Christchurch, please open your Bibles with me to 1 Peter 2. We're in verses 4 through 8 again this evening, and we began this section of 1 Peter last week, and we'll finish it up this week, looking more specifically at verses 7 and 8 and the final point of our outline. If you'd please stand for the reading of God's word. 1 Peter 2 and verses 4 through 8. As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ, For it stands in scripture, behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone, chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. So the honor is for you who believe. So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do. Here ends the reading of God's word, let us pray. Our Father, as we once again come to this very theologically rich text, we ask that you would give us understanding Help us understand, Lord, the importance of the church, as we see set forth here in this text, as well as the importance of Christ as the cornerstone of the church. And also, Lord, as we consider, as we stretch our minds tonight to consider your sovereignty in the work of redemption, that you would grant us grace and understanding and humility to understand this text, and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. William Barclay, the commentator, references a story from ancient Greece about a Spartan king who was boasting to a visiting royal about the strong walls of Sparta. He writes that, quote, as the visiting king looked around, he could see no walled city and asked, so where are the renowned walls of Sparta? The Spartan king pointed to his army and replied, these are the walls of Sparta. Every man, a brick. Every man, a brick. In the passage before us, Peter, of course, doesn't write every man, a brick, but he does write every Christian, a stone. Every Christian, a stone, a living stone. built up into a spiritual temple, one that is held together by the chief cornerstone, the Lord Jesus Christ. Last week, we learned that every Christian, by the sovereign grace of God, is a living stone. A living stone that is carefully and individually placed into this spiritual structure. It's quite beautiful, isn't it? Because we don't lose either the individuality of Christians, nor is the individuality, it's not lost, nor is it the main focus. Is it? It's both. We have the individual stones as part of a larger structure. Each stone, therefore, is significant. Each stone plays a role in the building. These living stones are not strewn out over a field and separated from one another. On the contrary, it says in our text, they are built up together into a spiritual house. Each stone is designed by God, the architect, the divine architect, to help hold the other stones in place. And isn't this, once again, a beautiful picture of the church? It's what it's meant to be, a beautiful picture of the church. Through faith in Christ, who is the living stone, we ourselves become, in Him, living stones in the spiritual temple of God. Moreover, Peter teaches us, that in this spiritual temple we are holy priests. Doing what? We are offering spiritual sacrifices through Jesus Christ. In other words, by grace through faith, we are brought into a loving and sanctifying community called the church. We are not supposed to go at this alone, this Christian life thing. It's not that we go at it alone, we do it in community. This is the Lord's will. We are brought into a loving and sanctifying community called the church, the spiritual household. This spiritual household is held together by Christ, the cornerstone. It's made up of sinners saved by grace who are called to love and to serve God and one another from the heart. What we are reminded of here is that Christ is building his church. As we mentioned this morning, the gates of hell will not prevail against it. That is what Jesus told Peter back in Matthew chapter 16. And that, I believe, is what Peter is reinforcing to his suffering, persecuted, weary, first century readers, and also to us. In our attempt to unpack the first part of this passage last week, we learned, of course, that it is chocked full of Old Testament references. Your heads may have been spinning just a little bit last Sunday evening. There's so much in this text, all of these Old Testament references and metaphors and allusions to Old Testament texts, even texts that are quoted. We have allusions to the chosen people of Israel, to the temple, to the Levitical priesthood, and to the sacrificial system. We see it all here in verses four through eight. and important, as important as all of these things are in the Old Covenant, today they are obsolete in Christ. Again, there was a kind of designed obsolescence. It was designed to be obsolete when Christ would come. Why? Because all of these things find their fulfillment in Jesus and in the work that he accomplished for his church. This is also why earlier in chapter one, Peter references the ministry of the prophets as that which ultimately points to Christ predicting his suffering and his ultimate glory. You see that in chapter one, verses 10 through 12. We won't read it just now. What's Peter's point? His point is this, that all of redemptive history finds its climax in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In the fullness of time, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who are under the law by becoming a curse for them. 1 Peter 1, we see the finite angels, in verse 12, stretching their necks, as it were, and seeing what God was doing, and being amazed. They are amazed at the unfolding plan of redemption. How astonished the angels must have been, as the eternal Son of God is born of a virgin, and then lives in this life of humiliation, finally dying on a cross, and then rising from the dead. What a dramatic story. How astonished the angels must have been seeing all of this unfolding. Peter's first readership, we learn, was they were born again by the imperishable seed of the living and abiding word of God. We saw that in the previous verses at the end of chapter one and beginning of chapter two. That word was the good news that was preached to them. In addition, they were receiving spiritual milk for their own sanctification. And so they were exhorted to long like infants for the spiritual milk of the Word. Today we had a few families over to the house and the Hodges were one. At one point I looked over and there's Pastor Ross holding baby Charlotte and feeding her a bottle of milk. And she was very content to have this milk. Babies love milk, and they long for it. And we as Christians are meant to long for the pure spiritual milk of the Word of God. So much of our problem, beloved, I believe as Western, First World, American, middle, upper class people, is that we just do not hunger for the Word. We're not hungry. We're not hungry for the Word of God. We're not hungry to learn the Word of God and His truth. And of course, that means that we get hungry for other things. Our appetites will always be there, but the question is, what will your appetite be longing after? Oh, that we would long for the pure milk of the word of God. And you know, it also points to the simplicity of a walk with Jesus, doesn't it? thinking this week a lot about the importance of maintaining that simple walk with Jesus. You know, we can get filled with so many burdens and unfulfilled expectations and trials and other things that we're pursuing in our lives, and we forget about that simple walk with Jesus that we always want to maintain. Some of you can just think back a few years ago, how you had a simple, joyful walk with Jesus, and maybe that's been lost. Maybe life has just, the burdens of life have come in upon you, and it just seems like there's a distance between you and Jesus, and it's not supposed to be like that. A husband and a wife are not supposed to be distant from each other, even though living under the same roof and sleeping in the same bed. It's not meant to be that way. Parents and children are not meant to be at odds with each other and banging heads all the time. It's not meant to be like that. We're not meant to be far from the one who's supposed to be our first love. Here we are called to long for the pure spiritual milk of the word, and that, of course, takes place in the context of a loving, godly community of faith, the church. One of Peter's main points in this section is, in the use of these metaphors, is to underscore that spiritual life and growth does not flourish in isolation from others, but rather it takes place in the context of the local church. When someone begins to isolate themselves, or a couple or a family begins to isolate themselves outside of the church, it's always bad news. I've been in ministry long enough to see this. It's always bad news on the horizon. Christ himself instituted the gathering and perfecting of the saints through the local church. It's important that we don't miss this. It's a point of application that we didn't quite emphasize as much last week. Many who profess to follow Christ in our day minimize the importance and role of the church. They see it as kind of an option or a suggestion for the Christian life. Young people here this evening, one day you're gonna go off to college. And when you go off to college, you don't say, well, I may or may not find a church for the next four years. Doesn't really matter. I'm going to go to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting, or I'm going to go to RUF, or I'm going to go to some other college Bible study, and that'll be enough. That's fine. No, it's not. That might be a nice thing to do in addition, but you know, Christ himself, wants his children and his lambs in the flock of God with spiritual oversight and love. And so some, they want to reject organized religion, as it were. They say things like, well, I believe in the organism of the church, but not the organization of the church. The New Testament, however, It's a veritable commentary on the profound significance and centrality of the Church, not just as an organism, but also as an organization. Let me explain. Peter says that we are living stones, being built up as a spiritual temple. He says that we are holy priesthoods, together offering up acceptable spiritual sacrifices through faith in Jesus Christ, not least in our worship. And here, Peter's referring to the church as a living organism dwelling together for mutual support and burden bearing and encouragement and mission. But Peter also mentions the church as organization, doesn't he? Led by ordained elders who are called to humbly shepherd the flock of God that is among them. And we're going to fast forward just a little bit to 1 Peter chapter 5. Look at 1 Peter chapter 5, verses 1 through 3. And here's an exhortation from Peter, not Peter the Pope, by the way, but Peter the fellow elder, as he calls himself. He doesn't pull rank on anybody ever. He is a fellow elder, and it says here, So I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is to be revealed. He's speaking to the elders now in the churches in Asia. He says, shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. Peter wants his first century readers to get this, and he wants us to get this, to understand that we've been saved by grace and thus are no longer spiritually homeless. We are no longer spiritual aliens and no longer spiritual orphans. No, in Christ, the living stone, we have become living stones graciously placed in God's spiritual temple, the church. And we are now, as verses nine through 10 states, we are now a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him. called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. Look at there, once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. So we see, beloved, that the church is not just a suggestion, it's not just an option for people who profess Christ. The church is essential because the church is the people of God as an organism. And it is the gathered people of God as an organization. an organization, an institution, as it were, that's established by Jesus Christ himself. Why? For the gathering and protecting and perfecting of his sheep. And so we come to our outline that we began last week. We looked at Jesus Christ, the living stone. We then looked at God's people, living stones, and a holy priesthood. And this evening, I want us to think about this last point. Two responses to the divine architect. two responses to the divine architect. Remember, the divine architect being God, he's placing these stones in the spiritual temple, namely the church. Christ himself is chosen and precious, and he's the cornerstone, quoting the Psalms. And then we come in verses 7 and 8 to the response, the responses, two responses to this divine architect. Look with me at verses 7 and 8 again. So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the bill has rejected has become the cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do. As they were destined to do. First of all, in verse seven, we read that honor is for you who believe. It's important to remember the context here. Peter is writing, remember, to a suffering and a persecuted people. His readers are under constant pressure to renounce their faith. They're being ostracized, slandered, reviled, and maligned because of their belief in and love for the living Christ. And Peter was trying to help them understand that in a culture of disbelief and persecution towards Christianity, they need to remember that not only is Jesus choice and precious in the sight of God, but so are they. So are they. Peter was explaining to them that there is great honor for those upon whom God has had great mercy through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The honor, Peter explains, is for those who believe. You see what Peter is saying here. He's, in a sense, he's saying the same thing he said in chapter 1, verse 7, when he wrote that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Imagine it. Imagine for a moment entering into glory and the faith, your faith, being honored by the Lord God. Of course, you deflect it all. You deflect it all because it's only by grace that you have that faith in the first place. Because Christ is choice and precious in the sight of God. Those who are united to Christ through faith are also choice and precious in the sight of God. You know, when people are able to truly love others is when they themselves know they are loved. You know that, don't you? It's very simple. You don't have to have a psychology degree to understand this. When a person feels secure and loved and precious to another, they then, by receiving that, can show that same love and kindness to others. And you see, these early believers would have been, in and of themselves, in their own strength, insecure as it were. But they're being told here that just as Jesus was chosen and precious, so we, are chosen and precious to God in Him. 1 Peter 2.7 states, the honor is for you who believe. But what about for those who disbelieve? What about for those who disbelieve? What does God's word say about those who reject the living stone, those who reject the crucified and resurrected Savior? Look at verses seven and eight, A, but for those who do not believe, The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do. Of course, this is once again, a quote from Psalm 118 verse 22 and Isaiah chapter eight and verse 14. The very stone that God sent down to save men is a stumbling stone and an offense to those who reject him. Let's look at what John Calvin says about this text, his comments. Quote, here then, the terrible vengeance of God is denounced on all the ungodly because Christ would be to them an offense and a stumbling inasmuch as they refuse to make him their foundation. For as the firmness and stability of Christ is such that it can sustain all who by faith embrace him, so his hardness is so great that it will break and tear in pieces all who resist him. For there is no medium between these two things. We must either build on him or be dashed against him. We must either build on him or be dashed against him. Here's the picture that is given to us. God, Okay, now listen, God, Almighty God, the divine architect, He draws up the plans of salvation. His only son, chosen and precious, is the foundation of that plan. The plan of redemption is, it holds together in him. When Christ is sent from heaven to earth to accomplish that plan, mankind rejects him, crucifies him, and suppresses the truth in unrighteousness. Some put their hope for salvation in the law. and their own moral performance. Others adhere to man-made religions and still others embrace a form of materialism. Any way you look at it, people have come up with their own plans for the building, none of which delivers from God's justice and wrath. And the ironic thing is that although these unbelievers think that they are autonomous and completely free, from the authority and purposes of God, they are really not. For in their disobedience to the word of God, they are fulfilling the end to which God purposed for them. Though, now listen please, though it is their rejection of the stone, namely Christ, and their disobedience to the word of God that makes them guilty before God's judgment throne, none of this is divorced from God's sovereign plan and purposes. For it was to this end, the word of God says, that they were destined, states verse eight. It was to this end that they were destined. Now, why does Peter make this point? Answer, because he wants to make every effort to comfort the persecuted and suffering people of God, making clear to them that everything is in God's control. Nothing, absolutely nothing, Peter is proclaiming, not even the rebellious unbeliever who is persecuting them can thwart the purpose and plans of God for his people. Once again, let me make this point as clear as I know how. This doesn't mean, this point does not mean that people are not responsible in their own sin and embracing their own sin. This is called an antinomy. It's a truth that in scripture we have both of these things are true, that man is utterly and completely responsible in his or her sin and the suppression of unrighteousness and the rejection of God's plan, and that God is utterly sovereign and His plan is being worked out. Those things are both true. In our finite little pea-brained minds, we do not understand how these two things can both be true. And yet they are. The Bible affirms both of them. And so we would never want to say, well the Bible teaches that it really doesn't matter what you do or what you say or what you believe because God is sovereign. It doesn't make any difference. That is an absolutely unbiblical statement to say that. Nor is it true to say that it's just us, that we're the sovereign ones, that we're working out the great plan of the world. It's wrong. No, we have both the truth that man is responsible in his sin and that God is utterly sovereign. And the Bible teaches that if anyone comes to Christ by grace through faith, it is indeed by grace they come, and it's a work of God's sovereign grace." This is the truth we find in Scripture. You know, we can speculate all day long about these These matters, it stretches our minds to think about the infinite purposes of God and his sovereign decrees and these things we try to understand, we stretch our minds, but you know, for me, it's helpful to think of it this way. I'm glad God's in control and not you. And I'm glad God's in control and not me. And I'm glad God's in control and not some dictator in the Middle East. I'm glad God's in control and not the people persecuting the church. I am so glad God is in control because the Lord knows what He's doing. He is omniscient. He knows everything. He's omnipotent. He's omnipresent. Only God can do these things. And so, when we come to places like this in Scripture, where it talks about people disobeying the Word because it was destined that they would do so, we put our hands over our mouths and we just glory in God. Because God is just and He is holy and He's working out His plan. And mankind, all of us, are worthy only of His judgment, but He offers us His grace. He offers us His Son. Isaiah made this same point in his writings, in order to comfort the remnant who are being persecuted by their own countrymen. Peter's making this point as well. Even though many in the world reject Christ and persecute believers, God is still accomplishing His sovereign will. Christ is building His church. God is in control of their situation. He also makes this point to underscore the sovereign grace of God. For apart from God's sovereign grace, Christ would only be a stumbling block to all of us and an offense to all of us. Here, Peter encourages all Christians to be grateful, to be grateful for God's sovereign mercy in Christ. But we still must ask the question, what does it mean that these unbelieving people were destined to disbelieve Christ? There are three ways a professing Christian will respond to this verse. The first one, and I'm not kidding, I don't believe it. Just gonna not believe that verse. Peter was having a bad day. I don't believe what Peter says there, and I'm gonna differentiate between that verse and verses that I want to believe. You see, when people do this, of course, they bring into question all of Scripture. If we believe God's Word, we cannot pick and choose, or we will and will not receive. In Great Britain, if you walk into a candy store, they have the pick-and-mix, called the pick-and-mix. They have these funny little terms over there. The pick-and-mix. You go in, you pick and you mix. Pick-and-mix. And, you know, we don't do that with the Bible. You don't pick what you want. You don't do the Thomas Jefferson, let's get out the scissors and cut out the verses we don't like. You either bow the knee to the scriptures and you seek to understand, and sometimes your emotions need to catch up with the truth, but you bow the knee. I remember my professor in systematic theology in Charlotte, when I was a seminary student, We read Romans 9, which is not always an easy chapter for people to read about the sovereignty of God and election and so forth. And he said, he said, students, if you have a hard time with the truth, let me give you some advice. You believe it, you embrace it, and then you let your emotions and your affections catch up with it. And they will eventually. But that's the first response, I don't believe it. Second, some Christians will say, these unbelievers have appointed themselves to their doom and God has little or nothing to do with it. People who reject Christ send themselves to hell. Well, the problem with this position is that it's not what the verse is saying, is it? And this kind of a response is an affront to the sovereignty of God, the mysterious sovereignty of God. We must understand that God, according to His sovereign will, permits some to remain in their disobedience, rebellion, and sin, and He gives sinners what they want. And it's all a part of His sovereign purpose. And so what is the right response and interpretation of this text? Well, it's that God is sovereign over all aspects of life, even the disobedience of the unbeliever. God is sovereign even over the disobedience of the unbeliever. Now, let me clarify this. Again, it doesn't mean that people aren't responsible for their rebellion. Of course they are. God tempts no one, and he does not cause anyone to sin. People sin on their own free volition, and we see this in James 1. James 1, verses 13 through 15. James writes, let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death. While maintaining the sovereignty of God in all things, our own confession, the Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 3, on God's sovereignty, says this, quote, God from all eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass. Yet so, As thereby, neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established. There's a lot there. Go read chapter three of the Westminster Confession and deal with that language, violence. Violence is not offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of secondary causes taken away. We are not robots. The Bible never teaches this kind of mechanistic view of the sovereignty of God. Now it's beyond us, and when the sovereignty of God is, the teaching is brought forth in scripture, it's always for a purpose. It's to apply to us something, and here it is that we would be comforted. That we'd be comforted. While God is utterly sovereign and ordains whatsoever comes to pass, He is not responsible for our sins, we are. We are. God does not violate our wills or cause us to sin at any point. That's the tension we see all over Scripture. God is sovereign, and yet we are responsible for our sin. We can never say, well, God made me do this. It's just a part of His will, I guess, that I keep sinning like this. I'm sorry, honey, I know I yelled at you again tonight, but, you know, it's part of the sovereign will of God. I mean, try that one. It's not going to work, I promise you, men. Oh. This is difficult to reconcile in our finite minds, but it is the teaching of scripture. And don't we see this most clearly in the crucifixion of Jesus? While it was the eternal plan of God to give his son to die for his people, those who crucified him were not off the hook. For taking part in that most terrible, of deeds." The epic sin of murdering the Son of God. Listen to what Peter says in Acts 2, 22 and 23. delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men." It was a part of the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, and yet they killed him, and they're being held accountable for that. There's the tension again. Our disobedience, a part of God's plan that we are utterly responsible for. Listen to the Puritan Alexander Nisbet. He writes that, quote, Christ Jesus is not more properly the cause of sinners rejecting of him and ruining of themselves by their own doing than a stone in the way of some blind, furious, or drunken traveler whereupon he might rest himself to help him in his journey is the cause of his breaking his neck upon it. or a rock in the sea is the cause of desperate mariners' shipwreck." Ultimately, ultimately, this doctrine only reaffirms the fact that we are all guilty, that we are all worthy of eternal ruin, except by the sovereign grace of our merciful God. All men could have been appointed by God to this doom. This could have been his righteous plan. But it wasn't. Thank God it wasn't. God's sovereign decrees are deep and mysterious. As we gaze from the human shore of, from the shore of human knowledge out to the depths of the knowledge of the eternal God, we must do so with sincere reverence and awe, always remembering the words of Isaiah 55, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, declares the Lord, for as high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts. God and his word are the ultimate standard for truth, not our finite minds. Just because we cannot fully comprehend the mind of God or his eternal counsels does not mean that they are not true. And so, beloved, let us see that there are two responses to God's way of salvation. How are you responding this evening? Are you rejecting the living stone? Are you stumbling over him? Or are you embracing him? Are you part of that temple? John Brown of Edinburgh, John Brown, a great Scottish name, John Brown. There are like a million John Browns in Scotland, and also a million Donald McLeods from the Highlands. You can have a family gathering, there are like 10 Donald McLeods. John Brown of Edinburgh, he asks his listeners this, and it's connected to this passage. If you perish, you must be self-destroyers. Turn ye, turn ye. Why will ye die? Be no longer disobedient to the word of mercy. Receive it gladly, gratefully. And in receiving it, you will receive the Savior and his salvation. The feast of gospel grace is set before you and urged on your acceptance. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. May the good spirit render effectual the invitation of the word and induce you all to take of the bread and the water of life freely, that eating and drinking you may live forever. He's holding out to you, the living bread, the living water. Are you receiving it? Are you partaking of it? Let us remember this evening, beloved, that we are stones. The Spartan king looked across his vast army and he said, these are the mighty walls of Sparta. Every man a brick. God looks upon his people. And he says, every man a living stone, a living stone and a spiritual temple and every man a priest offering acceptable spiritual sacrifices through Jesus Christ. Is this how you view yourself? You know, so much of what we're doing here in First Peter is saying over and over again, do you recognize your true identity as a living stone in God's temple, the church? supporting one another, serving one another, held together by the chief cornerstone, the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you carrying out your role as a spiritual, as a priest, offering up sacrifices to God's service? This is who you are, if you are in Christ. Living stones, therefore. Let us live. Let us live according to who we have been made in Christ. Let us pray. Father, thank you for this wonderful passage filled with allusions to the Old Testament and teaching us who we are as individual living stones and who we are as a temple built up together to live in community and to love one another and be supported by one another. We thank you for the wonderful, reassuring words that you are sovereign and that you are working all things together for good to those who love you and are called according to your purpose. Oh Lord, bless this word to our hearts, to our minds, to our consciences. And we pray that you'd receive all the glory in Jesus' name, amen.