He's got me Tripping and Stumbeling

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I. INTRODUCTION

A. Opening illustration:

Joseph Smith—a prophet to some, and great deceiver to others.

Martin Luther—a great theologian and reformer to some, and a heretic to others.

Mohammed—a prophet to 1.2 billion people, and a murdering pedophile to others.

Passage:

1 Peter 2:6–8 KJV 1900

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. 7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, 8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

B. Background to passage:

Peter in his letter to suffering Christians about how they should live in such a time as this, instructed them about the foundations of life.

He gave us a lesson in practical Christology.

He goes back to quote the OT three times.

He didn’t talk about the hypostatic union, nor the inter-Trinitarian relationships, but about the effects of Christ on men.

There was two purposes of his line of thought: 1) to remind the believers of the greatest of all treasures and 2) to remind them that unbelievers would act like unbelievers.

C. Main thought: Christ is at the same time the object of greatest worth and the greatest offense.

II. BODY

A. A precious treasure to believers

1 Peter 2:6–7 KJV 1900

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. 7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,

1. Peter asserts that believers will not be ashamed or disappointed in Christ, because He is the chief cornerstone.

Quoting Isa 28:16, Peter discusses the sure foundation that God has laid in Christ.

God, Himself, speaks of His estimation of Christ’s value here. “A stone, the chief cornerstone, precious in My sight.”

The word used means “unequalled in value, irreplaceable or extremely costly.”

God views Christ as the most valuable thing in existence. Cornerstones in that day were of the utmost value. It was the stone that held together the building, that gave alignment to every other stone, that set the standard for other stones, and that determined whether or not a building would stand.

It was invaluable to have a cornerstone that was properly cut and placed.

Matthew 7:24–28 KJV 1900

24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. 28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

1 Corinthians 3:11 KJV 1900

11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

3. Illustration:

Vincent von Gough

A painter of landscape scenes always kept in front of him on his easel a number of precious stones-emerald, sapphire, and ruby.

Asked why, he replied, "To help me keep my colors true. In course of time, without some constant reference, my eye might lose its perception of color tones, and the colors I choose may not be right, may not be what they once were."

Thats what Jesus is. He is the way, the truth and the life. He is the foundation, the corner stone, the unchanging one, the same yeterday, today and forvere.

With Jess we will always know what light looks like and what darkness looks like. We will always know what evil is and what good is.

What Makes Jesus so Precious to us?

1) We can be assured that Christ will never fail us, never mess up, never forsake us, never give up, give in, or give out.

We never have to apologize for Jesus, forgive Jesus, nor make excuses for Jesus.

Christ was and is perfectly cut and perfectly placed.

2) Because God values Christ as precious, so should we. Because God treasures Christ, so should we!

This is the reason that God can be passionate about His own glory, because in giving Himself away and making His name great, He is giving the most valuable thing ever to us.

Is Christ your treasure? Is He the most valuable thing to you? Is He more important than your kids, than your job, than your spouse, than your ___________?

Do you seek Him more than these? Do you love Him more than these?

So powerful must our love for Jesus be that he said:

Luke 14:26 KJV 1900

26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

What is he saying? He is saying that our love for Jesus must be so grteat that our love towards our family should look like hate in comparison.

3) Christ is the foundation on which our lives are built upon. If we stand, we stand in Christ!

If in Christ, we shall never ultimately fall.

4) Ultimatly what makes Christ so precious is tghat which he shed on the cross to purchase us and wash away our sins:

1 Peter 1:18–19 KJV 1900

18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

There you have it.

Jesus is our rock, our most precious attraction, our savior nd the highest object of our love!

And yet, as much as hge is all this and more to us, to others:

B. A deadly obstacle to unbelievers (v. 7-8)

1 Peter 2:7–8 KJV 1900

7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, 8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

1. Peter speaks now as an eyewitness to the rejection that Jesus experienced when He was on earth.

He explains that to unbelievers, those disobedient to the gospel and to the word, Christ is a great offense.

Quoting again from the OT (Ps 118:22 and Isa 8:14), He says that Christ is a stone upon which people stumble over.

Peter says they “rejected” Him; a word meaning to examine and deem unworthy of an office.

They rebel or stumble over Him because they are actively opposed to Him and His Word.

Why?

They have moral issues in their lives that cause them to be offended by any who would impose a moral standard.

Luke 20:18 KJV 1900

18 Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

John 3:18–21 KJV 1900

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

In the same way that a criminal is offened by a searchlight shinning on him as he commits his crime, so to the sinner hates and is offened by Jesus as he shines the light of righteousness on him as he commits his sin!

4. Unbelievers don’t simply reject Christ out of ignorance.

They have enough knowledge given them in their conscience and in creation to cause them to look for God.

Therefore unbelief is utter rebellion against what they know about God. Immorality is the reason Christ is so offensive.

This is why abortionist, homosexuals, moralist, agnostics, atheist, etc, hate Christ.

I do not hate Krishna, Mohommed or Budda - they dont offend me.

1: They are not real and 2: They do not set a standard of conscience.

The unbeliever rejects and hates Jesus because they do not want a standard, nor a God who will hold them to it.

But the other application of this text, is that God will ultimately punish sin, and crush the rebellious, unbelieving, unrighteous people that chose their own way.

God uses all things, including unbelief to accomplish His purposes, and bring about His glory to the ends of the earth.

III. CONCLUSION

A. Closing illustration:

Did you know that this was exacally why Jesus spoke and taught in so many parables?

55 parables are in Mattherw Mark and luke, and one day when the disciples asked him why he used parables to teach look at what Jesus said:

Mark 4:10–12 KJV 1900

10 And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. 11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: 12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

The Parables will either soften the hearts of the humble or harden the hearts of the proud.

The parables satisfy the longings of the simple but frustrate the questions of the wise.

Jesus is either our rock, foundation, cornerstone and precious solid ground.

Or he is a stumbeling stone, a hazard, a danger to our comfortible sinful of liofe.

B. There are only two kinds of people in the world—those that treasure Christ and those who stumble over and reject Him for comfort.

The former will inherit their treasure, and the latter will ultimately be crushed under the righteous judgment of God.

C. Invitation to commitment