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This is a guest post by one of our Elders and long-time Pastor – John LaShell
But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9)
Your Goal for the New Year
To proclaim the excellencies of our God
1. Why do we proclaim the excellencies of our God?
Because of our wonderful privileges
“‘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.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel” (Exodus 19:5-6).
A. A Chosen Race (1 Peter 1:1-2).
Chosen according to foreknowledge
For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish (Psalm 1:6)
1 Peter 1:19-20
B. A Royal Priesthood
Melchizedek (Genesis 14, Psalm 110, Hebrews 7)
- Offer our bodies (Rom. 12:1)
- Pray for others (Col. 4:2-3)
- Sacrifices of praise, good works (Heb. 13:15-16)
- Admonishing one another (Rom. 15:14)
C. A Holy Nation
1 Peter 1:15-16
D. God’s Own Possession
2. How do we proclaim the excellencies of our God?
A. We must proclaim with our words
But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works (Psalm 73:28).
So we Your people and the sheep of Your pasture Will give thanks to You forever; To all generations we will tell of Your praise (Psalm 79:13).
B. We must proclaim with our works
Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16).
3. What excellencies of God do we proclaim?
He is the kind of God who—
A. Brings people out of darkness to light
Without Christ, people are under Satan’s Power.
darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart (Ephesians 4:18).
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).
B. Turns enemies into His people
He who is not with Me is against me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters” (Matthew 12:30)
Ungodly; Sinners; Enemies (Romans 5:6-10).
Micah 6:18
“Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?”