The Cooling Stream

1 Peter 2:9-12 (NIV)

As believers, we are pilgrims and strangers.

This world is not our home.

We are pilgrims passing through earth on our way to Heaven.

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We are to be heavenly minded.

We obey the laws of the land.

But the law and will of God is far superior to that of this world.

We are to live like heaven born people!

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The apostle Peter gives us some reminders as to how we are to conduct ourselves in this world.

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A Reminder Of Our Past Situation (2:9-10)

We have a dark past.

When the Lord Jesus Christ came to us, He found us in the darkness of sin.

He found us when we lived as we pleased and were unaware of the bondage of our sins.

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We have a despised past.

When the Lord Jesus Christ came to us, we were outcasts!

We were a fallen race of people.

We were enemies of God.

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We have a deadly past.

When the Lord Jesus Christ came for us, we were totally unworthy of the mercy and grace He extended to us!

we deserve to be in Hell!

It was grace that reached down into the hell of our darkness and delivered us from such a wretched existence!

It was grace and grace alone that made the difference in our lives.

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A Reminder Of Our Present Standing (2:9)

We are a new creation.

We are a chosen people.

The glorious and gracious God has reached into the world of lost humanity and chose for Himself a people.

And He did this according to His own will.

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We have a new communion.

We are a royal priesthood.

When we were lost, we were totally separated from God.

Now we have been brought near to God by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We have unrestricted and unhindered access into the presence of God.

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We have a new character.

We are a holy nation.

God, through the Lord Jesus Christ, has produced a change in us that allows us to be holy!

We are given a new nature.

Now, through the work of the Holy Spirit, we can produce works of true holiness, pleasing to the Lord!

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We have a new classification.

We are God’s special possession.

We are His precious people.

God paid a high price for us.

Now He possesses us and we are precious to Him.

And God will keep a close watch on us.

He will look after us with the greatest of care.

He will protect us and shelter us.

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A Reminder Of Our Present Service (2:9-12)

We are from another world.

We are ambassadors from heaven to this world.

We are to do all we can to share the culture of our homeland with the earth bound people living around us.

We are to show and tell them how the citizens of Heaven live their lives!

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We are to declare the truth about our Savior.

We are to “declare the praises of Him”.

We are to vocally declare what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us.

We are to declare God’s excellent qualities to a lost and dying world.

We should be a vocal people in our willingness and our desire to share Him with the world!

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We are to demonstrate the truth of our salvation.

We must have a pure walk.

As citizens of Heaven, we are to avoid living like the citizens of the earth.

We are not to have our witness ruined and our lives enslaved by the power of the lusts of the flesh.

We must be a powerful witness.

We are to live right in front of a lost world.

They may criticize us for the standards we have or for the things we oppose.

But if we are consistent and holy in our walk and dealings with them, they will be touched by our good works.

Some will even be saved as a result.

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Until the Lord Jesus Christ comes, we will be pilgrims and strangers in this world.

We are surrounded by people who need to hear about the Lord Jesus Christ and see His truth lives out by those who claim to know Him.

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We should seek to promote the culture of Heaven in this world.