WESTSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH
PASTOR: TERRY VAUGHAN
SERMON TITLE: GODS PEOPLE
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
TEXT VERSE: 1 Peter 2:9-10 “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”
Not one of us here tonight is worthy to be called a child of God. The Lord saved us because we were worthless and not worthy. I’m glad our merits aren’t what gets us to heaven or in the will of God but His mercy.
I want to share this scripture with you tonight to encourage you. To let you know that you are somebody if you’re saved by the Grace of God. 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.” There’s some people who might of had better things to do than come to God’s house but you who are here can go home feeling more like a Christian than you did when you came in. People who can’t see God working are in bad shape tonight. We’re somebody tonight. I got to thinking about God’s people and I said to myself, their the best people I know. I like being around God’s people. I believe if we love the Lord, we’ll love the Lords people. I believe if we love the Lord, we’ll love the Lords house. I believe if we love the Lord, we’ll love coming to the Lords house.
I want to share with you about you and me being a people of God that maybe you didn’t realize in your life and how important you are to him.
I looked up three different words from the Bible on how God refers to his people.
NUMBER ONE: The Bible refers to us as being the sons of God. 1 John 3:1-2 “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God, therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
John 1:12-13 “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Salvation is the simplest thing. We didn’t to where we’re at by ourselves. We got to where we’re at because of Gods grace and his mercy. Gods grace is him giving us what we didn’t deserve. Gods mercy is him not giving us what we did deserve.
NUMBER TWO: The Bible refers to us as the children of God. Galatians 3:26 “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Did you notice that word all? There’s only one family of God. There’s a lot of different churches in the land, different types of people, different ministries. But there ain’t but one Father, One Son and one Holy Spirit and there’s only one church. It’s ain’t a Baptist church, a Methodist church...it’s God’s church. I wasn’t birthed into Westside Baptist Church. I wasn’t birthed into the Baptist religion. I was birthed into the family of God. We are the children of God.
Romans 8:16 “The Spirit itself beareth witness with out spirit, that we are the children of God.” Don’t be proud because you’re a member of Westside Baptist church. Be proud because you’re a part of God’s church. If you’re going to brag on something, don’t brag on Westside...brag on God.
NUMBER THREE: The Bible says we are the people of God. 2 Corinthians 6:16 “As God hath said, I will dwell in them a, walk in them. I will be there God and they shall be my people.” We belong to him. We don’t belong to ourselves. Don’t let the devil tell you that you’re a nobody because you’re a somebody. Revelations 21:3 “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.”
I have a personal relationship with Him. I still think about the time God saved me. I’ll never forget it. I became a son of God, a child of God and a people of God.
Listen to these terms. Ye are a chosen generation. I looked up the word generation. It’s a body of believers who live at the same time in a given period of history. Thank God he wasn’t only working back in Abraham’s days but he’s also working now. When I see that word chosen I think of our sanctification.
Royal Priesthood. Priesthood means a body of people consisting of believers. When I think about that word royal, I think about our justification. We’re justified in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Holy Nation. A body of people who share common customs, origins, history and language. I see that word Holy and I think of organization.
Peculiar people. Unusual or odd. That’s the way lost people look at us. We’re unique. There’s noting odd about God’s people but there is something odd about the world we’re living in because they don’t know Christ. We’re peculiar because we live different. We’re peculiar because we look different. We’re peculiar also because we love different.
Somebody told me a joke the other day and it’s true. Said a man came in a church dressed in black with a mask over his face and he had on a long black trench coat and he pulled out a rifle from underneath it and said, “If you’re not willing to die for the Lord, you might as well leave now.” They said the Deacons left first. Then said everybody on the balcony left and it got down to about twenty people. The Pastor was there and a few members and the man threw the gun down and took his mask off. it was one of the church members and he said, “Okay preacher, I’ve gotten rid of all the hypocrites, now you can preach.”
I know that’s just a joke but there’s a lot of truth to it. People can show you they love the Lord and they can tell you they love the Lord but you can see if they love the Lord. Do you really love him?
