In a Foreign Land

Introduction

Has anyone ever told you to grow up? My sister used to always throw this one at me when we were younger and I was perfecting my role as pesky younger brother. “Grow up!”

I still have some work to do on that one. I childhood is fun. I like being silly. I’ve told Bec that when we start a family she’s gonna immediately have two kids to take care of.

Adulting is tough. After work on Thursday I caught a plane to North Carolina to go and move out of my apartment. It was tough work. Becca spent the past month boxing up the apartment herself, my dad and I wend up there and with the help of some movers we spent a couple of hours walking up and down to our 3rd floor apartment only to then drive 12 hours to come to our beloved home state.

Growing up is hard, it is difficult, but God has called us to maturity and more specifically a spiritual maturity that will grow us all together, shape us together as a people, so that we can pour out into a watching world.

That’s where we pick up in 1 Pt 2:1-10...

2 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that you may grow up into your salvation, 3 if you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God—5 you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture:

2 Therefore, rid yourselves ofa all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander.b 2 Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word,A,c so that you may grow up into your salvation,B 3 if you have tastedd that the Lord is good.C,e 4 As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored byD God—5 you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthoodE to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to Godf through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture:

See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and honored cornerstone, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.

a chosen and honored cornerstone,

and the one who believes in him

will never be put to shame.

7 So honor will come to you who believe; but for the unbelieving, The stone that the builders rejected—this one has become the cornerstone, 8 and A stone to stumble over, and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word; they were destined for this.

The stone that the builders rejected—

this one has become the cornerstone,

8 and

A stone to stumble over,

and a rock to trip over.

They stumble because they disobey the word; they were destined for this.

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

a

b

A Or desire pure spiritual milk

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B Other mss omit for your salvation

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C

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E Or you yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house for a holy priesthood

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g ;

F Or precious

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G LXX

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H

j

I

k ; ;

l ; ; ; ;

J Or generation, or nation

K ; ; LXX

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L ; LXX;

M ; LXX

o

N ; LXX; ; ; LXX

p ; ; ; ;

O Or the mighty deeds

P ;

q ;

r ; ; ;

s ; ;

Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), .

vv. 1-3 - God calls us to grow, together.

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that you may grow up into your salvation, 3 if you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Exposition

Therefore… If you see a “therefore,” always ask what its… “THERE FOR!”

The were persecuted. They were hunted. Nero (the emperor) set fire to much of his empire because he thought himself a god and wasn’t being worshipped like he thought he should be.

So you can imagine how hard it was to hear a command like, “desire the pure milk of the word, so that you may grow up in your salvation.” - Things were bleak. It was hard. It would have been easy to cower and shrink back. But in the face of everything, God calls us to continual growth and maturity and he has provided our sustenance in His Word.

Taste and see that the Lord is good. - .

Illustration

Thanksgiving feast

Carnation’s instant breakfast

Interrogation

What areas of life have you seen growth and maturity over the past year?

How is God calling you to grow in your faith?

vv. 4-8 - God calls us to build up with one another as God’s dwelling place.

4 As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God—5 you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture:

See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and honored cornerstone, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.

7 So honor will come to you who believe; but for the unbelieving, The stone that the builders rejected—this one has become the cornerstone, 8 and A stone to stumble over, and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word; they were destined for this.

Exposition

Peter is speaking of Jesus himself here. That he was rejected by his own. Crucified. And has now risen being the center and object of our faith.

Many stumble over this stone. Many of you may have stumbled over what it means to have Christ as the center of everything. Many of you probably see it every day friends and family rejecting Christ as essential to all of life.

The illustration here is that of a cornerstone. Who here knows what a cornerstone is?

*Show image

Cornerstone - A stone that is central to the foundation of the structure. Without it the entire building comes down. It is placed so that all the surrounding stones can press in, depend on it, and hold tall.

18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into la holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

18 For athrough him we both have baccess in cone Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer dstrangers and aliens,4 but you are efellow citizens with the saints and fmembers of the household of God, 20 gbuilt on the foundation of the hapostles and prophets, iChrist Jesus himself being jthe cornerstone, 21 kin whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into la holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him myou also are being built together ninto a dwelling place for God by5 the Spirit.

a []

b ch. 3:12; [, ]; See

c ch. 4:4; ; []

4 Or sojourners

e ; [, ]

f See

g []; See

h ;

i []

j ;

k ch. 4:15, 16

l See ,

m

n [ch. 3:17; ; ]

5 Or in

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Cornerstone - A stone that is central to the foundation of the structure. Without it the entire building comes down. It is placed so that all the surrounding stones can press in, depend on it, and hold tall.

Illustration - underdog stories.

Connection - God has a habit of choosing the low and humble to carry out His work.

Interrogation

What does it mean to you that God chooses “the rejected stone” as his cornerstone?

How is God using you/How can God use you in and amongst your various circles of influence?

vv. 9-10 - God’s forms us together for His great missional work.

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Exposition

A chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation - Connect to Previous teachings. , , . Peter is using a very specific language to connect us to what we’ve been talking about all along.

A chosen race - He’s not talking about skin color but instead who God has made them to be. Whom God has chosen them to be.

- We look back to who Peter wrote this to and its to exiles scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Capadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, and that may not mean much to you at the surface but guys, these are all Roman provinces (towns) filled with Greek thought and heritage, not Jewish. So what does that mean? Whereas God called and used the Jewish peoples throughout the Old Testament to minister His blessing to the rest of the world, God has now grafted in all peoples to be His people.

A royal priesthood - Just as we have been built up as God’s dwelling place, so too are we God’s servants, going before him and offering sacrifice for God’s people.

Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine, 6 and you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.”

k ;

l ; ; ; ;

m ; ; ,

Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), .

Priests in the Old Testament would be the ones to carry out sacrifice to atone for sin. So too now are we to go before God, lay ourselves down and as Paul would say, “present our bodies as a living sacrifice.”

Why?

- he says, “It is not enough for you to be my servant raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

6 he says, “It is not enough for you to be my servant raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

“It is not enough for you to be my servant raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

raising up the tribes of Jacob

and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

I will also make you a light for the nations,f

to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

f ; ; ; ;

g

Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), .

Illustration

Interrogation

How can you serve on behalf of (intercede) your friends/family this week so that they can see the Lord more clearly?

Pray and dismiss