34 Words That Can Change Your Life
Scripture Reference: First Peter 2:9
Preached at Mount Zion Baptist Church
Delivered by Rev. John Daniel Johnson
Sermon backgrounds and PowerPoints are available for free if you request them. My email is address is saved2follow@hotmail.com. Also, the sermons are online at www.mountzionfamily.com. God bless you all.
OPENING QUESTION—
Let me begin this morning by asking a question. There is an old saying that goes something like this, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Now, honestly is that true? Words sometimes do hurt. When we’ve heard the rumors that have been spread about us, sometimes it hurts. Here’s my question, “Is it possible for words to change your life?”
Thirteen years ago, Jessica and I went to the doctor and heard the words that he told us. He told us, “Congratulations, you’re going to have a baby.” Those words changed our life. We had to start expanding, start saving, and start preparing. Our lives were changed because of the spoken word.
I pray that there has also been a spoken word that was told to you that changed your life. Hopefully sometime in your life you’ve heard it spoken that God loved you so much that He sent His Son (Jesus) to die for you to give you everlasting life. I pray that those words stirred your soul and changed your life.
This morning I bring to you a message entitled, “34 Words That Can Change Your Life.” Now notice that it does not say “WILL Change Your Life,” but “CAN Change Your Life.” The reason is it says that it can change your life is because this life-changing word comes with a few stipulations. There a just a few requirements that we’ll have to meet to experience this life-changing word.
So, here it is. Here are the 34 Words That Can Change Your Life. Lets read together from Second Peter 2:9. Just one Scripture passage this morning. Just 34 simple, yet full of truth words. This morning in honor of this life-changing word, let’s stand in reverence of reading it. God’s truth states,
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him
who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
Now those words are impactful. As a believer those words describe who we now are…what we are. However, we need to get those stipulations (those requirements) out of the way. We have to first make sure that we’ve met certain requirements to apply this passage to our lives. Oh, and this morning if you’ve haven’t met these requirements, I pray that you do today. God wants to change your life around. He wants to bless His children. He wants His children happy. He wants nothing more than for His children to live out their life to the fullest while here on this earth. There’s no better place to see those stipulations other than back in God’s Word. Join me in reading Exodus 19 and Deuteronomy 7.
“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; 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 which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
(Exodus 19:5-6)
Did you all catch the requirement in those two verses? Since we, as committed believers of Jesus, we’ve been grafted into the same promises that God made to Israel, this verse applies to us also. Scripture tells us that we are His “special treasure above all people,” a “kingdom of priests,” and “a holy nation.” But, there is a requirement. Did you catch it? Verse 5 directs us, “Therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, THEN…” Let’s look at what Deuteronomy 7.
“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7“The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments.”
(Deuteronomy 7:6-9)
Did you catch the repetitiveness of this verse compared to Exodus 19? Verse 9 repeats the same requirements: “Keep His covenant…and keep His commandments.”
So what is the Covenant the LORD is speaking of? Well a covenant is an agreement; usually it is between two parties. Both husband and wife make covenant promises which they are obligated to keep until death. The great part of this covenant, it is sealed in blood. Now, I could go through all the Old Testament and tell them to you, but for sake of time, I’m going to give the New Testament fulfillment of that covenant. In Hebrews 7, God tells of this covenant.
“The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, ‘You are a priest forever,’ so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.
(Hebrews 7:21-22)
Remember the passages about the LORD’s Supper. Matthew 26:27-28 states, “And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” This new covenant is simply this: If we repent and believe on Jesus, He will forgive our sin and restore a relationship with us. Not only that but He will make intercession for our sins to the Father. He’ll also give us His Spirit to help us live a holy life. That the covenant that was sealed by the precious blood of Christ.
Now that we know what the Covenant is; we need to look at what the Commandments are. The first 10 Commandments are found in Exodus 20. Then in John 13, Jesus gives us a “NEW” commandment.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
(John 13:34-35)
So, there we have it. If we keep His Covenant and His Commandment then this passage in First Peter has the power to change our life. Let’s read these 34 life-changing words again.
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him
who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
So, how can these 34 words truly impact and change our life? Well, my brothers and sisters, if you’re a child of God, He’s telling us from these verses how important we truly are to Him. This passage is describing the Father’s love for His children! It is telling us how valuable, how precious, and how much He truly desires the best for us. Now that exciting, because the Creator of the Universe is so personable that He wants to tell me how much that I mean to Him. He’s telling me that I’m not worthless. I’m not a nobody. He’s wanting to tell me that there is Someone who truly cares for me…and He is My LORD and Savior. I’m not lost a sea of faces. I’m someone special.
A few years ago, Trinity brought home a picture she had painted in her class at school. The picture was a handprint, and above the picture was the title, “I’m Special to God.” Then an arrow was pointing to the thumb of her handprint. Then in big, bold words was the phrase, “I’m THUMB-body!” God loves us so much what when we place our trust in His Son, Jesus, we become really somebody special to Him.
Transitional Sentence — Because of accepting this covenant with Him and keeping His commandments He does four wonderful things for us. This is why I’ve called this: “34 Words That Can Change Your Life.”
WE ARE A CHOSEN GENERATION
When I was in school, I was a chunky little kid. It always embarrassed me to go clothes shopping with my mom because she always wanted to ask the employees in the department store where their “Husky” section was at. I wanted to crawl in a hole every time. Then I had to wear those husky jeans to school. The part of the day I used to hate was Physical Education. The coach would line us up and pick a couple of popular kids as team captains. Then these team captains would get to chose who they wanted on their team. Brothers and Sisters, you may think I’m joking, but it hurt because I was almost always picked last.
But praise the LORD, that’s not the way He picked us. He looked down and picked us first! He scanned the entire earth, and pointed right at me and said, “I want you on my team.”
As believer we become a “Chosen Generation”. The Greek words for “Chosen Generation” actually mean a “chosen race.” It is the Greek word “genos.” The idea is that after we come to Christ we become a brand new race of people. We are now His children; His offspring. We are no longer “red, yellow, black or white.” We are all precious in His sight. We are a brand new race of people. How can that be you ask? Because as believers we are all given the Holy Spirit who changes us inwardly not outwardly. Where our heart was once black with sin, we have been washed as white as snow.
WE ARE A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD
Throughout the first five books of the Bible (called the Torah), we see what the priests were instructed to do. Now there was one High Priests, and the other priests attended to the other duties of the Temple. We know that we also have One High Priest, Jesus Christ! But, we are all priests that minister. Here is what that means that makes it so life-changing.
During the Reformation, Martin Luther’s greatest problem with the Catholic Church was the priesthood of the believer. He again and again cried out, “all we who are Christians are priests.” What that means for us is that we all have access to God.
That’s what Ephesians 3:12 states, “In Him and through faith in Him we may enter God's presence with boldness and confidence.” (Berean Study Bible) It is also states in Hebrews 4:16, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (KJV)
So, we have direct access to God and secondly, we have the right to bring sacrifices to Him. Romans 12:1, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”
Every Christian is a minister. Not a pastor, but a minister. God says that you and I have been gifted for ministry to serve other people. The Latin word for priest means bridge. The priest is a bridge builder between God and man. Or as the old preacher said, "We are saved to serve." Bill Hybels puts it this way: "I would never want to reach out someday with a soft, uncalloused hand - a hand never dirtied by serving - and shake the nail-pierced hand of Jesus."
WE ARE A HOLY NATION
Two things here: We are first a holy people. The word “holy” means “set part for a particular purpose.” However, the word “Nation,” is the strange part. Remember that we are now a new race of people? Well, now we are a new nation. A nation that has boundaries. Not geographical boundaries, but moral ones. And as a Holy Nation, we have the Spirit of God leading and guiding us.
That word “Nation” is the Greek word “ethnos.” It refers to people joined by practicing similar customs or common culture.
WE ARE A SPECIAL PEOPLE
The phrase peculiar people in 1 Peter 2:9 comes from the King James Version and is not seen in the more modern English translations. This is because at the time the King James Version was translated, the word peculiar was often used to refer to something belonging to someone, as in someone’s property. If we look up the word peculiar in a dictionary today we would still see that is one of several meanings this word can have.
In this verse, Peter is not saying that Christians are odd or unusual people, even though the world often looks at us that way. What this passage is communicating is that Christians or believers are people who belong to God, they are His own possession. I love the way the New International Version says it. It says, “God’s special possession.” In other words, we belong to God.
God’s Word gives us a better understanding of what it means to be God’s possession. “We are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5). “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13). “And I give them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:28). And when we’ve been truly placed into His hands, there is nothing that can snatch us out.
CLOSING
London businessman Lindsay Clegg told the story of a warehouse property he was selling. The building had been empty for months and needed repairs. Vandals had damaged the doors, smashed the windows, and strewn trash around the interior. As he showed a prospective buyer the property, Clegg took pains to say that he would replace the broken windows, bring in a crew to correct any structural damage, and clean out the garbage. “Forget about the repairs,” the buyer said. “When I buy this place, I'm going to build something completely different. I don't want the building; I want the site.”
