A Kingdom-Focused Ministry

A KINGDOM-FOCUSED MINISTRY 1 Peter 2:9-12

INTRODUCTION: Have you ever thought something was for you and later realized it was meant to be shared? Back in college somebody’s mother would send a package of cookies with the intent that they would be shared and the “poor deprived student” consumed them all for himself. Or you sent your kids to the state fair and gave big sister all the money to get the tickets for the rides, but instead she only gave each one a little and she kept the rest.

We think of such things as sad little stories of selfishness. But in fact, they are symptomatic of a much larger problem. As fallen human beings, even those of us who know Christ, we tend to view everything through the eyes of those who think life is all about us.

When God called Abraham, He called him to a life of following and believing God. But there was never any question that Abraham was not really the main idea, the primary player in that covenant relationship. God told him that he would be blessed…but that it was not about that. He would be blessed in order to be a blessing.

THESIS: When God calls us to follow and trust Him, we will surely be blessed when we do, but the purpose is to be a blessing to others and give all the glory to the Lord.

The Old and New Testaments alike carry this theme through as we shall see this morning.

I. CALLED TO THE BLESSINGS OF HIS KINGDOM

--When we belong to the King of glory, we are citizens of His royal kingdom with the privileges and blessings that come with it.

A. A SPECIAL IDENTITY WITH OUR CALLING

Exodus 19:5-6 ‘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; 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

1. People for His Own Possession

--God loves His people and makes them His own saying that we will be His people but also that He will be our God.

--All the other people of the earth are deprived of knowing and serving the one living and true God until they come into a covenant relationship with the Lord God Almighty.

--One of the greatest needs in each our lives is to belong, to know that we have been accepted and valued and God has invited us to be His…there is nothing better!!

2. A Kingdom of Priests

--Peter calls us “royal priests” as his way of expressing the same idea in Exodus…that we are priests through the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and not the same as the Levitical and Aaronic priesthood.

--Jesus was compared to the only “king-priest” of Scripture, the one to whom even Abraham gave allegiance—Melchizedek.

--We find this explained more fully in Hebrews 7-8 which we do not have time to explore here other than to point out…

Hebrews 7:15-17 And this is clearer still, if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, 16 who has become such not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is witnessed of Him, “Thou art a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” --Through Christ, then, we have been called by God to be priests in His name, those who need no other mediator, no one to offer sacrifices, no one to absolve us of sin, no one to interpret His will—none but our Great High Priest and Eternal King, Jesus Christ.

--Therefore, we who know Christ are called a kingdom of priests since our priestly heritage derives from Him alone!

--So the idea is not so much that we are a kingdom made up entirely of priests, but that we are priests who are also royal through our oneness with the “king-priest,” Jesus Christ.

3. A Holy Nation

--We have been made holy, something we could never be in ourselves, but by virtue of our relationship with Christ, we have been purified, made holy by the cleansing power of His blood at the cross.

--We have been set apart, made distinctive, and stand to bear witness to the power of God to take broken, fallen people and transform us into something beautiful, glorious and worthy to be called His own.

4. A Chosen Race

1Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession…

--Peter adds to the list this word, that we are chosen by God, a testimony to His grace, not our inherent worth.

--We do not demand to be recognized as a special people but are chosen by God through no merit of our own.

--So these incredible blessings are our in Christ as those who are partakers of the covenant God makes with us through the blood of His Son.

--There is no one between us and God but Christ…no one over us but God.

--All these are great blessings for which we are forever grateful, but Peter goes on to speak to the purpose of this special calling:

1Peter 2:9 … that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

--Our identity is not confined to what it means to us, but what it is intended to produce as we proclaim the excellencies of God’s merciful love and glorious grace in Jesus Christ.

B. A SPECIFIC EXPECTATION WITH OUR CALLING

--The conditions of our calling set out specific expectations and responsbilities that come with the covenant God made with His people.

Exodus 19:5-6 ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant,

--Part of our understanding of our calling must include a recognition of the conditions the Lord our King has placed on us as covenant partners with Him.

--In order for the blessings of the kingdom to be ours in full measure, it is necessary to meet His conditions which were summarized in that word God gave to Moses in reaffirming the covenant with the Israelites.

1. Obey His Voice 2. Keep His Covenant

--In other words, be faithful to Him! --We are called to be faithful to all that God expects of a people who are called by His name.

--Throughout the many years of His dealings with Israel, the Lord saw them time and again give Him up for other pursuits, leave Him to give their affections and their devotion to other things.

Psalms 81:11-13 “But My people did not listen to My voice; And Israel did not obey Me. 12 “So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, To walk in their own devices. 13 “Oh that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways!

--Not only were they unwilling to keep His covenant and be faithful to Him, they insulted and rejected His love and gave themselves to things which were worthless.

Jeremiah 2:11-13 “Has a nation changed gods, When they were not gods? But My people have changed their glory For that which does not profit. 12 “Be appalled, O heavens, at this, And shudder, be very desolate,” declares the LORD. 13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns, That can hold no water.

ILLUS. Does it not make you jealous for God’s glory to see the followers of false gods and religions remain more committed to what is not true than we as a people are to what is true? Why would we not be faithful to Him? There is something attractive about loyalty, something appealing about faithfulness. These days when it is announced that someone has been married for a number of years, people cheer because a lifetime of faithfulnes between husband and wife has sadly become so rare. Note: Movie “Fireproof” calling for people to stay in their marriages opens this weekend, 9/26/08, and makes a case that being faithful to our covenants is worth whatever it takes. But among those called by the Lord, many violate their vows, make no effort to remain true to their commitment and fail to meet His expectation for them simply to remain true to the One who has loved them with everlasting love.

II. CHOSEN FOR THE EXPANSION OF HIS KINGDOM

--Through the choice of the Lord, Israel became His people so that through them He might communicate His Word (giving the Scriptures to the descendants of Abraham) and incarnate His Son (sending Jesus Christ through the line of Abraham).

Romans 9:4 who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises,

--God gave them all those things in order that they might demonstrate in a powerful way that the Lord alone is God and there is no other.

--He gave them the opportunity to model an appealing relationship with the Lord God and show the nations of the earth that our Lord is a great, holy and glorious God.

Ezekiel 39:7 “And My holy name I shall make known in the midst of My people Israel; and I shall not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

--This is the message the Lord chose to reveal to all the earth and He began with Israel when He made His covenant with Abraham.

--But as the Scripture message unfolds, it becomes clear that the new covenant was intended to accelerate the proclamation of the message of hope, the story of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

--The children of God were not to be those born of human seed, but those born of the Spirit.

Romans 9:8 … it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. --God chose to build His kingdom by inviting people to believe His promises and trust His provisions…that His kingdom would be built by those who put their faith in Him!

--Therefore, He made possible the expansion of His kingdom from the humble starting point of Abraham and now extends to the likes of you and me who have the opportunity to join in fulfilling His purposes.

--The work of fulfilling our kingdom-focused ministry can be done in one of two ways:

A. TAKEN TO HEART WITH GRATEFULNESS

--When we have allowed the message of mercy and grace to penetrate our hearts, and the gospel of forgiveness and freedom to transform our lives, we will refuse to take those things for granted.

--We will be a grateful people and will treat every opportunity to know and live for Jesus Christ as a gift for which we are abundantly grateful!

1. Saving faith will be a precious treasure and not a matter of indifference.

2. Spiritual growth will be a valued privilege and not a matter of imposition.

3. Sacrificial living will be a worthy cost and not a a matter of inconvenience.

--We will embrace the place where we introduce people to Christ and grow to maturity in Christ and learn joyful contentment in Christ with hearts overflowing with gratitude!

--Unlike Israel, we will refuse to take what we have freely been given for granted but will see every aspect of our life together as a good and gracious gift from our Father who loves us.

 Is that the way you feel about your place among the people of God, the household of faith?

 Is church just another stop in a busy week and not a valuable place for which you are grateful and glad?

--We are called to be blessed and set apart to be bright lights shining in the darkness around us, not just for our sake but for the sake of all those around us who are lost in the darkness of unfulfilled, unsatisfying lives.

--We need to cherish our calling and commit ourselves to be all that God desires as we live godly lives in Christ Jesus.

--When we understand these things, we will not be able to contain our thanks to God for all that He has done for us in Christ and consider no cost too high a price to pay to live in a faithful covenant partnership with Him.

--But just as with Abraham, we are not the end He has in mind, but a means to a greater end…the people of God are blessed, no doubt, but they are blessed to be a blessing as well.

--In other words, it is not all about this church, this congregation, this people, but God has called us to find in Christ what we need to live for His glory and then turn around and make sure others have that same opportunity.

B. TAKEN FORTH IN FAITHFULNESS

1Peter 2:9 … that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

--It would be easy to get so occupied in understanding all that God has done for me to forget that He wants to do the same for others.

--He calls us to live with a kingdom-focused ministry that always is looking out and never satisfied with just looking in. Isaiah 60:1-3 “Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 2 “For behold, darkness will cover the earth, And deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you, And His glory will appear upon you. 3 “And nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.

1. A Passion for the Glory of God

--When we are captivated by the excellencies of Him who has called us, we find no greater satisfaction than making His name known, declaring His praise, spreading the Good News.

--It would not be right to find such a treasure and know its infinite worth and keep that knowledge to ourselves!

ILLUS. During the days of the prophet Elisha, Israel was under severe attack by the Arameans with no relief in sight. Four lepers found themselves desperate for food to survive and decided that they would go to the Arameans’ camp and hope for mercy. When they got there, no one was there. The Lord had caused the army to hear the approach of an army that did not exist and they ran leaving everything behind. The four lepers ate and drank and carried off silver and gold and clothes for themselves. Then it occurred to them that all that they were finding was not really for them alone. Their response is worth considering for those of us who have found Christ to be our greatest treasure: “Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, but we are keeping silent…” (2 Kings 7:9).

2. A Pursuit for the Purposes of God

--We can easily love the place we have found and get comfortable settling in with no thought given to the purpose for which God has called us.

--We must not think that the priority in life for the people of God is to seek more and more for us while the rest of the world goes without.

--We need to proclaim His excellencies, invest ourselves in the expansion of the kingdom far beyond the walls of our small part of the kingdom.

a. Seeking Christ Above All Things

--When He is our first pursuit and greatest desire, we will not have to worry about being one dimensional in the way we live—He will show us His heart and then open our eyes to see His love for those who don’t yet know Him.

b. Seeking First His Kingdom Above All Things

--So we then put ourselves wholeheartedly into the matter of putting the matters of His kingdom above any other concerns we might have.

ILLUS. Here at Providence, we want to put our focus on the ministry of His kingdom, not just on our little corner of it! In two weeks, we will celebrate 30 years as a church by looking back at what God has done for a while in order to give thanks. But then we want you to join us in thinking about what the next 20 years will bring as we lift our eyes beyond this place to see what kind of impact He wants us to have for the sake of His kingdom. We want to reach our 50th anniversary having had ten times the impact for the greater kingdom than we have already had.

--He called us to faithfulness, both in how we live and what we do with what has been entrusted to us.

CONCLUSION: How much do we have to receive by way of blessings before we step back and ask ourselves if this is right? Yes, we rejoice and give thanks for the privilege of being called the people for His own possession, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a chosen race. But as Peter tells us, that is not intended to be a feather in our cap. It is God’s design for us to receive those things with gratitude and then proclaim the excellencies of the One how gladly gives such things freely to all who believe in Him.

Too many Christians and too many churches are all too willing to claim the blessings but not proclaim the blessings. We can become more interested in building on what we have instead of looking around and seeing where else the Lord might want to focus our attention.

Will you be content to be blessed? Or will you allow the Lord to reach beyond you and make you a blessing…to your neighbor or to the nations?

September 21, 2008 Providence Baptist Church