Choir of Heaven, thy wings shall lamentation bear, to heaven's truth and faithfulness engage the weeping soul to bliss. ♪ And since He makes me seek His face ♪ ♪ Behave His word and trust His grace ♪ ♪ I'll pass on Him my every care and way ♪ ♪ For He is the Lamb of God ♪ ♪ To see our rough prayer ♪ May I thy consolation share ♪ Till from my pisces off behind ♪ I view my home and take my flight ♪ This robe of flesh I'll draw and rise to seize the everlasting prize, and shout the passing through the air, farewell, farewell, sweet hour of praise. Now, page 345. Page 345. Now I belong to Jesus, 345. Jesus, my Lord, will love me forever. From him no power of evil can sever. He gave his life to ransom my soul. Now I belong to him. Now I belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to me. Not for the years of time alone, but for eternity. Once I was lost in sin's degradation, Jesus came down to bring me salvation, lifting me up from sorrow and shame. Now I belong to you. Jesus belongs to me. Not for the years of time alone, but for eternity. Joy floods my soul for Jesus has saved me. from sin that long had enslaved me, his precious blood he gave to redeem. Now I belong to me. Now I belong to Jesus. Jesus belongs to me. a a a a a a a a a a a a ♪ A t'wondrous grace to me he hath made known ♪ ♪ Nor I a word in Christ in love redeemed before his own ♪ ♪ But I know whom I have believed, O Lord my God ♪ and persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that way. I know now how His saving faith to me ♪ He did impart ♪ ♪ For I'll be in His Word ♪ ♪ Lord, peace within my heart ♪ ♪ And I know whom I have believed in ♪ ♪ And am persuaded that He is a Lord ♪ ♪ To keep that which I committed ♪ ♪ And to hail not this that day ♪ ♪ I know not how the Spirit moves ♪ ♪ Convincing men of sinning ♪ ♪ To the work creating faith and meaning ♪ ♪ When I know Him, I am believing ♪ ♪ And I'm persuaded that He is able ♪ ♪ To keep that which I've committed unto Him ♪ have a But I know whom I have believed in, and have persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him, Boy, that is a wonderful song. I know not when my Lord may come at night or noonday fair, nor if I walk in the vale with him or meet him in the air. Glory to God. This is in our future. This is in our future. Each of us, born of God, by his grace, this is in our future. And we know whom we've believed and are persuaded that he is able to keep that which we have committed unto him. The scripture says that he is able to present us faultless before his throne of glory. Grace, amazing grace. Well, We've come to the point of time where we, in our worship service, where we worship Him with our tithes and our offerings, it's just, an offering is, is simply an expression of gratitude. to a heart that has poured out immeasurable grace on each and every one of us. And we want to welcome you, each of you that worship with us via the internet. We can't see you. You can see us and you can hear us. We care about you and we don't know, I'm told there's some 27 different countries that are tuning in. We are grateful. We take that very humbly. It's humbling to think that you would tune in with us. We care about you. We want to know about you. We'd love to. My email address is pastorraye at gracebaptistyler.com. We'd love to hear from you, prayer request or whatever, because you're attending with us in worship via the internet. It's a blessing to us, and we hope we are being a blessing to you as well. Let's pray together. Father, we love you. We love you, dear God. We love singing these hymns, and Lord, these lines, wow, they're just, wonderful truths about what we know and believe and are confident in. Walking in the veil with thee someday, or meeting thee in the air. Goodness, Father, we know this is in our future. And we know, Lord, that our past is under the blood of the Lord Jesus. and thus we are, by your grace, qualified for that sure, steadfast hope because of the imputed righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we love to worship in singing and studying, and we love to worship, Father, in giving back to you a portion of what you bless us with. Receive it, Father, as that, a gift of gratitude from our hearts, and use it according to your purpose and pleasure. In the mighty matchless name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, amen and amen. So, Our text today is 1 Peter chapter 2, 1 through 6. 1 Peter chapter 2, 1 through 6. And our subject is the regimen for growth as a living stone. The regimen for growth as a living stone. I'll begin reading in the first chapter in verse 23. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Wherefore? laying aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and evil speaking, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby, it so be that you have tasted that the Lord is gracious, to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. Father, we love your word. We love it, Father. We love how the reading and the study of your word massages our souls, Laura, how we are blessed through it. The growing, certainly, Father, we grow in faith through thy word. But just the reading of your word, the dwelling on it, brings peace and joy. What a marvelous gift of grace your word is to us. We praise you for every syllable. And Lord, these are wonderful privileges of grace to gather in this place week by week and study your word in our classes and here in our worship service. Lord, we want it to be exactly as you want it. We want it to produce exactly the results you intend in preserving it for us in the first place. So to that end, Lord, I surrender to you. Wear me like a garment, master. Put me on and preach your word through me to all of us here in the auditorium, the worship center here, and throughout the internet audience as well. May it be a day when each of our hearts are quickened by your holy word, resulting in our being more thoroughly equipped to live each day according to your holy pleasure for us as individuals. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray, amen and amen. The dictionary defines regimen as a regulated course of diet, exercise or manner of living intended to preserve or restore health or obtain some result. That's what a regimen is. It's a course of action, diet, exercise, or whatever, intended to preserve, restore health, or affect some goal out there, attain some result. And boy, there are all kinds of regimens being advocated. Everywhere you look, there's a regimen advocated about something or other. On Facebook, you'll find individuals. Their postings complete with the photos of them sweaty. They're sweaty themselves, so to speak. Photos of themselves, all sweaty, announcing they've just finished their run or their workout in the gym and yada yada and that sort of thing. You can find regular articles on the net. It's about this or that regimen, and sometimes it's just an ordinary, so to speak, person out there that's done this, and wow, it turned out wonderfully, or it's some starlet or movie star or whoever, and this is what they're eating and not eating, or whatever. It's a regimen exposed to the masses that's produced X, Y, or Z result in this particular person or persons. And then there are those ads. They don't come across as ads. They're helpful postings, you know, but underneath there's an ad, you see, because they're always accompanied by men and or women with these hypertoned bodies, and they're posting this in a helpful spirit just to, so others can get this hypertone body or whatever, this fabulous shape. And you read on a little bit and you find, well, here they're saying, goodness, you don't have to exercise and you can eat anything you want. Man, this sounds like a Baptist sort of regimen to me. And you read on Little Father, and then you find, well, there's a magic bullet, actually, that they're revealing in this ad. You see, it's just taking these particular pills every day, taking these pills. which they are happy to provide you with at an introductory low price. And if you just take three or four or half a dozen or whatever these per day, man, in just no time, you're gonna look like they look. Well, actually, in all of that, There's one common thread of truth, and maybe only one, and certainly not all of them, but in the most of them, there's one common thread of truth, and that's this. To experience change requires change. That's it, simple. To experience change requires change. Doing nothing requires nothing, results in nothing. That's simple enough to understand, isn't it, as far as improvements are concerned. There are some cases when doing nothing results in decline, and that's a change. from where you might be physically or spiritually or mentally into a lesser state of physical or mental or spiritual condition, doing nothing. But change requires change. And that's the purpose of our subject today, the regimen for growth as a living stone. And the word of God says here that we are living stones. Now the truth of the matter is this. that some living stones grow faster than other living stones. I've pastored all ages through the years, all ages. And I've pastored folks that were younger in the group that were really deep in the knowledge of the word of God. I've pastored folks that are old folks like me. that were not deep in the word of God. I told Waverly, on our first time we met Daniel, my future son-in-law, then future son-in-law, spent some time talking to him that evening. When he and Bethany left our home, I said, baby, That's the most theologically sound, deep in the word, young man his age I've ever spoken with. Because he's in it. He breathes it, eats it, consumes it. I'm grateful to God for him. But here he is. So young then. That was, what, 12 years ago. Young still, but there was something that he did and continued to do. And those that are deep in the word, it's a regimen. It's something they have done and continue to do. So there are reasons why some stones or living stones are more alive spiritually, so to speak. Not more saved, okay, I'm not talking about that. A living stone is a redeemed stone, according to the Word of God, but more mature is a living stone. So the first part of the regimen for growth is given to us in this first verse, and it's casting off, casting off the sinful deeds of the old man. Peter writes, wherefore, laying aside, et cetera. And if you go back to the first chapter, 13 through 25, Peter's been talking to us about being holy, because our father that called us is holy. So he's talking about holy living. Now he deals with specifics as to how we live holy lives. In other words, what's involved in the regimen for growth. to be a, not only a living stone, but a holy living stone, as we're identified in verse five as a living stone. First Peter 2.1, laying aside all malice, all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings. Remember now about this word, this conjunction, wherefore, okay? A wherefore looks back, a wherefore in scripture, looks back at what has preceded and looks forward to what's coming. That's a purpose of that conjunction there. And this particular case, wherefore, is a logical inferential conjunction, okay? That's the reason I'm saying all that. It's a logical inferential conjunction. What that means is it's a coordinating conjunction that conveys a deduction or inference from the preceding discussion. So based on what has preceded, we are to live holy lives because our Father that has called us is holy. We are, therefore, to live holy lives. And to live holy lives takes some action. There has to be change. from being not so holy to more holy or whatever, there has to be some action taken. And that's what this is inferring based on what we've read in first chapter 22 down through 25, then this is what we must do. Wherefore, what is it? Laying aside, by the way, you could translate wherefore as consequently. Consequently, or according to our calling. According to our calling, then we do this. So according to our calling, we lay aside. And that's a verb, aorist tense, middle voice. The middle voice means that's something, if I'm doing it, it's affecting me. If you're doing it, it's affecting you. So what is this? It's a verb, aorist tense, means actions in the past with a continuing result. Lay aside these works, these things that are listed there. And that word lay aside, a great word, really means to put away, to cease doing what one is accustomed to doing. That was to stop. Stop what we've been doing. But that phrase, to put away, to cease doing, that's a key phrase. And it tells us so much because that's the key insight is what we must do in order to live a holy life. So in summary, this regimen to live a holy life as a living stone means we have to make a decisive change. Based on the foregoing, we have a calling to live a holy life. We have to make a decisive change, and this decisive change that we make must be continuing, continuing along. You know, we really have the same choice to make every day when we wake up. We really do. We can decide, okay, I'm gonna serve the Lord today. Lord, I wanna serve you today. Oh, we can get up and start off on our own agenda and serve ourselves. So I was preaching up in northeast of Dallas one time at a church, did a revival meeting up there. And I was, I don't know what my particular text was at the time, but it was that taking up the cross, denying ourselves and taking up the cross. And at the end of the service, This fellow about 35 years of age came up to me with this most earnest look on his face. He wasn't fiddling around. This guy was gripped, and I could tell it. He said, Brother Ray, how often do I need to take up that cross and carry it? Just as earnest as earnest could be. And I looked at him and I says, well, and I can't take any credit for this. The Lord just caused it to come out of my mouth. I said, well, just on the days you want to follow Jesus. He said, oh. That's all he said, oh. And Renard walked away. That is the truth. Just on the days we want to follow Jesus. Well, so he says, here we are, however we've lived prior to our coming to faith in this living stone, verse four there, namely the Lord Jesus Christ. So however we lived prior to that, then we need to leave off whatever was associated with us prior to that. Now here's the thing. We've been crucified to Christ. We've been seated with Him in the heavenlies, and that's where we are spiritually. Our souls are eternally sealed into the day of redemption. The day of redemption is gonna be the redemption, the resurrection of our bodies, or the rapture of our bodies, okay? But for the moment at hand, we're still in His flesh. And this flesh loves to rear up its ugly head and presence in our lives. So we're always doing battle against the flesh in our life. And so Peter is saying, look, five aspects of this former life of yours, which will show up every once in a while now. Malice, what is that? Hateful feelings. Guile, as a word, it means deceit. In fact, it's deception with an agenda. It's a deception with agenda. Think about that. You never had anybody deceive you that didn't have an agenda for deceiving you in the first place. Deception with an agenda. Hypocrisy. It's sincerity by virtue of pretending to be something we are not. Or have beliefs or qualities that we do not have. I had an occasion. years ago to have an evening meal and a little eatery out there on I-20. Well, the highway patrolman and a paramedic. And so when I got up to get me some more shrimp, that was good, get me some more shrimp, he asked the paramedic, because I've never seen him before, what does he do? And the paramedic said, well, I'll just let Ray tell you what he does when he gets back. And so I came back and sat down, and the highway patrolman asked me, he said, Ray, what is it that you do? I said, well, you would understand this being in the profession that you're in. You know, they see your uniform. When people see your uniform, they act differently. around you, and you know that, right? Well, yeah. And I said, when you're out of uniform, they don't know you have a trauma, so they don't act differently, right? I said, okay. So I never tell people what I do, because they act differently around me. And he just looked at me. And I smiled. I said, I'm a pastor. He said, The reason his face kind of dropped, because he had been using some choice language, and then he apologized. I say, man, I'm just a guy with a call on my life. I know the Lord Jesus is Savior, but I'm a call on my life. But it's not my ears you've got to be concerned about. But people do, when I'm out and about, you know, stores, and I see some witness opportunity, I don't walk up and say, I'm Pastor Ray over at Grace Baptist Church. I don't do that. If I say anything, hi, my name is Ray, and I noticed whatever, and you know, if there's whatever that opening is for a witness opportunity, I never tell them I'm a pastor. Because you know what? They expect that kind of stuff from preachers. But the ordinary person on the street hearing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ from another ordinary appearing person on the street is effective to gain a listening at least. Envis, what is that? It's spite, resentment about what another person has or the money they have or the possessions they have or the success they've enjoyed or enjoying. Evil speaking, it's slander, it's abusive words, falsely spoken that damage a person's reputation. And Peter's list is not exhaustive here, but it certainly does cover the basis. Because, and those things listed, so many other things are linked extremely too. And it certainly shows characteristics of what should be a lay aside. It's logical, isn't it? A logical inference, right? None of these things that Peter has listed here should not even be once named against a born of God redeemed person. Not one time. That's logical thinking. But old Paul, he provides a lot more details about the sins of the flesh. Before he cuts to the chase, in Ephesians chapter 4, 22 through 23, put ye off concerning the former conversation, the old man. Put off that manner of life of the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. And then there's a statement in Romans chapter 12, 13, verses 12 and 14. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. Now that's a very key phrase. Make no provision for the flesh. As you know why? In summary, provision results in fulfillment. Provision for the flesh results in fulfillment. And one might say, well, you know, I would just think about that, but I would never do it. Hello, Jesus said, in your heart, thinking about some of this stuff, already committed the sin, provision, any provision can result in fulfillment. Now it's interesting that both Peter and Paul in their writings, their various writings, neither one of these guys suggests that we are to fight against these things. No, we're not to fight against guile, fight against envy, fight against evil speaking and so forth, deceit, no. We're not to fight, we're to completely put them off like a soiled, filthy garment of sin that it is. Be done with it, put it off. You say, well, here's this list of these things I need to, so I'm gonna work on this one first. Well, what are you doing? Well, you're working on the one, you're doing pretty well, getting rid of the guile, but you're still participating in these other three things. Because you still got this gripey evil spirit towards whatever or a little bit of deception along the way in your job. You know, I used to have a boss in my last secular employment. He said, well, you know, a little white lie doesn't hurt. What is a white lie? You know. No, these men don't say fight against this one or that one, they say put it off, be done with it, put on the new man, pre-conversion, dead in Christ, don't try to raise it up by flirting with it, and put on the new man, which is created in likeness, the likeness of God. That's the first part of the regimen of spiritual growth, casting out. It's removal of everything that hinders our spiritual growth. And sin, or even flirting with sin, hinders our growth. Okay? Sin committed or even flirting with it or thinking about it hinders our growth and ruins our fitness for witness. It ruins it. Second part of the regimen for spiritual growth is maintaining a healthy diet. That's pretty simple, isn't it? You've got to stop doing some things and start eating the right things or whatever. 1 Peter chapter 2, 2-3 is newborn babes desire the sincere miracle of the word that you may grow thereby. If so be that you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. If so be is a conjunction that could be translated since you have. Since you have, remember he's writing to Christians, right? Since you have tasted in the past, you have tasted and are tasting that the Lord is gracious or the Lord is good, that you've experienced in the past. He's quoting actually 34-8 of Psalm. O taste and see the Lord's good. Blessed is the man that trusts in Him. Of course, here in the context of our present study, Peter's talking about their salvation. These are people that are born of God. And since you that have been born of God have tasted that the Lord is gracious, desire the sincere miracle of the word. And by the way, this newborn babes, newborn means recently born, babes is the word, it means baby or infant. So it's any young child from the womb up to weaning age or whatever. That's what the word literally means, okay? But Peter is not saying that his readers are newborn babes. Some of these folks have been saved 30 years or more when they got this letter from him. Okay, the word says as, as newborn babes, not that since you're newborn babes, it's as newborn babes, like a newborn babe craves, longs for the milk of the word, the sincere milk of the word. Remember that word guile? The Greek word that's translated guile is D-O-L-U-S, doulos, guile. Here, this word translated sincere is the same Greek word with one letter added in front, okay? What is the difference? This sincere, adolos, A-D-O-L-O-S, means unadulterated, pure, not mixed with any impurities, that's it. So here's the guile, the deceit, or the pure. And there's nothing impure in the word of God without deceit. So Peter's not saying again that these people, they're not newborn Christians, but they are to crave milk like a newborn. And we know what that's like. You know, a baby, a newborn, he cries, and boy, it's like, His life depends on his mama's milk, and he wants it now. I was amazed at my grandson, Miles Lee. That boy is a milkaholic. I mean, it's unbelievable how much milk that kid consumes. We're to crave, like a little child, crave the sincere milk of God's Word. The Word of God that has no deception, no deceit, no confusion. The Word of God, it's the only motive of the Word of God is holiness, that the people of God understand God the Father, Christ the Son's sacrifice for us, and how to live holy lives. That's the purpose of all of this, craving then this word, unadulterated Word of God. And like a newborn with the milk, it facilitates our spiritual growth. And you know what? Well, of course, Scripture says, Romans 10, 17, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So we grow in faith by the word of God. So we can say this accurately, I believe, anemic faith, anemic faith in a believer, not talking about unbelievers, but anemic weak faith in a believer is caused by a dietary deficiency of the nutrients of the Word of God. That's it. I know that's a true statement. A dietary deficiency of the nutrients. Anemic faith, anemic faith. I've heard believers say, oh, if I just had the faith. Well, you know, I still, this guy now is a little older than me, but having some health problems. At one time, but he was just kind of one of those guys who's drifting along, and I'm not speaking condescendingly, he was a great guy, I loved the guy, I loved his family, his wife was godly, committed. But he was just kind of, You know, church every time the doors open, but just kind of one of those guys. And he came up in one of those, I guess maybe a midlife crisis thing or whatever, but he wanted to change careers. And he was, and he had a really good job. But he came to me and he said, Brother Ray, how do you get a word from God about an important thing? And it was one of those times that the Lord just said things through me that, you know, I said, well, you don't wait till the night before the decision has to be made. And that's true. Because you see, if we're walking in the word of God, and we're not anemic in our faith, but we're filled and growing in faith, and we're walking in the spirit of God day by day, the spirit is leading us as we even approach the major decisions of life. So we're not in a panicked state at the last moment trying to catch up, to catch our slack. There's nothing like walking in the word of God, nothing like it. It's not only fulfilling for today, it's directive for tomorrow, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and it's preparatory for our future. Because there's some things out there that's gonna come down our pike that we don't know about yet and the Father's known since the beginning of time. But when we walk in the word of God, we'll be thoroughly furnished to deal with the things that God allows to come into our lives, nourished by the sincere milk of the word. And by the way, this is the only place on the planet that you can obtain unadulterated truth. If you watch TV, you can turn on the TV, or the news, however you listen to whatever, there's always an agenda. There's a political perspective, or there's a health perspective, or there's a marketing perspective, or this bias, or that bias, or whatever bias, but there's something. But in this word of God, we have, maybe I could say a holy bias. the instruction of our father for his children to walk in righteousness, and that's the purpose he saved us in the beginning, to redeem a people, a holy people unto himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, to do the good works that he foreordained. And it's all here, and it's pure, unadulterated. And it's the only place we can get unadulterated truth. We learn more of His holy nature, fabulous, amazing grace, which you can't even define. It defies description with the human language, this grace that we have received in our salvation in Christ the Lord. How do you intend for us to live? Direction for the future, whatever. And the only reason that anyone can be a lively stone, and a growing lively stone, is because of the grace. The grace that brought them to the living stone in the first place. That's it. I mean, just how rich are we? Think about this, we're living stones. Why are we living stones? Because by the grace of Almighty God, we've been brought to the living stone. and thus having been brought to the living stone, we have the instruction from the Father, the record of the Son, to instruct us how to walk closely with that living stone, the Lord Jesus Christ, and walk in unhindered fellowship. Unhindered fellowship. You know, those of you that are married or have been married or whatever, like me, You know what it's like to walk in unhindered fellowship, right, with your wife or your husband. Oh, man, is that sweet. It's unhindered fellowship with everything just lovey-dovey, boy, it's great. We also know when things get crossways a little bit, you know, the temperature in the house gets a little cooler without changing the thermostat, or something goes on, there's a dynamic there. Walking in unhindered fellowship with the Lord of glory. A privilege of grace. Running the universe. At the same time, allowing us to have unhindered access and fellowship with him. Grace, grace. To him coming into a living stone, disallowed of men, but chosen of God and precious. That word indeed there is an interesting word in Greek because it literally means, you know, disallowed indeed. And of course in their English it says disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. So this one little word there is very pivotal in the Greek because it says on the one hand, But on the other hand, on the one hand, disallowed of men, but on the other hand, chosen of God and precious. Disallowed means just simply to disregard as not worthy. Not worthy. We use New Testament word studies. instead of this word translated disallowed, it refers to the testing of something or someone for the purpose of approval. with this testing being conducted to the extent where there's no further testing needed, at least in the minds of those who are doing the testing. And then coming to the subtle conclusion that that which has been tested does not meet the requirements of the testing and therefore is disproved and rejected. disallowed indeed of men, chosen of God and precious. That's exactly what the religious leaders of the day did pertaining to the Lord Jesus Christ, the living stone, the incarnate son. He lived there in their midst for 33 years or so. In the Father's appointed time, He preceded Himself as Israel's Messiah. And anyone else that believed in Him. He came in precisely the way predicted in their Old Testament. Zechariah 9-9, when he mounted that donkey's coat and rode down that slope of the Mount of Olives and across that Kidron Valley and up into the holy city of Jerusalem. He came just as prophesied. He was born in the place prophesied. He lived out all this in front of them, 33 years. He did miracles that no one in their right mind could contribute to anyone of a normal nature. disallowed deed of men by all the religious leaders except Nicodemus. Nicodemus came by night. Lord, I know you're from God. No one could do what you do except God be with him. After all that public attestation to his deity, these religious leaders called literal, the leaders of the nation of Israel rejected him and called for his death. Why? How could they do that? Because he wasn't the messiah or the type of messiah they were looking for. And on top of that, he was interfering with our religious system of the day. And so he shouted, crucify him! And chose Barabbas to be released. And here's the thing, ladies and gentlemen. You can be a very religious person. Maybe have been being very religious all your life. You may be following in your family's long standing Baptist tradition or whatever. You may be very knowledgeable in the word of God. You maybe have been or are presently recognized as a great Bible teacher. and still be lost without God and having no hope in this world. You know the word of God. You can know the word of God, be a leader, be a teacher that teaches with authority the word of God. I still have somewhere in my files the whole recorded debate between Madeline Murray O'Hare and W.A. Criswell. And W.A. Criswell was a walking encyclopedia of this thing. And I wasn't surprised how he just fired off this, this, this through the debate. But what surprised me was the incredible, vast knowledge of Madeleine Murray O'Hare, a devil-inspired female that rejected Christianity. She knew the word of God. And really, when she came toe to toe with W.A. Criswell, she was up to the task for the debate, but lost. What does that tell you? It tells you knowledge alone won't regenerate your soul. So you can set about to increase your knowledge, memorize the scripture, study theology, do all of these things, but apart from God's grace, you're gonna be lost until God's grace hits your soul, that's it. All of grace, salvation is all of grace. And the difference is, lies in this key word in 1 Peter 2 and verse 4. There's a key word there. And this is the difference. And I'm not going to address it first. And whom coming is into a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. That's that adversity of conjunction, that little word, but. Disallowed, but chosen. Disallowed of men, but chosen of God, and thus precious. Now, that word, chosen, that's a key word. It's a noun. It's electos, noun. E-K-L-E-E-K, let me see where it is. E-K-L-E-K-T-O-S, electos. Chosen. elect. This was a prophesied one. Old Testament scriptures, Psalm 118, prophesied stone, a stone which the builders refused to become the head of the corner. Who are the builders? The Judaizers, the Pharisees, those who led in the temple worship. They refused him, he became the head of the corner. Then it says, this is the Lord's doing. This is the Lord's doing. It always has to be the Lord's doing. Matthew 21, 42, 44, Parable of the Vineyard, Jesus applied that very passage to himself. Did you never hear? Did you ever read the scriptures, the stone which they built and rejected, the same as become the head of the corner? This is the Lord's doing. Speaking of himself, therefore I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation that brings the fruits thereof and so forth. So the scriptures say this chosen stone is precious. That doesn't mean precious to you and me in the text. It means precious to God. This chosen stone is precious to God. in spite of being rejected by man. I want to tell you something. Here's a safe rule for all of us to follow, whatever the subject may be. This is a safe rule. Study carefully the Word of God and know and discern through the study of the Word of God what is precious and valuable to God. know what's precious and valuable to God, and then set our hearts about to treasure as precious what is precious and valuable to God, to love it, to value it, to treasure it, so forth and so on. I'll leave the rest to the unsafe world out there. And concluding, that key word chosen. Our present text, 1 Peter 2.4, states that the Lord Jesus Christ was chosen, lektos, chosen of God and precious to God. That's 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 4. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 2 says of us, redeemed in grace, elect according to the foreknowledge of God. Lektos, same word. Lord Jesus Christ, chosen, us as believers, chosen. What an incredible thing. Our Savior was chosen by the Father for the foundation of the earth and precious, precious to God. And then it says, we are chosen by the Father for his son before the foundation of the earth. What does that mean? We're precious to the father, does it not? The word of God says that in the first part of the chapter, chapter one, we were chosen to be adopted into his family, it's Ephesians I think, through the Lord Jesus Christ. So here's the Lord Jesus Christ, precious to the Father, who we are blood-bought, redeemed in grace in the Son, precious to the Father. Jesus said, I'm not ashamed to call them brothers. The Word of God says he is able to present us precious ones, redeemed in grace before his throne of grace and glory, faultless, faultless, glory to God. You know, if I was preaching in a charismatic church today, everyone would be sitting on the pew shouting, glory to the living God. And I'm fooling with you. But isn't this a wonderful thing? Think about this. This is who we are in Christ. Precious to God, sealed into the day of redemption. Gonna be presented faultless. So I guess we could tell our mates or our children or loved ones, well, you know, you're not doing just too good today. And you can say, well, I'll tell you one thing, one of these days I might be presented faultless. I may be slipping up today, but faultless than that day before the presence of God in his glory. Grace, grace, oh God, marvelous grace. You've given us our language, Father. You've given us the intellect to use it, but this intellect you've given, and this language you've given to use it, We cannot define adequately your amazing grace. It's just beyond definition, but Lord, our souls understand it, and we rejoice in you, Father, for choosing us and choosing our Savior, and in him sealing us into the day of redemption. It'll never be a day, Lord, in all of eternity, when we won't be yours and yours alone. God, give us grace to crave, crave like a newborn baby, your word, to saturate our souls with its nutrients and never be one troubled with anemic faith throughout the rest of our earthly sojourn. Your wonderful Savior, a glorious Father, and we praise you in Jesus' name, amen and amen.