1 Peter 1, verses 1 and 2. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers, are you a stranger in this world? To the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you, and peace be multiplied. The last few weeks our attention has been fastened on one of God's terms of endearment for his people, the word elect, as you find it in verse 2. Elect those who are chosen, and we've pondered the word for so long because Peter has a great deal to say about it in a very few words in verse 2. But we have not simply been examining it like someone examines a substance under a microscope in a laboratory to try to dissect it and take it apart and see all of its parts. Nor have we been talking about election as the philosophers do with curiosity and multiplying words Perhaps there's a multiplying of words, but not simply out of curiosity. But we've been looking at this word, the chosen ones, because God himself said it. God said, elect chosen ones to the Christians. And we asked, was he speaking to me? What did he mean by this term, elect chosen ones? We ask much as a young lady might ask when she's been out on a date, and the wonderful young man says to her, I love you. She goes home and she says, did he really say that to me? Did he mean it? What did he mean by it? Is this just a common love? Does he say that to all the girls that he dates? Is this a passing love? Is this the kind of heartbeat that he feels in emotion for a few days, and he's fickle and he'll forget what he said to me? Or is this the real thing? I love you. What did he mean? Did you ever feel like you'd like to ask someone, what do you mean by that, when they've used such a common phrase? God said, my elect, my chosen ones, And it has inflamed our hearts to question, what does he mean by chosen ones? What does he mean by this phrase of endearment? Others may flippantly speak of the love of God and pass on and think no more about it, but we long that our souls might be the object of his peculiar affection. Oh, that we might be the benefactors of his tender mercies, and that we might be assured from his very words that he's speaking to us. What did he mean when he said chosen once? Well, as we looked into it, chosen according to the foreknowledge, or chosen according to the prior love of God the Father. God was saying, I had a prior love to you. Love that ran out in desire for you before the stars shone in the heaven, and before the birds sang in the world, and before ever a man drew his first breath. And as we look more into the Word, we saw the means that he uses in doing something marvelous for those that he chose because of his love, because he fell in love with them before the foundation of the world, through the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. This is what we looked at last week, that God has sent his Spirit to everyone that he has chosen, or will do so, to set that one apart from the rest of sinners in the world. to take out of their hearts all love for the world and sin, and to put within them a love for him and his kingdom, and to conform them to the image of his Son. This morning it remains for us to look at the end, or the design, or the goal of this election. My chosen ones, what does it mean if someone says, I love you? What does that love do for me? In what way does he love me? What is the great object, the design, the end that he has for the ones that he has chosen? There we have the phrase unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. The source of this choice, the love of God the Father, the means used in reaching God's goals in his elect, through sanctification of the Spirit, and now the end for which I have chosen some, God says, because I sovereignly fell in love with them before the worlds were made, I selected of fallen mankind a definite number whom I purposed to bring unto obedience and the sprinkling of blood. These two expressions, obedience and the sprinkling of blood, tell us what God had in mind when he chose us. What were we chosen for? And the two ideas put together in this way, obedience and the sprinkling of blood, must suggest to the mind of anyone who carefully studies the Bible, entrance into God's great covenant of mercy and grace. It reminds us of that amazing scene in Exodus 24 that we read earlier this morning. When the old covenant was confirmed to the people of God, was ratified in their presence, You remember it was a covenant of blessing when God promised that he would be a God to the Jews and that they would be his special people, that God would be merciful to them and pardon their sins, that God had great promises. And there are long sections in the law of God in which he gives his promises to his people. Moses read the written covenant to the assembled people of God. And that covenant told them what God expected of them and what they could expect of the Lord. And then the people responded in unison. Millions of them gathered together before Mount Sinai, shouting together all that the Lord has said we will do and be obedient. There it is, unto obedience. Obedience. Then the people filed past Moses. who stood by basins that were filled with blood, blood of animal sacrifices. And you remember what had happened? Half of the blood was sprinkled on God's altar to appease the wrath of God against sin. The other half of the blood was kept in the basins. And after the people showed their submission to God's terms for the covenant, they filed past Moses. And into the basins he dipped, hyssop, little bunches of weeds. And he sprinkled the blood upon the Jews as they went past, confirming God's covenant to them and consecrating them to God in their new special relationship to the Lord of hosts. Now, all of this ceremony was only a picture of a better covenant. We were told that in Hebrews. And this ceremony was a picture of entering into the covenant with the Lord Jesus Christ, the new covenant. The New Covenant is the God-given arrangement in which a man may know God and walk with God and be his special person. It's the God-given arrangement in which all the glorious promises in Jesus Christ are confirmed to an individual. All of the great gospel privileges are entered into by obedience and the sprinkling of blood. Now, this is not some obscure point of doctrine. But it concerns the matter of your soul and its eternal destiny. If you are ever to become a child of God, if you are ever to walk with God, you must enter into that close communion through obedience and the sprinkling of blood. And if you are ever to find a savior to deliver you from the guilt of your sins and the wrath of God, you must come to know him by obedience and the sprinkling of blood. You must enter into the new covenant. And at the threshold of that covenant, at the doorway of that covenant, there is the demand of obedience and the sprinkling of blood. You see, this is getting right to the heart of the answer of the question, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Well, Paul answered that, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in thy house, but implied in that was the obedience and sprinkling of blood of which Peter is speaking. What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? You must be obedient and be sprinkled with blood. Well, then, let's examine these phrases this morning. You may enter God's covenant and receive all of the mercies that are in Jesus Christ only in obedience. Obedience. Now, it's important that you understand the meaning of that word obedience. because the destiny of your never-dying soul depends upon it. By obedience, first of all, let's be negative. Peter does not mean a series of good works in your life. And that's what first comes to our mind when we use the word obedience, a series of good works, actually doing things in obedience to the Lord. He is not telling us that a man receives the benefits of the new covenant by his moral deeds. Rather, he is alluding to the response of heart that we saw in the Jews in Exodus 24. When Moses read all of the covenant, all of the terms of the covenant, what God demanded of them, what God promised to them, the Jews did not actually keep all of the commandments in order to enter into this covenant. They did not actually do all that the Lord said before they could be counted the children of God. But rather, when they heard God's sovereignly dictated terms for life, they promised obedience, and their heart ran out with submission to what God had set forth before them. It is this heart inclination to obedience that the Bible often has in mind when it refers to obedience. Not the outward acts of a man in performance of the commandments of God, so much as the inward submission to what God has told him. in his sacred word. Perhaps we would more naturally speak of it in terms of submission rather than obedience. But obedience is the term that's used in the Bible. Actual keeping of God's commandments must follow for the man who is submissive to the Lord, but it is the inward submission, the inward resignation to the will of God that is being expressed by this term obedience. In other words, brethren, this word obedience is one of the New Testament words to designate what a man does when he savingly believes on the Lord. Let me show you some striking instances of it. You know, there is in the New Testament the word that's translated faith, and that focuses attention on trust in God. A man must trust in the Lord to be saved. But the New Testament also uses the word obedience. for he must be subject to God, submissive to the Lord, as well as trusting in the Lord. And the two words are used interchangeably in the New Testament, particularly here in Peter. Look down in verse 22, a very striking phrase in which Peter says in this first chapter of the first epistle, verse 22, seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth. Has any man ever purified his soul by outward acts of obedience to the commands of God? No, by the works of the law shall there be no flesh justified. But the soul is purified when the truth of God is heard and submission of soul to that truth and obeying of the terms of God in the giving of that truth comes from the heart. This is a New Testament way of expressing faith, more often than men have recognized it. Look in chapter 2, verses 7 and 8. Unto you therefore which believe, the word that emphasizes trust, the Lord is precious. But unto those who are, what? What is the opposite of believing? The opposite of believing is being disobedient. You see how the words are interchanged. It didn't say, but unto those who are unbelieving, but unto those who are disobedient. And it's the same thing. If a man has trust in God, he must be submissive to God or obedient to God. If a man is disobedient, he is also unbelieving. But unto them which are disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to them which stumble at the word being disobedient. were unto also they were appointed." These are the only two that I'll ask you to turn to, but there are other striking texts. In John 3, in verse 36, apparently John the Baptist speaking John says, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Interchangeable faith and obedience. Hebrews 5 and verse 9, The Son of God became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him. Again, this emphasis on submission to the word of the gospel. And frequently the gospel is pictured as a message sent from heaven as a commandment. God commandeth all men everywhere to repent. This is the command of God that you believe on his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 10, 16 says, but they have not all obeyed the gospel. Everyone who has heard has not obeyed. No, they have not. 2 Thessalonians 1.8, Christ is coming in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that believe not God and that obey not the gospel. The gospel comes and commands men to submit to its terms, and where there is trust, there must be submission. This attitude of obedience or submission, then, is a necessary ingredient of saving faith. If you trust Jesus Christ as the prophet, then you will bring your mind into submission to every thought of your mind in submission to the word of Jesus Christ. If you trust Jesus Christ as your priest, you will follow his directions in approaching God. If you trust Jesus Christ as a king, you will submit yourself to every direction that he gives. Obedience or a spirit of bowing to the will of God is an essential ingredient of true faith. Well, then this demolishes the popular myth that a man may have salvation by accepting Jesus as his personal Savior without serving him as Lord. The suggestion that a man may simply give permission to Jesus Christ to cleanse away his sins, while never submitting to the will of God in Jesus Christ, is a non-biblical doctrine. How many are condemned by Christ's own words? Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and you won't do the things that I say? Where there is no submission, there is no trust, not the trust of which the Scripture speaks, You cannot come to Christ and say, well, I'll trust you to pardon me, but I won't trust you to tell me what I ought to think, and I won't trust you to tell me how I ought to live. Oh, those things are inconsistent. How can you entrust your soul, your eternal destiny to Christ if you won't trust your earthly thoughts and your living to his direction? The trust of saving faith involves yielding yourself up to the authority of the prophet and the priest and the king. And I do hope that there is no one here this morning who is deluded in thinking that he is saved or under the covenant of grace if he is not subject to Jesus Christ the Lord. The reason I hope that is because there's one thing worse than being under the wrath of God. And that is being under the wrath of God and being ignorant of it and thinking that all is well with your soul. There's one thing worse than having cancer, and that is not knowing, so that you will not seek a physician. And there's one thing worse than not believing on the name of the Son of God, and that's being deluded and thinking that all is well with your soul, so that you do not flee from the wrath to come and seek for his mercy. A man must respond with his heart to the gospel as the Jews did, to give them all that the Lord hath said we will do. We will be obedient. When the Apostle Paul was converted on the road to Damascus, the change in his heart was shown in submission when he said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? All the sheep of Christ hear his voice and they follow him in submission. And only when the nation of Israel acquiesced in God's order of things did Moses sprinkle blood upon them. And it is the order of the words here that lead us to speak of this as the obedience of faith rather than the obedience of outward acts. It certainly will lead to that. It certainly will bring that forth in life. But what is necessary to enter into the covenant with the Lord is the submission of heart that's involved in saving faith. The acts of obedience will follow sometime after a man is already received by the Lord and sprinkled by the blood. But you will notice that order. I believe it was intentional on the part of Peter. Erect or chosen by God the Father unto obedience and the sprinkling of blood. You may enter God's covenant and receive his mercies only by obedience and only by the sprinkling of blood. Now, every Jew that went home from Sinai that night, who was present in the scene that we have an account of in Exodus 24, after the ceremony, if he took his shirt off, if he took his robe off, that night there were stains of blood upon it. The blood consecrated that man unto the Lord as his special person. And everything in the Old Covenant and everything in the New Covenant is consecrated with blood. It's interesting when we read the Old Testament account that the Jews chose artisans who were filled with the Holy Spirit to know how to make the tabernacle. And they wove beautiful curtains for the tabernacle. And as soon as the tabernacle was hung, the priests came by and spattered them with blood. And when the Jews were to come in holy and solemn assembly before the Lord, they were commanded to wash their clothes and be clean. And when they came with their clothes all washed before the Lord, they had blood sprinkled on them. Why all this blood in the covenant? Blood is an alarming thing. It's an awesome thing. If your child comes into the house and his face is covered with blood, you'll be immediately alarmed, and you ought to be. And there's even something awesome to those of you who are hunters. I hope you've not gotten used to seeing the lifeblood of an animal spilled on the ground without some sense of awe at the sight of the blood. There's meant to be solemnity. And that's why the scripture brings before us the sprinkling of blood. For sin has made every human being obnoxious before Almighty God. And his anger smokes against every disobedience to his commandments. His justice demands vengeance. And the only possibility of appeasing the wrath of God, of turning the anger of God aside from a man, the only possibility, is through the sprinkling of blood. The Bible tells us over and over again that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins, no passing over sins, no pardon for sins. You cannot become a child of God unless the blood is shed and sprinkled upon you. You cannot approach unto God and commune with him unless somewhere there is blood that God can see. And you dare not have confidence to come to him unless there is blood that you can see." The blood was shed, the lifeblood poured out in the old covenant of these animals. Some of the blood was taken into the holy place and sprinkled on the altar to appease the wrath of God. Some of the blood was taken and sprinkled on the people to identify them as the ones for whom the atonement was made in sprinkling the blood on the altar. Now, it's impossible that the blood of bulls and goats in the Old Testament could take away sin. All of the Old Testament sacrifices were a picture, an object lesson, pointing to only one sacrifice, one spilling of blood at one time, one moment in history. It was pointing to Jesus Christ dying on the cross and spilling his lifeblood. That is the blood of the everlasting covenant, as it's called in Hebrews. That is the blood that cleanses away all sin and makes perfect. If you are so fastidious that you want to have nothing to do with blood, then you cannot be consecrated in the new covenant in Jesus Christ. When by grace a man submits to the terms of the covenant, he will find blood, blood everywhere in those terms. If he bows to the word of God in his heart, the moment he bows, the priest, the Lord Jesus, will sprinkle blood upon his conscience. And blood will come to his own attention if ever he is to sense pardon for his sins. When you come to appear before God, you ought to put on the blood-spattered robe. I don't know exactly what the Jews did in the Old Testament, but I imagine if they understood what was going on, the next time they went up to the temple, they were glad to put on that robe again that was spattered with blood, as the sign that they had the right to approach unto God for atonement was made to their sins, and they could come boldly into his presence to worship. And perhaps there was even a sense of pride to wear it about. among men that others could see that here was one who was sprinkled with the blood of atonement." As the sprinkled blood consecrates people to God, it equally confirms God's covenant to the people. Again, when the Jews went back to their tent that night and looked at those spots of blood on their garments, it should have brought to their assurance of heart a remembrance of every promise of God, they belong to me. It ratified to him, it confirmed to him, it pledged to him the promises of God. If God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things? If looking within your heart you can see the sprinkled blood of Jesus Christ, how can you doubt that God will give you anything that's good for you? If the blood of Christ is sprinkled upon you, then God is your God. And heaven is yours, and life and eternal happiness belong to you. And all the blessings of God's Word are certified to you in the blood of Jesus Christ. What does the blood of Christ mean to a Christian? Oh, the blood of the covenant is essential in the eye of God and in the eye of man. When the Lord sees the blood of the Savior on me, then all of my sins are purged, and all of my guilt is pardoned. And when my eye sees the blood of Christ upon me, then I am sure that God is gracious toward me, and I can approach unto his throne boldly, and I can lay claim to every promise in the word of God. And the blood of Christ means nothing less than this. The terms of the covenant even the terms of entering the covenant, submission, sprinkling of blood. There are many reasons why sinners will not submit to the gospel of God. They have not all obeyed the gospel. Paul complained in Romans 10, who has believed our report? There are some of you here this morning, you've not obeyed the gospel. You've heard it, but you haven't obeyed it. There are many reasons. There are hundreds of reasons why men do not obey the gospel when they hear it. Let me suggest just a few of them. Some men do not obey the gospel, never come to the terms of the gospel and agree to them and submit to them and enter into the covenant of Jesus Christ because they have never really seen that their sins are obnoxious in the sight of God. never realized that the Almighty is so angry with sin that he will never, ever, ever look favorably upon a man who is not sprinkled with blood, but will cast him into hell. And he is pledged to be the enemy of all who never satisfy divine justice with the shedding of blood. Some never approve of God's method of saving sinners. Some, because of the pride of their own heart, say, blood. Seems like a beastly, it seems like to some people, a cruel and barbarous way to talk about settling spiritual matters. But a bloody sacrifice God has ordained as necessary. And of course, some just plain love the present world too much to submit in their heart to the commandments of God. But I would like to speak to those of you who have all of these reasons in your heart, and speak to you for a moment about this blood of the Lord Jesus Christ which is sprinkled upon his people. When you read in the scripture of the blood of Christ, when you hear a Christian talk of the blood of Christ, when you see the Lord's Supper in which the people drink red juice to symbolize the blood of Christ that was spilled, Above everything else, remember that God is in dead earnest about sin. Almighty God is not playing in his gospel. He has not dreamed up a nice story for little children and old ladies who have nothing better to do. But God is in dead earnest about sin. And he despises sin with such a fury in his nature. and such a holy indignation that he slew his pure Son of God and spilled his innocent blood as the only pathway by which a man can get into heaven. He is that devoted against thee. The judge of all the earth demands blood, and whatever your human mind thinks of it, it will be that way. But it should also remind you that the God of all grace is in dead earnest about the matter of sinners. The God of all grace determined before the world was made that some of this sinful race of men would belong to him and walk with him and be his people and he would treat them lovingly. And to accomplish that he put his only begotten son to death on Calvary. As men fall upon their faces before the Son, the Son, who is the priest, sprinkles them with his blood. Let me ask you, does the blood of Christ mean much to you? Does it mean much to you? Has your mind become fascinated with the cross of Christ? Or do you become bored at the remembrance of his death and coming to the table? Have you seen the depth of the amazing holiness of God, the amazing justice of God, the amazing love of God in the blood of his Son. So that it never grows to be a dry subject with you. Has your heart been spotted with that blood? So that when you look within and you see your dreadful sins, you begin to look and look earnestly to see if the blood has been sprinkled there. Has your conscience ever learned what it is to be sprinkled with blood? Have you ever known anything of what the Apostle spoke about in Hebrews, who said, let us come boldly into his presence, having our conscience sprinkled or being sprinkled from an evil conscience? Behold, Christian, if the blood of Christ has been sprinkled upon you, the emphasis of our text was that you were chosen to this. If you have submitted to Christ and been sprinkled with blood, You were chosen to this before the foundation of the world. And as we mentioned a few weeks ago, the text does not say that the Lord looked forward and squinted his eye to see who by his own power would submit and allow the Lord to sprinkle him, and on that basis chose them. No, no. He chose them out of his mere prior love unto obedience. and the sprinkling of blood. Consider, if you have not believed on the name of the Son of God, do not begin your quest of the gospel by inquiring into the question, am I one of the chosen? You can never begin, or at least you'll never get an answer, at that end of the scale. It's an important question, and one that you ought to ask. Were you one of the chosen of God, the Lord will never reveal that to you until you settle some other questions. And that is the question, will you submit to God's terms of the gospel? And will the Son of God graciously sprinkle his blood upon you? And if you will submit to the gospel and the Son of God will sprinkle his blood upon you, then you can find out assuredly that long before ever you thought one sober thought of God, the Lord chose you unto that, as he has revealed in this place in his word. Amazing love, amazing gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The terms of the gospel, oh, how gracious they are. Not asking that you scale the heights of morality, Not asking that somehow you present yourself before God, flawless, but that you come as a miserable sinner, as a sinner at this moment, only submitting to God's terms of the gospel. Being willing to have Christ as a prophet to instruct your mind, as a priest to take away your sins, as a king to give you the power to overcome sin, and to direct your life henceforth. And all will be given to you freely by His grace. And then that great means which God uses, the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, sending the powerful Spirit to make you pure. Are the terms of the gospel so hard? Telling you what God will do, what the Son will do, what the Spirit will do? Submit to them and be sprinkled by the blood of the everlasting covenant. And how do you submit? Well, you come to Jesus Christ, and where is Christ? He's at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. How do you get there? You go to him in prayer. You pray from the desires of your heart, crying out that he would have mercy upon you, and pray to Christ in heaven as a king on a throne, bowing down, acknowledging that you cannot come to him worthily, but that you have heard that he is a merciful and faithful high priest. and that he welcomes wretched, worthless sinners. And when you pray to him, speak to him in terms of submission. Call him Lord. And say as Paul did, what would you have me to do, Lord? Teach my mind, prophet. Cleanse my soul, O priest. Direct my life, O Lord. Be pleased to sprinkle your blood upon my soul. Did you ever pray anything like that to God? You could do it now. You could enter into the covenant. You could lay hold of all of the mercies of God in Jesus Christ this moment. If from the depth of your heart you would approach him in that manner. May God give you the grace to do so. Let us pray.