Holy Human Beings Part 2: Living Stones

Goodmorning DOXA!!!

Soo glad to be worshipping with yall today!!!

Go ahead if you would and open up to…

OPEN UP TO 1 PETER 2:4-10.

Let me introduce myself…Tony Carter…Lead Pastor at THE ROCK BIBLE CHURCH in Greensburg IN

I had the privilege of serving on staff here at DOXA for 2 years as a Church Planting Resident

And through Gods movement through the people of Doxa…

God used this church to help plant THE ROCK last August…

We just celebrated our 1 year anniversary!!!

ON THE TOPIC OF CHURCH PLANTING…

CHURCH PLANTING: Taking the Gospel where its needed…

When you plant a church…

you go into a new community…you announce to that community that you are here to share the gospel…and disciple…

Its no shock that persecution comes with that…

Its like that no matter where you are in the world…

Jesus told us they hated me they (the world) will hate you…

That rings true for the people that PETER is writing to here in his first letter…

1 Peter 1:1 “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,”

KJV calls them “strangers”

You dont belong in this world…you belong in the Kingdom…You are a Kingdom citizen…

You belong with the Lord…

SO as you have worked your way through this text you have seen Peter instructing both his original audience and us today…

On how to carry ourselves in a world that we are strangers in…

In a world we know will persecute us…

From the looks of chapter 1…these people Peter is writing to are already experinceing some persecution…

READ 1 PETER 1:3-6…

What you have to understand here is Peter is teaching out of failure…

Remember he failed at this the first time…

Luke 22…Jesus had been siezed by the Pharesees…He was getting ready to be taken to be beaten and hung on the cross…

Peter was with Him in the High priests house and a servent girl recognises him and says “this man was also with JESUS”

And Peter denies that he is a follower of Jesus 3 times…

WHEN PERSECUTION CAME…PETER STUMBLED…

PETER WHO HAD WALKED ON WATER…WHO HAD SEEN MEN BE RAISED FROM THE DEAD…WHO HAD SEEN JESUS IN ALL HIS GLORY…

DENIED HIM…

So Peter is instructing us out of his own brokenness…

INSTRUCTING US ON HOW WE ARE TO LIVE AS EXILES IN A WORLD THAT WILL PERSECUTE US…

Over the NEXT FEW CHAPTERS…

Peter will instruct on how we are to hold ourselves as Christ followers in politics, at work, at home, in our marriages, with our conduct….IN THE WORLD…

BUT TODAY…PETER IS GOING TO INSTRUCT US ON HOW TO BE THE CHURCH IN AN EXILED WORLD…

YALL READY TO GET INTO GODS WORD THIS MORNING!!!!

READ V4-10

The bible is going to answer this question for us today…

What does it look like to be the Church in a world we don’t belong in?

FIRST THING WE MUST DO IS REALIZE WHAT WE ARE…

Here in 1 Peter 2 the Bible calls us a…

-Spiritual House (v// 5a)

READ again v4-5a

Ask any non Christian what the church is and I bet they would say its a building….

Some Christians may even have the same answer…(parking lot, grass, brick walls, widows, and a big area for people to meet and hear a preacher speak, and worship)

Thats not the bibles definition though is it…

V4 “as you come to Him (Jesus, a living stone) you are like living stones”

As you come to Christ, place your faith in Him…He makes you like Him a living stone…

BEING BUILT UP INTO A SPIRITUAL HOUSE…

The BRICKS on the side of this building aren't alive…

Living stones….Not Dead ones

THE SPIRITUAL HOUSE IS MADE UP OF YOU!!!

At the Rock we are walking our people through the book of EXODUS…”Desire to Dwell”

GOD DESIRED TO DWELL AMONGST HIS CHILDREN SOO MUCH…(Out of Egypt, Red Sea, Tabernacle)

Exodus 25:8 “And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.”

He has them build the tabernacle (tent, with a great big thick curtain, behind that was this place called the Holy of Holies where the Lord would dwell)

It was specifically built for one reason…

So the Lord could dwell amongst His people…

SEE WHAT PETER IS TELLING YOU HERE…

BECAUSE OF JESUS…YOU ARE NOW THE TABERNACLE!!!

YOU ARE NOW THE DWELLING PLACE OF GOD!!!!

THE LORD DWELLS IN YOU!!!

Ephesians 2:22 “In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

All of us as followers of Jesus individually are like living stones and all of us being built up together…AS THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST!!!

HOW AMAZING IS THAT!!!!

Application:

The church is not a building…its not a business…its not an organization…its not a tradition….its not a program…its not a source of entertainment

ITS A LIVING, BREATHING, JUSTIFIED, DWELLING PLACE FOR THE LORD HIMSELF!!!!

AND as Peter is about to show us, we are not called to be idle…

If you are a Christ follower…

The church is not a place you come to consume…

YOU ARE APART OF IT…

PAUL SAYS ITS A BODY AND YOU ARE THE HANDS AND FEET AND ARMS AND LEGS…

IN FACT…HE IS GOING TO SHOW US 2 ROLES WE ARE TO PLAY AS THE BODY OF CHRIST

The first is this…

READ v5 again

-Holy Priesthood (v// 5b)

We talked a minute ago about the tabernacle…

There was that room the Holy of Holies…where the ark of the covenant…The Lord would come down and sit on the lid of the ark and speak to one man…

THE HIGH PRIEST…

Not everyone could be a high Priest…If you did not meet the requirements to be one…and tried to go into the Holy of Holies you would be killed…

The High Priest Himself even…had to wash multiple times…sacrifice animals…burn incense…to gain entrance in this holy place and meet with God…(if he messed anything up he would die…God cant look upon sin)

Look at what Peter is reminding us of here though!!!

Because of Jesus WE ARE ALL PRIESTS!!!!

The Bible calls Jesus “THE GREAT HIGH PRIEST”

Because of His sacrifice….

WE ALL HAVE ACCESS TO GOD!!!

And as Priests….we have a role to play…

“TO OFFER SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES ACCEPTABLE TO GOD”

What does that look like???

There are many examples of what spiritual sacrifices are in the New Testament…

A few examples of these are Worship, prayer, submission to God’s will, our time, our bodies, our possessions, our works…

EVERYTHING IN OUR LIVES…EVERYTHING WE ARE…EVERYTHING WE HAVE…SUBMITTED TO THE LORD….

As the Church, the body of Christ, we are to offer everything to the Lord…

Even in persecution…

Remember these people are being persecuted for their faith in Christ…

Peter tells them it doesn't matter whats going on around you or to you…

We are to lay aside everything and give over ourselves to Jesus…

As Christ followers exiled in the world, we are to focus on BEING THE CHURCH JESUS INTENDED US TO BE!!!

Focus on being a holy priesthood dedicated to serving Jesus through the spiritual sacrifice of loving His people…

Laying down all of our fleshly desires…

Worshipping Him and abiding in His word, in His commands…

See this…being the Church is an active role y’all…

Its not an idle one…

Hear this…spiritual sacrifices don’t save you…right working for Christ isn't what saves you…

Peter says your spiritual sacrifices are only “acceptable to God through Jesus”

Its because of Jesus you have the privilege and ability to serve and offer spiritual sacrifice…

Look with your eyes and hear with your ears…this is a command to give…not take…

A command to move…

(Pause)

I said there were going to be 2 roles we are to play…

The first we are to be a Holy Priesthood...

The second role the Lord gives us today in His word…

As we are the Church in a world we don’t belong…

WE ARE TO BE…

-Gospel Proclaimers (v// 6-10)

READ V 6-10

The bible says here we are to…

Proclaim Jesus to the unsaved people of the world

This is a role that we are to play…

Peter states first that all who believe in Jesus will have honor…

But for those who do not believe…

That the gospel will cause them to stumble…

It will be offensive to them…

Because they disobeyed God’s word…

What Peter is describing here is the judgment of unbelievers…

Those who disobey God’s word, by not placing their faith in the gospel will face judgment…

We know that the only way to eternal life is through Jesus…

Those without Jesus are dead spiritually and eternally…because they have not obeyed in the word…

And Peter states here that this will be a stumbling block for them…

The gospel is offensive to these people because it condemns them…

But as we transition into verse 9…

The focus changes away from the unsaved back to the roles of those in the body of Christ…

That because we have people in this world who are spiritually dead…

Peter says that we as Christ followers are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession…that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

So the apostle Peter has told us that this world in which we are exiled in is full of lost, dead people…

And as Christ followers…those who are apart of the Holy Priesthood of the Body of Christ…

WE ARE TO PROCLAIM THE EXCELLENCIES OF JESUS!!!

We are called to proclaim the Gospel!!!

Remember we live in a world full of people who are spiritually dead church!!

And as Christ followers who were once dead, walking in the darkness…

We have to share how through the work and sacrifice of Jesus Christ alone, we were brought out of darkness into glorious light!!!

How we didn't belong to God…BUT NOW through Jesus we are sons and daughters of the living God crying out Abba father!!!

How we knew no mercy BUT NOW we receive it in abundance everyday!!!

We have to not only share the gospel, but tell people how it has a life changing, heart transforming power!!!

HOW DO WE DO THIS?????

We do this by sharing our testimony…

Proclaiming the story of how Jesus transformed our lives!!!

We are to share the gospel of Jesus with the world we are exiled in…

And one of the most effective ways to do this is through our own salvation story…

TO GO OUT INTO THE WORLD, AND PROCLAIM THAT GOD IS MERCIFUL!!!

THAT THOUGH WE ARE WICKED SINNERS, OUT OF LOVE AND MERCY, THE LORD HAS SENT HIS ONLY SON TO DIE FOR US AND GRANT US RIGHTEOUSNESS!!!

THAT BEFORE JESUS WE WERE DOOMED TO DEATH, BUT THROUGH JESUS WE CAN HAVE ETERNAL LIFE IN THE GLORY OF HEAVEN!!!

(PAUSE)

The apostle Paul speaks about this in…

2 Corinthians 5:16–20 “From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

Church…Peter is speaking to persecuted Christians…

STRANGERS IN A LAND THEY DONT BELONG…

Telling them…Serve in Sacrifice and Proclaim the gospel!!!!

DON’T STOP!!!!

HE IS SAYING THE SAME THING TO US TODAY!!!

WHAT ARE WE AS THE CHURCH GOING TO DO TODAY WHEN PERSECUTION COMES????

WE FIX OUR EYES ON GODS WORD…

WE REMEMBER THE LIVING HOPE WE HAVE IN JESUS…

WE REMEBER WHO WE ARE…LIVING STONES BUILT UP INTO A SPIRITUAL HOUSE…

SINNERS MADE HOLY BY FAITH IN THE SHED BLOOD OF JESUS…

WE HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY…

TO GIVE EVERYTHING OVER TO JESUS…

AND TO PROCLAIM HIM TO THE WORLD…

NO MATTER WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND US…

LETS PRAY!