In connection with the text for the sermon this morning, which is 1 Peter 2, verses 9 and 10, I invite you to turn with me to Isaiah 43. Isaiah 43, as we read together the first 21 verses of that chapter. Again, the text, 1 Peter 2, verses 9 and 10. Reading, first of all, from Isaiah 43. Beginning at verse 1. Hear now the word of God. But now this is what the Lord says. He who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have summoned you by name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. The flames will not set you ablaze, for I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you and people in exchange for your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, give them up, and to the south, do not hold them back. Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf. All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Which of them foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, so that others may hear and say, it is true. You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He. Before me no God was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no Savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed, I and not some foreign God among you. You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I am He. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it? This is what the Lord says, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians in the ships in which they took pride. I am the Lord, your Holy One, Israel's Creator, your King. This is what the Lord says. He who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick. Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself, that they may proclaim my praise. And turning over to 1 Peter chapter 2, we've been considering, as you recall, Christ, the living stone, the cornerstone of His building, of His church and God's people. Believers are living stones as well being built up into that glorious house. Last week with the text we considered those two kinds of people, those who are offended by Christ and those who find Him to be a precious stone foundation And now the words of the text, verses 9 and 10, a most beautiful description of the church of Jesus Christ. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. 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. A beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, every now and then someone will claim to be going through what we call an identity crisis. Maybe some of you here have claimed to have gone through an identity crisis. Maybe in your teenage years or different points in life. And they struggle with their identity and they ask themselves questions. One who goes through an identity crisis asks themselves questions, for example, Who am I really? What is my purpose in life? What am I doing here? Where am I headed? What is my direction in life? Is my life making any sort of contribution at all? An identity crisis. Now, after studying in verses 6, 7, and 8 about those two kinds of people, those on the one hand who find Jesus Christ to be a precious stone foundation, and those on the other hand who find Him to be an offensive stone of stumbling, after considering those two kinds of people, I would hope that it's no surprise to any one of us here that those who are built upon the firm foundation have direction. They have a purpose. But those who are not built upon Jesus Christ are headed nowhere fast. Those who lay up for themselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, they are sure, certain, to suffer an identity crisis. But those who lay up for themselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal, they know by God's grace who they are. They know who they are and they are confident of their identity. Those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and are built upon His broken body and shed blood are privileged pilgrims who are chosen by God. And by His choice, God has given His children a special status. And He has appointed His children to a special service. And He has granted His children a sincere salvation. Again, just before this text, Peter is making that distinction between those two kinds of people. And he just finished talking in verses 7 and 8 about those who do not believe. And those who disobey the message. They disobey the word of the Lord. And to these, Jesus Christ is, as verse 8 says, a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. These are not identified with Jesus. Instead, they are identified against Him. But then Peter changes his focus. He makes a sharp turn completely around, as it were, and he focuses his attention on his original audience, those elect strangers, the privileged pilgrims of chapter 1, verse 1. He turns completely around, as it were, at them and says in verse 9, But you... You see, Peter is very emphatic here, as if to say, What I have just said is the true story for those who reject Christ, who oppose Him. But you, you, and He's talking to you too, beloved. You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. Again, we need to remember those who Peter is addressing here. He's addressing the congregation of God's people, not just in that day, but in all ages. Believers today, too. You and I, as a congregation of believers, as a part of the church of Jesus Christ, we have this beautiful description. He's talking about us. He's talking to and about the church of Jesus Christ. He is reminding the church of her great honor and the glorious estate that the people of God have been given. Indeed, what a privilege it is to be God's people among pagans in a pagan world. And the church of Jesus Christ has been given a special status. Notice the four titles of honor that Peter uses. Now, first of all, as a body of believers, he calls them a people. This is also translated in other versions as a race or generation. He calls them a priesthood and a nation. And then again, a people in a little bit different context. And then to add honor upon honor, he describes them as a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. And now we need to dissect these titles a little bit, but first we need to remember that these titles were given by God Himself to His people. From His very own mouth. When God gave His law to the Israelites on Mount Sinai, that constituted them, if you will, as God's people. That was their new beginning after Egypt. But before He gave His law, Jehovah said to Moses in Exodus 19, Now then, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. And as well, God spoke through Isaiah as we read in verses 20 and 21, the second part of 21, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland to give drink to my people, my chosen, The people I formed for myself, that they may proclaim my praise. You see, God gave these titles to the nation of Israel, to the Old Testament church. Peter gives these same titles to the New Testament church of Jesus Christ, to the church today. Are we a different people of God than they were? No, not really. The New Testament church and the Old Testament church is the same church. There's a continuity here. Their history is our history. Their failures are our failures. Their salvation is our salvation. The difference is that the New Testament church is the Old Testament church, we might say, in her expanded form. The New Testament church is a church that lives in the day of fulfillment. The Old Testament church lived in the day of promise. There's a richness and a fullness in the New Testament church that wasn't there in the Old Testament church and that is that Jesus Christ has come. The promise has been fulfilled. Redemption has been accomplished. And the way has been opened for every tribe, every tongue, and every nation. And that special status or position then given to God's children includes first of all that they are a chosen people. Now again, some versions translate it as a chosen race or a chosen generation. Now, when we think of a race or a generation, most often we think in terms of family. We think in terms of generations in a family. Peter is talking here about a body with a common life and a common descent. They come from the same place. Well, what do they have in common? In chapter 1, verse 23, he said that they have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable through the living and enduring Word of God. And in chapter 1, verse 3, he said that they have been given new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The church of Jesus Christ of all ages has a common ancestry and one common Father, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. But it goes even deeper than this. Why have God's people been born of imperishable seed to a living hope? Because of God's choice. They are a chosen people. And just as Jesus Christ is God's stone of choice to be the cornerstone, God's people have been carefully chosen by Him to be the living stones that are being built into a spiritual house, as Peter said in verse 5. Now beloved, we don't know why God has chosen whom He has chosen. Those of the Arminian persuasion would tell you that God looked down through His telescope, through his tunnel of history and he saw who would and who would not respond to his gospel call in faith by their own free will and therefore giving them some or much of the credit for their salvation. But we know that's not true. That's not the teaching of Scripture. God has chosen whom He in His grace and good pleasure would give the gift of faith to. He has determined from the foundation of the world who would, as Peter says, taste the kindness of the Lord, who would receive the benefits of Christ's redemptive work. We don't know why He has chosen whom He has chosen, but we do have the confidence, beloved, that His choice is not arbitrary. God did not unthinkingly say, eeny, meeny, miny, moe, I'll take you, I'll take you, I'll take you. I don't believe for a moment that he just closed his eyes and pointed. Again, we don't understand how or why he has chosen whom he has chosen. But we have the confidence that God takes great care in building his church, in gathering his family for the sake of Jesus. And he has given his family a special calling. That special status includes God's calling to be a royal priesthood. The Church of Christ is a royal priesthood which points to her calling as a body of ministering servants. Peter says again in verse 5 that God's people are a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. We are called to offer ourselves as living sacrifices holy and acceptable to God. Royal, of course, points to a kingdom. and to a king. The church is a priesthood for a particular kingdom and a particular king. We are to be ministering servants in the kingdom of God in service to the king of kings and the Lord of lords. Then the third title of honor given to the church is holy nation. Again, nation points to a particular body. Citizens who live in a given location, they are governed by and they obey or at least they should obey certain rules and regulations. They have one king. They speak the same language and they strive to promote the well-being of their society. Well, that describes the church, doesn't it? That describes the citizens of the heavenly kingdom looking forward to the heavenly promised land, living under the rule of and obeying the commands of our almighty king, speaking the language of heaven and striving to advance the kingdom of God, the church is called to holiness. Peter said that, remember? He quotes the very word of God, Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. The church, we know, has been set apart, sanctified by the blood of the Lamb. And the King of the heavenly kingdom has given the church His law to guide them in their holiness. Then finally, Peter describes the church's special status by saying they are a people belonging to God. This is beautiful. This is something the church, the Reformed church has picked up on, isn't it? I belong, body and soul, in life and in death to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. We don't say that for no reason. We don't confess that as kind of a hope that we're not sure of. You see, this is talking about ownership. It's talking about possession. God owns us. He has bought and paid for His own through the blood of Christ. The church is His private property. His treasure. His special people. Again, our God has always claimed His people. In Malachi 3, verse 17, He says, They shall be mine. In Titus 2, verse 14, Paul speaks of Christ and says, Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. The Greek word used for belonging here means to make around. And the idea is to make something and surround that something with a circle. And a circle indicates ownership. For what's inside? Possession. Remember through Isaiah again in verse 21, the Lord speaks of the people I formed for myself. All throughout that chapter and even the next chapter. The people I formed for myself. You are mine, he says at the beginning. Why? I bought you. I redeemed you. I love you. You are mine. Beloved, the church is God's possession, which He has formed, and to which He is given a special status or position. We need to notice, though, that each of these four titles is talking about a body. It's talking about a unity, and not individuals. The church is a body of believers, made up of individual believers, to be sure. But Christians never act alone, but always act on behalf of the whole body, the church. For example, the Senate of our country is made up of Senators who may work individually, but their individual work and their performance is on behalf of the whole collective Senate. Boys and girls and young people, you might be on an athletic team right now, whatever it may be, soccer, softball, basketball, volleyball, you might be on this team and you have a position on that team. But it's a team, not a one-man team. It wouldn't last that way. You have a position that you are responsible for. But together with the others, you work as a whole. You work for the whole team. As a Christian, you and I never stand alone, which should be a comfort. You have been given individual responsibilities as God's people, but you always carry them out in the context of the church of Jesus Christ. Which means, congregation, that the entirety of our lives is lived in the context of the church of Jesus Christ. Every thought that we think, every word that we say, every action that we perform is done in the context, good or bad, good or bad action, that is, is in the context of the church. Either showing forth the beauty of God's church or casting shame upon God's church. But see, this points to the special place of the church. We've all heard certain people argue that they don't need to attend church and worship with God's people because they can worship God just as good or as easy at home, listening to a sermon on the radio or watching an evangelist on TV. I disagree, not just because I'm a preacher, but because it's unbiblical. God has not formed individuals. But as Isaiah says, He's formed His people. He has formed His church. Belgic Confession, Article 28, says that outside of the true church, there is no salvation. The church, we know, is the body of Christ, represented by true visible churches in this life. And apart from His body, indeed, there is no salvation. When the branch is cut off from the vine, there is no life. And all of this points to the fact that church and worship with God's people is not optional for those who believe in Jesus Christ. It is a conviction. It is a necessity. And therefore, it should not be a tough decision on whether or not to come to church, to worship with God's people, to worship Him, to hear what He has to say to us. Beloved, God has given His children a special status. We didn't deserve it. We didn't earn it. He has freely given it to those whom He has chosen. But then along with the special status, God has appointed His children in the second place to a special service. Peter says again in verse 9, But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. You see, there is no identity crisis for those who are in Christ Jesus. They know without a doubt who they are. They know without a doubt what their purpose is. The church is to declare or proclaim the praises of God. The excellencies of God. Christians, as a part of Christ's body, are to proclaim God's praises. Are you a proclaimer? Are you a herald for God? Are you a declarer? Do you readily and willingly and freely tell those you come in contact with about the excellencies of God? You see, congregation, that gives glory to God, and according to the Westminster Larger Catechism, that is our chief end, to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. We are called to declare, to tell forth His praises, to tell about His virtues, His deeds, His power, His glory, wisdom, grace, mercy, love, holiness, patience, everything that we can think of about His salvation. You and I are to tell about God's works and His Word. You are to tell the world about what God has done for you. But notice there's an implied warning here. If you cannot think of anything to say, then you must examine your life to see if you are identified with Him. Maybe you truly have an identity crisis. Is Jesus a precious stone foundation to you, or is He an offensive stone of stumbling? You see, if you are a true Christian, a true believer, then proclaiming the praises of God will flow automatically from your lips and will shine like a radiant light from your actions. Oh, you may not always be as bold as you should be or would like to be. I'm not. But as Peter says in chapter 3, verse 15, you will always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. You see, the church is declaring must be in word and in deed, with our tongues, with our lives. By our conduct, we must testify that we are children of light and not children of darkness. By our conduct, that means that we do not participate in deeds and activities of darkness. Satan makes them look so good. He makes them look so compromising. But we are called to be discerning, to see through his temptation, to see through the compromise that we might be able to discern what is dark and what is light. We are to testify that we are children of light, not of darkness. In fact, that's what God's sincere salvation is all about. God has granted His children in the third place a sincere salvation. And that's what we are called to declare to the world. We are to spread the good news of the praises of God's saving work through Jesus Christ. Peter says, again, second half of verse 9, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. 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. You know, mercy, as we have said before, presupposes misery. Where misery exists, mercy is needed. God's mercy is His attribute that can be defined as His undeserved and unmerited goodness or pity on those who are in misery or are in distress. And in our darkness, we were lost in the corruption and misery of sin and ignorance and death. We didn't know the truth. We couldn't distinguish the truth of it. It hit us in the face. And that's what you call a true identity crisis. In our darkness, the mercy of God was nowhere to be found. But by His grace, God gives to His chosen generation, mercy. And we are brought out of that darkness and surrounded by His wonderful, marvelous light, the light of His goodness, the light of His wisdom, of His grace and mercy, the light of His salvation, the light of His Word, the light of Jesus Christ. And as God brings His own into His light, He makes them His people. He uses them as living stones and forms them into that spiritual house, the church. Again, it's wonderful how Peter draws from Old Testament Scripture here in Hosea 1. The Lord talks about those who will no longer receive His compassion and who will no longer be His people because of their sin and rebellion. Depressing. But then at the end of chapter 2, the Lord speaks of the remnant upon whom He will once again have mercy and who will once again be His people. That has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Beloved, God has gathered and He continues today to gather His church. Those who have been chosen by Him. Those washed in the blood of the Lamb of God. Those to whom He has given a special status and appointed to a special service and granted a sincere salvation. See, the salvation of our Lord is sincere because it is completely of His mercy and grace. We didn't deserve it. We deserve to be passed over. We deserve to be reprobate. We deserve to be left in our sin and misery. There is no other reason, absolutely no other reason for becoming God's people than that He graciously adopts us and makes us a part of His family. And He gives us an identity, an identity, beloved, that is to tell the world, to proclaim to the world that we belong to Him. These titles of honor, a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, these titles are God's calling card in the world. The church, as a calling card, identifies God's people in the world. The church of Jesus Christ is really a sermon to the world, each one of us. And collectively, as the church, it is a sermon to the world to see, to be seen, and to be heard. Just as the Israelites in Hosea's day were a sermon of God's judgment to the nations, the church today is to be a sermon to the world of God's grace and mercy. And as His holy nation, the church is a living demonstration of what God's mercy and grace accomplishes. And as a royal priesthood, the church offers her living sacrifices to God before the eyes of a watching world. And as a Christian, and as a part of the body called Christ's church, each one of us, again, is a sermon to the world. What part of the sermon, or what kind of sermon, does the world hear? and see when it sees and hears you. Does the world witness the glory and the majesty and the power and the grace and mercy of God? Do they hear the call to repentance and salvation? Or do they hear a gospel of compromise with a message that says, to each his own, don't worry, just be happy. Beloved, boys and girls and young people, we're proud of certain things, aren't we? Maybe we're proud of the town, the city we live in. Maybe we're proud of our state, of our country. Maybe we're proud of our school. We're proud of our favorite professional sports teams or maybe the teams that we're currently playing on in our community. And we are so proud of some of these things that we identify with them and we want to be identified with them and we do so by wearing hats that identify us with them or t-shirts or jackets or we put bumper stickers on our car that identify us with these certain things. We're not ashamed of that, are we? We're proud of these things, so we want to be identified with them. Well, do we just as proudly identify ourselves with Jesus Christ and His church before the eyes of a watching world? Are we proud to be identified, to be seen in such a way that others can tell that, yes, I am a Christian, and I belong to Christ's glorious church, or are we ashamed? And instead, as it were, do we take that hat and tuck it into our back pocket? We try to disguise ourselves so that the world and our co-workers and our friends in the neighborhood can't see that we belong to Jesus Christ. You see, as God's calling card, it is unmistakably clear that you are identified with a Master. Well, are you humbled to be identified with King Jesus, knowing that your identity with Him is by grace alone? Or are you ashamed? Remember that on Judgment Day, only those whom Jesus knows and is identified with, Only they will be allowed to enter into the joy of the rest. For those who are not identified with Him, that day will be the most severe crisis of all. And therefore know Him, beloved, and proudly be displayed as His calling card. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, what a blessing to have the titles, these titles of honor and glory placed upon us as the church of Jesus Christ from your own mouth. May we truly understand that as a blessing. May we also understand the responsibility that you give to us with those titles. That indeed, as your people, we are a calling card in the world of your greatness and of who you are. Father, with humility, may we proudly display your grace and your mercy and your peace in our lives. Desiring to be used of you as you continue to gather your church together. We thank you for the church of Jesus Christ. We thank you for her eternal life. We thank that she will never be destroyed, that she will be presented by the Bridegroom to His Heavenly Father one day, perfect, without blemish, without spot. And may each one of us look forward to that day. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray these things. Amen.