance of everything and searching for meaning within ourselves. Acceptance of everything is not something that should satisfy us…we should hunger for Christ…he is the only way we can possibly get to God in the end.
Now, keep in mind that when I say our country has begun to stray away from Christian principles, do not hear me just saying the ‘big sins’ like legalizing homosexual marriage, divorce, abortion, adultery and so on. But hear me when I say that down to our core…our very inner core of who we are as an American nation has begun to stray away from Godly principles. For a long time we’ve lacked the evangelistic measures to our own communities. Young people are flocking away from our churches to pursue ‘their own thing’. Really, it begins with a slight rebellion of the previous generations ‘religion’. By the time my generation hit adulthood…most of us are consumed by the ‘meisms’ of the modern world and they do not see the need for the church. With each generation, it slips a little further away.
This week I got an email devotion from Greg Laurie and his devotion was about sheep. It was kinda long, but I am going to sum it up. Basically the devotion touched on a story where 450 sheep were killed in Turkey because one sheep jumped off a cliff and the rest just followed him. Some people believe sheep are stupid because they’ll follow anyone right to their death. When they load sheep into a hauler to take them to market, they use what they call a ‘Judas goat’ in order to lead them to their deaths. The problem is, we do the same thing. We, as humans, are exactly like those sheep. If we think sheep are stupid…then we qualify right beside them. We’ll follow anything; whether it’s Harold Camping and the end of the World, the Mayan 2012 end of the world prophecy or certain celebrities and their “New Age” church. We’ll follow anything…however, what we need to be doing is following the great Shepherd, Jesus Christ. If you’re following another human being, you will be lead astray. That is why it is so important to check everything you read, hear or see against Scripture.
In my class this week which is Teaching and Learning in the church, we were discussing the subject of questioning our preachers and teachers. I am of the school of thought that we should be questioning what we are being taught and preached to. I actually encourage people to question me. Look up what I am saying and compare it to Scripture. I’m human, I make mistakes just like everyone else. It is a healthy thing to do…1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 says, “9 Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; 20 do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil.” We are called by Scripture to test everything. That means anything we encounter here in the church or in the world.
My friends, we are indeed a Holy Nation. We are God’s chosen people. We are not of this world, but the next. We are constantly at war with spiritual forces. These spiritual forces want nothing more than to waste the souls that God wants. We’ve spent too long fighting in our churches and between denominations worldwide over what we think is theologically correct and forgot that we are here for a different purpose…to win souls. That is why we’re here. That is why we are a Holy Nation. It takes unity and work. We are a Holy Nation, a royal priesthood that is not of this world called to do the good work of winning souls and then return home to the Father. This Independence Day, thank God for the nation we are so privileged to live in. Thank God that we have the freedom unlike other nations to practice our Christianity; to share it with others and win souls. Then, let’s get busy asking the questions, building the relationships, and winning souls for Christ.
9 But you are a chosen people, 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. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Does verse 9 sound familiar? It should. It echo’s Exodus 19:6 which reads, “6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” This was spoken through Moses to the nation of Israel. Peter here is describing not just the nation of Israel and the Jews, but also Christians who are part of the building being built by the capstone, Jesus Christ. God has called us out of the darkness by his son and now, we have received mercy and are called God’s people, fulfilling the promise to Abraham that God would bless all nations through him.
However, there is a condition to the promise of being a Holy Nation of God. Let’s read verse 5 in Exodus 19, “5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.” God is telling Israel through Moses that they must obey God fully and keep his covenant, and then he goes into the part we read earlier that talks about them being a Holy Nation. This does carry over into the NT where Peter is talking. The condition of being the royal priesthood and a Holy Nation for Christ is that we obey God and keep his covenant made through Jesus. Not part of the time or when we feel like it, but all the time, every time.
This next part can help us during the times of great trial and temptation. Peter uses the phrase, “as aliens and strangers in the world”. It sounds a bit funny at first, but if we look into this a bit more, we realize that Earth is not our intended home. This is an alien world we live in. We belong to God, in Heaven. We do not fit here. Peter urges us to abstain from the sinful desires that war against us to waste our souls. My friends, war is not just a metaphor used in Scripture. It is literal. We battle spiritual forces that try to bring us down so that they can waste our soul. The Devil already knows he’s condemned…he’s trying to take as many people with him as he can. Be cautious of everything in your life…question whether or not anything is for the purpose of drawing you away from God.
Being strangers in the world, people are going to look at us and accuse us of wrongdoing, call us hypocrites, ‘bible thumpers’, or even ‘holy rollers’. Peter tells us to continue in our good deeds and works for the Kingdom so all the glory can go to God. He is the reason we do good works.
So, what does this have to do with us on Independence Day? What does this amount to? A hill of beans? A mole hill? Well my friends, while we should be proud of our American Heritage, we need to remember that our true home is not on Earth, it is in Heaven with God. There will always be a constant battle between the flesh and spirit. Our nation, while immensely blessed, has started down the path of other nations. Leaning less on Christian principles and the need for church and God, and more focus on acceptance of everything and searching for meaning within ourselves. Acceptance of everything is not something that should satisfy us…we should hunger for Christ…he is the only way we can possibly get to God in the end.
Now, keep in mind that when I say our country has begun to stray away from Christian principles, do not hear me just saying the ‘big sins’ like legalizing homosexual marriage, divorce, abortion, adultery and so on. But hear me when I say that down to our core…our very inner core of who we are as an American nation has begun to stray away from Godly principles. For a long time we’ve lacked the evangelistic measures to our own communities. Young people are flocking away from our churches to pursue ‘their own thing’. Really, it begins with a slight rebellion of the previous generations ‘religion’. By the time my generation hit adulthood…most of us are consumed by the ‘meisms’ of the modern world and they do not see the need for the church. With each generation, it slips a little further away.
This week I got an email devotion from Greg Laurie and his devotion was about sheep. It was kinda long, but I am going to sum it up. Basically the devotion touched on a story where 450 sheep were killed in Turkey because one sheep jumped off a cliff and the rest just followed him. Some people believe sheep are stupid because they’ll follow anyone right to their death. When they load sheep into a hauler to take them to market, they use what they call a ‘Judas goat’ in order to lead them to their deaths. The problem is, we do the same thing. We, as humans, are exactly like those sheep. If we think sheep are stupid…then we qualify right beside them. We’ll follow anything; whether it’s Harold Camping and the end of the World, the Mayan 2012 end of the world prophecy or certain celebrities and their “New Age” church. We’ll follow anything…however, what we need to be doing is following the great Shepherd, Jesus Christ. If you’re following another human being, you will be lead astray. That is why it is so important to check everything you read, hear or see against Scripture.
In my class this week which is Teaching and Learning in the church, we were discussing the subject of questioning our preachers and teachers. I am of the school of thought that we should be questioning what we are being taught and preached to. I actually encourage people to question me. Look up what I am saying and compare it to Scripture. I’m human, I make mistakes just like everyone else. It is a healthy thing to do…1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 says, “9 Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; 20 do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil.” We are called by Scripture to test everything. That means anything we encounter here in the church or in the world.
My friends, we are indeed a Holy Nation. We are God’s chosen people. We are not of this world, but the next. We are constantly at war with spiritual forces. These spiritual forces want nothing more than to waste the souls that God wants. We’ve spent too long fighting in our churches and between denominations worldwide over what we think is theologically correct and forgot that we are here for a different purpose…to win souls. That is why we’re here. That is why we are a Holy Nation. It takes unity and work. We are a Holy Nation, a royal priesthood that is not of this world called to do the good work of winning souls and then return home to the Father. This Independence Day, thank God for the nation we are so privileged to live in. Thank God that we have the freedom unlike other nations to practice our Christianity; to share it with others and win souls. Then, let’s get busy asking the questions, building the relationships, and winning souls for Christ.
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