Stones and Sacrifices: Peter's Mixed Metaphor for the Church (1Peter 2:5) | Worship Service

Good morning, good morning and welcome to Kootenai Church.

We're glad that you are here today.

Would you please stand as we begin our worship service this morning with a call to worship from Psalm 118?

And it says open to me the gates of righteousness.

I shall enter through them.

I shall give thanks to YAH.

This is the gate of Yahweh.

The righteous will enter through it.

I Shall give thanks to you for you have answered me and you have become my salvation.

You are my God and I give thanks to you.

You are my God.

I exalt you.

Give thanks to Yahweh for he is good.

For his loving kindness endures forever.

Let's sing together the psalm.

Psalm 118 the glorious gates of righteousness.

Good

morning,

all

the

announcements

are

in

your

book

your

bulletin.

So

nothing

from

me this

morning.

Would you turn with me to the book of Ephesians.

Our scripture reading this morning is chapter 2 of the book of Ephesians Arguably this

morning the best book in the Bible.

Until Dave gets up here and preaches from Peter Ephesians chapter

2 and You were dead to your trespasses in your trespasses and sins

in which you formally walked according to the course of this world According to the prince of the power of the air

of the spirit that is now working in the sense of disobedience.

Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh Indulging the desires of the flesh

and of the mind and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest.

But God being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us

Even when we were dead in our transgressions Made us alive together with Christ by grace.

You have been saved and Raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places

in Christ Jesus in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of

his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus for by grace you have been

saved through faith and that Not of yourselves it is the gift of God not as

a result of works that no one should boast.

For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk

in them.

Therefore Remember that formerly you the Gentiles in the flesh who are called on circumcision

by the so -called circumcision Which is performed in the flesh by human hands.

Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ Excluded from the Commonwealth of Israel

and strangers to the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For he himself is our peace Who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the

dividing wall?

By abolishing in his flesh the enmity which is the law of Commandments contained in ordinances that in

himself he might make the two into one new man thus establishing peace

and Might reconcile them both into one body to God through the cross By it having put to death

the enmity and he came and preached peace to you Who were far away and peace to those

who were near for through him?

We both have our excess in one spirit to the father.

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens you are fellow citizens with the Saints and

Are of God's household having been built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets Christ

Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together is Growing into a

holy temple in the Lord In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God

in the spirit.

Would you stand with me as we pray?

Father even today You are about the business of building your church into a

glorious Edifice that will be to the praise and to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is your spirit that is at work in the minds and souls and hearts of your people

bringing those whom you love and those whom you have chosen to yourself to Build that church and make it

an edifice that proclaims the glory of Christ in the world today So that all might say see how they love one another

Lord we Beg you today that we would be Participants in that that we are in fact participants in

that and as you are building your church.

We want to cooperate and Be that edifice that will give glory to the Lord Jesus Christ in everything We

say and everything we think and in everything we do.

Thank you for your grace in you Christ Jesus and it is in his name and for his glory.

We pray.

Amen.

Let's sing together.

Oh great God.

This

is

14 to 16.

Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens Jesus the Son of God

Let us take hold of our confession.

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses But one who has

been tempted in all things like we are yet without sin.

Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace So that we may receive mercy and

find grace to help in time of need.

We're going to end our music this morning and sing together before the throne of God above.

I.

Forgot to turn the microphone on.

Before we get started and you can start turning in your Bibles to 1st Peter chapter 2 will be in verses 4 through 10.

But while you're finding your place just a couple of quick announcements Jim's not here today.

So if this is your first Sunday, please give us at least one more chance.

Like that and Jim today is celebrating a very important day.

Deidre's dad Fred.

It's having his 90th birthday.

So that's what they're doing.

So I don't know if you guys are watching but a happy birthday friend.

What we're talking about Jim and you're finding your place one more announcement.

October 3rd through 5th at First Baptist Church of Mustang, Oklahoma G3 is going to have a regional

conference on cessationism.

Featured speakers are Josh Bice Tom Pennington Conrad and Bayway Mike Riccardi Scott annual

our friend Virgil Walker our longtime close friend Justin Peters and

One other speaker that you may know international author James Clancy

Osmond.

So he did not want to announce that himself, so I'm doing it for him.

In light of this I'm sure that you would all like to have all of his books autographed and He's

willing.

He said he will stay as long as you need him to The next several Sundays, so make sure you

do that first.

Peter 2 Verses 4 through 10

and coming to him as to a living stone, which has been rejected by men.

But his choice and precious in the sight of God you also as living stones.

Are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus

Christ.

For this is contained in Scripture.

Behold I lay in Zion a choice stone a precious cornerstone and he who believes upon him will not be put to shame.

This precious value then is for you who believe but for those who disbelieve the stone which the builders rejected this became the chief

Cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.

They stumbled because they are disobedient to the word and to this stumbling they were also appointed.

But you are a chosen family a royal priesthood a holy nation a people for God's own possession.

So that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

For you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God you had not received mercy.

But now you have received mercy.

Let's pray together Father indeed.

We are the people of God of people that have received your mercy people that wish to proclaim your

excellencies.

And so Lord, I pray today that I would preach as one who has the very oracles of God.

And I pray that I would pray only the great oracles of God the word that is in front of us today.

And I pray that we would all listen as those who are listening to the oracles of God.

Only insofar as your word is preached.

Well and consistently.

That your word is preached accurately and Lord I pray that these your people would remember what it is that you'd

have for them that they would apply your word.

These are your people and your spirit and your word.

So I pray Lord that you would have your way with them Lord in Jesus name.

Amen.

In his best -selling book sapiens a brief history of humankind Atheist you've all.

Noah Harari writes this as far as we can tell from a purely scientific viewpoint human life has

absolutely no meaning.

Humans are the outcome of blind evolutionary processes that operate without goal or purpose.

Our actions are not part of some divine cosmic plan and if planet Earth were to blow up tomorrow morning.

The universe would probably keep going about its business as usual.

As far as we can tell at this point human subjectivity would not be missed.

Hence any meaning that people ascribe to their lives is just an illusion.

That's a happy way to start a Christian message, right.

Well, if his assumptions correct.

Then his assertions, correct.

He assumes there's no God and therefore no divine cosmic plan.

For the atheist all the universe is just an accident just a series of coincidences.

There can't be any objective actual purpose for all that's happened and is happening.

That will happen all of humanity.

All humanity has is a delusion.

That's the only meaning.

It's just a subjective story that we we tell ourselves about meaning.

Without God without his divine cosmic plan.

There is no real meaning.

There is no purpose to life.

It's no purpose to anything.

There's no reason to do anything.

There's no reason to go on living at all.

Harari of course is dead wrong in his assumption that there is no God and no divine plan as an atheist.

He is utterly without wisdom.

He's without the fear of God.

That is the beginning of that wisdom.

There's no anything about it.

There is in fact a purpose for everything that happens and we know what it is.

You know what it is.

It's the glory of God.

The purpose for everything is God's glory.

All of it exists so that God will be glorified all of history everything that happens and has happened and will happen

Is for God's glory.

Romans 11 36.

For from him and through him and to him are all things to him be the glory forever.

Amen.

We can go a little further than that.

We can connect his overarching this overarching purpose of God's glory to the creation.

To human history in that creation all the way down to the events of our individual lives to whatever happened to you this morning.

This very day and into eternity future.

God has chosen to glorify himself and he's done it by certain means certain methods

certain acts.

He's chosen to demonstrate his power and goodness in creation.

He's chosen to express his perfection in the creation of a race of image bearers.

To whom he does good.

He shows to us and through us His worthiness to be glorified

and so receives glory.

He's chosen to reveal himself progressively to men so that we can worship him and learn truth

about him.

We exist to glorify him ourselves and to cause other people to glorify him as.

They observe his life in us.

They learn his truth from us.

But they also observe what would otherwise be impossible from us.

Were it not for the work that he does in us and through us.

So all of history exists for the glory of God.

That's its purpose.

There's also a motif in the story a repeated pattern in the story.

God's reaching out to create for himself a family a kingdom of people people with whom he can share a nearness

of fellowship.

Union communion, that's the primary means by which he will accomplish the good end of his

glory.

So we can say that history is the story of God and man.

God relating to man.

Human history is that it's God's story.

God's its author.

He's the main character in it.

Man's a character in it a supporting character a player through whom God glorifies himself.

So we can say that the relationship between God and man is the focus or the theme or the the thread of of all of history.

That you know unifies history.

We can see it in biblical history from the beginning of time.

God has used various expressions of his nearness to man his relationship to man.

It's a fascinating study one worth going into in great detail and but that would be the

entire story of the Bible.

So I'm going to hit some highlights of this.

Relationship of God to man is how he expresses his nearness to man and the purpose of that.

I'm going to make sure that we are all.

We all understand and have in mind the historical reference that animates the metaphor that we see in 1st Peter 2, okay.

So God begins his communion with man in the creation in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve in the garden before the fall.

He continues and here I jump through history.

He continues to bless Abraham and the patriarch patriarchs right.

Abraham Isaac Jacob.

With his nearness the special kind of near presence all the way down to the sons of Jacob in Egypt.

He presents himself then to Moses at the burning bush.

He shares his covenant name with Moses.

He presents himself in a special way on Mount Sinai and in what Moses

refers to as the tent of meeting.

Where Yahweh would speak to Moses face to face just as a man speaks to his friend.

He was in present with the people of Israel in the pillar of cloud and fire.

That culminated in the building of the tabernacle in about 1400 BC.

God had a special symbolic presence with his people.

His presence was among them in the form of a created glory cloud the Shekinah glory a symbol of God's purity and power.

That cloud moved into Solomon's temple when it was built at about 1000 BC that that temple was

intended by Solomon to be a permanent dwelling for God's glory a permanent symbol of his near presence to his people.

But over time, you know that due to the horrible sins of his people the worst of sins God's glory departed from

the temple.

His nearness his union with the people was broken and that temple was destroyed in 586 BC.

There was a second temple known as the river belts temple.

It was built after the exile in 516 BC.

The promise there was that glory God's glory would return to it.

Haggai 2 9 the latter glory of this house will be greater than the former that seems to indicate God's glory would

fill this second temple and even greater way than it filled the the first temple in the tabernacle.

But there's no record of the visible return of that glory cloud.

Instead some of you know where I'm going here that second temple even though it was renovated and

expanded.

Couple times it became known as Herod's temple.

It ultimately did see the return of God's glory and in its most

Visible for its truest most actual form the reality of God in human flesh.

That temple saw the actual presence of God in the form of Jesus Christ the Son of God.

That second temple was destroyed in 70 AD.

Now here's where we get close to our passage the dead stones of that building.

They were taken down and scattered.

It was disassembled disorganized unbuilt.

We call the wailing wall or the Western wall is actually part of a retaining wall.

I'm not actually part of the temple structure.

Those stones were torn down just as Jesus said they would be Emmanuel God with us.

Jesus Christ fully represents the nearness of God to man.

He is the means by which we relate to him God to man in and through a divine

human person.

The gospel of Matthew begins with a declaration of God with us.

This is Matthew 1 23 behold the Virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son and they shall call his

name Emmanuel.

Which translated means God with us?

Matthew's gospel ends with the words of Jesus behold.

I am with you always even to the end of the age.

God with us.

John's gospel begins with the revelation of Jesus Christ as the Word who became flesh and dwelt or tabernacled

among us.

We beheld his glory glories of the only begotten from the Father full of grace and truth.

Jesus referred to himself as something greater than the temple.

So he is he is the actual presence of God with man one divine person in two natures fully

God and fully man.

Uniting God and man as no other manifestation of the presence of God with man could ever do.

Man may now come to Christ to God himself.

Without reference to geography we draw near to him.

We glorify him as we declare his excellencies the truth of God's Word the truth about God.

We are fulfilling our purpose being made back into his image and fulfilling our purpose from creation as his image

bearers His purpose for everything his glory.

That brings us to our passage.

We're going to be focused on verse 5.

But we got to back up to verse 4 so that you can Kind of get the full context of it.

So this is 1st Peter 2 4 and 5 and coming to him as to a living stone.

Which has been rejected by men, but his choice and precious in the sight of God.

You also as living stones are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual

sacrifices Acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

So in verse 4 coming to him.

It's not a command.

It's an assertion that Peter asserts that his readers whom he has identified as believers throughout the book

have been and are in fact Coming to Christ another translation of that verse of that verb is drawing near

drawing near to Christ.

So Peter asserts that we have come near to Christ having tasted the goodness of the Lord.

We have drawn near to Christ and we continue to draw near to him.

And then he begins an extended stone metaphor for Christ.

He begins it with the words as to a living stone, which has been rejected by men.

But his choice and precious in the sight of God and it's that dichotomy of views

right there in that verse that divides humanity into its two camps and

Actually provides some unity within those two camps from time to time.

There are those who agree.

Christians are those who agree with God that Jesus Christ is that living stone.

He is precious his choice.

Unbelievers are those who reject Christ deem the stone to be unworthy of their devotion.

That's the contrast that continues all the way to verse 10.

Peter repeatedly Emphasizes the implications of being of esteeming Christ in one way or the other rightly or

wrongly.

Right.

That was the emphasis last time I preached which I'm sure you all boned up on yesterday.

Listen to that recording.

It's okay.

I would actually was thinking about doing a potpourri thing today, too, but I didn't so.

But today we're going to look at the privilege that we have as those who have esteemed Christ as he is as

God says he is choice and precious.

So we're focused on that one side the privilege associated with with having drawn near to him.

So verse says having come near to Christ.

Verse 4 says having come near to Christ having believed on him.

Then having esteemed him correctly as God the Father does as choice and precious.

Then Peter tells us in verse 5 that you also as living stones are being built up.

As a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

You also.

You also continues the thought.

Extends it from verse 4.

You also are those who are coming near to Christ those who have esteemed the Living Stone rightly.

You also as living stones as living stones and we have to think about that.

We believers are living stones, but Christ is the Living Stone.

Peter refers to Christ as a living stone and to us as living stones.

Other than the number of the noun the plural of the stone and the stones at the same same words.

So what's the significance of this double use of the same metaphor wants to mean Christ and wants to mean those who are

his.

And I think there's two levels of significance to the connection.

One is simply to reflect our identification with Christ as Christ is a living stone.

So make Christians we called living stones to reflect their union with Christ.

We are as he is.

Just as the name Christian.

That's one.

We all gladly accept.

That's a label that we we adopt without shame.

It identifies us with Christ.

So Peter refers to both Christians and his disciples as living stones.

Interestingly a side note the word Christian appears in the Bible three times once in Peter in a kind of

similar vein to say.

It's a label that we we accept without shame.

But I think more than just the idea the kind of raw notion of identity Peter is emphasizing a Result of

that identity a result of that union both Christ and his people are living stones.

We live because he lives.

We have the life that Peter describes in this epistle eternal spiritual life.

Because of our connection with Christ.

We're living stones because we've drawn near to the living stone.

It's our union with him that has resulted in new life.

All right.

It's that's our life the life of ongoing sanctification that Peter talks about throughout this book.

Going ever nearer to Christ growing ever more into the image of Christ.

So we are regenerated living stones because we've drawn near to the eternal resurrected

living stone.

Then we living stones are being built up as a spiritual house.

Having become living stones, we don't just remain scattered about disorganized uncoordinated

unassembled.

Without any other use or purpose.

Like the stones of the temples that no longer exist.

We're not scattered around like that.

God continues to work in us and through us for his glory.

He builds us up together into something identifiable unified something design.

Something created with purpose with specific uses and and activities roles.

So God's this is this is what I wrote this sentence and I thought I don't do.

I want to say this sentence.

But it's true.

God's purpose for redeeming each of us is more than our redemption.

It's more than the glory.

He receives in that redemption as great as it is.

He is he continues to do more.

He does more in us and through us for his glory individually and corporately we're being built up

as a spiritual house.

We're being built up and the builder is God.

Peter refers to the group a group of human builders in verse 7 foolish builders who

reject the living stone.

But here the builder is God for whom the living stone is chosen and precious.

God is the wise builder of the building the spiritual house with Christ as its cornerstone on which it's

built.

If the stones in the building are individual believers and the builder of the building is God.

That's good.

Then.

What is the building?

What is God building from these admittedly rough and meager materials?

What's the structure?

He says he's building a spiritual house.

It's a strange term.

Start with the word house.

It's boy costs.

It's just a standard word for a house.

It could mean your house and my house.

It's also sometimes refers to the people in the house.

It's sometimes translated as household or family.

I Could even refer to a nation the house of Israel.

It's used that way.

What cost sometimes refers to God's house?

Meaning the temple or the tabernacle those places remember where God's presence was especially near to

those devoted to worship.

It's used that way in in that sense in connection now to the church.

Peter uses that way in chapter 4.

I Didn't write down the verse, but it's in chapter 4 you have to read all of chapter

4.

For it is time for judgment to begin with a house of God the house of God and if it

begins with us first.

What will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

So you see there the house of God refers corporately to the believers to whom the letter is written us.

This is also the meaning here.

God is building up a house that house is composed of living stones.

Those who have by their having tasted of the kindness of the Lord and having drawn near to the living stone.

Now become part of this spiritual edifice a recognizable functional

building a.

House.

So the historical the historical reference of the metaphor is to the tabernacle in the temple the

house of God.

Place wherein God once dwelt in that kind of special nearness to his people.

That's the essence of the church.

It's the presence of God on earth with men regenerate sinners.

People now and dwelt with a life of Christ now living the life of Christ an eternal life a new life changed life.

We serve a valuable purpose now each of you in your spot in the dwelling place of God on earth today

his tabernacle his temple.

His body his bride his church his house, and it's a spiritual house.

Spirituals from Pneuma the common word for breath and spirit.

It's the adjectives used 26 times in the New Testament.

It's always always translated spiritual in any in any of the translations that any of you would

hopefully read.

Okay, there's a few out there where you know who knows how they came up with the words that that will use something else.

But any translation that's out there in ASB SV NIV King

James any of those that you guys might possibly be reading LSB of course spiritual.

It's that adjective is used only twice by Peter and in I think at all

in either First Peter second Peter only twice both of them in this one verse.

First the spiritual house and to the sacrifices that we'll get to later.

The kids are thinking the word of the day of sacrifice, and he's hardly said it at all don't worry.

You'll catch up.

It's coming.

So spiritual.

What does it mean here?

I think it has two levels of meaning it generally does and and it's here.

I think it does it can mean regenerate like spiritually minded.

Like opposed to earthly or worldly minded of the spirit of the Holy Spirit

akin to words like holy and godly.

And.

Morally superior more like God and We have become in that sense spiritual people.

We are people that have the Holy Spirit.

We are focused on spiritual matters.

We are focused on eternal matters.

We are.

We worship a God who is spirit.

And is eternal.

We we don't love the world's system and the things of the world that are passing away

sinful things.

We We have moved on from there.

We are a spiritual house and a spiritual house requires spiritual stones.

And so you are if you've been regenerated by the Holy Spirit if you've been made alive to respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You're spiritual in that sense, but I think it's also in the sense of just more basically not physical.

He's making that point.

This is a spiritual house as opposed to the physical tabernacle in the physical temple.

It's a spiritual edifice an invisible structure, which is a reference to the invisible church

but we obviously have physical visible church buildings and You guys are both

spiritual and visible physical beings.

What you see here is not the church.

This is not the spiritual house of God as you look around you you see a part of it perhaps.

But neither the structure nor this particular group of people is the house of God.

The church has always made the biblical distinction between the visible and invisible church.

Peter refers to the invisible church the spiritual house of God, so all believers of the church age.

Now we do have to be careful on this.

We do gather physically.

Visibly as we are commanded, and it's best for us.

Read your newsletter.

Virtual church.

Streaming church is not church.

Doesn't count.

There's a there's a physical component to us, and we are commanded to gather together physically.

But we understand that all visible church congregations are mixed sheep goat herds.

They're mixed a gathering of living stones and dead rocks.

All right, so this spiritual house is the invisible church then that Peter mixes the metaphor.

Makes the metaphor actually impossible, and this is not uncommon for biblical metaphors.

We are living stones part of a spiritual house that that metaphor makes sense.

Houses can be made of stones.

But we're also a holy priesthood.

Doesn't fit anymore, so now we have to let the reality take hold of our minds more than the metaphor the metaphor is.

We are said to be the spiritual house of God, but also priests of God offering sacrifices to God.

We're the building, but also those who occupy it and and serve God within it.

The metaphor is impossible.

But the reality is true.

We do comprise a unity and plurality one holy Catholic Church one church comprised of many

individuals.

One building of many stones, and we are also individually priests of God and comprised together a

holy priesthood.

So priesthood refers here to the total body of priests the group of all priests all those who are priests and Equates them

with the church in general with the house and the stones that are in it.

We don't attain some special office of priesthood.

We there's there's nothing you see that here.

There's nothing in the priesthood that is distinct from our condition as Christians as being part of the church.

There are distinctions in the church and in local churches in role.

But not in access not in priestly access.

We all have the same access through the same high priest and Savior.

All right, so that's the that's what the concept of priesthood is centered around is access.

The priest is an intermediary between God and man.

He has access to God to offer sacrifices on behalf of himself and other people.

The Old Testament model was a man of a particular set of qualifications.

Ancestral physical.

You know a little person couldn't be a couldn't be a priest.

There were physical requirements there were moral qualifications.

For the man who would serve as a mediator between God and his people and he would offer Prayer and sacrifice to

God on their behalf.

He was also give instruction from God to the people he served as an intermediary.

But believers have unfettered and direct access to God the Father because of the work of our high priest Jesus Christ, we've

been justified By grace through faith in Christ, so we may approach the Father

justified and share our hearts with him directly.

We're at peace with him.

We're in union with him.

So we're priests and we're said to be holy.

This is a little bit confusing.

A holy priesthood.

In chapter 1 here's why in chapter 1 we get a command to be holy.

This is if you look back at chapter 1 verses 14 through 16 as Obedient children not being

conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance.

But like the Holy One who called you be holy yourselves also in all your conduct.

Because it is written you shall be holy for I am holy.

There's a command to be holy.

But now here Peter tells us a few verses later that we are holy a holy priesthood.

So what gives?

Well, we know that there are kind of phases to holiness.

We are made positionally judicially forensically holy.

We are declared perfectly holy before God because we've obtained an alien righteousness the

Righteousness of Christ.

That's our justification.

But in addition to that at our conversion when we are regenerated we are set apart and actually made

practically more holy.

We are morally better as Converted people no longer totally depraved.

We are stronger over sin.

All right, we're freed from the overwhelming power of sin still has power, but it's not overwhelming

anymore.

We are not its slaves.

We are if we subject ourselves to sin.

We are its willing subjects as regenerated believers.

We are not slaves.

We love Christ now our love for sin has been replaced right.

Replaced by a greater love love that we were made for

and in that sense.

We're holy we have that initial sanctification at conversion.

That love for Christ grows it further overwhelms our love for sinning has it crowds it out of our life as we as we grow.

That is progressive sanctification.

Our love for Christ continues to just crowd out that love for sin.

We draw near to Christ and further and further away from sin.

It's our ongoing repentance.

So we are completely holy positionally.

That's our justification.

We are made practically more holy at our conversion that is our initial sanctification and we are

being made more and more holy and into the image of God through our lives and that is Our progressive

sanctification fulfilling the command to be holy.

So we are a holy priesthood and a holy nation while in the process of being made holy.

And you always have to talk about sanctification first Peter.

That is what the book is all about it.

It's what life is all about.

That's we learn from Peter, but he can refer to his readers and to us by extension as a holy

priesthood.

Because of what Christ has done the regenerating work of Christ whatever sanctification he has done so far

in you.

So if you are a Christian you are practically actually holy.

To one degree or another not perfectly you are set apart though and being set apart to God a holy

priesthood.

Okay.

Well, what do priests do?

What do we do as priests of God in the new covenant kids get your pencils ready we offer up

sacrifices as did the Old Testament priests a Little bit different you see

immediately.

These are not dead sheep and bulls and goats.

We don't lay those on an altar.

They're spiritual sacrifices.

Same word spiritual here meaning really emphasizing immaterial.

Not physical they're not the same as the physical bloody sacrifices of the Old Covenant.

Spiritual sacrifices.

Well, what exactly are those?

One thing I've learned in years of teaching is that people love lists and I

hardly ever give a list in preaching or teaching.

So here's your day.

You get a list.

There are seven things in the list.

I'm going to list out what the Bible refers to as spiritual sacrifices, and I'm going to I'm not going to

comment on them except one.

Maybe one or two of them.

We'll see how it goes.

Seven of them the first one of the sacrifice of your whole self body and mind

sacrifice of yourself.

Romans 12 1 & 2.

Therefore I exhort you brothers by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a sacrifice.

Living holy and pleasing to God which is your spiritual service of worship.

And do not be conformed to this world that be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may approve what the will Of God is

that which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Number two is the sacrifice of love.

This is Ephesians 5 1 2 therefore be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in

love just as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us an Offering and a sacrifice to God as a

fragrant aroma.

The third is a sacrifice of giving Philippians 4 18, but I owe this is Paul speaking, but I've

received everything in full and have an abundance.

I've been filled having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent a fragrant aroma an acceptable

sacrifice.

Pleasing to God and what Paul received from Epaphroditus was a material gift financial gift.

Number four is a sacrifice of praise Hebrews 13 15 through him then let us

continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God.

That is the fruit of lips that confess his name.

And this one deserves a little bit of content comment because of the context of our passage.

Peter refers to this in verse 9 if you look down to verse 9 of 1st Peter to Proclaiming the excellencies of

him who has called you out of darkness to his marvelous light.

That's.

That's what we do.

That's why we're here.

That's why we're priests that that's the point of it all.

We are to proclaim the excellences excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

That's what we're to do offer him the praise.

He deserves for his ways and his works and his attributes and his acts.

That's what we're doing here.

But that's what we do on Sunday mornings.

We come all the way out here.

That's what we do.

We do it loudly in song.

I love.

I look what you know, I like to be in part of a small church Not gonna lie knew everybody

was nice I was nice because now I don't know everybody's name.

But it's not I love also having oh, yeah, like we talked about this.

Who do we who do we kick out?

We don't want to kick anybody out.

So.

What I would think I love about a large church is we sing so much loud.

It's beautiful.

Right when when it's small you can hear individual voices and sometimes, you know I used to sit in front of

Lanny or Lanny sat in front of me and we would criticize each other.

It's beautiful loud praise to God.

I love it.

There's nothing.

It's not anything much better than that.

I used to love to go to a the Iwana conference when we do in Iwana.

You have a thousand people singing God's praise.

It was it was great.

Think what heaven's going to be like loudly singing the praises of God and then we also do it quietly.

As we pray together and as we listen to the word preached and we think about God and we think about

his greatness.

We give him glory.

But we're supposed to do that continually according to Hebrews 13 15.

I'll just continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God.

So not just on Sunday.

Our praise must always be ready.

We always Be thinking about him and his glory and the things that he's done for us and and just how

he is and who he is.

And what he's done.

Let it let his praise always be on the tip of your tongue and even let it spill out.

When you're at work and you're talking to your friends and family, that's a spiritual sacrifice offered by a spiritual

priesthood to your God.

Number five the sacrifice of service.

This is the next verse in Hebrews.

Hebrews 13 16 and do not do that neglect doing good and sharing.

Or with such sacrifices God is pleased.

The sacrifice of gospel proclamation Romans 15 15 and 16, but I've written this is

Paul again.

But I've written very boldly to you on some point so as to remind you again because of the grace that was given me by God for me

to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles ministering as a priest the gospel of God.

So that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable having been sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

That's a pretty beautiful passage.

I hadn't planned to do any comment on that, but Kind of struck me as I'm as I'm reading that.

Sharing the gospel.

He's presenting to God Gentile converts Paul's work of the gospel

sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Very very similar to this language number seven the last one the sacrifice of prayer.

Revelation 8 3 and 4.

And another angel came and stood at the altar having a golden censer and much incense was given to him so that you might add it to the

prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne and The smoke of the incense went up with the prayers of the

saints out of the angels hand before God.

So there are some sacrifices that are that are part of these Spiritual sacrifices and they're said

to be acceptable to God.

The Old Testament sacrifices generally were not sometimes they were.

But if you look up sacrifice in the Old Testament you read through what God has to say about the Old Testament Sacrifices you'll see

a lot of references to God's displeasure.

They are they either didn't offer them at all.

They offered them to idols.

They offered them wrong the wrong way or for the wrong reasons.

They didn't understand or think about what they were doing.

They did it without repentant hearts.

These were sinful inconsistent hypocritical unacceptable offerings read Isaiah Jeremiah

Hosea Malachi.

Unacceptable and in contrast these sacrifices are acceptable to God that God is pleased with the

sacrifice.

Holy pleased with it.

With the effort and with its fruit he's pleased with the motivation with the thought and the act so what pleases

him.

What makes these acceptable?

Well, you can see that they are offered through Jesus Christ.

It's Christ that gives us life it Christ that makes us living stones and not dead rocks.

It's his gospel that frees us from total depravity that that makes us that absolute slavery of sin.

It makes it impossible for us to do anything truly good.

It's Christ that makes our sacrifices acceptable to God and I think I'm thinking of this

in three three ways.

Three ways you can understand this first.

The offering is acceptable because the offerer is made acceptable through Jesus Christ.

Right.

The priest is made holy made acceptable through Jesus Christ.

The believer isn't at war with God anymore.

We're not an enemy of God because of the the life of Christ and the work of Christ on our behalf.

Imputed to your account the basis of grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

We are children of God.

We're friends of God.

We're his people we can serve him you can do things.

They're actually pleasing to him.

Second we can think of the offering it itself being made acceptable as it's received through the mediation

of Jesus Christ.

As Christ receives the offering he renders it holy he renders it acceptable.

Through his mediation on the way to the Father Christ sanctifies our sacrifice.

He makes it acceptable.

So what would that mean in practical terms?

It means that the things that we do as sacrifices to God the things that we do like the things that were listed there.

They're still messed up that they're still tainted by our Remaining sin they're incomplete.

They're messy.

And Christ's work as high priest and mediator is he removes the mess he perfects the work

and makes it acceptable to Christ.

Third we can think of the offering being acceptable truly acceptable because it's offered according to the will of Christ.

It's offered in a way that's acceptable because it's been offered consistently with the revealed will of God.

So much as Christ says we can pray for anything in his name and he will do it.

We can make these sacrifices through Jesus Christ and they're acceptable.

To do in his name and through him to do according to his will or in his power.

Let me give us a little bit of context.

This is John 14 13 through 15.

Whatever Jesus speaking whatever you ask in my name.

This will I do so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If you ask me anything in my name I will do it.

The prosperity preachers all know that verse 15 if you love me, you will keep my commandments that

gets left off.

Right.

What does it mean to do something in my name?

If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

It's not just thrown in there.

If the believer is going to ask according to his name it must be consistent with his commandments the principles of his word.

That's what would make the offering the sacrifice acceptable to God.

So whether the correct interpretation is is one or all three of those.

We know we we live we are building blocks of his church in his temple.

We are priests with access to provide acceptable service only because.

Only because of having come in contact with the living stone the cornerstone of the

church the great high priest.

So we can put all that together in context and I think we can understand the full meaning and significance of what Peter's is

sharing with us.

So again, first Peter is about sanctification.

We can never leave that behind.

Sanctification gives meaning to what would otherwise be meaningless this life of the believer.

We're not immediately transported to heaven when we're saved.

First.

Peter is the answer to the question.

Why not?

All right, God uses the trials of this life he uses all the events of this life.

He wants to accomplish his ultimate purpose his glory by doing good to us.

By setting us apart for himself as a house of living stones a holy priesthood.

He's called us his children in this Book before he will refer to us as his

family.

His nation his people he's setting us apart.

So we can enjoy him.

We have to learn how to live in heaven.

And that's the purpose of this life.

So i've listed out some biblical examples there.

I think there are enough.

You can say that any sacrifice that we we as his high priest offer that or is his priest.

That we offer to him through our high priest that is consistent with his revealed will.

It's offered in the spirit of soli deo gloria.

That that is pleasing and acceptable to God.

I don't think we could say that in the broader context of first peter.

We can say that those sacrifice are sanctifying those those acts those deeds that we do as sacrifices to God.

They are sanctifying and maturing for us as believers.

Those who offer them they have a promise of reward.

In the broadest context of our whole biblical worldview kind of what we started with.

We can say that by offering these sacrifices.

We are participating in the cosmic plan.

The ultimate purpose of God which is for his glory.

We are willing active participate participants in the story of history.

We wish to glorify God that is our that is our purpose and privilege as people and priests of God.

At his triumphal entry into jerusalem the disciples began to praise God.

Rejoicing with a loud voice for all the miracles.

Which they had seen saying blessed is the king who comes in the name of the lord peace in heaven and glory in the highest.

And some of the pharisees in the crowd said to him teacher rebuke your disciples.

But Jesus answered and said I tell you if these were silent the stones will cry out.

Well, eventually those disciples were silent so it has fallen to us.

Right the privilege of crying out the praises of our savior.

It's fallen to us.

Not dead stones by the road, but living stones made alive by our union with our savior.

We are built into a spiritual house of God a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices

acceptable to God.

Let's pray.

Father, we are uh, we are beyond grateful for the great gift of our savior.

To be made uh to be redeemed to be made at peace with you and more so to be made your

children.

It's beyond abundantly beyond anything we could ask or even think.

And so we offer our your praises.

Naturally reasonably and so may we do so well lord.

May we may we do the things that you would have us to do in your way.

And even now as we go to praise may we offer praises appropriate to you in christ's name.

Amen.

Would you please stand as we end our service this morning and sing together how deep the father's love?

Now

may

the

god

of

perseverance

and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another

according to christ jesus.

So that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the god and father of our

lord.

Jesus christ.

You are dismissed.