1 PETER 2:1-102009 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 1 Peter 2:1-10

1 Peter chapter 2, as we continue the book of 1 Peter, we...

Well, I'm amazed at this epistle. I'm amazed at the things that are here. You know, Peter is very familiar to us. One of the disciples, he was a fisherman. He was not a scholar. He was just a common man.

Not a brilliant man as man would consider. He wasn't a scholar of the Old Testament. He wasn't a lawyer. He was a fisherman. He had a regular job. He was a normal guy. And yet God has given him such profound insight as...

As relating to the things of God, as relating to the person of Jesus Christ. And as we look at these passages today, as we look at these verses, there's no way that we can cover all of the things that we could talk about and consider and all of the ways that God would want to speak to us. And so I encourage you, as we look at these things, to be taking some notes, to be setting aside time this week to consider these things yet further.

to meditate and to allow God to speak to you even more about these verses that we will be studying because there's so much that God wants to do in our hearts and He can't accomplish it all. There's so much that He wants to do, He can't do it all in the short time that we have together. He wants to continue to do that work in you as you spend time in His Word.

Well, as we look at verses 1 through 10 here, I notice as Peter is writing that he is developing these very stark contrasts. He's developing these things that are very, very different from one another.

I don't know if you've ever been in a cave, but I remember being young. I don't remember exactly where it was or where my parents took us, but we went down into one of those caves that it was pretty deep and you have a guide and they're leading you. It's one of those big caves and they've, of course, you know, built railing and stairways and all that stuff. And they kind of take you down in this cave and there's this big platform at the end where they took us. And so the whole group was gathered there in this tour.

And they said, okay, now we're going to turn off the lights. And they said, you know, don't move. Don't try to run away or anything. Just stay still. Try not to freak out. If you're claustrophobic, you should have stayed out on top and you shouldn't have come down here. And they turn off the lights for a couple of moments. And if you've ever been in a cave with the lights off, you already know what I'm talking about. There's just this eerie, just incredible noise.

darkness that happens when you're down underneath the earth, down deep in one of these caves and they turn off the lights. And in comparison or in contrast to that darkness, then you come out and you step into the sunlight and it's just brilliant. It's incredibly bright. It's warm, where down in the cave it was dark, it was cold. It gave you the chills and it was just eerie and freaky. And yet up

In the sunlight, now you have comfort, you have warmth, you have visibility. And it's an incredible difference between being on top there in the sunlight and being down there in the cave in the darkness. And it's that kind of contrast that Peter is painting for us this morning in several different ways. He's showing a contrast of what life is like without Christ...

and what life is like or what life is to be within Christ. As believers in God, as believers in Jesus Christ, having been born again, there needs to be, there should be, a reality of this contrast of the way that we were and now the way that we are and the work that God is doing among us.

And so the phrase and the saying that kept going through my mind as I was reading and studying this portion of Scripture was, that was then, this is now.

And we can see that from the very beginning here as we look at verses 1 through 3. Look again at verse 1 through 3. It says, The first of four points this morning says,

We find in verses 1 through 3 that we are to desire the pure milk of the word. Desire the pure milk of the word. But before we get into that, just think for a moment on this contrast, on this picture that Peter has laid before us.

He describes some pretty dark wickedness there in verse 1. The things that we are to lay aside, he says, all malice, all deceit, all hypocrisy, envy, and evil speaking. That was what was a part of our lives. Our lives were full of those things. And that's why now we're called to lay them aside. That was then. That was part of the past. That was part of the darkness that we once lived in. But now...

Notice the contrast as newborn babes. Now there's some interesting things that we'll talk about as newborn babes in a moment, but just a newborn baby in and of itself, there's such an innocence there.

as opposed to or in contrast to the darkness and the wickedness that Peter is talking about that we are to lay aside, we're to be as newborn babes. There's this innocence, this contrast between the wickedness and the innocence there of a newborn baby. But not only that, he says, desiring the pure milk of the word. And so he's giving this idea, this purity, this innocence that is there in contrast to what

We are to lay aside, in contrast to what is a part of our old life, a part of our old nature, this wickedness and this great darkness. Peter here is saying, look, we are to lay aside these things of wickedness.

Now, this chapter doesn't begin all by itself. It doesn't begin really a new thought. It's the continuation of what Peter has been writing. And as he concluded chapter 1, he was talking about the fact that we have been born again by the Word of God. Jump back with me to chapter 1 of 1 Peter 1 and look at verse 22. He says, "...since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth."

He's talking about the fact that we have been born again for those who believe in Jesus Christ, for those who have received the forgiveness that he offers through the cross.

We have been born again by the word of God, the word which is not corruptible, which is incorruptible, the perfect and holy, pure word of God. And so having been born again, he says, since you have purified your souls, your souls have been purified, you've been forgiven, you've been washed and cleansed by faith in Jesus Christ. Now he says, lay aside...

All of these things here in verse 1, malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking. He's saying, look, you've been cleansed within. Your soul has been cleansed. You've been washed. And now you have right standing before God. Now live accordingly. Demonstrate that purity that has taken place. Demonstrate that washing that has taken place by now laying aside those activities in your life.

No longer practicing those things, no longer allowing these things to be part of your heart, but now laying it aside, taking it off so that you do not continue in that way. He talks about malice, which is wickedness, it's depravity, it's a disregard to the law, to what is right.

Deceit, of course, is the idea of deceiving or trickery. When the religious leaders were trying to catch Jesus in his words, the Bible describes it as trickery. They tried to catch him by deceit or by trickery. They were trying to trick him and deceive him. Hypocrisy, of course, is the idea of putting on a mask, of acting or pretending to be someone or something that we are not.

Envy is an interesting one. It's pain that is felt at the sight of excellence or happiness. You know, I see something that's really good in your life, a really great happening, and it hurts me that you're doing so well. That's the idea of envy. And evil speaking is backbiting, defamation, things that we've talked about, and it's really just a sampling of the wickedness that Peter is referring to here. But he says, look, we're to lay aside...

all of these things. Our life used to be in darkness before Christ, but now, because of what God has done, because we've been born again by the incorruptible Word of God, we're to lay aside. Our life is to demonstrate. Our hearts should match the soul that has been purified, the work that God has done within our hearts in making us in right standing with God.

And so he says we're to lay aside these things, but that's not the end of it. Now, we're emptying ourselves of these things, but we're to fill ourselves up with something else. And what is it that we're to fill ourselves up with? Well, that's where we go on in verse 2. He says, "...as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby." He says we are to desire the pure milk of the word in the same way that newborn babes do.

This is something that we are not to outgrow. All of us need the pure milk of the word as Peter describes it here. The pure milk of the word. What is he talking about? Well, we discussed this in the book of Hebrews. We've also seen it in the book of 1 Corinthians. Milk, we'll just kind of break it down in this simple idea is that milk is the simple reading, understanding, and applying of God's word.

It's the very, on a basic level, reading, understanding, and applying the Word of God. It's not some in-depth thing that requires great technical details, or it's not complicated and difficult in that way, but it's the simple reading and understanding of the Word of God. And every one of us, whether you've been a Christian for a couple of days, or you've

For many, many years, every one of us needs a good, healthy, steady diet of the pure milk of the Word. The author of Hebrews in chapter 5 deals with the problem of those believers who partake only of milk.

And that's all that they partake of. They never go deeper. They never dig in a little bit further. They never learn to study the Bible on their own. That's all they partake of is milk. And there the author of Hebrews says that person is unskilled and he is a babe. He's an infant in Christ. And so there's a danger of only partaking of milk. But that doesn't mean that we are not to partake of milk.

Peter says that we, like newborn babes, are to desire the pure milk of the Word. Not that we're to continue to be infants. We are to grow. And there is solid food. There is some deeper things. There is some meat of the Word of God, as we talked about in Hebrews chapter 5. But at the same time, we never outgrow the need for the milk.

As newborn babes, he says, we're to desire the pure milk of the Word. The simple sitting down, reading, understanding, and applying the Word of God. We're not to remain in infancy, but we're never to grow beyond the desire for the pure milk of the Word.

I once had a co-worker back when I worked at Paychex and Will Gorel was working there with me and this co-worker we both worked with and he told Will one time, he says, you know, I can tell that you're a new believer because you still read the Bible.

And his understanding was that, you know, you mature in the faith and you become older as a Christian. And as you become more mature, then you can stop reading the Bible. But that's not, that's exactly opposite of what Peter is saying here. That we are never to grow beyond that. As newborn babes, we're to desire the pure milk of the word. So how does a newborn babe desire milk?

Let's just consider that for a moment. Obviously, I'm not a mother and I've never nursed a child, but having talked with some moms who have, we can understand and you can picture quite clearly a newborn babe desires milk with great intensity. To such an extent that the baby, if it were able to speak, would be able to say, Everybody, stop doing everything you're doing. Everything stops right now. I need some milk right now.

That's in effect, if you could understand baby screams, what they are saying. I need to eat everything. I don't care what you're doing and I don't care what you have going on. I need some milk right now. They do this every three to four hours as newborn babes. Quite frequently, with great intensity, a newborn babe desires milk. So some moms, you know, they're up all night.

They come and their hair's all frazzled and they haven't slept. Why? Because that baby has this great desire, this great intensity, this great desire for this milk. Peter says, as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the Word. When is the last time that the Word of God affected you like that?

where you couldn't get enough, where it doesn't matter what's going on, I need, I have this thirst, this desire, this craving for the Word of God. I need to hear from the Lord. I need to meet with our Lord. I need to spend some time with Him in His Word. When's the last time that that was the frequency of you and spending time in the Word of God?

You couldn't go more than a couple of hours before you're thinking about the things of God, meditating on a scripture, looking up a passage, talking about a portion of scripture, listening to a Bible study that it just consumed your life. When was the last time? That's what Peter is saying, that like newborn babes, we are to have this intensity and this frequency that we're to fill our lives.

We're to lay aside all of these things that once filled our lives. This wickedness, this darkness, and now this purity of the Word of God is to fill us completely. As newborn babes desire the pure milk of the Word. We've been born again by the eternal Word of God, Peter says. Now fill your life with it. And then he ends this verse saying, "...that you may grow thereby."

What is it that causes us to grow as believers in Jesus Christ? How do we grow in the Christian faith? By the milk of the Word. By the milk of the Word. I think it's so wonderful that God has designed it this way. I'm sure He's excited that I agree with Him and what He has chosen to do. But because He's done it this way, a brilliant scholar can still be an infant in the faith. Think about the Apostle Paul for a moment.

He was a brilliant scholar, well studied in the Old Testament. He knew the scriptures. Yet when he had his encounter with Jesus Christ, when he was born again, well, spiritually, he was an infant. And there's a great deal of time that takes place where he had to grow. He needed to mature. And then he was able to fulfill the role and the calling that God had given to him. But there on the Damascus Road, there,

As Ananias laid hands upon him and prayed for him, he was an infant in the faith, even though he was a brilliant scholar of the Scriptures. And then in contrast to Paul, we have Peter. Peter is an uneducated man. He didn't go to school. He wasn't a scholar of the Scriptures. And yet an uneducated person can be a giant in the faith because it's the milk of the Word which causes us to grow.

In Acts chapter 4 verse 13, Peter and John are before the Sanhedrin. They're on trial for what they're doing and proclaiming the gospel and healing those that are sick. And it says of the Sanhedrin, of the Jewish leaders in Acts 4 verse 13, it says, When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled and they realized that they had been with Jesus. They took note. There was...

This boldness that they had because they had been with Jesus. Not because they were educated, not because they were trained, but because they'd been with Jesus. See, it means that any one of us can grow in the faith. And it doesn't require some great special skills. And you don't have to learn the Greek language or Hebrew, or you don't have to go to this particular school or have this type of intellect. Every one of us can.

are able to grow. We're able to meet with the Lord. We're able to be with Jesus and have a relationship with Him through the Word of God because it's by the milk of the Word that we grow. And we will not grow until the Word of God has its rightful place in our lives. We need to give God's Word a significant part of our lives.

as the authority in our life, as the desire, the thirst, and the craving of our life. Hey, we can get involved in all kinds of debates and learn all kinds of things in regards to apologetics and defending the faith. We can research all kinds of good things. We can learn the biblical languages. We can be experts in Bible trivia and still be infants in the faith. What we need in order to grow is the milk of the Word. Reading, understanding, and applying.

We need to, as newborn babes, desire it. I would encourage you. I would challenge you. Consume the Word of God every couple of hours. It doesn't mean you have to do an hour Bible study, but have some scriptures there with you as you work, as you go. Have your Bible handy. Spend some time. Read a passage. Meditate on some things that God has been speaking to you. Listen to some great Bible teaching on K-Wave. Talk with another believer about

a portion of scripture or the things that god has been speaking consume your life with it fill your life with it lay aside empty yourself of all of the the things before and in contrast to that fill your life with the pure milk of the word he says there in verse 3 if indeed you have tasted that the lord is gracious if you've tasted that the lord is gracious this is the rightful response to that to lay aside god's been so good to me i'm going to lay aside

the wickedness, the malice, the deceit, the envy, the evil speaking, and I'm going to fill myself with His Word. He's been so gracious to us. We have the opportunity to lay aside these things. Once we were bound to them, we were slaves to sin. Apart from Christ, that's our condition. Slaves to sin. We had no choice, but by God's grace, now we have the opportunity.

to lay aside the filthiness, to lay aside the things of the flesh. And we have the opportunity to fill our lives with the pure, eternal Word of God. So desire the pure milk of the Word. Secondly, this morning we find that Peter calls us to come to Him. Look at verse 4. "...coming to Him, that is to Jesus, as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious."

We are to come to Jesus. At one time, we were in a condition of rejecting Jesus. But now, we are to come to Him. That was then. We rejected Jesus Christ. We opposed Him. We were against Him. But this is now. We are to approach Him. To draw near to Him. To come close to Him. He says, "...rejected indeed by men." The world has rejected Jesus.

Since the very beginning. In John chapter 1, as John is beginning there the life, the ministry of Jesus, he describes and he explains in verse 10 and 11 of John 1 that Jesus was in the world and the world was made through him, but the world did not know him. And he came to his own, but his own did not receive him. The world, created by Jesus, rejected Jesus.

He came to his own. He came to those that he had created. He came to specifically the Jewish people, those that he had called and set apart and called to be his own. And yet they rejected him. Jesus Christ is rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. You know, life is like a one-way road. A one-way road has one right way.

There's one way to go. There's one way that's correct. And there's only one way that you're able to go. But as we enter this life and as we start out on this road by nature, we're going the wrong direction on this one-way road. But it seems right because there's so many with us going that same direction. Even though we see signs that are pointing, hey, wrong way. You're supposed to go the other way.

It seems right. We're comfortable. It's easy to go the same direction with everybody else. Rejecting Jesus. Away from God. But what He calls us to do, what we have the opportunity to do, because of what Jesus Christ has done for us, is we can make a U-turn on that one-way street. We can go against the flow and start going the right way down that one-way street. To come to Jesus as opposed to rejecting Him.

Those are the options. Those are the only two options. We're either going one direction or the other on that one-way street. There's no alternate routes. You can't plug it in on your GPS and say, hey, there's traffic. I want to go around this way. No, there's one way, one street, one road. You're either going towards him or you're rejecting him. Peter says, we're coming to him as to a living stone. He's rejected indeed by men, but he's chosen by God.

Jesus said in Luke 11, verse 23, He who is not with me is against me. You see, we have these two options and that's it. There's no third, there's no middle area, there's no gray area. You're either with Him or you're against Him. You're either going the right way on that one-way street or you're going the wrong way on that one-way street. And that's all that there is. And we can fight against that and we can complain about it, but that's the reality.

And so Peter says, we are to come to him as a living stone. Yes, he's rejected by men, but he's chosen by God. Now, which one would you rather trust? Yeah, men has all kinds of complaints and so-called reasons why they reject Jesus. But who are you going to entrust your eternal state to? Man, who's rejected Jesus, or God, who has chosen Jesus? Whose word will you believe? Who will you trust with your eternity?

We're to come to Jesus, to approach Him, to draw near to Him. He's chosen by God, and Peter says, and He's precious.

He's chosen by god and precious now peter uses this word three times to describe jesus here in this passage and It kind of strikes me a little bit funny Uh, you know, I always picture peter is kind of a big guy We have some indications there as he's able to pull in the net and john chapter 21 and stuff And you know peter's one of those loud mouths. He's kind of boisterous and big He always sticks his foot in his mouth and he's just kind of one of those I get this picture of this big burly guy and uh

And he uses this word precious over and over again, kind of a humorous thing in my mind, and seeing how God softens even the most hardened of hearts. But Jesus Christ is precious. He's precious to God. When Jesus was baptized, God the Father spoke from heaven and said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. He's precious to God. He's his only begotten Son.

Again on the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew chapter 17, God spoke forth from the cloud and said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear him. And so if God has chosen Jesus, if he is precious to God, shouldn't we have the same choice? Shouldn't we choose Jesus? Shouldn't we come to him? Shouldn't he be precious to us? Do we really want to fight against God?

Going on in verse 5, he says, 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. He says, We are to come to him, there in verse 4, as to a living stone. Here he says in verse 5, We also are living stones. What is he talking about? What does it mean to be a living stone? Well, it's kind of like another...

example that we see and are perhaps more familiar with is the idea of the body of Christ that the scripture talks about. The body of Christ is the gathering or the group of believers in Jesus Christ. They're known as, they're called the body of Christ. It's a picture for us to learn some lessons and have an understanding of what the church is and how we are in relationship to Christ. In the body of Christ, there is one body.

And yet, being one body, there is many members. And each believer in Jesus Christ is a member or a part of the body of Christ. Jesus as well is a member of the body. He is the head. And so we have one body. We're all members. Jesus likewise is a member of the body. He's the head of the body of Christ.

Well, similar to that picture that the Apostle Paul paints for us in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, the body of Christ, we have here this spiritual house. This is the picture that Peter uses for us. He uses this idea of a building or a spiritual house. And again, like there's one body, there's one spiritual house.

Each believer in Jesus Christ is a member or a part of that house. We're living stones. We're parts of the building. Jesus also is a member. He is the chief cornerstone in that building. And so he says we're to come to Jesus as to a living stone,

Us also being living stones. We're part of the spiritual house that God is building. We're part of this work that God is doing. We're part of the kingdom of God. And so we are to come to him as this living stone, really as our chief cornerstone, the foundation upon which all of God's kingdom is built, but also the foundation upon which our life is to be built. Much like the parable Jesus tells,

told in Matthew chapter 7 about the wise and foolish builder. And the wise man built his house upon the rock. We are to build our house upon the rock, the chief cornerstone. We are to come to him as to a living stone. Not only that, but we are a holy priesthood. We're part of this work. We're part of this spiritual house. We're the stones that build up this house. But also God has enabled us. God has called us to be a holy priesthood.

to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Again, look at the contrast. That was then. We rejected Jesus. We were against Him. But this is now. We come to Him. He's the foundation of our life. And through Him, we get to partake of a holy priesthood. We get to partake in the ministry of God and offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God.

through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. No longer do we need another person to be a priest for us. We don't need someone else to mediate before God on our behalf because Jesus Christ is our mediator. And through Him, we are a holy priesthood. And so we offer up spiritual sacrifices. No longer is there a need for someone else to serve as a priest on our behalf because we have been called to

To a holy priesthood through Jesus Christ. And we get to participate in offering up these spiritual sacrifices. What are these sacrifices? Not as in the Old Testament, you know, we're not sacrificing animals and shedding blood. No, spiritual sacrifices. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 15 talks about the sacrifice of praise. The fruit of our lips where we declare the goodness of God and what he has done.

It's a spiritual sacrifice that we are able to offer up. Romans chapter 12 verse 1 talks about the sacrifice that we offer to God of our own selves. Offering ourselves, offering our bodies as living sacrifices to God. Surrendering ourselves to Him, giving ourselves to Him. These are spiritual sacrifices that we're able to offer to God that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

The only way that our sacrifices are acceptable is through Jesus. You cannot offer these sacrifices to God if you've not first come to Jesus. If you've not been born again, if you don't have right standing with God. This is not in order to be saved. These are sacrifices that we give to God, free will offerings that we offer to Him.

This is not, well, you know, you can work your way and you don't have to really believe in Jesus and be born again. You can just do good works and give this money and you can do these things and offer these sacrifices and you'll be acceptable to God. No, it's acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. We go through Jesus to the Father. He is our mediator. And through Him, we have a call to a holy priesthood.

in which we get to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God. We get to be well-pleasing to God through Jesus Christ. How incredible that is. At one time, we were at enmity against God, rejecting Jesus. But now we get to be acceptable to Him, well-pleasing to Him through Jesus Christ. And so we're to come to Jesus, Peter says. How do we do that? Well, it's by faith, and we can...

See that in verse 6 as we go on. It says, Therefore, it is also contained in the scripture. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame. Believing on Jesus Christ is how we come to him. We approach him by faith in the finished work that he accomplished for us.

And so we're to come to Jesus. Number three today as we look there at verse six through eight, we find that Jesus is our chief cornerstone. He is the chief cornerstone. Peter now quotes from the Old Testament in Isaiah chapter 28 verse 16. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect and precious, and he who believes on him will by no means put to shame. Jesus Christ is our chief cornerstone. At one time,

Before we believed in Jesus, Jesus was a stumbling block to us. He was an offense to us, as we'll see in the following verses. But now, in Jesus Christ, because we've been born again by the incorruptible word of God, he says there, he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame. We will not have to stand before God ashamed. We will stand before God proud.

Because we believe on Jesus Christ being received and accepted by him. He says, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone.

The cornerstone was an interesting stone. As they were building in those days, they would have this cornerstone which was part of the foundation, but it was also the starting point for the walls that they would build. It set the corner, it set the walls. It was incredibly important for the layout of the building, the size of the building, and if the building was going to be straight or not. The cornerstone was vitally important.

It was the most expensive stone because of the strength and precision that was required. It was the largest stone and it had to be solid in order to hold everything together and to be able to be built upon with security, with confidence. And so they would carefully construct this stone.

Again, it would be part of the foundation, but the walls would be built on it as well. And it was this stone that, well, if it was crooked, then the walls would be crooked. If the angle was off, then the building would not come together properly. If it couldn't withstand the pressure of the building, well, it would collapse and the building would fall apart. And so the cornerstone was very important. And here we find that Jesus is our chief cornerstone.

And Jesus being perfect, we have great confidence then that our lives can be built upon Him. If we rest upon Him, we will never be put to shame. If we believe on Him, if our lives are rested upon Him, if we live according to His Word, if we walk in Him, if He's the cornerstone of our life, what holds our life together and what everything in our life is built upon, we will never be put to shame. We never have to worry about being put to shame.

If our lives are built upon Him, we will be okay. We'll be firm, established, right where God wants us to be. And I don't know about you, but for me, that is some great hope and security. Can you imagine if you knew that you had to stand before God one day, but you didn't know exactly how God wanted you to live?

How dreadful would your life be? Always wondering, second-guessing, well, am I doing what I'm supposed to be? Is this how I'm supposed to live? Is this what God wants me to be doing? Is this how He wants me to build my life? Is this where He wants me to set up camp? Is this how He wants me to build? Always wondering, am I going to be found worthy? Am I going to stand before God ashamed? But God hasn't left us in that condition, even though some people choose to live in that condition by not looking to Jesus as their chief cornerstone.

We're not in that position. We have this security, this chief cornerstone that is the foundation of our lives, upon which everything that is us is to be built upon. Our lives are to be established upon Him, in Him. He's what secures us. He's what holds us together. And He's perfect. We don't have to worry about going off if we're established upon the chief cornerstone, if we're resting in Him.

Verse 7, he says, Therefore to you who believe, he is precious. You see, that's precious. That's awesome. Jesus Christ is my chief cornerstone. He holds me together. I can rest securely on him. But, he goes on, to those who are disobedient, the stone which the builders 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.

So, to those who believe we receive Jesus Christ, he's our chief cornerstone, we're established, we're solid, oh, he's precious to us. But if you do not believe, well, notice what it says there. The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. Jesus is rejected indeed by men, Peter just finished saying, and yet those who reject Jesus...

we'll find that He is still the chief cornerstone. To those who believe, He's our chief cornerstone, and that's precious to us. To those who don't believe, He is still the chief cornerstone. Isn't it amazing that at one time this world was flat, and then later on, more recently in history, it became round? Isn't that amazing? Is that what happened? No, it didn't happen. The world's always... It was created exactly how God created it, as a sphere. But men believed...

for some time that the world was flat. Later they amended their ways, they learned a little bit more and they realized, "Oh, I guess the world is actually round." The world didn't change, the people changed. They changed their mind. In the same way, whether you believe or not, Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone. He is what our lives are to be established on. He is what God has given to us as the standard.

He's the one that God has given to us as the central place of our hearts and lives. Whether you believe or not, Jesus is the chief cornerstone. You may come to your senses now and recognize that he is the chief cornerstone, or you can fight against it and hurt yourself and kick yourself and trip over and stumble and destroy your life trying to prove that he's not. But he is the chief cornerstone.

Peter quotes again from Isaiah chapter 8 verse 14 this time. He calls him a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. This is what Jesus at one time was to us. When we refused to believe, Jesus was to us a stumbling block. We didn't like the idea. Jesus Christ being the Lord of our lives. Him being the standard. Us being his servants.

It was a stumbling block. It was offensive to us. He was a rock of offense to us, to those who do not believe. That's the condition that we were in. Do you ever wonder why people are so offended when you talk about the gospel, when you talk about Jesus?

You ever notice how you know, it's okay to talk about any other religion. Just don't talk about Christianity It's okay to talk about any other religious figure you can look up to to any religious figure and write your school papers on any religious figure but but just not Jesus because He's the chief cornerstone you see for those who don't believe he's a stumbling block a rock of offense and

People are offended that they stumble, Peter says there in verse 8, being disobedient to the word to which they also were appointed. It's interesting to me. They were appointed to the word. They were appointed as well to be obedient. He is the chief cornerstone for them as well. But they refuse, just as we did at one time. Being disobedient to the word, they stumble. You know, it's as if we had a sign out by the step in the front and says, watch your step.

And you say, no, I don't want to watch my step. I refuse. That's not, I don't care. I don't care what you say. I want to live the way I want to live and I'm going to walk the way I want to walk. And in fact, I don't even believe that there's a step there. And so you just walk. Well, go right ahead then. You're going to stumble. You're going to hurt yourself. And the same way Jesus is the chief cornerstone. And you can fight against that and you can say, well, I don't even believe in Jesus. I don't even believe in God. But you're going to stumble. You're going to hurt yourself. Because the reality is...

He is the chief cornerstone. And every one of us have been appointed to the Word of God. We've been given God's Word as the standard for our lives. We'll be held accountable to what the Bible says, to who Jesus is, and whether or not we believed in Him and followed Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone. Every one of us has the opportunity to believe.

You can either acknowledge that he is the one who God says he is, and you can come to him, making him the foundation of your life, or you can refuse to come and destroy your life, trying to fight against him and pretend that he's not really the chief cornerstone. But in the end, you'll recognize, you'll realize that indeed he is the Savior, the Messiah. There's salvation found in no other name. He is the chief cornerstone. Finally, point number four.

We saw who He is. Now who are we? In Christ now we are the people of God. Look at verse 9. He says, Verse 10. Verse 10.

but now have obtained mercy. There's this great void in our hearts without God. Sometimes we try to cover it. We try to fill it. We try to pretend that it's not there. But without Christ, when Jesus is not our chief cornerstone, there's this great void in our hearts. There's this emptiness. We're alone. We have no purpose, no meaning. We try to disguise it. We try to mask it. Yet in Christ,

Again, the contrast. In Christ, we are a chosen generation. It's not a life of emptiness. It's not a life of meaninglessness. But we've been chosen by God. We're a royal priesthood. We get to participate. There's royalty. We're in the line of Christ by believing in Him. We're adopted sons and daughters as disciples.

John says again in John chapter 1, as many as believed on him, as many as received him, to them he gave the right to be called the children of God, the sons of God, the daughters of God. We're a royal priesthood. We have great privilege in approaching God, great privilege in coming to God by faith in Jesus Christ. He says we're a holy nation, a holy nation and his own special people. Did you know that you are?

are special to God. You're special to God. Outside of Christ, man, it's so easy to feel like no one loves us, no one cares about us. It's so gloom and grim. In fact, he says, we are able to proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. It's a very accurate word to describe life without God. Life without Jesus as our chief cornerstone. It's darkness. It's darkness.

It's emptiness. It's void. It's like those caves I was talking about at the beginning. It's eerie. It's creepy. There's just no visibility. You can't see. You don't know where you're going. You don't know where you're going to end up. You don't know if you're going to fall off a cliff and that's the end. And that's that. It's just emptiness, darkness, despair. But He's called us out of that into His marvelous light.

He's called us out of darkness. How big is the contrast between darkness and light? In Christ, we're His own special people. He's called us to be part of this chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. He says, once you were not a people, but now you're the people of God. Once you were all alone, you're just by yourself, but now you're the people of God.

Now you're a part of the body of Christ. You're a member of the church of God. You're part of this thing that God is doing. You're part of the kingdom of God. At one time you hadn't obtained mercy. That's a terrible state to be in. Being in a state where you fully deserve the judgment of eternity in hell. But now because of what God has done for us in sending His Son and Jesus Christ to die upon the cross for us, by faith in Him you have obtained mercy.

How big is the contrast between not receiving mercy and receiving mercy? It's huge. Again, it's that one-way street. You're either going one way, which is the wrong way, or you're going the right way. You either have obtained mercy or you have not obtained mercy. You're in darkness, but you've been called into the marvelous light. God has given us this great and awesome privilege, being a part of His family.

being able to be called the children of God, being a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people. And this, I find that the Lord is gracious. It's not because we deserve it. It's just because He loves us and He's so good to us. And so Peter says, "Hey, if you found that the Lord is gracious, desire the pure milk of the Word." That was then. Our hearts were full of wickedness. This is now. We fill our hearts, we fill our lives

with the pure milk of God's Word. We come to Him. That was then. At one time, we rejected Jesus. We were against Him. We were opposed to Him. But now, we come to Him. We approach Him. We draw near to Him. And James tells us that when we draw near to God, He draws near to us. There's this closeness, this real relationship that we're able to have, to walk in this intimacy with Jesus Christ. We come to Him. He's the chief cornerstone.

upon which we build our lives. At one time, that was then, He was a stumbling block and a fence to us, but now He's our confidence. We'll never be put to shame because we believe in Him. So now we are the people of God, chosen, holy, special, His own, for those who believe in Jesus Christ. As we finish off here, I just want to ask, does your life reflect this kind of contrasts?

Are you where you need to be as a Christian? Do you look a lot like the world? Do you look a lot like how you used to be? Or is there this stark contrast? Where there once was all this malice and wickedness and deceitfulness, have you laid that aside and filled your life with the pure milk of God's Word? Where once there was darkness, are you walking in the marvelous light? Are you where God wants you to be? This morning,

We have an opportunity to respond because we've obtained mercy. Because God's gracious. And we can come to Him. We can draw near to Him. This morning, maybe you've never really made a real commitment to Jesus Christ. Maybe you've never really been born again. Where you decided, I'm going to make Jesus my chief cornerstone. And I'm going to live my life for Him. And I'm going to receive what He did for me upon the cross. This morning, you can have an opportunity to do that. You can get right with God. And it doesn't cost anything.

Not us anyways. The price was paid when Jesus died upon the cross for us. We simply receive what God has done by putting our faith and trust in Him, by believing in what He has promised in His Word. Let's pray. God, as we look and reflect on this passage, this wonderful contrast that are here pictured for us, I thank You, God, that You give us the opportunity that You work on our behalf

to pull us out of the darkness and into your marvelous light. Thank you, God, that we can know you, that we can walk with you. Thank you that we can be forgiven. God, I pray that you would help us to respond appropriately to this work that you've done in us. Lord, that we would desire intently, fervently, and frequently your word.

that we would fill our lives with the things of you, that we would come to you and approach you and pursue after you and desire to know you and seek after you with all of our hearts, that our lives would be consumed by you, built upon you, established upon you, centered around you, but that you truly would be our God, our master, our passion, the one for whom we live. God, if there's any areas where we fall short, Lord, where the contrast is too

well, it's just not really there the way it should be. There's areas of compromise, areas where we try to get away with living like the rest of the world or being as we used to be. I pray, Lord, that you would remind us of our calling, of who we are. And God, that you would help us to be fully, wholly devoted to you. And Lord, for those who have never surrendered themselves to you, for those who have never been born again, I pray that you would break through

that you would speak to their hearts, God, that they would understand what you did for them by dying upon the cross, receiving the punishment and penalty for our sin. God, help them to turn to you and receive your offer of life, your offer of forgiveness, and your offer of eternity with you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.