Lively Stones
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1 Peter 2: 1 – 6
1 Peter 2: 1 – 6
Introduction: As we begin
This evening
Allow me if you would
To read you a poem
That I found the other day
As I prepared
To preach this sermon
The heading of the poem is
A builder?
Or a wrecker?
and the poem says
As I watched them tear
a building down
A gang of men
in a busy town
With a ho-heave-ho,
and a lusty yell
They swung a beam
and the side wall fell
I asked the foreman,
"Are these men skilled,
And the men you'd hire
if you wanted to build?"
He gave a laugh
and said, "No, indeed,
Just common labor
is all I need."
"I can easily wreck
in a day or two,
What builders have taken
years to do."
And I thought to myself,
as I went my way
Which of these roles
have I tried to play?
Am I a builder
who works with care,
Measuring life
by rule and square?
Am I shaping my work
to a well-made plan
Patiently doing
the best I can?
Or am I a wrecker
who walks to town
Content with the labor
of tearing down?
"O Lord let my life
and my labors be
That which will build
for eternity!"
So again
Are you a builder
Or a wrecker?
Well, Whatever you are
I’m so thankful
This evening
That our Savior
The Lord Jesus Christ
Is a Builder
And
With that in mind
Let’s read our text
For this evening
It is found
In 1 Peter 2: 1 – 6
The apostle Peter wrote (1 Peter 2: 1 – 6
Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
Let’s
Go to the Lord
In a word of prayer
(Pray)
I. The Chief Cornerstone
Declaration
Now
Notice our text
If you would again please
And
Pay particular attention
To versus 4 – 6
Peter
Writing
(1 Peter 1:1 “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,”
Said
(1 Peter 2: 4 – 6
To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
What
A rich portion of Scripture
This is for us
To consider
That
Because we have come
To the Living Stone
We have become
Lively stones
And therefore
We shall not
Be
confounded stones
And
That’s what I want to talk about
This evening
For just a little while
But
Before we do
Let’s review
What we talked about
Last week
Shall we
Last week
We focused our attention
On the first 3 versus
In this chapter
Where again
Peter said
(1 Peter 2: 1 – 3
Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
And
By way of reminder
We looked at three keys
To success
In the Christian life
Peter said
As Christians
If we want
to be successful
In our walk with Christ
We need to discard
some things
We
Need to discard malice
We must discard guile
And hypocrisies
It is important
To discard envies
And evil speaking
all of that
is so important
We
Found likewise
That in addition
To discarding some things
We need to desire
One
special thing
And
That is
The Milk
Of the Word of God
The Scripture
And that is so important
Because
God’s Word
Is a lamp unto our feet
And a light unto our path
The Bible
Is sharper
Than any two-edged sword
And
If we want to be successful
In our walk with Christ
We need to desire it
To develop
An intense craving for it
we
also found that
In addition to discarding some things
And desiring
One particular thing
We need to be Deliberate
About one thing
We need to be deliberate
About grace
By embracing humility
In our life
But
This evening
As we look
in versus 4 – 6
Let’s
Consider
That we are
lively stones
The
Word lively
Here in verse 5
Means living
Peter was saying
That
Because we have come
To the Living Stone
We now as believers
are lively stones
We have been made alive
In Jesus Christ
So
This evening
Let’s talk about
The lively stones
Discussion
but
First of all
We need to understand
That the only reason
We are lively stones
That is
That we have
Eternal life
The only reason we have it
Is because
Of the Living Stone
And again
The Living Stone
Referenced Here
Is the Lord Jesus Christ
By the way
In the Scripture
Jesus Christ is considered
The Chief Cornerstone.
And
In order for us
To understand this
We
Need to turn back
To the gospel of Matthew
For just a moment
Matthew 21
In Matthew 21
Jesus taught a parable
The parable
Of the tenants
Now
The Parable of the Tenants,
also known
as the Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen
or the Parable
of the Wicked Tenants,
is a story
told by Jesus
in the Gospels of Matthew,
Mark,
and Luke.
It describes a landowner
who rents out His vineyard
to tenants,
but
when he sends servants
to collect His share
of the harvest,
the servants
are mistreated,
beaten,
and even killed.
Finally,
the landowner
sends His dear Son,
believing they will respect Him,
but
the tenants
kill Him
believing
they can seize
the inheritance.
Now
In that parable
The tenants
Represent the lost
The servants
that the Landowner sent
Represent the prophets
That
God sent
To those
who are lost
And
the Son
Represents
The Son of God
and
The parable teaches that
so many
people
In Bible days
Rejected
the Word of God
They then
Killed
The Lord Jesus Christ
And
In the parable
Jesus asked
The question
(Matthew 21:40 “When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?”
And then
Those
To whom Jesus gave
The parable
Said
“ He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.”
In verse 41 there
But In verse 42
We read that
(Matthew 21:42 “Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?”
Jesus was making reference
To the Corner Stone
But again
The Lord Jesus
Is the Corner Stone
He is in fact
the Chief Cornerstone
And
This metaphor
emphasizes
That Jesus is the Foundation
Upon which
Our Christian faith resides
He
is the primary Support
Upon which our faith rests
much like
a cornerstone is
in construction.
Deliberation
Now
By way of information
a cornerstone
is the first stone set
in the construction
of a foundation,
For a building
Of some kind
And
It primarily serves
as a reference point
for all other stones
to ensure
That the structure is aligned
and positioned correctly.
Likewise
It is often placed
at a corner of the building
and serves
as a crucial element
for the building's
structural integrity.
Cornerstones
act as a guide
for builders,
ensuring that walls
are straight
so that
the entire structure
is properly oriented.
Likewise
In many cases,
cornerstones
bear a significant portion
of the building's weight.
So
When the Lord Jesus
Said what He did
In Matthew 21
Where again
He said
In verse 42 (Matthew 21:42 “Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?”
And
By the way
Jesus was quoting
Psalms 118:22
But
When Jesus talked about
The Stone
Which became
The Head
of the corner
He
Was being descriptive
Of Himself
That
He
Is the Foundation
Of our faith
And He
The Lord Jesus
Is the Foundation
Of God’s church
I’m
Reminded
Of what the apostle Paul said
In 1 Corinthians 3:11
He said (1 Corinthians 3:11 “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
see
Jesus
Is the Foundation
Now
It is true
that the Bible says
In Ephesians 2:20
That as a church
we
“And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;”
But
In the final analysis
The key Foundation
Is Jesus Christ
Incidentally,
a building's foundation
is the structure's base,
transferring the building's weight
to the earth.
and it is crucial
for stability,
it
prevents the Building
From sinking
the foundation
Likewise
ensures that
the building
stands securely.
But
It is the Cornerstone
That is the basis
Of the foundation
And again
The Lord Jesus Christ
Is THE Foundation
As THE Cornerstone
And
Without question
The Lord Jesus Christ
Provides
THE Stability
For not only our faith
But for our church
As well
I am
Reminded of a song
We sing sometimes
That says
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood
and righteousness
I
dare not trust
the sweetest frame
But wholly lean
on Jesus' name
On
Christ the Solid Rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground
is sinking sand
And
I don’t know about you
But I’m so glad
My faith
Is on the Solid Rock
Because
To be quite honest
There’s a lot of sinking
Shifting sand
In our day and time
In fact
Spiritual leaders
Come and go
And some spiritual leaders
Are not indwelt
By God’s Holy Spirit
So they lead
In a crooked way
They
Write books
That they call sacred
yet are not
And lead people astray
By the scores
And when challenged
Or when times change
They
Conveniently change
Their writings
To fit
The modern way of thinking
But
As believers
As Christians
We have the privilege
Of standing
On the Solid Rock
Delegation
He
Is the Corner Stone
He
Is the Head
Of the corner
Jesus
Is the Chief Cornerstone
And therefore
My faith
Our faith
Rests firmly
On Him
Our walls
Our spiritual walls
Are built
Upon the Lord Jesus Christ
And the Lord Jesus Christ
Is spot on
Which
Reminds me
Of something that took place
In the 1980s
While I was in Bible College
One summer
I worked for a builder
And we were building a house
Up close to Stafford
And
Let me tell you
About our construction company
When we arrived
On a brand-new jobsite
The foundation
Had already been laid
The
Building package
Had been delivered
which included
all that was necessary
All the materials necessary
To build a house
And
When we arrived
We would immediately
Put floor Joyce’s
On top of the building foundation
And plywood
To form the base
Of the bottom floor
Then
On that base
We built walls
To the first floor
We put on a secondary base
To form the second floor
We built walls again
For the second floor
And then
We began construction
Of the roof
A crane was brought in
To set the trusses
But
As we were setting the trusses
And by the way
That is an expensive process
But as we were setting
The trusses
The builder
Noticed a problem
The trusses
That came premade
Didn’t seem to fit
Something was wrong
And the builder was puzzled
So
He took out a tape measure
And began measuring everything
He measured the Flooring
On the second floor
He measured
The flooring
On the first floor
He then finally
Measured the foundation
The block walls
That surrounded
the foundation
And
To his dismay
The foundation wasn’t laid
Per instruction Contained
in the blueprints
It
Was off just enough
To make everything else
Out of kilter
Delight
Oh
But I’m so thankful
This evening
That the Lord Jesus Christ
Is spot on
He
Is the Son of God
God
In the flesh
His way
Is perfect
And like the psalmist said
He makes our way
Perfect as well
So that
When we are built
On the foundation
Of the Lord Jesus Christ
When
The walls of our life
Or the spiritual walls
Of this church
Rests firmly
On the Lord Jesus Christ
We
Can stand firmly
Against the sinking sands
Of this world
Our trusses
Are never off
Our building
Is never
out of kilter
When
We as God’s people
Rest firmly
Upon the Lord Jesus Christ
well
The Lord Jesus
Is the Rock
He
For example
Is the Rock
Of our salvation
In fact
Notice our text again
In verses 4 - 5
Peter said
(1 Peter 2: 4-5
To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Now
Think about
What Peter was saying here
As Christians
We came
Or have come
To a Living Stone
And as a result of that
We are
lively stones
See
The day we came
to Jesus
Confessing our sins
And turning to Jesus Christ
For the salvation of our souls
He saved us
That is
Jesus saved us
From the condemnation
Of our sins
And by the way
That ought to make all of us
Rejoice
Should it not
And
By the way
For anyone
Who might be listening
In our Internet audience
This evening
If
You want to be saved
From the condemnation
Of your sins
Because listen please
Our sins do
condemn us
To an eternity
Apart from God
But
If you want to be saved
From the condemnation
Of your sins
You must come to Jesus
You must come
To the Living Stone
The One
Who is the Foundation
Where salvation
is concerned
And
If you’re not quite sure how
To come to Jesus
I hope you’ll call us
Here at the Albemarle Baptist Church
But again
Jesus Christ
Is the foundation
For our salvation
When we came to Him
And received Him
As our Savior
Jesus saved us
From our sins
He is the foundation
For our salvation
And
At the same time too
Jesus
Is the foundation
For our sanctification
In fact
The apostle Paul wrote
With regards to God
In Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
See
The Lord Jesus
Is the foundation
Of our sanctification
That
As our lives conform
To Him
We become
More and more holy
But see
Jesus is the Foundation
Of our salvation
He Is the Foundation
Of our sanctification
And
The Lord Jesus Christ
Is the Foundation
Of this sanctuary
This church
He
Is the Builder
Jesus said
In Matthew 16:18
Jesus
Is the Blesser
Jesus
Is the lifter
of burdens
Jesus
Is the opener
Of barriers
Jesus
Is the One
Who holds the devil
At bay
How
Thankful we are
That the Lord Jesus Christ
Is the Chief
Cornerstone
In fact
The Bible says
In Ephesians 2:20
That as a church
We
“And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;”
and
Jesus in fact cements
and knits together
angels and men,
Commentator John Gill says
Jesus cements
Jews and Gentiles,
Old and New Testament saints,
saints above,
and saints below,
saints on earth,
in all ages
and places,
and of every Church
In existence
Determination
So
Let me ask you
My dear Christian friend
Aren’t you so thankful
For the day
You came to Jesus
Do
You remember that day
I do
I was just seven years old
And I remember the time
I
Don’t remember
The exact date
On the calendar
But I remember what happened
My
Dear mother
Came to my bedroom
And she opened the Scriptures
And showed me
That I was a sinner
In need of a Savior
And
She then
Led me to Christ
She brought me
To Jesus
I then asked Jesus
To save my soul
I
Came
To the Cornerstone
The head
Of the corner,
And
On that day
I rested my Soul
On Him
And therefore
My salvation
Is eternally secure
My destiny
Has been determined
My eternal fate
Is set in stone
Or should I say
On the Rock
And
I truly hope
Yours has
As well
II. The Christian living stones
Declaration
But
As we think about
The Chief
Cornerstone
This evening
The Lord Jesus Christ
We
Find from the Scriptures
That we are likened
Unto Christian
Lively stones
And
Notice
Versus 4 - 5 again
Peter said
(1 Peter 2:4–5 “To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
Now
I want you
To think about
What Peter is saying here
That
Because we came
To the Living Stone
The Lord Jesus Christ
He
Is not like Peter
Who is a small stone
He is the Rock
The mountain sized Stone
But
Because we came
To the Living Stone
We then
Have become
lively stones
We too
Have become a part
Of what God is building
And
think about it
In a building
There is a cornerstone
Oh
But in a building
There are lots
of other stones
See
God uses
Those lively stones
To build a house
a spiritual house
And
let me ask you
A question
Aren’t you so glad
That you as an individual
Are a part
Of what God is building
see
God has a plan
A master plan
And God saved your soul
and made your life
A part
Of His plan
For example
In a house
There is the Cornerstone
at the foundation
And there likewise
are other stones
or blocks
That make up that foundation
The blocks
Securely rest
On the Corner Stone
But nonetheless
They are are a part
Of the foundation
And
In the spiritual realm
God uses us
To make up
a spiritual house
see,
Like stones in a building,
believers
are individually significant
and contribute
to the overall structure.
And
They are significant
Because they are "living"
That is
they are spiritually alive
through their relationship
with Christ.
Discussion
And
Here’s the point
When God saved our souls
Through Jesus Christ
He took us
And made us a part
Of what He is doing
In this world
He
Made us
It says
A spiritual house
a house,
That is distinct
from the physical temples
of the Old Testament
signifying
that God dwells
within His people
through the Holy Spirit.
We are a spiritual house
And
As a spiritual house
As
Individuals
We come together
And form
The church
Of the living God
What an honor
Now
Think about
What that entails
Just like
In a building
where there are different parts
There is
A floor
and a subfloor
There are walls
There is a roof
There are windows
There are doors
There is carpeting
Or hardwood floors
There are cabinets
And closets
but
Just like in a house
There are likewise
different aspects
To God’s
Spiritual house
The local church
For example
There is a pastor
Whom God has appointed
To both lead the flock
And feed
The flock of God
In fact
Peter said
In chapter 5
Here in this book
And will see this
In a few weeks
But
Peter said
In 1 Peter 5:1–2 “The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;”
So
In God’s spiritual house
The church
God gives us a pastor
Who is both there
To feed the flock
And to lead the flock
And
In God’s spiritual house
There is likewise
Deacons
Who according to the Bible are there
To assist the pastor
There
Are likewise
Individual members
In God’s spiritual house
Who occupy the pews
And carry out various functions
But
Both pastors
Deacons
And church members
Comprise
God’s spiritual house
The local church
Deliberation
But
Let me give you
A few more details
God places the members
In the body of Christ
As it pleases Him
In fact
Keep your place here
In 1 Peter 2
And turn if you would
To 1 Corinthians 12
And read with me
Versus 14 – 20
Paul said
In 1 Corinthians 12:14 – 20
For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body.
Now
Think about
What Paul was saying here
As a church
And Paul was addressing
The church of Corinth here
But as a church
This body
Is comprised
Of many members
Some
Are like the feet
Upon which the body stands
And the feet
Provide balance
The body is comprised
Of hands as well
and our hands
Do much of the work
That we engage in
But
The feet can’t say to the hands
I’m not a part of you
Because they are
and the ears can’t say
I’m not part of you
To the eyes
Because the truth is
They’re both working together
For the body
Paul
Went on to ask
What would happen
If every part of our body
Had the same function
For example
What if every part of my body
Was a foot
Well
If it were
I wouldn’t get a lot of work done
And what if every part of my body
Were an ear
I wouldn’t be able to see
I wouldn’t be able to walk
But
Christ
Saves lost sinners
He then
Places them in the body
As it pleases Him
Because see
He had a purpose in mind
When he placed you
In the body of Christ
see
You
Have a unique function
Your function is no less important
Than mine
It is no more important
Than mine
All of us have a function
We
Are a body of Christ
Some of us
are Feet
To take the gospel out
To those who are lost
Some of us
are hands
To do the laboring
In the church house
Some of us
are eyes
To provide leadership
Some of us
are ears
To be able to hear
And
The Lord Jesus Christ
Places us
In His body
As it pleases Him
That is
To do
Of His good pleasure
And our task as believers
Is
To find out
What that is
And then do it
Delegation
Somebody said
Pastor
How will I know
What my part is
In the body of Christ
Well
There are two things
To keep in mind
As a human being
The day you were born
You were born
With talents
That’s true
Some
Like King David
Were born
With musical talent
I’m so glad
We have people like that
Aren’t you
People
Like Byron Foxx
Who write music
And people
Like our pianists
Who play
Beautiful music for us
And oh
What a great dimension it adds
To our church
And how difficult it is
When we don’t have music
But
Not only
Are some people born
With musical talents
But some are born
With what I call
Manual labor talents
Some people
Have the talent
Of working with their hands
And working with their minds
And these people are instrumental
In the church
I’m
Reminded
Of our sidewalk
Behind the building here
and the retaining wall
Had
All of that work
Been left up to me
It would’ve never got started
But thank God
For the planning
Of that work
and the implementation
Of that work
And
At the same time too
While there are talents
That people are born with
And they can use those talents
In God’s spiritual house
The church
Yet
At the same time too
Every Christian
Is born again
With spiritual gifts
Or a gift
In fact
In 1 Corinthians 12
The Bible says
In verses 4 – 7
(1 Corinthians 12: 4 – 7
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
What
Paul is saying
Is that
God’s Holy Spirit
Gives Various spiritual gifts
To every believer
To be a profit
That is a help
To every other believer
And
In our day
There are some
11 or 12
Spiritual gifts
That God Holy Spirit gives
For example
There is the gift of wisdom
Mentioned
In 1 Corinthians 12:8 “For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;”
And
Those who have this gift
Are a tremendous asset
To the church
There
Are others in the church
Who have the gift
Of the discerning of spirits
Mentioned for us
In 1 Corinthians 12:10 “To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:”
Some Christians
Have the gift of giving
And how helpful they are
In a church
The Bible says
In Romans 12:6-8
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
Some likewise
Have the gift
Of ministry
And what an asset they are
In God’s church
Some have the gift
Of teaching
Every church needs those
Some have the gift
Of exhortation
Putting people in mind
Of the truth
Some
Have the gift of ruling
Which is administration
And how important that is
In the Lord’s church
Some
Have the gift
Of showing mercy
And
Some have the gift
Of the pastor
As described
By the apostle Paul
In Ephesians 4:11–12 “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:”
But again
God saves these people
People with talents
And abilities
Gifts
That is, spiritual gifts
He then
Places them
In the body of Christ
As it pleases Him
That is
God places people
With certain talents
And spiritual gifts
For His own good pleasure
To
Be able to accomplish
His own will
For His own purposes
Delegation
And
Just in case you wonder
What those purposes are
well the Bible is clear
Purpose number one
For God’s church
Is to glorify Him
see
(Colossians 1:18 “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”
And as the Preeminent One
First and foremost
He deserves
and is entitled
To be exalted
Above all else
Then
Purpose 2
For God’s church
Is that
In addition
To exalting the Savior
A church
Must work at edifying
The saints
Again
God told the church at Ephesus
About God
In relation to the church that
(Ephesians 4:11–12 “He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:”
Simply stated
God’s will for the church
The individual members
Of the church
God’s will for them is that
Together
They edify each other
The body of Christ
So
God’s purpose
For the church
Is simply this
It is
To exalt the Savior
To edify the saints
And
Purpose 3
To evangelize
Lost sinners
And
My point is this
God placed each of us
In this body
So that
Together
We can exalt our Savior
The Lord Jesus Christ
And so that
We can edify all the saints
And so that
We can evangelize lost souls
Both here
And around the world
But see
Christ
Is the Living Stone
And when we come to Him
He
Makes us
Into lively stones
We then become part
Of His spiritual house
The local church
We become part
Of what God is building
In this world
But
I should ask you
Are you finding your place
Of involvement
In the Lord’s church
Or
Are you rather
Just occupying a pew
Oh listen please
All of us
Has a place
As a lively stone
In God’s spiritual house
But
The question is
Are we finding out
What that place is
and are we engaging in it
We ought to
III. The un-confounded living saint
Declaration
But
In closing
Read with me
Verse 6
In our text
In fact
Just to keep everything
In context
Let’s read again
Versus 4 – 6
Again Peter said (1 Peter 2: 4 – 6
To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
Now
Verse 6
Is a quote
From Isaiah 28:16
Keep your finger here
And
turn back
To the book of Isaiah
For just a moment
And
Read verse 16 with me
The Bible says
In Isaiah 28:16 “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, A tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: He that believeth shall not make haste.”
But
Back in our text
In 1 Peter
Peter said
In verse 6 (1 Peter 2:6 “Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.”
God
Was saying there simply
I sent Jesus Christ
Into the world
To be the Foundation
For everyone
Who believes
And
Those who believe
In Him
Compared to those
Who stumble
Because of Him
But
Those who believe
In the Lord Jesus Christ
Will not be confounded
That word
By the way
Means Literally
To shame down
Peter
Was saying
Because we have come to Him
That is
The Lord Jesus Christ
The Living Stone
He then
Has made us
Lively stones
We got our purpose
In His spiritual house
And
Because
We believe in Him
We will not
Be ashamed
Of Him
Discussion
But
Let’s be honest
I daresay
That God just might
Have to be ashamed of us
Because
Sometimes
We live shamefully
If we are honest
With ourselves
For example
Moses the man of God
Faithfully led Israel
Across the desert
To the verge
Of the promised land
He
Was a true example
Of the believer
He gave God's Word
To the people
he Lived
A godly life
But
Because
Of how they continually aggravated him
One day
He blew his stack
In fact
Turn back
To Numbers 20
And read with me
The first 9 versus
The
Bible says
In Numbers 20: 1 – 9
Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink. And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him.
But
Don’t miss
Versus 10 – 11
The Bible says
(Numbers 20:10–11 “And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.”
Now
What happened here?
Well I’ll tell you
After being
Such a godly example
Before the congregation
Moses
Became furious
And he blew his stack
In front of the people
Oh but
The Bible says in verse 12
(Numbers 20:12 “And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.”
Now
Do you know
What the Bible is saying
God was essentially saying
Moses
I’m ashamed of you
But
Let me ask you
Though we have nothing
To be ashamed of
Where the Lord Jesus Christ
Is concerned
But
Does the Lord have anything
To be ashamed of
Where we
Are concerned
That
Because of our temper
Because of impure thoughts
Because of
Inappropriate surfing
Of the Internet
Because
Of a wagging tongue
Or an unkind spirit
Does the Lord have anything
To be ashamed of
Where we are concerned?
Maybe
There’s something in our lives
That would bring shame
up on us
And
If so
I want to encourage you
As one of God’s
Lively stones
I
Want to encourage you
To come to the altar
To get God’s forgiveness
To rededicate your life
To your Savior
Because see
The day we came
To the Living Stone
He then made us
Lively stones
With
A purpose
In His spiritual house
And therefore
We ought to live our lives
In such a way
That we don’t bring shame
To our Savior
Conclusion: Let’s bow for a word a prayer
