Peculiar People

Gen. Deborah Green

P RAISE GOD. Welcome to Battle Cry Sounding. We are living in a time, and in a generation when many have lost sight of the Living God. And they have lost sight of the Living God because they have compromised with the world. God does not ordain, and God does not call His people to imitate, and to emulate the world, but that comes about when His people's hearts are estranged from Him.

And we are living in a generation when many have found themselves in a place of estrangement, that is, a place of separation from God, not a separation to God. Because they have gone and embraced the world, they've made marriages with the world, they've played the harlot with the world, and consequently they have been consumed of worldliness, they have been consumed of ungodliness, filthiness, abominations—horrid things.

But you know, THE CALL OF GOD REMAINS TRUE, because from the beginning, and it was laid out even in the book of Exodus, the book of Deuteronomy, we find that God called His people to be a peculiar people—A PECULIAR PEOPLE. And when God's people tried to conform themselves to the image of the world, they became a grief to God—because God has never, ever called His people to be as those of the other nations, to be as those of the world, to be as those that belong to the evil master, but God called His people to be separated unto Him.

It's strange that a lot of people, when you present them with the concept of a separated people—unto God—they grow angry, and they say: "Well, I'm not going to be a separated people. I'm not going to do that because then I won't be a witness." And they believe that if they conform to the IMAGE OF THE WORLD, that they are a ‘witness for Christ’? But, you cannot find one portion of Scripture that backs that up; and you cannot find one principle in the Word of God that gives substance to that declaration.

That is the subtlety of Satan to turn God's people away from God, and unto him, and unto his devices, and unto his cunning craftiness, and unto all of the ways that he lies in wait to deceive and devour souls. And when we forget that we are in a war, and when we forget that we are God's chosen, and we being to choose the world, that is when we become as Samson and we lose the strength that God has given.

See, when Samson was a consecrated vessel, he had the strength to pull down multitudes—in the sense that he could bring down any enemy. He could bring down any force, but when he lost the power of the consecration, of the separation, of the dedication unto God, HE LOST HIS STRENGTH.

Now, why is it that God's people—those who say they are God's people in this generation, cannot even knock a flea off of a dog's back? The reason is because they have lost the power of being a peculiar people.

See, when God calls a people apart, that is exactly what that means—that He calls them as HIS POSSESSION. In fact, that's one of the definitions of the word "peculiar," is "possession." This word "peculiar" also means: "to shut up," not like 'be quiet,' but like if you had a beautiful, beautiful home and you knew that there were thieves that would come in the night, and you knew that there were robbers that would attempt to take those things that were inside of that beautiful home, at night you would go, and you would shut that house up that the wealth that was contained inside would not be stolen.

Now, what does the Scripture tell us? It tells us that the devil is a THIEF, and a LIAR, and he's a DEVOURER, and he's a destroyer. So, what does he do? He tries to STEAL the peculiar people that are called unto the Lord. And he does that through many devices, through many sly and cunning techniques: he does it through temptations, he does it through infiltrations, he does it through pursuing actively those who are a peculiar people unto the Lord.

But, back to the definition of "peculiar." It means: "to shut up;" that means you enclose. Down here where we are living in the Southwestern United States, with a lot of people left over from the Spanish conquest of this area, they have stone and adobe walls. In other words, they put a big wall around their yard, around their home, around all of what they think is their treasure, or their wealth. And in order to get over that wall, you either have to climb it, or you have to make entry through the gate, and the gates are usually locked at night.

Now, even in the natural, that's a depiction of this idea of being shut up, or being shut in, or being protected, or desiring to be shielded. See, God desires to shield His people, and God desires to enclose His people, and God desires to KEEP His people. And when His people come along with a big sledge hammer and knock out those walls, and then they take and throw everything away that's their protection, what they've actually done is set themselves up for the thief, for the robber, for the liar, for the deceiver, for the death-bringer. Amen.

So, going on with the definition of this word: "peculiar" means "WEALTH." God's people are God's wealth. It also means "jewel," and "treasure." It means "proper good" and "special." It means, "beyond usual." In other words, not just like everything else, but something out of the ordinary, something extraordinary, something spectacular to God. It means "an acquisition, a preservation, something obtained, something purchased, and something saved."

Ok, God's people have been purchased. How have they been purchased? They have been purchased by the blood of the lamb. We have been purchased, we do not belong to ourselves. The principle of the New Testament message is you die unto yourself that the life of Christ will live in you, and that others can be brought unto that life because you have chosen to die. And you say: "Well, what if I don't want to die?" Well, you have to die because you're already bought. You're already bought and paid for because Jesus has already paid the price, HE PAID THE FULL RANSOM for our souls. See, we live in a time when people are great frauds.

A fraud is somebody who takes something by a devious, or deceitful, or a mischievous means. If you put somebody in prison for "fraud," that means they have presented something to you that you're going to get so that they can get your money and you don't get anything; or maybe you just get a bunch of lies written on paper, or maybe you'll get a little token, but you will not get the full retribution/restoration that you were promised. And so, people like that, when they're found guilty by the courts, they are sentenced to so many years for fraud.

But, Christians in this generation are highly guilty of fraud—of being fraudulent dealers on God. Because they go ahead, and they take the provision of His blood, they take the provision of His sacrifice, they take the provision that He's already made, that He's already paid for, they take the provision of His suffering that He did for them, they take all of that unto themselves, and THE EXCHANGE IS MEANT TO BE THEIR LIVES GIVEN TO GOD. Instead, they try to keep both things—they take the treasure God has given, then they take their life, and they say "BOTH can be mine!"

And that becomes the work of the devil because you cannot have two masters, and when you love yourself, you can't love God, and you can't say: "Well, I'm serving God, and I'm serving me, and I'm serving God, and I'm serving me, and I'm serving God." No. You can't serve "me" and serve God, that is, you can't love your self, and keep your self, and desire your self to remain as king, or queen forever.

But if you take the provision that the Lamb has given, then you do it His way, and you become His possession, and you become His purchased merchandise, and you give up the rights to your self life—you abandon those—otherwise you are committing fraud on God. You know, God has spoken to us before about abusers—that there are abusers that abuse Him. Well, there are also those who commit fraud on Him, and misuse, and abuse, and take advantage of what He has given.

I have found in my walk with God that as I've gone forth attempting to conform myself to the image of the Son that a lot of times people use you when you stand in Christ Jesus, and they will take advantage of the compassion, they will take advantage of the mercy, they will take advantage of the loving kindness.

But when you see that exposure of human nature, and the beast that lurks inside of every human being, what you have to realize is that Christ has seen all of that already, and He still, STILL continues to hear all of the wretched that cry out unto Him, all of the miserable, all of the damned, all of the blind, all of the deaf, all of the trapped—He still continues to hear the cries of all of those who cry out unto Him—knowing full well that a good percentage of those are users, abusers, and frauds, knowing full well that a good percentage of those will take full advantage of Him and give nothing in return.

But nonetheless, because of the very nature of Christ, which is He gave, He gave, He gave Himself even unto death, and because of that very nature of Christ, the fact that He is able to give, and to love the most unlovable, the most repulsive, the most selfish, is the principle that makes Jesus Christ higher than the other good men of history, than the other so-called "prophets," or "messengers" of other religions. And that is the thing that elevates Him to a superior category, is that invincible, enduring love of God, the love of the Father that flows through Him.

And God gives us the same OPPORTUNITY, as we follow on to know Him, to love, to love, to love—to love when we are hated, to love when we are abused, to love when we are taken advantage of, to love when we are used, He gives us that same privilege.

You say: "Well, I don't know if it's a privilege." Yes, it is a privilege because it comes of the Father, and it's the Father who gives us that infilling, it's the Father who gives us that capability, it's the Father who gives us that capacity.

See, the human love is "I give you something, you give me something. I give you something, you give me something. I scratch back, you scratch back. I make you feel good, you make me feel good." But, the thing about the love of God is that the love of God goes beyond all that, and the love of God loves when people abuse, the love of God loves when people use, the love of God loves when people hate, the love of God loves when people curse.

The love of God is a conquering love, it is the strongest force in the universe. And why is it the strongest force in the universe? Because it ascends above all of the trash, all of the filth, all of the abomination of the beast, and comes up into the realms where God dwells. And it says: "God so loved, God so LOVED, God SO LOVED the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him…"

Now you see, God gave His Son that He could call unto Himself a peculiar people—a possession. A peculiar people meaning His wealth, His jewels, His proper goods, His special ones. Say: "Well, does that mean that you are better than any other man because you're God's people?" No, it means that God sets His hope, His desire, His love upon you. Praise God.

Ok, Exodus the 19th chapter, and we'll start in verse 4, and it says: "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself." Now, this is an example of what I'm talking about—how that that love of God for His people will cause His people to ascend above the plains of carnality, and to ascend into the heavenlies. Because if you go back and you read the account of the Egyptians pursuit of God's people, God did not come down with a giant 747 eagle, and have that eagle come down and get all the people on the wings of it, and then have the huge eagle soar up into the sky; that's not what happened.

But the example God is giving here is that it is a SPIRITUAL CONCEPT. And that is that when we are in God, God is able to cause us to go up as though we are on eagle's wings and bring us to himself, and bring us far above the plots of the enemy. Amen.

Going on, it says in verse 5: "Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel."

Now, it says: "...a peculiar treasure unto me above, ABOVE all people, for all the earth is mine." Now, that means that God could go throughout the earth, He could gather Himself a people here, He could gather Himself a people there, He could gather Himself a people over here…all the tribes, all the nations, all the kindreds, ALL OF THEM belong to God. Why? Because God is life and everything that is of life cometh of God, and all the life that goes into mankind, into humanity, all the life that goes into the women, into the children, into the babes, all the life that goes forth, and comes out, and causes procreation, all of the life comes from God! And what is being said here is that God could go anywhere throughout the earth, and He could gather people unto Himself, and those people could be His treasure.

But He's speaking unto Israel and He said: "If you obey my voice, and if you keep my covenant, then ye shall be a PECULIAR treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine." You know, a lot of people want to say: "Well, so and so are God's people, such and such nation are God's people, so and so people are God's people. But, there's an "IF" here. It says: "IF you keep my covenant and obey my voice, then are you my peculiar treasure." Praise God.

Going on in Deuteronomy the 26th chapter, in verse 16 it says: "This day the LORD thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul."

See, God was serious about this thing. He didn't say: "Just give me a Sunday token," and He didn't say: "Just once a year tell me that I'm the daddy, or I'm the big God in Heaven, or tell me that you just love me so you can participate in heathenism." No, He didn't say any of that. He said: "WITH ALL THINE HEART, AND WITH ALL THINE SOUL."

And when you preach a total message in the sense that you declare the full counsel of God—that God wants ALL of His people—God wants ALL of the hearts of his people, and ALL of the souls of His people, the biggest counter-assault that you will receive, is it from Satan? Well yes—indirectly, but it's from the religious, it's from those who say they are of the household of faith, but want to have one foot in God, and one foot in me, or the world, or the devil, which are all in the same because the love of self is the love of the devil, and the love of the devil is the love of the world.

And so you've got these people that are going back and forth, back and forth, and you're saying "NO you have to be just one commitment, and the commitment is to God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, with all of your body." And they are the ones who will retaliate with vicious accusations "cult, cult, cult, cult…too religious, too that, self righteous, blah, blah, blah, blah," and all of that is simply an EXCUSE and a COVER-UP because THEY don't want to fulfill the Word of God. The Word of God/the desire of God is for a peculiar people, and those peculiar people are meant to keep and do them, that is the statutes and the judgments with ALL of the heart, and with ALL of the soul—not just a little portion, not just the one part you want to give, but all of it.

I have a grandson who is irresistibly cute, and one of his things is that when he wants something, he doesn't just want a little bit of it, he wants ALL of it. See, that is how God is towards us. GOD WANTS ALL OF US. He doesn't just want us to be stingy towards Him.

It makes me laugh when people say: "Well yes, I'm a Christian, and yes I serve God, and yes, yes, yes…," and you look at their lives, and everything is self, self, self. And they think they do God a favor if they give Him something minuscule (like 10%), and then their face will get all sour, and their little paltry thing they give to God is a little white morsel, a paper booger. And they give it to God as though He is to be pleased.

No, we're supposed to give God ALL. Say: "Do you want my money?" No, I don't want YOUR money, I don't want anything from you. But God wants your heart and your soul, and apparently your money's involved there somewhere. But what is the big deal?—you can't take it with you, and I can't take it with me, and it's just a bunch of stinky, nasty paper that's been handled by a million unclean hands.

Let your treasure be in God because it says where your heart is, and your treasure is, that's the place you're going to be. So, let's let our treasure be in God, and that's where we will be—in God.

Going on, "Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice: And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments."

So, what it’s saying here is that because you made a vow, God's made a vow, you are going to be His peculiar people, and YOU SHOULD KEEP ALL HIS COMMANDMENTS.

And it says: "And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken."

As we've talked in here before, and as we have addressed the issue, if God chooses a people, if those people walk in obedience and God elevates those people, that is because it is the work of God, it is the treasure of God, it is the glory of God, it is the manifestation of God upon His people because God desires to RAISE His people higher than the world, to raise His people higher than the heathen.

God desires that His people would be a bright and shining light, a city set upon a hill, a glorious Kingdom. Hallelujah. And as we have said before, when people are in obedience and humility of mind and heart, and God does that, and covers them, and showers His blessedness upon them, and then those people begin to turn their hearts away from God, and take that glory unto themselves and say: "Aha! we have done these things, the works of our hands have brought us forth; we are the ones, we are this, we are that" and turn aside from God worship, unto self worship, then such a people are cursed by God because they are trying to STEAL, and again, commit fraudulent practices upon God, steal the glory that belongs to God.

When God puts His blessedness upon a people, that is that God may be glorified, that is that God may be magnified, that is that God may show forth His glory through His people—not that His people would steal His glory. Amen.

And when God gives us the power, and when God gives us the strength, and when God gives us the wisdom and the insight, and the knowledge to accomplish certain things, it is God that receives the glory, and no man, and no woman. Praise God.

Going on, Psalm 135. I don't know about you, but I want to be a part of that peculiar people. I want to be God's treasure, I want to be God's chosen, I want to be God's special. Psalm 135, verse 4 says: "For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure." Ok, in the New Testament we'll go to Titus.

You know, the devil has worked overtime to get God's own people to despise God, and he has worked overtime to get God's own people to despise the very place of great blessedness—the place of great blessedness is not in continual interaction to the point of fornication with the world, but the place of great blessedness is to be separated unto God, to be a holy nation, to be a people who God raises above the heathen, above the unclean, above the perverse.

Now that does not mean that we don't remain a shining testimony to the glory of God, but that does mean that we become a people who are not longing and lusting after the treasure of Sodom, and the defilements of Egypt, but that we are a people who are SEPARATED UNTO OUR GOD, LOVING OUR GOD, knowing that He is our Master, and that we are His possession. It is wonderful to be possessed by God; it is wonderful.

The vessels, now this is on a negative frame, but the vessels that are the most highly used by Satan, and receive the most glory in the world's eyes, and in the world's standard, and in the world's way, are those who are possessed of the devil: their rock stars, their sports stars, a lot of their public figures are literally POSSESSED of the devil.

You say: "Well, I don't believe that." Well, that's fine, if you've ever worked in the casting out of devils, you would find that I'm not lying, I'm telling you the truth. But what I'm saying is that some of those who have the greatest fame, and the greatest acclaim, are those who have allowed certain satanic spirits to take possession of their lives. And because they have allowed that, the devil infiltrates and comes in through them as a channel, and he puts forth certain manifestations of power, and/or earthly worldly glory.

Men applaud them, they worship them, they think they're great, they think they're marvelous, books are written about them, songs are sung about them, stories are told of them, and it's all because they have been possessed.

When we allow God to possess us, we become a bright and a shining glory in this darkened earth. And that is not that we receive the glory, but God receives the glory, GOD DESIRES TO POSSESS HIS POSSESSION—HIS PECULIAR PEOPLE.

Ok, Titus 2, in verse 14, it says: "Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." So it's talking again about Jesus Christ our Lord who redeemed us from iniquity and desires to purify us UNTO HIMSELF as a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Ok, the last Scripture we'll go to today is 1st Peter the 2nd chapter. Thank you Lord God that we are given the privilege to be a peculiar people. 1st Peter, chapter 2, verse 9: "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 marvellous light."

And let that be our closing note today, LET US BE A PECULIAR PEOPLE, A PEOPLE WHO WILL SHOW FORTH THE PRAISES OF HIM WHO'S CALLED US OUT OF DARKNESS INTO HIS MARVELOUS LIGHT. LET US BE A SHINING, A GLORIOUS, A HOLY NATION BECAUSE WE ARE HIS CHOSEN PECULIAR PEOPLE.