Who Are You?

Intro:

In just a few minutes, we will be in the book of 1 Peter 2:4-8 if you would like to go ahead and find your way there. The song “Who are you” was written by Pete Townsend and sung by “The Who: in 1978. Of course, the chorus of the song asks, who are you? I really wanna know who are you?

Now, of course, I am not going to preach a sermon on a song this morning, but the title of the sermon does ask the question who are you, and we might answer that question in so many different ways. In 1989 Reader’s Digest published this story by Lynne McGee

“It all began when the dental hygienist, who was scraping tartar off my teeth, asked, “Do you spend about four minutes each time you brush your teeth?” With a gurgling tube hanging from my lip, I responded, “A little less than that.”

“You really should,” she said, “or you will lose your teeth,” I vowed to myself that I would floss, pick, brush and rinse as instructed.

“At my annual physical examination, the doctor asked,” How often do you exercise?” “Do you limit your salt intake?” and “Does your diet contain much cholesterol?” I thus began an intensive fitness program, which I checked off on the daily “Personal Maintenance Schedule” on the refrigerator door.

“I then made an appointment for a beauty makeover. “When is the last time you had a facial?” the cosmetologist asked.

“Never” didn’t seem like the right answer, so I hedged with, “It’s been a while.”

“You should have a facial more often. You’ve already got some wrinkles around your eyes,” she warned. Mentally I added “Get facial!” to my personal maintenance schedule

“I soon learned personal maintenance was not all that I had to worry about. At the appliance-repair shop, the clerk examining my coffee maker asked, “Do you run white vinegar through it each month?” This began my “Home Maintenance Schedule,” which took its place next to my personal maintenance schedule.

“Several other appliances, too, began demanding my attention. When I discovered that the tape deck in my car, the VCR, and the disk drives in my computer also required cleaning, I wondered how long I could keep up this rigorous program. I was sleeping four hours a night, had lost touch with my husband and children, and had no social life, not to mention no room left on the refrigerator door.

“It all came crashing down one night when I was reading an article entitled: “Are You Endangering the Lives of Your Loved Ones by Failing to Dust Your Smoke Alarms Regularly?”

“I ran to the refrigerator and tore the schedules to shreds. In their place, I have established a policy in which I respond to all questions about my behavior by taking the Fifth Amendment.”

Here is what I know. We can spend so much time trying to do things that turn us into someone we are not that we lose sight of who we really are. In our text this morning, Peter reminds us of who we are, so if you are willing and able, I would ask that you please stand out of respect for God’s word as we read 1 Peter 2:4-8. I will be reading from the ESV. Now it is important for us to keep at the forefront of our mind when reading through 1 Peter that he is writing to those who are scattered exiles. Therefore it would have been effortless for them to lose site of who they are and whose they are. However, the point of being an exile is that you are different, and we are called to be different in this world as Christians. We not only need to see our privileges as followers of Christ, but we also need to see our priorities.

Now as we read this perhaps, you noticed that there are several things that we are going to have to deal with in this text so what we will see is that we have this priority and privilege of continually coming to Jesus, and that we are the house of God, that His story is our story. Finally, we will see the sin of unbelief. The beauty of our privilege is when to us as more glorious anguish the backdrop of those that stumble and dishonor Christ. So first, lets notice that we have this priority and privilege.

I. We continually come to Jesus.

Look at verse 4; it starts off with these words “as you come to him,” that is a present participle that has the means of “as you continually come to him.” So Peter is obviously y not just talking about salvation or our converse here, but instead, it is or daily communion with the Lord. It is coming to him in worship, prayer, and through his word daily.

Now it is glorious because, as Christians, we have this wonderful priority and privilege to come to the living stone that the builders rejected. Now, of course, a “living stone” is an oxymoron as stones are not really alive. It is meant to grab our attention. The fact that Christ is a stone means that He is a solid foundation on which we can build our lives. Peter will go on to say that He is the cornerstone of the church, and just like you want to make sure that you build your house on a solid foundation since everything rests on the foundation, it should be with our life. Jesus Christ is the only foundation that will stand for all time and eternity. You can put your trust in Him, and you will never be disappointed.

Jesus is not just the stone on which we build everything, but he is the living stone. He is living in that he died for our sins, but was raised from the dead, and is victorious over sin, death, and hell. He is the author and the giver of all life, and he imparts spiritual life to all who believe. Jesus is alive, which means Christianity is not a religion of following dead rituals; instead, it is a relationship with the Lord of this universe. We come to Jesus every day, building our lives on what He has provided for us in His death and resurrection.

We build on Christ by our belief in Him. I no longer trust in my own works; instead, I rest completely on who Christ is and what He did for me when He died on the cross in my place. We know Christ, and our Christian life is a process of continually coming to Him and discovering who He is. Listen, if you are not consistently coming to Christ in personal devotion to build your life on Him as revealed in His word, then your priorities are wrong, and you are building your life on sand. If the church refuses to keep God central in all they do by not continually coming to Christ in all they doe then the church is building work on sand. We must continually come to Jesus and not negate prayer, and worship, and bible study. He is to be central in our private times, and when we gather on Sunday morning, it is to be all about Him.

Secondly, notice that we have this priory and privilege.

II. Believers are the house of God (the Church)

As we look at verse 5, the implications are clear. We are told that we are also like living stones built into this spiritual house, and then we have some characteristics listed here. So now, not only is Jesus the living stone, but then we are compared to living stones, and we are being built into a house. We are living stones because Christ is the first living stone; he is the foundation, and we are being built on top of him.

There is this paradox here of living stone compared to the Old Testament house of God, the temple which was made up of dead stones. In the New Testament, God’s temple is not the building made of dead stones, but the living and breathing people of God. Some of you may remember we discussed this in our study in 1 Corinthians.

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.

As believers, we are the temple of God, God lives inside of us. Now understand this if together we make up the body we make up the church, what does that mean? That means that we are dependent on one another, at least as far as the church is concerned. There is no such thing as a Christian priesthood where only a few are doing the ministry. Listen in the Old Testament only the priest could draw near to God b offering sacrifices and incense on the altar. Only the High Priest and only once a year could enter the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the people.

That is no longer the case as believers; we have direct access to God, but we still need one another to make up the church. We are never called to walk this life alone. We need each other this is the point of what Paul drives home in 1 Corinthians 12:20-21

As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

If I come up to you and hand you brick, it can only be used to minimal things, it is of little use by itself. I mean, you could throw it and break something, but when you take that brick and put it with other brick, it’s usefulness is maximized. The same is true for us. Apart from one another, we will never complete the mission of God that he has called us to carry out either individually or corporately. Some of you listening to me today are walking around apart from other living stones in the house of God, and it is not ok because we are building the church, and it is a continual process.

We know this because verse 5 says that we are being built up into the house of God. The word being means we are not where we need to be yet. This is a work in progress, just like building anything; it takes time. Often, we get discouraged when we see sin or failure in the church, and we want to give up. I know what that is like. I have gone through times like that, but we must be careful about giving up on ourselves because that is what we are doing, and we must be careful about giving up on others as well. We are a work in progress. God is not done with me yet, and he is not done with you either. We are being built into this spiritual house.

Now the cure for disunity in our families and in our church bodies with that we are to grow into this Spiritual House as we continually come to him. Let me illustrate this as I Often do in marital counseling; we can use a triangle. At the point of the triangle is Christ, and on the two sides are individual members of the church, and as we continually come to Christ, we not only get closer to Christ, but we draw closer to one another.

If we focus on getting closer to Christ, we will centrally find more intimacy and joy with other members of God’s house; however, the person who focuses less on God will find more to complain and grumble about, they will find more to be upset about. Often, the only question that one needs to ask when they are struggling with other unbelievers is how much time they are spending in prayer and reading their Bible. If you are not aiming for Christ at the point of the triangle, you will find yourself further away from other believers, and instead of building the house of God, you will be breaking down the house of God. So we must continually come to Christ and build God’s house up. Some things I want to share quickly about being the house of God first we are to worship, second we are to be holy, third we are a priesthood.

A. We worship

Because we are the church, everything that we do can be an aspect of worship. We are told to offer spiritual sacrifices, so what is that talking about? Well, it should cause our minds to immediately think of Romans 12:1 "I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." The point is that everything that we do can be an actual of worship and done for the glory of God. Witnessing is a sacrifice we can offer to God, giving our tithes and offering a sacrifice offered to God listen to Hebrews 13:15-16 "Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God." This is referring to everything we do in our Christian life should be a thank offering to Christ.

Our worship is not restricted to a time and space; everything we do can be worship because we are the temple of God. So whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, do it all fo the glory of God (1 Corinthians. 10:31). Are you a teacher teach for the glory of God, you want to help someone help them for the glory of God, you want to usher, be a greeter, take a meal to the sick or shut-in, Give money, sin, pray, lead a Bible study, counsel someone, run a marathon, get in shape, everything we do is to be for His glory even our eating and drinking. Your motive for what you do is not human recognition your motive is to be Lord does this please you, Lord how can I glorify you in this? You see, our lifestyle is to be an act of worship; it's not about coming in and singing songs and calling that worship it is our life.

B. We are to be holy

In the Old Testament, everything that was in the temple was set apart as holy, even the drinking cups. Now, as we have read and have seen from other scriptures, we are the house of God, and it does not just say that we are priesthood but a holy priesthood we are to be holy. We can learn a little bit more about this concept of being holy from Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3:17. that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

This text reflects our need to be holy. Paul is praying for them to be strengthened in the inner man so that Christ "may dwell" in their hearts. Here is the thing Christ was already dwelling in their hearts because they were Christians, so what does it mean what is Paul talking about?

In the original language, there are two words for dwell. One is to dwell as a visitor; the other is to dwell as a resident, and in this passage, the word dwell is speaking of the latter Christ taking up residence in them.

Now here is my challenge. I believe that in many churches and in the lives of many believers, Christ is not at home. He is more like a visitor; he is just visiting in our church or visiting in our heart. Paul is saying no Christ needs to be at home. The reason why Christ is like a visitor in many of our churches and in many of our lives is because they are not fully under Christ's control. What do I mean by that? What I mean is that Christ is not consulted at all in most of what we do. We don’t bother to ask him about the things of everyday life he is not treated as the owner of our life or our church, but just a visitor, this is exactly why Paul later in Ephesians commands them to not grieve the Holy Spirit.

We grieve the holy spirit by living in a way that is not consistent with Christ being in control of our life. You see, Christ must be at home in our lives and in our churches, and that is displayed but holiness. I'm not talking about perfection, but I am talking about living a life that is pleasing to the Lord in all we do, and that gives him the glory. May Christ be at home in all of our lives and in our fellowship of believers. The point of being called a holy priesthood is to see a noticeable difference between a holy priesthood and a pagan one. So here is the question what are we called to do in order for Christ to be at tom in our life and in our church?

C. We are a priesthood

Priests were chosen by God, and Christian are chosen by God. Priests were purified by the shrinking of the blood of animals. Christians are purified by the shrinking of the blood of Christ. Priest offered prayer on behalf of the People Christians offer prayer on behalf of others. Priests were anointed with oil, and the Holy Spirit Christians are anointed with the Holy Spirit. Priests had access to God, and once a year, the high priest could access God's presence in the holy of Holies. Christians can access God anytime, anywhere. Priests offered sacrifices, Christians offer spiritual sacrifices. Listen, if you are a believer, you are part of the priesthood.

Now you might say what kind of sacrifices do we offer? Well, we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1), praise as a spiritual sacrifice (Hebrews 13:15), Righteous acts (Hebrews. 13:16), Giving (Heb. 13:16), Evangelism (Rom. 15:15-16), Sacrificial love for the saints (Ephesians. 5:1-2), Prayer (Acts 10:4).

Too often in churches, we relegate ministry to those who are pastors only. However, the priesthood of believers means we all have a part to play all believers are to be doing the work of ministry and pastors are given for the purpose of preparing the church for the work of ministry (Ephesians. 4:12)

Believers are to do the work of ministry, this is not reserved for some sort of super Christian. All through the New Testament, we see followers of Christ doing the work of ministry far too often. The church is prevented from being effective because ministry is left to the few, and the priesthood of believers denies this fallacy.

Now, this does not mean just anyone can serve I the role of pastor, or elder, or even deacon because the scripture does give qualifications for those roles, However, as a general principle. The priesthood of believers means that each believer should be offering some spiritual sacrifice as the Scripture commands.

III. His story is our story

Have you ever read a good story, and you kind of read yourself into it? We all want to be the prince or the princess or the king or whatever it might be there is not a man who had watched the movie gladiator when he says in the coliseum ""My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next." You just get goosebumps, and then later, he defeats Commodus. Stories resonate with us because that is how we want things to be. The great news of the gospel is that we ourselves live in this grand story of a great fall from grace a redemption by the blood of Jesus Christ and a looking forward to final victory.

Jesus, the divine Son, the chosen Lamb of God, came to live on earth because all of humanity had chosen futility; this is what Peter explains in chapter 1:18-21. Jesus came and shed light on our futile way that we inherited from our forefathers we were born outside of the perfect Garden of Eden born into a world of sin and death. Jesus, in his death, ransomed us with his blood. In his resurrection ad ascension, he entered into his glory, and he calls us to share it eternally. Or fall was taken by him on his cross, and he won the victory and shares it with us by faith.

So by faith, we come to Jesus, and we are united with him, and his story becomes our story. We are now children of His God and Father sharing in the living hope of his resurrection and his eternal inheritance. Whatever the cost, we must now have faith in Christ, we can persevere through pain, suffering, and shame brought upon us but the world, because we know our inheritance is secure. In the end, we will be victorious. Jesus has become our cornerstone; we will not be put to shame according to verse 6; we may experience shame now, but one day it will all be reversed. One day Christ will be revealed, and we will obtain our ultimate salvation. This honor is for all who believe Peter tells us in verse 7. We are right now I the middle of this story, Peter is showing us the conclusion so that we will keep walking toward it.

However, it is not all great news because we also see

IV. The sin of unbelief

In verse 7, we have these words, "but for those who do not believe," things do not turn out the same for everyone. The glory of Christ and believers is most evidence against the backdrop of the destiny of unbelievers. For those that do not believe there will be dishonor.

In this time, builders would choose rocks before they were even brought to the site; if the dimensions were not perfect, the rock was discarded; that is what Peter says happened to Jesus; he was rejected, but he became the cornerstone. Those stone used to get the perfect angle for all directions for the entire building.

There are many reasons people reject Christ today; one of them is because he has declared that he is the only way to heaven. People want a god that submits to their will, and therefore they reject a Savior on which they are called to build their lives upon. Listen, Jesus did not come to bring peace but t iodide humanity between those that believe and do not believe (Mat. 10:35-37). Jesus is an offensive, divisive figure who demands total allegiance. He is either the cornerstone or nothing. He is not a brick in our building; our life is to be built on him. To all those who hear this, it is either great news the best news in the world, or it is terribly offensive. Because Jesus is offensive, we must expect to be rejected. This is not a license to be obnoxious, rude, arrogant, or condescending. Our behavior should not be offensive, but the truth of Jesus will be. If no one is ever offended by our Jesus, then we better as what Jesus do we have?

Now Peter says people stumble over Christ, and he says the reason they stumble over his us because they were destined to do so. They were destined to reject Christ. Now, this is tough, and many pastors will just pretend like this is not here because they don't want to deal with it, but here it is, so we have to deal with it, so we will.

A. The doctrine of reprobation

Now I need you to please bear with me for a few minutes longer here because this is not easy to deal with, but I believe is essential in preaching the whole counsel of God's word.

What is very clear in Scripture is that God chose some to be saved before time who will receive honor. The doctrine of predestination and election are clearly seen all through Scripture, and anyone who tries to deny that is denying what Scripture teaches. Paul says

Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. Ephesians 4:1-6

For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. Romans 8:29-30

You cant deny election form Scripture. The primary controversy is this question. "Why did God elect some? Did he elect people based solely on his sovereign right to do so, or did he do so because he knew the elect would believe?

Now it is my firm belief that God elects because it is his sovereign right to do so (Romans 9:19, 20). Now, if election was not controversial enough, there is an aspect of election known as reprobation. If God chose some to go to heaven, did he then, in the same ways, choose some for eternal damnation?

By necessity, the doctrine of God electing some to salvation means that some had to be passed over. This is called reprobation, God passing over some for salvation. However, the question is, did God elect these people to be damned? There are those that believe that God ins the same way he elected some to eternal life, he elected others to be eternally damned. This is what is known as double predestination, some call it hyper Calvinism. The question is, is there any Biblical support for this.

First, let me be very clear the Bible never uses the word elect for those who are passed over in salvation. Therefore the term double predestination is not all that helpful because it necessitates that God handled election and reprobation identically. The term elect is reserved for those who were chosen for salvation before the beginning of time and not for those who were passed over. Therefore, Scripture never teaches that God elected some to damnation. Why?

There is no need to elect the lost the entirety of humankind is under the judgment of God's wrath for sin. There is a need to elect some for salvation from those who deserve judgment. With that said, there is some sense in that those who were passed over were predetermined before time. How do we know this? Roman 9:22

What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, There is a way in which people are prepared for destruction.

Listen to what Jude says about it in Jude 4

For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Jude says the false teacher's condemnation was designated long ago. This seems to be referring to a time before creation as we look again at 1 Peter 2:8

and "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

They stumble over the message of the gospel, which they are destined to do. Therefore we must understand that in some sense, there are those who chose not to obey God and are somehow part of his plan before time.

Paul teaches us that God works all things in conformity to the counsel of his plan "In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,"

Does "all things" include damnation? Proverbs tells us that even the destruction of the wicked is a part of God's plan, "The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble."

Why? Why would God allow this why would he allow sinful people to disobey him as part of his plan I the first plant what is the benefit or purpose in that?

Well, the purpose is like everything else; it is for his glory. There is a sense in which God brings glory to himself by showing mercy to those who have sinned and yet are elected, while in antlers way he reeves glory by bringing his wrath against those who have sinned. Look what the Bible says about Pharaoh For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Romans 9:17

God hardened Pharaoh's heart for the purpose of God's name being proclaimed throughout all the earth. Paul goes on What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, Romans 9:22.

So God chose to show his wrath and make his power known by the destruction of the wicked. Everything God does is for His glory. Which of the fallen angels did God show grace to? None! They all receive justice, which was his wrath. People are constantly crying out for justice and what is fair. What is fair and just is that we all go to hell; none of us deserve mercy, but because God is a God of justice and mercy, he elects some and sovereignly passes over others to show his glory. I heard Rc Sproul says, "the question not why does anyone go to hell, but the question is why does anyone go to heaven.

God elects some and passes over others, and the process is different. The lost are not elect, they are sovereignly passed over in the counsel of God's will. We may sit back and say well that is not fair, but God is not subject to human standards of fairness He is God, what is ultimately fair resides in the counsel of God because God defines justice and goodness (Psalm 100:5). The best thing is for God to receive glory.

All the nation feared God because of his destruction on Pharaoh, and God raised him up for the purpose so that many could see God's glory and fear him. In the same way, even though there is sin and evil I this world. Our God will ultimately somehow use it for his glory.

Conclusion

I close with this. God has written the end of the story, and it will come to pass exactly how He intends. Jesus will return at his appointed time to judge the right and the unrighteous. Those who have trusted in Christ will be appointed to receive honor, and those who have rejected him to receive shame.

Have you trusted in Christ as your savior and Lord? Is he precious to you? If not, he can be you can trust in him as your savior today. You can pray to him, Lord Jesus; I belie you are the Son of God and died to forgive me of my sins. I know I have sinned. I ask for your forgiveness. I turn from my sin today, and I receive yo was my savior and Lord. Thank you for saving me. I want to live for you the rest of my life Amen.

If you said that prayer, you can send me a text message I have the number up on the screen you can text the word faith to 3093-328-3488.

Secondly, Peter is writing to believers to encourage them. So often we accept who the world says we are? Who are you? We do not need to be discouraged God shows us we are special but here is what I want to know this morning are you continually coming to Jesus? Are you offering spiritual scarce to Him seeking to be built together as the body of Christ? Maybe you need to commit yourself to this local church? His story is our story. Lastly, let me ask you this are you seeking to proclaim his excellencies to those that are in darkness so that they too may know the savior and rejoice in his coming honor and glory.