SPEAKER: GARY PETERS

PASSAGE: 1 PETER 2:8-12

PLANTED WITH A PURPOSE: MERCY

Turn to 1 Peter chapter 2. Steve last week talked about being “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.”

1 PETER 2:9-12

“But you,” I want to talk about being the chosen people of God, “you are the chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession.”  King James says you’re peculiar people. That doesn’t mean weird, that means different. We’ll talk about being different next week, I’m going to do a two-parter. “so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as foreigners and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior,” this is what Pastor Dustin already mentioned,  “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God on the day of visitation.”

We’re going to talk about verses 11 and 12 next week. In order to understand that we are the people of God, we have to realize that Peter is referring to the book of Hosea. How many have read Hosea recently? Just what I thought. 

Hosea is a minor prophet. How would you like to go through eternity knowing you’re just a minor prophet? You know the major prophets of Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, right after Daniel is Hosea. He’s the beginning of the minor prophets. He has the largest book of the minor prophets. It’s twelve chapters, but he’s still known as a minor prophet. And he’s known as a minor prophet because his book’s smaller than Jeremiah, Isaiah, or Ezekiel. That’s the only reason, not because he only had a minor message. But it is kind of a weird message. 

If you know the book of Hosea, God tells him in chapter 1, I want you to marry a prostitute. Now, if somebody came to me and said, I need to schedule a meeting with your pastor. Got on my Calendly link and scheduled a meeting, and the first thing they said to me is, Pastor, God told me to marry a prostitute. I’d probably say, Hmm, are you sure? 

And then to find out Hosea’s wife that he’s going to marry, the prostitute’s named Gomer. Well, if my wife was named Gomer, maybe I wouldn’t marry her just because of that. Follow me? Anyway, I just think it’s weird.

And so there’s certain things that in Scripture that God sometimes does that we can scratch our heads, you know, like Mary coming to Joseph and saying, I’m impregnated by the Holy Spirit. So that only happened one time in world history. 

I just think sometimes we can’t play the God card to people, but when people tell us they’re hearing God, we need to step back and say, number one, does it violate this {holds up Bible}, and number two, I can’t hear God for you, you’ve got to hear God yourself. 

But that’s why some people believe that Hosea is an allegory, meaning it has truths, but it’s not a true story. I personally believe it’s a true story. Either way, Hosea is intended to share the principle of someone who has undeserved sin forgiven, repentance, and then redemption.

Gomer goes back to, she has, they get married, she has one son named Jezreel. Then she goes back to her prostitution because it’s a picture of Israel forsaking God and serving the Baals and other gods. And she goes back to her prostitution, and she has two illegitimate children. God says, You’re going to have a daughter. I want you to name her “unloved.” Isn’t that encouraging? And then you’re going to have a son, and I want you to call him “not my people.” After her prostitution, she gives birth to these two children, and Hosea’s told to take Gomer back. 

Think about that, because God’s married to the backslider. God says to go back. That’s why they believe it was an allegory. Go back to her and take her as your wife again, and so he takes her as his wife, and it says, I’m going to place a hedge of thorns around about her, and she’ll bump up against those thorns and realize my former life with Hosea is better than my life now with prostituting myself. 

There’s a principle here, and I’ve shared it with people for decades. If you have a wayward son, daughter, if you’re a parent and you have kids that are not serving God that should be serving God. Maybe you have a spouse that’s doing their own thing. Maybe you have parents that are doing their own thing. You can pray the hedge of thorns. 

By praying the hedge of thorns, it means that they’re going to bump up against something and realize that their life they’re living now is not good for them. And the danger is when people start getting stuck by these thorns. As a parent, you rush in and try to protect your kids, sometimes you need to let them bleed. Sorry, that sounds gross. You get what I’m saying. 

Sometimes God sends Jonah a fish, and we say, God, whatever it takes, save my family. God, whatever it takes, save my kids. And then God sends a big fish, and we’re like, wait a minute, God, what about something else? Time out. So if you pray those kinds of prayers, number one, they’re dangerous, number two, they’re effective, but you got to step back and let God do what He’s going to do. 

HOSEA 2:14-23

So He says, I’m going to put a hedge around Gomer. She’s going to say it’s better in my previous life, then she’s going to go back, and the principle is this: verse 14, “then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her” 

Notice where He’s going to lead Gomer. To a well-watered land, to where everything’s going great? How many know things don’t grow in the desert? He’s going to lead her to the desert, and I love God because He says, I’m going to lead her to the desert, but I’m not just going to leave her there and condemn her. I’m going to speak tenderly to her. I’m going to woo her back. 

Speaking of Israel, “I will return her vineyards to her and transform,” listen to this, “transform the Valley of Achor,” which means trouble, “into a gateway of Hope.” How many need hope today? That was a rhetorical question, you don’t have to raise your hand, it’s okay. 

The word hope here is so amazing. It means to be tied to something. It’s the idea of an umbilical cord being stretched out, but the baby’s still attached. Do you realize sometimes God allows you to do your own thing, but He’s still attached to you? He says he’s married to the backslider. He wants to send you to the desert sometimes, but he wants to speak tenderly to you. 

And “she will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt. When that day comes, says the Lord, you will call me ‘my husband’ rather than ‘my master'” That’s going to come into play when we talk about husbands and wives that are coming up, that Sarah called Abraham her lord. Sorry, ladies, there’s a reason for it. But anyway, that’s not, that’s a different topic. 

“O Israel, I will wipe away the many names of Baal from your lips, and you will never mention them again. On that day I will make a covenant with all the wild animals and the birds of the sky and the animals that scurry along the ground so they will not harm you. I will remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, so you can live unafraid in peace and safety.” 

I felt like the Lord woke me up this morning and said there are people that are afraid to live in peace because they’re waiting for the other shoe to drop. Do you realize God wants you to live in peace? Do you realize that’s something God wants for you? God’s not your enemy. God’s not out to get you. God wants you to live in peace and safety. 

And when you live in peace and safety, yes, you may need, like Asaph did, to build up the fortified cities in preparation for war. But it doesn’t mean that, Oh, the only reason God’s given me peace is because something worse is going to happen to me. That’s not the Father we serve. How many dads would want that for their own kids? And “if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts,” “how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit” 

“I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice and unfailing love and compassion.” There’s so much in this. “I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as the Lord. In that day, I will answer, says the Lord,” this is what I’m praying for Colorado, “I will answer the sky as it pleads for clouds. And the sky will answer the earth with rain. Then the earth will answer the thirsty cries of grain and grapevines and olive trees. And they in turn will answer, ‘Jezreel,’ which means “God plants.” “At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites and raise them for myself.” Then, what Peter quotes, “I will show love to those I called ‘Not loved.’ And to those I called ‘Not my people,’ I will say, ‘Now you are my people.’ And they will reply, ‘You are our God!’”

God wants to take this “Achor” time, and it means like a raging river during flood stage, where it’s just roaring, rolling with boiling water, just over, and it sweeps everything into it. God says, I’m going to take that type, because where does a flash flood run down to, the valleys. He says, I’m going to take that roaring, rolling water, and I’m going to transform it into a valley of hope. 

What God does many times in our lives is He allows us to go through things, or we sow seeds where we reap a crop. It doesn’t mean God wants that, but He says, If you do certain things, there’s going to be certain outcomes. I always use the example: if I climb up to the top of this building and jump off, there’s something called the law of gravity. Halfway down, I can repent, and God can forgive me, and I still will probably break both legs when I hit the pavement. Doesn’t mean God did that, it means that I set something in motion. 

But in this “Valley of Trouble,” I mean, in this roaring, rolling Achor, He’s going to bring a peace and a time of hope. He does that by us gaining two understandings to these two core principles, and I’m going to have it, this is going to be two parts. So if I don’t get through it all, I didn’t get through the first gathering even close to where I thought, so it may be three parts, but it’s going to be at least two. 

CHOSEN BY GOD TO RECEIVE MERCY

We are chosen by God to receive mercy. “You had not received mercy, but now you received mercy” of the Lord. It’s the same thing that Peter opens with in chapter 1, verse 3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

The word means to have compassion or pity as a result of the grace of God. It’s initiated by God alone. None of you in this room are here because you deserve it. Every one of us have received mercy from God, and yet I find myself, even after fifty years of being a Christian, feeling like I have to earn my salvation and earn my way. It’s the mercy of God. 

Do you realize in Hosea, in those ten verses, thirteen times it says, “I will,” “I will,” “I will,” “I will,” “I will.” Who’s the I? God. God’s initiative, God’s plan, God’s purpose, and what’s the reason for it so that you may “know that I’m God.”

I love when Naaman needs healing from leprosy, and there’s a little servant girl who said, Oh, that you would know that there’s a prophet in Israel, and so Naaman goes to Israel and gets healed. You know what God wants to do in the church, so that to the outside world we can say, Oh, I wish you knew what my Savior does for me. I wish you knew what God does and has done for me. The reason God has shown you mercy is so that you can come to know Him. 

Brian Dirksen just died. He was an old-time Vineyard worship leader, one of the most popular in the ’90s. I know that dates me, but I went back, he died of cancer, I was like, How? He was only 60 years old, and he died. And I’m like, That didn’t even seem fair. But God’s ways are mysterious. I don’t understand. Right now, Brian doesn’t care how he got to Heaven, he’s in Heaven, right? And he’s healed completely. 

But he wrote songs like “Come Now Is the Time to Worship”, “Refiner’s Fire,” more, numerous other songs. Matter of fact, you young bucks out there, if you don’t know who Brian Dirksen is, go to your favorite streaming service and type in his name, and listen to some of his music. I’ve been just bathing myself the last couple of weeks, reminding myself of what he wrote.

But I watched an interview by him. I don’t know when it was, but it was a few years ago, and he wrote the song, or the album, Father’s House, and they said, What was your reason for writing that? And he showed, they showed, this video of him, and he said, My firstborn was a little girl, and when they took her from her mother’s womb, and after she was nursed, sat on her mother’s breast, they put her into a warming tray, and he said, as the dad, I went over and looked at her, and he goes, she had just been born, did nothing to deserve it, had done nothing in her life, and I had unbelievable, overwhelming love for her. He goes, That’s the love God has for us, undeserved, undeserved, undeserved mercy. That’s what God wants to give you. And so he wrote these songs, and I thought, how many times do I think that I’ve got to do something to earn God’s love for me? It’s unconditional. 

Now, if I’ve been shown mercy, we’re going to talk about it next week, guess what I’m supposed to do? Give mercy. So much of the church is angry and judgmental. He delights in mercy and not judgment. You know why many in the outside world don’t want to come to church? Because we’ve judged them so badly. 

I listened to a guy railing on people that had beards, and he was saying, There’s no more beards in the church than there is in the world. And I’m like, “What an idiot! What an idiot!” Guess what? Jesus had a beard. Awesome, you know why? Because his beard was pulled out. But this guy, a whole sermon was on beards, not growing beards in the church, and I thought, how foolish! 

We judge people all the time. We make things, we make judgments about people. We constantly, well, we forget what we were saved from. How many of you were rascals before you got saved? That’s a good term, a rascal. “You wascally wabbit you.” I was a rascal. I was a hellion. When I sinned, I sinned hard. I was not a good, good person. Without Jesus, I wouldn’t be a good person. 

But guess what? Now with that same passion, I want to serve Him. But the church is full of bigoted, angry, judgmental people, and then we’re saying, Hey, come to church! It’s awesome. They’re like, No, stay away from me. I already feel judged. I don’t need you to judge me more. Our job is to receive mercy and act in kind with mercy. 

CONFIDENT IN THE SOVEREIGN PURPOSE OF GOD

A couple of weeks ago, I was awakened with a couple of thoughts, and I’m like, God, how does this fit in with what we’re doing in Peter? Pastor Greg has given me the green light anytime I feel something on my heart, when it’s my teaching time, I can chase that rabbit if I need to. But the fact is this: Are we confident in the sovereign purpose of God? 

I saw something while reading and studying Hosea: the “Jezreel Principle.” Jezreel means to be sown or planted. Stay with me. We are sovereignly placed by God in family, circumstances, relationships, professional jobs, location, etc., in order to realize that He alone is the God who planted me. Vintage’s mission campaign is Planted For Purpose. We saw LOL what they’re doing, that’s part of the purpose that we have in this church. That we’re planted in this city for a reason. 

Jeremiah 29. How many quoted verse 11? “I know the plans that I have for you.” Don’t quote it out of context, because you know what it’s really talking about. Listen to this: “Seek the prosperity of,” welfare of, “the city where I have exiled you.” Awesome. Anybody feel exiled in Fort Collins? In Larimer County, Weld County? Go to California. That’s just a side note. Because when you seek the prosperity of the city that I’ve exiled you into, you too shall prosper. 

Therefore, plant gardens, marry, and raise up children, do what God’s called you to do in this city that you’ve been exiled. Because when you seek its prosperity, you’ll prosper. “For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord.” We want the plans without seeking God in the midst of exile. The question I have for you is this: Can you trust God’s sovereign placement of you? 

The longer I’m a Christian, the more I realize this. When we sing that song, that you’ll never let me down, I kind of cringe, not because it’s not true, but because many times our theology hasn’t caught up to that truth. What I mean by that is the truth of, I know is God’s good and He will never let me down. 

But there’s going to be times in my life, guess what? Hand up! Wait a minute, Lord! You let me down. I was believing you for one thing, then something else happened. This took place, that took place. What’s going on? Why did this take place in my life? Whether it’s a sin issue or not, guess what, you’re going to feel let down. 

But the theology is God’s good, and He’ll never let us down. But if your theology doesn’t catch up to the song, you’re going to look at others and say, Well, God doesn’t let them down, but He really lets me down, because He really doesn’t like me. Guess what? Everybody raise their hand. Everybody. You’re going to be let down, be encouraged, you’re going to be let down. But the theology is in that letdown, God’s going to show you who He really is, so you’re not going to be let down. 

ONLY JESUS CAN TRULY FILL THE LONGING OF MY SOUL

Can God place you sovereignly by His hand? We have to become, we have to be content with Him alone. Let me get on a soapbox for a minute. I’ve had so many people come into my office lately, and if you have recently, I’m not talking about you. I’m talking about for the last few years. You have to become content with Him and Him alone. 

You will not find your person until you’re content with Him as your person, and what I mean by that is this: then you find you’re finally content with him, you get married, everything’s just awesome.  Just marital bliss, just coasting your way into heaven, and just, oh, it’s just awesome, just awesome. Ask my wife if it’s always awesome. Guess what? Sometimes it’s not awesome. Sometimes I’m not awesome, most of the time, she’s not awesome. We’ve been married almost forty-seven years, she knows I’m joking. 

Five years into our marriage, I know like it happened yesterday. I’m in my little office, we just pioneered this work. I’m wanting somebody to call so I can act important, “Abundant Life Christian Center, Pastor Gary.” And I’m in my garage, in my office that I built in my garage, nobody knows that, but anyway, I’m kneeling on my desk chair, and I’m saying, God, Karen’s not doing this, and she’s not doing that, and she’s not doing this, and she’s not doing that, and she’s not doing this, and all of a sudden it was almost like God took me and just shook me for a minute. I’m serious, it was just like an almost audible voice, She is not supposed to. 

We put expectations on people, on jobs, on churches, on cities that God can only fulfill in our life, and the glory is this: once we allow Him to fulfill those things, He releases our spouse, He releases our job to bring fulfillment. He wants us to live in peace and prosperity. He desires that, but some of you are so frustrated with life because you haven’t allowed God to be your only thing. Your spouse will never, ever, ever, ever, ever meet all of your needs, ever. It was never intended to be, and the quicker we get through that, the quicker we understand maturity in the Kingdom. 

Are you able to believe God to put you in jobs, churches, neighborhoods, cities, states? I’ve had so many people come to me and go, I can’t, I want to move from Colorado, it’s so wicked. I’m like, Oh, I want to slap you. I’m just being honest, because I’m like, where are you going to go? Just we’re going to go run to Florida, Texas. Oh, like Florida and Texas don’t have problems. It’s so foolish. We think somehow the change of locale will change what’s going on in our life. 

You will never find your people until Jesus is enough. You’ll never find your person until Jesus is enough. Ministry, marriage, vocation will not completely fulfill you until Jesus does first. We unfairly place expectations on people and things to meet stuff in our life that only God can. 

And listen to me, if you’re in a marriage that you don’t like, maybe it’s you. Maybe it might be you. Have you ever thought about that? It might be you. It might not be her or him, it might be you. If your kids are driving you nuts, it might be you. And even if they’re 100% wrong, there’s still something God’s dialing up in your life. The beauty is when Jesus becomes enough, He releases others to meet our needs. 

GOD HAS PLANTED IN SEASON

The second thing I saw here: these are the two principles I woke up with, just from a dead sleep. Wham! The second thing was this: God has planted or sown different people and circumstances in my life at different seasons of life. 

We are all going to have foundational stones. Our parents are supposed to be that. Some of our parents were kids having kids and were a wreck, and they made you a wreck. Fact is, foundation stuff God will bring in your life. People, foundational truth, lifelong friends. Very few, but you’ll have foundation people. Then there’ll be pillars, people who instill life-changing principles in your life. Then there’ll be building blocks, people that are fitted next to you for a season. I don’t really like them. Well, thank God it’s just a season. Maybe it’s because God’s rubbing the edges off your life.

I asked an old pastor when I was first starting out, so he was probably about my age when I was in my 20s, and I said, “If you can give me one piece of advice, what would it be?” He said, “Some people will come to the church as scaffolding.” That sounds cruel, but I understand it the longer I’ve walked. Sometimes people come into our life to build something, and then it’s moved, and it’s built somewhere else, and then it’s moved, and it’s built somewhere else. 

I am tired of people saying, I’m not being fed, I’m going somewhere else. Maybe you need to feed yourself. Maybe God’s saying feed yourself because if you’re looking for the church, yes, we need a shot in the arm, but sometimes we need to be feeding ourselves. And you know what happens when I find out if I’m feeding myself? What’s coming from the pulpit? It’s coming from the teaching that I’m hearing is confirming what God’s already speaking in my life.

But then there’s other things that are scaffolding in my heart, and then when you’ve walked with Jesus as long as I have, you have all of those. You have foundation stones, you have pillars, you have building blocks, and you have scaffolding. And I used to get so freaked out: why has the scaffolding moved? Because they were, they came to build something in my life. Seasonal people used to bring repair or remodel, and it doesn’t always seem like good. How many of you had somebody come into your life? You’re just like, I just don’t like them, not at all, and you realize they deposited something in your life you really needed to, like, you needed to embrace.

PSALMS 68:5-6

Close with Psalm 68. God is saying, listen, I’m a “Father to the fatherless,” and I’m a “defender of widows.” That’s what I love about Laugh Out Loud in Belize: they’re fulfilling needs that the government doesn’t. By the way, let me say this: in biblical times, if you were an orphan or a widow, you would many times die. And why the church, if you look at every major sociological or social program throughout history- hospitals, schools, all of those things were started not by the government, but guess what they were started by: the church. And we complain about the government not providing for us, maybe it’s because the church isn’t doing some of the things it’s supposed to do, but that’s a side note. 

But he’s a “Father to the fatherless, defender of widows.” This is God whose dwelling is holy. I love it. He’s holy, but He’s doing practical things. That’s what the church should be doing: holy but practical things. And you’ve heard Pastor Greg, if you’ve been here very long, he quotes this verse a lot because I’ve quoted it all my life, and he says Pastor Gary used to quote this a lot, and I still am, “God places the lonely in families; he sets prisoners free and gives them joy. But he makes the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.”

Listen to what God wants to do. He wants to remove your orphan spirit, meaning you belong. And when He does it first, guess what? He brings other people to confirm that. He’ll set the lonely in families. He wants to do that. He wants to defend your vulnerabilities. How many are glad for that? He wants to give you a place of true belonging. He wants to set you free from your prison. He wants to give you unbridled joy. 

Serving Jesus should be a blast. I love the church, I love God’s people, I love doing what I’m doing. I can’t imagine doing anything else. I love this unbridled joy. Most of the time, I wake up happy, except when a gnome goes through my closet and poops on my shirt. 

This is his heart for you, therefore, don’t reject the families He’s placed you in. I tell people all the time, when that sperm swimming around trying to find that egg, when that happened, guess what, your fate was sealed. Eye color, hair color, height. None of us had to, could stand up and go, Wait a minute! I know what a mess those people are. I don’t want those parents. Stop, God! Stop! Do you believe in the sovereignty of God? Being born is the sovereignty of God. Being conceived is the sovereignty of God. I don’t like everything about my parents, but guess what, I didn’t have a choice. 

Last thing, don’t walk in rebellion, because if you do, it’s going to be dry. It’s supposed to be dry. You know why it’s supposed to be dry? Because He wants you to experience true life, and if it was truly fulfilling to serve ourselves and serve our flesh, guess what, we would never, ever, ever turn to Him. The rebellious dwell in a dry land. Sometimes when people feel I’m just I’m just dry, I’m just dusty, I’m like, is there any rebellion in your heart? Good place to ask, Amen. 

Bow your heads with me, please. There’s going to be prayer teams under the screens and up at the front. If you need prayer, take advantage of that. 

Father, I ask in Jesus’ name that you would seal this message in our hearts. God, we thank you that you were the one that initiated the process. It’s your mercy that brought us into the Kingdom. Thank you, Father, for your goodness, your mercy to us. Father, I pray that each one of us would find contentment and joy in you and you alone. God, I thank you that you place the lonely in families. You desire, Father God, for us to have community, but Lord, let us never forsake finding you, or enjoying you, or allowing you to meet our needs when we’re looking to others. Thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you for your kindness. God, anything that I said that it was of me, let it fall to the ground, but Lord, what you spoke bring forth life. I pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen.