Be seated. The 75th anniversary is kind of significant for us. And when we came into the OPC in 1974, we really didn't even know it existed. And they had roughly 100 churches. And now we have over 300 churches. The Presbytery of the South had six churches plus Atlanta. And that was all there was throughout the whole South. And then in time, the Lord expanded the Presbyteries, so we had three Presbyteries instead of two. And now we have far more churches in Florida than we had in the whole South in days gone by. And I say that to you so you understand that the Lord is a blessing and he's blessing in what I call slow growth and solid growth. And we still have today some wonderful, wonderful churches throughout the South and throughout the Midwest and California. We're in Canada now, as well as all the mission fields. So there's much to celebrate when we think of the OPC today, throughout even throughout the world. Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to 1st Peter, 1st Peter, Chapter 2. And we'll be looking at verses 4 through 12. 1st Peter, Chapter 2. And we'll be looking at verses 4-12. I assume I'm plugged in. Josh, am I plugged in? Okay. As usual, I have David's consent. I can read the New King James Version if I take his place. So I'll be reading from the New King James Version this morning. Coming to him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is also contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, precious, and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame. Therefore, to you who believe he is precious, but to those who are disobedient, the stone which the builder rejected has become the chief cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." They stumble being disobedient to the Word to which they also were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Who once were not a people, but are now the people of God. who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they observe, Glorify God in the day of visitation. Let's pray together. Father in Heaven, as we come to the Word of God, how we ask You to bless our speaking and our hearing. May we understand that You today are speaking to us. And Lord, how I pray that if someone here this morning doesn't know You, You will speak to them in a special way. That, Lord, You would make them Your children as we read about here in Peter's letter this morning. We pray, Lord, that what is said in weakness You would apply in great strength. Lord, how we thank You today for Your Word. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. One of the things that Sandy and I appreciate about going to Michigan is the variety of ways that stones contribute to the landscape. Stone walls, stone arches, stone fireplaces, stone houses. Stones and centerpieces are people's yards and patios. Stones, stones, and more stones. Big stones, little stones, beautiful stones. One of the more unusual displays of stones I ever saw was I was working at a man's home out in the country, and he built a stone house, and he was proud of his stone house. And I had to get to tour, so it took me especially to see some of his specially designed windows, wherein he took bottles, whiskey bottles, beer bottles, wine bottles, pot bottles, perfume bottles, And he set them in the opening spaces with kind of a flush inside, light shining through. But on the outside, all them different lengths of necks kind of stuck out from his walls. And he assured me that I was in for a real treat when the wind started blowing. I would be hearing all these wonderful sounds. Then, of course, he asked me that big question that you're not supposed to ask. So how do you like it? I said, well, it's creative. And you know, I bet there isn't another house in the whole world that has stone windows like you do. And I think he thought it was a compliment. And we became friends, right? Stones. All kinds of things people do with stones. If we go to my father's farm, there are still two huge stones sitting by the driveway that he placed there over 80 years ago. Still in the same spot. They've been unaffected by the frigid winters. They show no signs of wear and tear, rust, rot, or decay. They're silvery, blackish, pinkish greens. They're still as sparkling as new. They kind of look like this here. Kind of shaped like that only. Huge stones. One of them was hit by a runaway truck. And it didn't even shift. It didn't break, crack, nothing. And you ask the truck, had to be hauled away. So when we speak of stones or rock, rock is more of a slab. Remember Jesus talked about the wise men would build his house upon the rock. But we know that rock's as hard as a stone and we know that stone's as hard as a rock, right? And they both represent great strength and durability. So how old is this stone? That's as hard as a rock. Maybe creation? Maybe? Well, I don't know for sure. But what I want you to know is Peter is trying to make his listeners or his hearers understand something about their lives that is really as topsy-turvy as saying. Peter, whose name was changed by Jesus from Simon Barjona to Peter, meaning a stone, is well aware of the persecution that has scattered God's people hither and yon. And Peter particularly writes about a couple of things that they can depend on. A couple of things that are rock solid and as enduring as stone. Number 1, chapter 1, verse 23, is the Word of God, which lives and abides forever. And verse 25, endures forever. We read in Exodus 31, 18, that when God gave Moses his law, It was written in stone by the finger of God. Written in stone. Number 2, chapter 2, verse 4, that we can totally depend on is Christ, who Peter presents as a living stone. Even a chief cornerstone. Words which we could say were borrowed from Isaiah 28. Two very important objects of faith for a people, Peter categorizes in 2.11 as sojourners and pilgrims on the earth. People who dwell among other people temporarily. People who don't belong, don't fit in, don't feel at home, and for the most part aren't even welcome. Intruders we are. But friends, understand, this is all by God's design. He doesn't want His children to feel at home or at ease or at peace here on the earth because He has gone to great lengths to prepare a home for them in heaven. So we are, yes, we are sojourners, pilgrims here on earth. And the things of this earth can only hinder our journey, sidetrack us, or derail us. However, strangers though we be here on earth, doesn't mean our lives are without purpose and meaning. We're not just nomads, meandering around looking for pasture land. No, we have an even greater assignment and even greater expectancy than all of the local citizens because we represent Jesus Christ. We live for Him. We are His ambassadors to those people whose citizenship is of this world. And in fact, through Christ's resurrection from the dead, Look at how objective and meaningful our state of affairs is from 1 Peter 1, verse 4. We have an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you. How about that? We have a future like stone. that we can depend upon. A home. An inheritance. That's a word that spikes our interest. An inheritance in heaven reserved for you. Written in stone. Now, Peter's not the only one that talks about this. Turn with me back for a moment to Ephesians 2, verse 19. Ephesians 2 verse 19, and see what the Apostle Paul says about our status. Ephesians 2 verse 19, Now therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." Well, we have that same kind of language, don't we? Foreigners, strangers, sojourners, pilgrims, those kinds of things. But notice We as Christians have a great future. We are fellow citizens with the saints of God. What does that mean? And members of the household of God. And our citizenship there is rock-solid, set in stone, because it is built upon God's Word. given through the apostles and the prophets of God. And again, built upon Christ, our chief cornerstone. Palestine, like where I grew up in Michigan, was stony country. And like with us, whenever they wanted to cultivate the field, they had to go out and gather up the stone. I don't know how to explain it, but stones have a way of working themselves up to the top of the ground. And pretty soon your plow points and everything are all busted if you don't get out there and get those stones. And like with us, those people in those days used stones for a variety of purposes. But significantly, significant buildings were built with an especially selected cornerstone. A stone that would be placed in the whole building would be lined upon that cornerstone. And sort of the imagery of weighted upon that stone. I don't know what's happening to cornerstones today. We don't seem to see them like we used to. Sandy and I walked around downtown to see if they could find an old building with a cornerstone, and they just have some plaques out in front. The children, if you go up north or go to some old cities, get out and look at the courthouse or the old churches, and you see this big stone right on the corner of which everything else in that building is aligned. And on it is inscribed the date that the building began, the building project began. Peter writes and Paul writes that Christ is that chief cornerstone selected by God Himself for all of us to line up on and to lean on and to build on. Rejected by men. And herein we get a sense of the weight of the cross. What Christ had to bear for His children. The entire kingdom of God rested upon Him, was built upon Him, was aligned upon Him, so that anyone who ever gets to heaven, anytime anyone gets to heaven, it all depended upon Christ and all of that substitutionary atonement. We have this saying, you know, the weight of the whole world is on His shoulders. The weight of the whole kingdom of God rested upon the shoulders of the Lord Jesus. Let me give you a few words from Isaiah 53. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him. By His stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray, have turned everyone to his own way. But the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. So it all depends on Christ, the chief cornerstone, chosen by God, but imagine, rejected by men. He wasn't wanted. He was like Peter's readers. They nailed Him to the cross even though He is the foundational stone on which all of our future rests. In Isaiah 28, 16, this precious cornerstone is called a sure foundation. Yet, rejected. The word rejected means hated, despised, crucified. That's what men did to the one God Himself chose to save them. Now let's consider a little further from verse 4 this idea of a chosen stone in this context. In large temples and palaces, in dwelling places of the rich and the elite, They would build with what are called hewn stones. H-E-W-N. Meaning these were stones that were not marred. They were uncut. They were unsoiled. Specially chosen stones. So they would have to be searched out very carefully. They would have to be selected. Then they would have to be properly sized and set in place. Sort of like finding the next piece. to a very difficult puzzle. All of this would be time-consuming and all of this would be very expensive. A little idea about that is in Isaiah chapter 9, for example, where God pronounces punishment upon Samaria. He's very upset with them. Why? Because of their personal pride and arrogance. How so? Because they boldly proclaim, the bricks have fallen down, as if to say, but so what? The bricks have fallen down, so what? We will rebuild with hewn stones. The sycamores are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars. Who needs God? So he does this or he does this. We'll just rise up. And we'll show them what we can do. Friends, understand there's only one true hewn stone, chief cornerstone, the Lord Jesus Christ. Build your life upon Him. Remember, as we sung, all other ground is what? Sinking sand. Then notice, in referring to Christ in verses 4, 6 and 7, Peter uses the word precious, meaning something of great value, very costly, very cherished, like jewels, like jaspers, amethysts, diamonds, pearls. Precious. I don't know how you would define precious. I'm going to tell you what happened to me that helped me understand what this means. A lady called and said that her mother was given a very special pair of pearl earrings by her husband for a very special occasion. They were very precious to her. And she lost one of them down the sink. So she called us and she said, I was told that if you came and you found it, you'd give it back. Well, how I wish I could have found that pearl. I looked and I did everything reasonable. But you know what I wanted to do? I wanted to go upstairs with that pearl and say, here, Here's your precious stone. That's what we want to do with Jesus, isn't it, the people? Is He precious or not? Three times here we read about Him as being precious in these few verses. So, how do you feel? about the Lord Jesus Christ? Cherished? Precious? Adored? Spoken with special memories? And so forth. It's a question you all have to answer, including me, isn't it? It's a question we all have to answer. Now, let me run something else by the way. Do you remember hearing it said about some plan or project or program or whatever? It's as dead as a stone. What does that tell you? It's done. It's gone nowhere. It's done. But I want to remind us this morning that there is no such thing as dead as a stone with God. God can do amazing things with stone. The Bible is full of examples. I'm going to give you a couple. How did Moses get in trouble? God told him to speak to the rock, and he hid it. But even though he sinned and was not about to see the promised land, what happened to that rock? Water gushed out, enough to feed all the nation of Israel, all their cattle and everything they had, through a stone. Children, what happened to the stone with David? He puts a stone in a swing and goes, and God directs that stone right to the forehead of that big, bold, braggadocious Goliath. And what happened to him? He dropped like a rock and he was dead as a stone. That's what happened to him. Do you remember Luke's account of Jesus' so-called triumphal entry into Jerusalem? When the crowds were cheering, Hosanna, Hosanna, the Pharisees got all upset and they said to Jesus, tell them people to shut up. And Jesus said, I tell you what, if they didn't praise me, the stones would cry out. The stones. One more example. Remember what happened when they put Jesus' body in the tomb? The Pharisees said, now we know all these stories about Him and they're going to steal, the disciples are going to steal Him and everything. So they rolled this big stone in front of the entrance of the tomb. What happened? God sends His angels and just rolled the stones away. Well, these are just a few examples of rocks and stones in the Bible and what God can do with them. And I say this so that we'll understand what Peter is talking about as being possible when he talks about living stones. Us becoming living stones being built up one upon another, all chosen, fit in place, building God's eternal temple. We have been sought out by God. We have been transformed from clay pots to hewn stones who will be His eternal temple. And there, all jointly fit together. Unity, harmony, and so forth. Now understand Peter's readers have a good idea of the beauty and the glory of the temple. The idea of the temple was inspiring to them. They knew about its glories. They knew of it as God's dwelling place. But they also knew of its destruction. King Solomon's magnificent temple, built in 1013 B.C., was detailed like this. Great artistry, durable goods of precious stones and gems and metals and timbers. But it was raided over the years. 426 years later, looted. And in 2 Kings 25, the city was destroyed and God's people were taken captive. 19 BC, King Herod rebuilds the temple. But in 70 AD, 89 years later, the Romans came and burned it all to the ground. But praise God. Thanks be to God. That is not the end of the story. for Peter's readers or for us. We are part of God's future spiritual temple. And even though we may be troubled, persecuted, even sojourning on this world for a time, we have a most glorious future. And even though the world thinks we're a bunch of rock heads, and dirtbags. What is important is what the Lord thinks of us. And we find that in verse 9. We are a special chosen people with the royalty of kings in the fraternity of priests. We're even defined as a holy nation, meaning we're blameless. consecrated by God and saintly. All this talk about Pope John becoming a saint. We're all going to be saints. That's what God's Word says. And for what purpose? Verse 12. To proclaim His praises. To set a good example before the world. Those people who still have hearts of stone. And it's through our attitude, through our conduct, and through our witness that we hope those people who have hearts of stone will become living stone. Living stone. Now, in conclusion, let me tell you that walking around on the old farm means a lot to me. I have a lot of memories there. Some are good and some aren't so good. The farm has been developed. All my family's gone. They're gone. Most of the neighbors are gone. Some, I'm confident, have passed on to glory. Some, I don't know. But this I do know. The faith of our fathers is living still. Because it's set in stone. Because it's built on Christ, the chief cornerstone. And one day, when all of the stones are chosen gathered and prepared for his home in heaven, for the temple, Jesus will return. So where are you today? How do you fit in? Are you still as dead as a stone? Or have you become a living stone? Now if you want to arouse some curiosity amongst people who don't understand, say to them, I want to tell you something about me. I've become a living stone. That ought to arouse some curiosity. A living stone. That's what Jesus has done for sinners. From hearts of stone, dead as a stone to a living stone. Oh friend, may you be part of the building of that great temple in heaven one day. Let us pray. Father in heaven, how we thank you for such a great promise. Lord Jesus, how we thank You for such great hope. Thank You for carrying the weight of all of our sin on the cross. Thank You for making us living stones through Christ. O Lord, we praise You. We thank You. And may our testimony be alive and well to this new community. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, we're going to stand and sing. And don't look in your bulletin. We're going to sing for all the saints. Hymn number 358. Please stand and sing joyfully. 358.