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

Well, good morning.

Turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 2.

Our text today will be verses 4 through 10.

And before we get started, I'd like to pray for the

message.

Father, I just continue to pray, I continue to pray that the people here,

they would truly value you, Lord.

That 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 chapter 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 and 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 was 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 evaluation, 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 evaluation, 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 through 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 kind of 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 where 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's the fulcrum upon which every important human distinction rests, isn't he?

Everyone 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's a self -righteous, though sometimes religious, mass of

humanity that is far apart from God.

Those things exist.

There's a holy nation and an unholy nation.

There's a people of God and a people of self and Satan.

There's 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's 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 brain 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'm offering you exactly the same opportunity that that

donkey offered his master.

You have that same chance.

I'm 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'll see this fork in the road, and you'll see the signs, and you'll choose a path.

And if you have chosen that path long ago, if long ago you esteemed this living stone accurately, and you've devoted

your life to him, that road has been long, and it can be arduous, and I know that, and

that the trials can be distressing and heavy, then I pray that this would be refreshment to you as you re

-understand, 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 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 the 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 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, and our union with Christ is simply

something that Christians are said to do.

It reminds me of a chapter in a book I read recently.

Chapter 4, 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.

Lithos is the word for stone, and that is actually important.

It's not Petra, it's not Petras.

Peter does not have himself in mind whatsoever in the passage.

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.

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 and 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?

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.

We'll come back to the living part.

Peter continues that metaphor.

In 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 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.

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, and with 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.

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 in verse 7.

I have that one there.

This is from Psalm 18.

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.

Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his lovingkindness endures forever.

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 lovingkindness to his people.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

It's people who should have known better.

They are rejecting a metaphorical stone that God would assign this important chief cornerstone, this main

foundation stone to determine 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 through 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, by 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.

It 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?

He may be rejected at your peril, or He may be

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 them in their midst, they began to inquire, By what power 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 is the stone which 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.

You see he is a living stone.

Now you see why that's important.

He is 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 a 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.

I've probably said it 87 different ways so far.

But this one decision, 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, followed by 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 you 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 in a horrific place that is not meant for 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,

I hope you can see.

Again, there's only one important human distinction.

There's just two important human categories.

Everything else 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 a righteous judge, 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.

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 a number 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.

And so now you have stubbornly refused to 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.

Join your family, join your nation, join your people.

I pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.