Jesus Christ, the Living Stone (1 Peter 2:4-10) | Worship Service

Well, good morning, and we welcome you all to Kootenai Church.

Would you please stand as we begin our worship service this morning with a call to worship from the book of Philippians.

And it says in chapter 3, verses 7 to 11. But whatever things were gained to me, those things

I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be lost because of the surpassing value of knowing

Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish so that I may gain

Christ and be found in him. Not having a righteousness of my own from which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God upon faith that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

So this morning, let's sing together in Christ alone, declaring our faith and salvation rests solely in Jesus Christ, our cornerstone, our solid ground.

Let's sing together. In Christ alone, my hope is found, he is my light, my strength, my song, this cornerstone, this solid ground.

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm, what heights of love, what depths of peace, when fears are still, when strivings cease, my comforter, my all in all, here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, who took on flesh, fullness of God in helpless faith, this gift of love and righteousness, scorned by the ones he came to save, till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied, for every sin on him was laid, here in the death of Christ I am.

There in the crown his body lay, light of the world by darkness slain, then bursting in glorious day, up from the grave he rose again, and has lost its grip on me, for I am his, and he is mine, all through the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me, from life's first try to final breath,

Jesus commands my destiny, no power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from his hand, till he returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from his hand, till he returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

I was lost in darkest night, yet thought

I knew the way, the sin that promised joy in my life, at first I would refuse to sin, but as I read of this plague, you suffered in my place, you bore the wrath,

Jesus is my life, hallelujah, hallelujah,

Jesus is my life.

Now Lord I would be yours alone, and live so all might see, the strength to follow your commands could never come from me, oh father use my ransomed life in any way you choose, and let my song forever be, my only host is you, hallelujah, all

I have is Christ, hallelujah,

Jesus is my life, hallelujah, all

I have is Christ, hallelujah, Jesus is my life, hallelujah, all

I have is Christ, hallelujah,

Jesus is my life. Come behold the wondrous mystery, in the dawning of the

King, he the theme of heaven's praises, will bethrail humanity, in our longing, in our darkness, how the light of life has come, look to Christ who caught this end, and took on flesh to ransom man.

Come behold the wondrous mystery, he the perfect son of man, in his living, in his suffering, never trace the stain of sin, be the true and better Adam, come to say, but how about Christ the great and sure fulfillment of the law in him we stand, come behold the wondrous mystery,

Christ the Lord upon the tree, in the stead of ruined sinners, hangs a lamp in victory, see the price of our redemption, see the

Father's plan unfold, bringing many sons to glory, grace unmeasured, love untold.

Come behold the wondrous mystery, slain by death the

God of life, but no grave could ever restrain him, praise the

Lord he is alive, what a foretaste of deliverance, how unwavering our hope,

Christ in power resurrected, as we will be when he comes, what a foretaste of deliverance, how unwavering our hope,

Christ in power resurrected, as we will be when he comes.

You may be seated. I've got a big box of Bibles up here, and I'm going to hand these out here, and I'm going to ask some people to come up.

Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you any questions. It's not an interview. You know who you are.

We do this with our seniors every year. Eric Heyman. Eric, I saw

Eric earlier. There he is. Just come on up. Come stand up here. Iola, you on it?

John Pronitis. Ryan Razor. Arla Palmer.

One, two, three, four, five. Okay. John, here's your Bible. Eric. I didn't wrap these, you guys.

That's for Ryan, and that's for Iola, and for Arla.

Thank you. So we do this every year, and the question is, why do we do this?

These, by the way, we do MacArthur Study Bibles for the seniors, and we've done this for a long, long time.

I was trying to think when we started this. I think it goes back to Tim, Tim and Megan, back in those years.

If you don't know who Tim and Megan are, they're grown up and moved away. So we've been doing this for a long time, and we give the

MacArthur Study Bible because we think it's the best study Bible out there on the market. We've given the kids the opportunity to choose between kids.

We've given the graduates the opportunities to choose between an LSB or a

MacArthur Study Bible, and then choose their translation. Well, for those of you that are graduating next year, we're not going to offer that choice anymore, because the

LSB MacArthur Study Bible will be available. Your choice will be in color, and whether you want your name on it, and stuff like that.

We do that because, again, we think it's the best study Bible around. What do we want for these kids? It's the same as their parents want for them.

We want them to glorify God with their lives, and the way to glorify God is to know the truth about Him, and to live according to what

He has commanded us to do. The only way to know truth about God, and to live according to the way that He's commanded us to, is to learn the

Bible, is to know the Bible. That's why we do this. Also, it gives us an opportunity to have them stand up here, and you can see them.

If you are not too old, and you remember back to when you were this age, I'm at the point where I can barely remember it, but you have to make really important decisions at this time in your life when, in a lot of ways, you're the least well -equipped that you're ever going to be to make those decisions.

That's just a fact of life. We all went through it. The Scripture is your key. It will tell you what decisions to make.

Not every detail, but it will give you those principles that you need to make the right decisions to live rightly. I want you guys to all see them, so you can be praying for them, and offer your help and your wisdom.

This is part of why we are here together as a church, is to support one another. Now you see who they are.

They're the best -looking people in the church. That's always the easy part. Help them, offer them your wisdom, and just be there for them.

Let's pray for them together. Father, we are grateful for this class of graduates.

We just pray for them. We know that they've got to make some really important life decisions, and we pray that they would rely heavily on you, that they would study your

Word, that they would talk to people who are wise in your Word, and that their lives would be just great lives that glorify you, no matter how painful or distressing they may be, that they would be living according to your

Word. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. All right. Thank you. See, that wasn't bad, was it?

Well, it shows you how old Dave is. I remember my graduation like it was yesterday. Fresh in my mind.

Turn your Bibles, would you please, to the Book of Luke, to the Gospel of Luke. It's chapter 20. And while you're turning there,

I'll just remind you that next weekend is our equipping conference. There is still a link on the website if you want to register for next weekend.

Next Sunday, Owen Strand will be here to do adult Sunday school class as well as to be preaching.

And then after that, I'll be back in the pulpit. And after the service today, if you don't mind giving us a hand stacking the chairs into stacks of seven or eight, that would be very helpful for us.

We have to set up for the conference, which means we do some thorough vacuuming in here and set up tables and tablecloths and all of that stuff.

So enjoy the fellowship, but at some point, just pitch in if you don't mind and help stack chairs. Luke chapter 20, beginning at verse 9, and he began to tell the people this parable.

A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to vine growers and went on a journey for a long time.

At the harvest time, he sent a slave to the vine growers so that they would give him some of the produce of the vineyard, but the vine growers beat him and sent him away empty handed.

And he proceeded to send another slave and they beat him also and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty handed.

And he proceeded to send a third and this one also they wounded and cast out. The owner of the vineyard said, what shall

I do? I'll send my beloved son, perhaps they will respect him. But when the vine growers saw him, they reasoned with one another saying, this is the heir.

Let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours. So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy these vine growers and will give the vineyard to others.

When they heard it, they said, may it never be. But Jesus looked at them and said, what then is this that is written?

The stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief cornerstone. Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces.

But on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust. Let's pray together. Our father, we are grateful that we have the opportunity and the joy to gather around your word each and every

Lord's day to celebrate as your people redeemed and called out of this world.

We thank you for our salvation. We thank you for the chief cornerstone, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was struck in our place, who was beaten and wounded for our transgressions.

We thank you that in your good and sovereign providence that you put your love upon us, your people, before the foundation of the world, and then you sent your beloved son into this world to die in our stead.

So we thank you for that great mercy. We pray that our hearts and our minds may be filled up with the knowledge of Christ today and a love for him, that we would see him as precious, that we would regard him as worthy of all honor and glory and dominion and power.

We pray that you would cast our trust and faith and obedience upon him. Thank you for your mercy in calling out a people for yourself.

Thank you for the joy and the glory that it is to gather together and to worship you. We pray that you would be magnified through our worship and through the affections of your people as we turn our hearts to you in praise and adoration for the glory of Christ our

King, in whose name we pray. Amen. Would you please stand as we sing together the solid rock.

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest fame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

On Christ the solid rock I stand, whole other ground is sinking sand.

Whole other ground is sinking sand. When darkness fails his lovely face,

I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.

On Christ the solid rock I stand, whole other ground is sinking sand.

Whole other ground is sinking sand. His hope, his covenant, his blood support me in the whelming flood.

When all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay.

On Christ the solid rock I stand, whole other ground is sinking sand.

Whole other ground is sinking sand. When he shall come with trumpet sound, oh may

I then in him be found. Dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.

On Christ the solid rock I stand, whole other ground is sinking sand.

Whole other ground is sinking sand. On Christ the solid rock

I stand, whole other ground is sinking sand.

Whole other ground is sinking sand. In Colossians chapter 1, verses 15 to 20, it says,

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible.

Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him.

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church.

Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself will come to have first place in everything.

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things to himself.

Having made peace through the blood of his cross, through him weather things on earth or things in heaven.

We're going to sing together, Behold Our God. Who has held the oceans in his hands?

Who has numbered every grain of sand?

Kings and nations tremble at his voice.

All creation rises to rejoice.

Behold our God, seated on his throne.

Come, let us adore him. Behold our

King, nothing can compare. Come, let us adore him.

Who has given counsel to the poor?

Who can question any of his words?

Who can teach the one who knows all things?

Who can fathom all his wondrous deeds?

Behold our God, seated on his throne.

Come, let us adore him. Behold our

King, nothing can compare. Come, let us adore him.

Who has felt the nails upon his head?

Bearing all the guilt of sinful man?

God eternal, humble to the grave.

Jesus, Savior, risen now to reign.

Behold our God, seated on his throne.

Come, let us adore him. Behold our

King, nothing can compare. Come, let us adore him.

Behold our God, seated on his throne.

Come, let us adore him. Behold our

King, nothing can compare. Come, let us adore him.

You may be seated. Well, good morning.

Turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter 2. Our text today will be verses 4 through 10.

Before we get started, I'd like to pray for the Father.

I continue to pray that the people here would truly value you,

Lord. They would put the right value on the Son. That they would esteem this Living Stone properly.

That they would not be among those who would reject this Living Stone and suffer the consequences eternally. I pray,

Lord, with all of my soul that your Holy Spirit would move among them. I know there are people here that don't know you, that have never put their faith in Christ.

And so I pray that they would do that this morning. And for the rest of us, Lord, that we would glorify you as we contemplate the greatness of our

Gospel. In Jesus' name, amen. So 1 Peter 2, verses 4 through 10.

Before we read that together, I have to ask you a very important question. Does pineapple belong on a pizza?

Yes. How many amens? Did I get some amens? All right. Anybody who's just really against that?

Yeah, okay. So I don't really know why this is, but if you go on social media at all, especially it seems like Christian Twitter, you'll find it's a very important question.

It divides the world, it divides all of humanity into irreconcilable warring factions.

There's one side that loves those precious little trapezoids of sweet and sour juiciness, and there's other people that, for them, it's an abomination, a gastronomic abomination that ruins this otherwise perfectly fine, cheesy treat.

Amen. It's a difference in values.

Now, not moral values. Listen, there's no morality at stake here, okay? There's no biblical ethics involved.

It's just that one camp likes them, and the other one doesn't. One camp esteems them highly, and the other one doesn't.

But there are other places where how we value things actually matter. They have some far -reaching impacts.

For instance, education. How we value education changes the way that we train our kids, and it changes the trajectory of their lives, for good or ill.

Again, I'm not asserting a moral, an ethic in any of that. It's a difference in the way that we value it.

It has a difference in life. Nutrition and fitness, another example, right? How we view that, how we view the importance of fitness will determine much important things about our lives one way or the other, and it can be overemphasized, underemphasized.

Again, I'm making a moral argument. It's just that the way that you value this thing can matter.

There are more significant dividing lines the way that we value a pre -born child, the way that we value the environment or personal freedom.

Those things matter. So the point of this little exercise, little introduction is not about pineapple, but it's how we value things.

How we value some things, how we, our estimation of the value, somebody here

I didn't know is here. Hi, Dan. How we put value on those things has an important impact on our lives and on our futures, even potentially for our eternal state.

So we're going to see today that this one most important valuation, this one most important, most momentous estimation of worth and character is the determining factor for not only this life but for all of our eternity.

So what we think of this one thing, how we value this one thing, what we believe about this one thing, this one most important thing, it defines the only eternally relevant distinction between human beings.

Nothing else matters. This is the only valuation, the only estimation that has that kind of crucial implication for your eternal state.

That one distinction is obvious to most of you, most all of you. What is the value of Jesus Christ?

What is He? Who is He? What's He worth?

How important is He? What do I do with Him? Now we can ask that in other ways.

Have you believed in Christ or have you not? Somebody loves pineapple.

Very insulting. Have you repented of your sins and put your faith in Christ or have you not?

That's the question, right? Are you resting entirely for your salvation on the perfect life and atoning work of this resurrected

Savior, this God, man, Jesus Christ, or are you not? Do you believe that He's worthy?

Do you think He's valuable, that He's precious? Or is He nothing? A myth, non -existent, worthless.

Or maybe a good teacher, a little bit of value. A misunderstood mystic. Maybe no more valuable than Buddha or Muhammad or Moses or Superman.

That's the question. How do you esteem the living stone? That's how the question is posed in our text.

Are you among those who reject Him? Or do you esteem Him as living and precious and worthy, worthy of your faith and your devotion?

1 Peter 2, 4 -10. In coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men but is 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 stumble 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.

This is a transcendent passage of Scripture. You see in this passage here so much of the gospel, the great benefits, the privileges to those who are in union with Christ.

So I want to start with a quick survey through the passage. What do we see here as you look at this passage?

First we see Christ. He's referred to as the living stone there in verse 4. That's the metaphor that you see immediately.

There's an allusion to some Old Testament passage. Right there in verse 4 there's allusion to the Old Testament passages that Peter's going to use later on.

He's going to use to restate and emphasize the point that he makes in verse 4.

You see that Christ is referred to as a choice or chosen stone, a precious cornerstone, a rejected stone, a chief cornerstone, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.

The stone metaphor you see is applied to Jesus Christ. He's the stone, and one's estimation of the value of the stone stands as the determining factor for one's earthly life, also for one's eternal destiny.

He's either chosen and precious and believed upon, you see that, or he's rejected, he's disbelieved, he's stumbled over.

In one case you see very positive results of esteeming Christ accurately. You see that we are, believers, are referred to as living stones, as a spiritual house, a holy priesthood.

We're said to offer spiritual sacrifices with which God is actually pleased. We'll not be put to shame.

We're referred to corporately as a chosen family, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, the people of God.

It says we've received mercy. Our purpose is given to us in verse 9.

We are what we are in Christ so that we may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light.

On the other hand, there are those who reject the stone. They reject Christ, and they're said to stumble in their disobedience.

They're to be offended by Christ and his gospel. By contrast, they remain in darkness.

They're not called out of it. They remain not a people. They've not received mercy. So it all depends on Christ, doesn't it?

The trajectory of your lives on earth, and much more importantly, your eternal destiny depends on what you do with this stone.

What is your relationship to Christ? Reject him if you esteem him as unworthy, unworthy of your devotion.

Then your destiny is darkness, and all that accompanies that. All the agonies of eternal hell await.

But if you believe on him, if you esteem him rightly, you esteem him as God does, biblically, chosen by God, as precious, then you'll have marvelous light, a life of sanctifying trials, as we've seen earlier in 1

Peter. Sanctifying trials, but with inexpressible joy. Union with Christ and his people forever.

You get to be part of this family, this nation, this priesthood. You become one of his people.

You receive mercy. Now there's no question that the essence of the Christian faith, what makes it distinctive from other theistic faiths, it's only this.

It's our estimation of this person, Jesus Christ. Our whole religion, our worldview, it's distinctive only in its estimation of Christ.

Without Christ, what would be the difference between Christianity and Judaism? What's essentially the difference between a

Christless Christianity and another theistic faith? Well, that's a dumb question.

What is Christless Christianity? It's an oxymoron. There is no

Christianity apart from Christ, apart from esteeming him biblically, truthfully, accurately, as precious, as worthy of our devotion, as a worthy object of our faith.

He is the center of our religion. He is the object of our faith. And he is the hinge of all of history.

He is the fulcrum upon which every important human distinction rests, every one that really matters, eternally and ultimately.

All human beings are God's image bearers. They're therefore worthy of dignity and respect and care.

But it's clear that there is a chosen family, a family of God, and that there is a reprobate family, a family of Satan.

There is a royal priesthood. And there is a self -righteous, though sometimes religious, mass of humanity that is far apart from God.

Those things exist. There is a holy nation and an unholy nation. There is a people of God and a people of self and Satan.

There is a people of God and not a people. There are those who have received mercy and those who have not, haven't received mercy to salvation.

There is the city of God and the earthly city. There are only those categories of human beings. Those are the only categories that matter.

One dividing line, two peoples. So, Jesus Christ stands right in the middle of everything that matters.

And he stands right here in your path today. I was reminded of Balaam and his donkey.

The kids love the story of the talking donkey. He stood in the path of Balaam and his donkey.

And he stands in your path in the same way today. Now, the obvious comparison, I am no more eloquent than that braying donkey on my best day, right?

But that donkey was given words to speak. And we have words in front of us.

God has given us these words to hear. And so, I am offering you exactly the same opportunity that that donkey offered his master.

You have that same chance. I am going to spend the next however many minutes,

I don't know, trying to convince you that you right here, right now, are being confronted by the

Lord. You are here. Not that much, right? His word is here.

This word, this passage is here. And you will here and now be confronted by this man, this living stone,

Jesus Christ. And if you haven't already firmly and finally resolved in your mind what to do about him, whether to believe or to harden your heart and reject him, then my prayer to the

Holy Spirit of God continues to be that you will do that. Right now, today, in the next few minutes. I pray he will give you no other opportunity, no way out.

You will see this fork in the road and you will see the signs and you will choose a path. And if you have chosen that path long ago, if long ago you esteemed this living stone accurately and you have devoted your life to him, that road has been long and it can be arduous, and I know that, and the trials can be distressing and heavy, then

I pray that this would be refreshment to you as you re -understand, and you look again at the value of this one in whom you put your faith.

He is worthy of all that you've committed to him. So there's your introduction. I'm going to preview the passage.

Let's start kind of a more detailed exposition with verse 4. Now, you know I'm not going to take a whole passage like 4 through 10 and do it full justice.

We'll come back to it in another way later. This is kind of a preview of the main point all the way through it.

So verse 4 in LSB, it's, And coming to him as to a living stone, which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God.

You can see verse 4 alone isn't a proper sentence. It doesn't have an explicit subject. You have to read it with verse 5 to get the subject.

So let's do that. And coming to him as to a living stone, which has been rejected by men, but is 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 we see from verse 5 that you, Peter's readers, you are the subject.

So it's you who are said to be coming to him as to a living stone. Now, that you would include Peter's original audience.

We know who that is from chapter 1, verse 1. Believers scattered throughout a part of the

Roman Empire that is today modern Turkey. It was clearly intended as a circular letter. It's part of the canon of Scripture.

And so as part of the canon of Scripture, it's intended for you. So you and all believers are the subject.

It is you who are coming to him. You Christians who are coming to him.

So the word translated coming to, that's a participle. It's translated coming to emphasize that the to.

The word carries a connotation of closeness or intensity. It's not only moving toward, but moving to in order to touch or to engage with some intensity.

It's not just a kind of somewhat moving toward. We are said to be coming to this living stone, not just toward him.

The verb that's translated coming to is used a lot in Hebrews. And you may be familiar with some of Hebrews.

You've been studying it for the last 15 years or so. This is Hebrews 4, 16. 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.

Draw near is the same verb that is here translated coming to. So drawing near is a good translation choice.

We are here then not commanded to draw near to him, but we're said to be doing that.

You coming near to him. We are doing that. We have come to him, yes, and we continue to move further toward him.

We are in this process of sanctification. We're being made more into his image. We're growing in our union with him.

We're growing in our communion with him, in our obedience to him, in our devotion to him, in our conformity to him.

Now, I've smuggled in an interpretation of him into that verse. It's obvious that him refers to Jesus Christ, but it doesn't say that.

Him is the Lord just mentioned in verse 3, if you've tasted the kindness of the Lord. But if that's all we had, we wouldn't know if this refers to the triune

God or if it refers to which person of the Trinity this would refer to. But we see it from the rest of verse 4 that this stone is distinct from God.

You see? The rest of the verse tells us that. The stone has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God.

So the stone and God the Father, in this sense, are distinct. So we can understand this to be

Jesus Christ. We know that the stone rejected by men in verse 4, the precious cornerstone in verse 6, the stone which the builders rejected that has become the chief cornerstone, you see that in verse 7.

The stone of stumbling and rock of offense in verse 8. They're all part of this one extended stone metaphor for Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ, the living stone. It's used that way explicitly to refer to Christ. Jesus used it of himself in the synoptic gospels that you saw,

Jim, Red, and Luke. It's in all the synoptic gospels that way. Peter used that same metaphor in Acts, as we'll see.

So we have good evidence that this stone metaphor refers to Jesus Christ. So Peter says, we're coming to him, we're coming to Jesus Christ.

Now, it's possible your translation says, come to him, translates that, instead of coming to him, that participle, translates it as come to him, as an imperative, as a command.

That's not true. That's wrong. There are no commands. It's not a command there.

There are no commands at all in verses 4 through 10, as a matter of fact. This passage is just telling us what

Christ has done, tells us what believers do, what God has done to them in response, and what unbelievers do, and what

God will do to them in response. The passage tells us these things and the implications of them. There are no commands here for anybody to change anything.

There's no direction to think a different way or to act a different way than Peter asserts that people already do and act.

Now, the statement of things as they are, and as they will be, for those who reject Christ, and if that is you,

I pray you hear this, the statement of things as they are and will be for those who reject

Christ is certainly enough to make an unbeliever reconsider how he thinks and acts.

In particular, how he thinks and acts about Christ, how he acts in response to Christ. It's enough to convict and to take the force of a gospel command to believe in Jesus Christ.

But it is incorrect to translate the verbs as commands. Peter is laying out realities, these two reactions to Christ, and he's letting that speak for itself.

A reasonable person would know what they ought to do in response. So then, coming to him, continually drawing near to Jesus Christ, that's something that Christians do, according to Peter.

Similar to other scriptures, 1 John is full of this. Really, all of 1 Peter is ongoing sanctification, growth in our union with Christ is simply something that Christians are said to do.

Reminds me of a chapter in a book I read recently. Chapter four,

I think it is. So the inevitable response of a repentant heart, if you've ever come to Christ for saving faith, if you've ever repented of your sins, put your faith in Christ, you will continually be in the process of drawing ever nearer to him.

Not always in a simple, linear fashion, there are fits and starts and ups and downs, of course, but ongoing sanctification is the normal expectation and experience for every believer, clearly taught here.

So we have come to Christ, we are continually drawing ever nearer to him. Then Peter gives us this really striking metaphor for Christ.

It's almost an oxymoron, or at least it's a paradoxical sort of metaphor. A living stone.

The strangeness of that metaphor gets our attention, but let's look briefly at the words themselves.

They're not mysterious at all, not hard to translate, but we need to be as clear as we can on the language for a particular reason.

What's translated as to a living stone is two Greek words, one means alive and one means stone. Is that good?

Zao means alive or living, it's the common Greek word for that. It just means alive, the opposite of dead, and we'll think about that.

Then lithos is the word for stone, and that is actually important. It's not petra, it's not petros,

Peter does not have himself in mind whatsoever in the passage, okay? So let's get that weird interpretation out of the way.

Lithos means an individual stone, a small stone or prepared stone, and in this case, you should imagine a cut stone, a shaped stone, like a stone for the temple, a stone for a building.

But in this case, a living stone. Strange metaphor. In the natural world, if you took that literally, it would be an oxymoron, a living stone.

There isn't anything more stereotypically dead than a stone, right?

We even have the term stone dead or stone cold dead. Now, I've spent more time than I'd care to admit trying to understand what it means to be alive.

That's a question that has been very interesting, fascinating to me for a long time. What does it mean to be physically alive? What's the definition?

How could you define something that's alive that would exclude anything that is not alive?

And there really isn't an adequate definition of that. It's not at all easy to answer.

So, whatever it means to be alive, whatever that means, one thing we know for sure, a rock does not meet the definition.

That's a good way to test your definition of what it means to be alive. If it could apply to a rock, your definition is wrong.

There's a famous saying that is trying to define nothing. Nothing is what rocks dream about.

You've heard that? Well, why is that a good saying? Because rocks don't dream. Rocks don't think.

Rocks don't do anything because they're not alive. So, why the rock metaphor and why the living?

Why? Well, let's continue with the stone metaphor and we'll come back to the living part.

Peter continues that metaphor. Verse 5, he applies it there to believers calling us living stones. You see that?

Being built into a temple, a spiritual house. Lord willing, we will get back to that idea another time.

We're continuing. We're going to park on this metaphor for Christ. So, he goes back to that metaphor, applying it to Christ in three

Old Testament passages using the stone metaphor. You see in verse 6, Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, and he who believes upon him will not be put to shame.

Then you see in verse 7, the stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief cornerstone. Again, in verse 8, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.

So, this is Peter's metaphor. He uses these three Old Testament scriptures to make this point here regarding Christ as a living stone.

Regarding his mistaken and damning rejection by some and his saving and precious value to those who believe. He uses them to reiterate and develop what he said in verse 4, really.

That Christ is rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God. He's often been wrongly valued by men, esteemed and worthless, but in fact, according to God, and so, in reality, he is truly choice and precious.

So, we're going to take a very brief look at the Old Testament context for each of the passages, and then we'll bring them back together and we'll see how they all fit together in 1

Peter. So, the first of the Old Testament passages, there in verse 6, that's a reference to Isaiah 28, 16.

And you're free to turn back there or not turn back there, that's up to you. You have your Bible in your hand and I don't.

Isaiah 28. Isaiah 28 is a judgment against Ephraim and Judah. So, the passage that is quoted here is a warning to the rulers of Judah against trusting in Egypt to rescue them from Assyria.

So, rather than trusting in God, they were trusting in Egypt. This is Isaiah 28, 14 through 16.

Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh, O scoffers, who rule this people who are in Jerusalem. Because you have said, we have cut a covenant with death.

It was Sheol we have made a pact. The overflowing scourge will not reach us when it passes by, for we have made falsehood our refuge and we have hidden ourselves with lying.

Isaiah was not above sarcasm. Alright, good. Now, verse 16.

Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.

He who believes in it will not be disturbed. So, you see, the leaders in Jerusalem, they were to trust in God's protection and provision, ultimately in bringing a

Messiah as a cornerstone upon which a kingdom would be built. But rather than trusting God, they chose to put their trust in Egypt.

They chose to believe a lie and reject the truth, the truth of God's word, and so they demonstrated their lack of faith in God's power and His trustworthiness.

The Second Old Testament Scripture, that is, what, in verse 7.

I don't have that one there. This is from Psalm 18, and I won't read the whole psalm.

You can turn there to Psalm 118. First of all, we don't know who wrote

Psalm 118. We don't know when it was written. It's written in the first person. You get I and me and my are the pronouns.

So some see this as a psalm of Moses, and there are some similarities with the life of Moses, with Exodus.

Others see this as a psalm of David. Spurgeon was convinced this was a psalm of David, and you'll see some parallels to David's life in it.

Others see it as a psalm written as if it were spoken corporately by Israel. We don't know, but one thing we know for certain is it's a messianic psalm, and much of it is explicitly applied to Christ in the

New Testament. We see it here in 1 Peter 2. So this is verse 1 of Psalm 118.

This is not the one that Peter quotes. That's the theme of the psalm.

It's the first line. It's repeated as the last line. It's praise to God for His eternal loving kindness to His people.

And then verses 19 through 23 of Psalm 118, that's where we'll get our reference. 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.

So you see this is a psalm of thanks for salvation coming from God. And then verse 22, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

This is from Yahweh. It is marvelous in our eyes. That's verse 22 there. You see, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

That's quoted by Peter in 1 Peter 2 .7. Now again, without knowing the original context,

I can't take a position on the original application, but we see that the overarching idea is rejection by some, by some builders, some authority with some accountability.

These people who should have known better, they are rejecting a metaphorical stone that God would assign this important chief cornerstone, this main foundation stone that determined the whole direction, the stability of the entire structure.

It's something truly worthy, truly valuable, stabilizing and important. But they're rejecting it and they should have known better.

They should have esteemed it as precious and highly valuable. That's the idea. The third reference

Peter uses, verse 8, is from Isaiah as well. It's from Isaiah 8 .14. Another judgment from God through Isaiah and the people of Israel.

They weren't satisfied again with what God had provided for them. They weren't confident in His protection. So He was going to bring an invading

Assyrian army, carry them away, and He instructed Isaiah that He, God alone, was to be feared.

And this is Isaiah 8 .13 -15. It is Yahweh of hosts whom you should regard as holy that He shall be your fear and He shall be your cause of trembling.

Then He shall become a sanctuary, but to both the houses of Israel a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over and a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem and many will stumble over them.

Then they will fall and be broken. They will even be snared and caught. You see the contrast.

Any who would put their trust in God would find Him to be a sanctuary, a safe place. But those who would put their trust, their esteem in something else, in anything else, then

God Himself becomes a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over. So that gives you a rough idea of the context of those passages.

Peter puts them together into this metaphor of the living stone. So in verse 4, again, 1 Peter 2, verse 4, the living stone has been rejected by men, but it is choice and precious in the sight of God.

That's the contrast. That's Peter's point. He uses elements of those Old Testament passages to reiterate that and emphasize it.

So we see that. The stone that refers to Christ is choice, chosen, precious. It's a cornerstone.

It's someone in whom belief is warranted and justified. It's a safe and sure faith. It makes the point of the true value of Christ.

The stone is rejected by the builders, those who ought to know better, often the leaders of God's people. Yet still you see

He is the chief cornerstone over and over again making the same point. In the

Synoptic Gospels, Jesus used this metaphor to indict the leaders of His day. You heard that in the parable of the vine growers, those who rejected

Him as Messiah, who killed the landowner's son in the parable.

They would kill the very Son of God. They killed their own Messiah. They rejected this precious chief cornerstone, their

Savior, their King, their God. Reiterates Peter's point. Christ has been rejected by men, but still

He is choice and precious. God will build His temple. He will build His holy priesthood, His holy nation,

His people, His bride, His church upon this cornerstone. Christ is the cause of stumbling and offense.

He is the cause of the pain and frustration that would be suffered by those who disbelieve. We begin to see the implications of that rejection.

Then in verse 9 and 10, Peter goes back, gives us the implications of a right estimation of Christ, thinking of Him as God does, the great benefits and privileges.

So you see the contrast. It's all about making a momentous, pivotal estimation of the character and worth of this man,

Jesus Christ, this stone. Who is He? What is He? What is

He worth? What is He worthy of? What will you do with Him? Or He may be valued, valued as precious, believed upon, to your abundant and eternal benefit.

Peter used this metaphor one other time, at least one other time, recorded in Scripture, and that's in Acts chapter 4.

This is Acts chapter 4, verses 7 through 12. This is his defense before the rulers and elders and scribes of Jerusalem.

This is Peter at his bold, powerful best, Acts 4, 7 through 12. And when they placed

Him in their midst, they began to inquire, or in what name have you done this?

They had healed someone. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers and elders of the people, if we're being examined today for a good deed done to a sick man as to how this man has been saved from his sickness, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the

Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by this name this man stands here before you in good health.

He was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.

Peter uses the same scripture to confront these leaders of the Jews with what they had done with Christ, Jesus Christ the

Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief cornerstone.

He is the living stone. Now you see why that's important.

He's alive. Peter refers to that here in Acts 4, he refers to Christ as whom

God raised from the dead. And here in our text, Peter calls Christ the living stone.

Why does he do that? He's working out the implications of how you value

Christ. What happens if you reject him versus what happens if you believe upon him.

If he's dead, there are no implications. Do what you will to a dead stone.

Toss it in the lake, crush it to gravel, nobody cares. It doesn't matter. There's no implication. Do what you will with a dead

Jesus. If he stayed in the grave, do what you will. Don't come here.

Don't read this book. There's no implications. But a living stone, a living

Christ, the implications of rejecting or receiving him are enormous.

They're eternal. Potentially devastating. I don't know how else to say it.

Probably said it 87 different ways so far. But this one decision, it's this one valuation, this one thing determines your fate forever and ever.

And it's not between degrees of suffering or degrees of reward. That's not what this is talking about.

This isn't gradations of gray. This is not a dial.

This is a switch. It's a choice between utter darkness or marvelous light.

Good and evil. Eternal conscious torment, eternal blissful reward. That's what's in front of you right now.

If you would turn from your sin, you could join him for a difficult, yes, but sanctifying, joyful life on earth in a perfect eternity, in a perfect place with your perfect master.

And even us who will be around you then will be a lot better than where we are now. It's exactly what we want.

Or you can just hold on tight to that precious sin. Just hold on to that. Reject him.

Live a difficult and purposeless and joyless life and then have an eternity of absolute torment before you.

So I just ask you, come to him. Come to him. Come to him as a living stone.

Don't count yourself among those who have rejected this offer of salvation. If you reject him, this living stone will be for you a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.

Jim read today what Jesus said, and he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls it will scatter him like dust.

It doesn't matter. It won't last. I shouldn't say it doesn't matter.

Some of those other things matter, but they pale in comparison to this one distinction. So will you esteem him rightly?

Will you come to him as a living stone, chosen and precious in the sight of God? Or will you be counted among those who reject him as the vine growers, as the builders?

And will you face him as a loving savior one day? Or will you face him as an omnipotent, angry enemy?

So my prayer is that all of you will be among those who receive his mercy. So now, as we go to prayer, we enter into our communion service.

I have to first issue a warning. It ties into this scripture. This is 1

Corinthians 11, 27 -30. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the

Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must test himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

For he who eats and drinks eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick and anumber sleep.

If you have not judged the body and the blood of the Lord rightly, after now hearing his word preached, you still have not esteemed him worthy.

You have still not esteemed this stone as precious and chosen. So repent of your sins and put your faith in Christ.

Please do not partake of these elements. You drink upon yourself, eat upon yourself judgment.

You blaspheme Christ. Don't do it. This meal, this precious meal, this is for those of us who have understood the depth of our own sin.

We have esteemed Christ as Savior. We have judged him rightly. We put our faith in this living stone.

We have come to him. We rest solely on him for our salvation. So I'll ask the ushers to come.

And then as we pray, you guys can come up. And then as we pray, I'm going to start with a time of silent prayer.

And you can spend that time to get right with God, to confess your sins to him, prepare your hearts for this, to come to this table with appropriate fear and reverence and joy as we remember the sacrifice required.

So let's pray together. Father, indeed our sins are many, past and present, and even, we hate to say, future.

But your grace is greater. And so, Lord, as we come to this table, we remember the broken body and the shed blood of Christ, this living stone, this one that is the center of everything.

And Lord, I pray for any of those who have never put their faith in Christ that even now as these elements approach, that they would put their faith in you.