"And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture: "Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed."
This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve,“The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone,” and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation."
Christ is unavoidable. Every person in human history will one day come to Christ, you will either come to Him as Lord and Savior or you will come to Him as Judge. He is either the cornerstone or the crushing Rock of judgment. However, there is a world of people who will reject Christ. Their unbelief is not appointed, their doom is appointed because of their unbelief. Every person who has or will ever exist, will receive exactly what their choice demanded.
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father,
Father, we thank You for You Word for us today. Though we are so unworthy, our hearts rejoice that we have come to the Living Stone. We rejoice that we can know all the fullness of this marvelous blessing, that we are One with Christ. Thank You for reminding us that You have called us out of this world, to all the glories of our salvation, to all the blessings in the heavenly places in Christ. We are so grateful for that You have called us to live excellent lives that put Him on display as He lives through us. How rich we are in Christ. Help us to live as we ought, then use us, Lord, through what we say and how we live to bring others to Christ.
Lord, we pray that You would touch those hearts who have yet to receive Christ, to accept His invitation to salvation, we pray that today would be that day. May all be for Your glory and increase in the kingdom and for Christ's sake.
In His precious name we pray
Amen
Today's Message: Living Stones Part 2
I invite you to follow along with me I read to you again verses four through twelve, to set the text in our minds, while we prepare our hearts for what the Spirit is saying to us. I encourage you to listen for the voice of the Spirit of God. I Peter 2:4-12.
"And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by
men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living
stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
For this is contained in Scripture: "Behold, I lay in Zion a choice
stone, a precious corner stone, And he who believes in Him will not be
disappointed."
This
precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who
disbelieve,“The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very
corner stone,” and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for
they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom
they were also appointed. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may
proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into
His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are
the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received
mercy.
Beloved,
I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which
wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the
Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers,
they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God
in the day of visitation."
In Matthew 24:44, Jesus said that "And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust." The unbeliever will will surely stumble and ultimately be crushed. I want to make something clear here, their disobedience is not destined, but because He is an unacceptable stone, their doom is appointed because of their unbelief. The penalty for their sin is appointed because of their unbelief.
God's eye rests on the work accomplished by Christ. When you are not walking in the Spirit you are in the flesh. What a privilege we have know that God never diverges from the acceptance in which He has received us because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are assured in Scripture, that those reject the gospel, God in turn rejects them.
The value of something depends on what someone is willing to pay for it. Christ paid for us with His own precious blood. I Corinthians 6:20 tells us "For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." This transaction happens in a vital confrontation with the cross of Christ. Belief in the finished work of Christ on the cross, as the substitutionary payment for our sin, is the only basis for salvation. Christ is precious to us who believe, in the same way that our faith is precious. If you have ever been close to death, as I have, you really come to understand and realize this preciousness of the Lord
Those who die without Christ, have no hope beyond the grave. For them, the worst is yet to come. Christ is the only way to obtain salvation, forgiveness of sin and eternal life in the kingdom of God. Only through Christ, does God give to His undeserving people these privileges, union with
Christ, access to Christ, security in Christ, and affection for Christ.
The Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:7-12, " In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory."
Verse 9, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." What a stunning statement of truth. We are chosen by the Lord. In the Greek, by the way, this particular verse is emphatic. Peter is talking about the doom of those those who have been sentenced to hell because of their disobedience and their failure to receive Christ. Those who are ultimately destined for death and destruction because of their unbelief and their rejection of Christ. Because of their failure to value Him as precious, they are doomed.
In contrast, Peter emphasizes the fact that we are chose, a race produced from a source from a life source and namely God. When Peter says we are a chosen race, he is again referring back to the Old Testament, as we have already noted that he has done throughout his letter. Now, he is going all the way back to Deuteronomy chapter 7.
Deuteronomy 7:6-11 says For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The Lord
did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in
number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face."
There is little doubt, that Peter sees the redeemed community of God as chosen, just as Israel of old had been chosen by God for special purpose within His plan. There is now a new race, a chosen "genos," a people, and family, that have come out of the life source of God Himself having been chosen by God. Since God created us to be connected with other people, there’s a high felt need for community. God designed the church to fulfill that need. Therefore, I do not believe there should never be such thing as a believer just "attending church." We must never mistakenly think of ministry in exclusively formal terms, teaching, the church service. Ministry is the overflow of a life that is completely full of Jesus Christ. How wonderful it is to be brought from darkness to light.
John 15:16, "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you."
Acts 13:47-48, " For so the Lord has commanded us, ‘I have placed You as a light for the Gentiles,
That You may bring salvation to the end of the earth." When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed."
That You may bring salvation to the end of the earth." When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed."
Over and over and over again, throughout Scripture we read that we have been chosen by God.
Peter then says we are "a royal priesthood." We do not just serve a King, we reign with the King. I'd like to draw your attention to the word "royal," for a moment, it is the Greek word "basíleios." it can mean a palace, a crown, however, the idea here is royalty in general. Looking back to verse 5, Peter says we "are being built up as a spiritual house." The spiritual house being built up, is in a sense, a royal house. Though we call it a house, it's really more of a sphere of dominion, a family of rulers. We are a royal house of kings and priests, and that is exactly the way in which uses it. What a tremendous honor and privilege.
Revelation 5:10, "You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth."
And, in Revelation chapter 20, verse 6 it says "Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years."
There is only One Who can establish such a house, that is Christ, Who is both a Royal Priest and Royal King. Because we have entered into union with Christ, because we are one with Him, we inherit the unique nature of His priesthood. Christ did not inherit His priesthood by coming through a priestly line, He came the royal line of Judah. And, because we are one with Christ, we too are royal priests.
In I Corinthians 6:1-3, Paul says "Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life?"
As if it weren't enough to spend eternity giving offerings to the Lord God. Our future also holds being a royal priest, but we're going reign over the dominions of heavenly existence that God assigns to us and we're even going to rule over angels, in royal priesthood. Folks, this is a great, great privilege! Allow me to point out, that there is nothing within us deserving of such an honor, we did not and cannot earn it. We are completely unworthy! We have been loved purely and chosen as a result of His own divine choosing.
Next, Peter says "We are a holy nation." Nation is the word "ethnos," from which we get the English word ethnic. It simply means a people, forming a custom culture. Again, holy means set apart, separated, we have been set apart unto God. We are a holy people. You know, it is inconceivable to me, that a holy God would bring sinners to Himself, but that's exactly what He did by His great grace. He has separated us from sin. He has separated us from Satan. He has separated us from the world. It isn't just that we were separated from hell, we've brought into intimacy with God. That work is produced by the Holy Spirit, it is a reflection of our new relationship and new obedience.
When you were saved you were set apart unto God, by the work of salvation produced by the Holy Spirit, you became a holy nation. Now, to be clear, I'm talking about positionally, because you can never be a holy person in the fullest sense, until you have cultivated a relationship of intimacy with the living Christ.
He goes on to say we are "a people for God's own possession." Here, I believe that he is referring back to Exodus 19:5, which says "Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine."
The word "possessed,"is the word "peripoíēsis," which to acquire, to purchase. We are God's own possession because He paid the price. Acts 20:28 tells us "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood." And again, I Corinthians 6:20, " For you have been bought with a price:" I can't imagine anything more beautiful than to be God's very own personal possession.
Peter concludes verse 9, with a wonderful statement, "so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." God has called us out of the world as His people so that we can go back
into the world and proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of
darkness into His marvelous light.
Darkness is the disastrous state of the unregenerate, who are under the power of the prince of darkness, none other than Satan himself. Darkness essentially speaks of two things, ignorance and immorality. Ignorance is an intellectual darkness meaning you cannot see truth. Moral darkness means you cannot see righteousness. In other words, you are not only in darkness, but you are a child of darkness. Unregenerate men love the darkness, because their deeds are evil. The depth of darkness is so profound. God in His grace simply calls you out of darkness because of His own desire to do so. Again, there is so much more that can be said here, but I'll encourage you to initiate your own study.
As a footnote, every time you see the word "called" in the epistles, it is a technical term for the election of God put into action, which it always indicates God's saving initiative. That saving call is certainly on Peter's heart.
Verse 10, "for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."
Here, Peter is drawing from Hosea 1:6-9, "Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to him, "Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them. But I will have compassion on the house of Judah and deliver them by the Lord their God, and will not deliver them by bow, sword, battle, horses or horsemen.” When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said, "Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people and I am not your God."
Peter is referring back to Hosea, when God said there will be a time when you will not receive mercy and then a time when you will receive mercy. It compares to the New Testament, when Paul said in Romans 9:15, "For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It refers to the church, who were once not a people but now are the people of God.
"You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." Mercy is compassion. Mercy is compassion. Certainly, one of our spiritual privileges is the compassion from our Lord! God's withholds the just punishment of our sin. His forbearing compassion toward sinners. God has every right to consume sinners, to just immediately consume those that reject Him, who don't know Him.
Look at Lamentations 3:22, "The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail." God is compassionate. God mercifully eliminates the present potential disaster of sin.That's a mercy which comes upon all people. For the elect, God forever eliminates the potential punishment for sin. In other words, the elect receive not only mercy in this life but a special mercy in the life to come.
God not only forgives our sin, He eliminates the judgment. God is not influenced by the misery of sinners, if He were, He'd save them all. I cannot tell why God chooses whom He chooses. I can tell you this, it's not because some sinners are more worthy of mercy than others. God chose to be merciful to you, simply because God chose to be merciful to you. We are to proclaim God’s mercy and light to those who are still in the darkness. We have the great honor and privilege of announcing the might works of the One true Living God to the lost of this world. We are ambassadors for Christ!
Psalm 136:1 says "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting."
Verse 11, "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul." Peter uses the word "beloved," which he loves to use. In fact, he uses it eight times in the two epistles. Peter seems to have a way of warming up his exhortations. It's Peter's way of saying
being the beloved of God, you have a duty to perform.
being the beloved of God, you have a duty to perform.
He then says that we are "aliens and strangers," that’s how we are to think about ourselves as citizens of heaven. We are aliens and strangers in a foreign land. We dare not forget, we are not simply foreigners, we are living on enemy turf! Furthermore, our identity should not be derived from this world, but from our relationship to God and His people, who are all bound for heaven. We are non citizens, we're just passing through. We do not belong here. I can tell you this, it becomes more and more evident everyday, that I am in the world but I am not of the world. I feel it.
Peter is calling us to a discipline that is inward and private. If we are to live a godly life on the outside, it must begin on the inside. Living as aliens and strangers in the fallen world with an evangelic mission,if we are to win the unbeliever to Christ, it has to begin with the integrity of life. And that begins on the inside. Our testimony is gained by our integrity.
He then calls us to "to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul." We can only abstain from fleshly lusts as we live as aliens and strangers by recognizing this world is not our home.That we have a home in heaven. Peter understands that these fleshly lusts wage war against the soul. As Christians, we must constantly fight against the lusts of the flesh, and continue the battle as long as we live in this flesh.
It is all too easy to see see how the pursuit of fleshly lusts can destroy our physical body. Drug addiction and alcoholism, sexually immorality often lead to disease and death. Though some may escape disease when they sin, the disease of death and destruction of the inner man is a penalty that no one given over to the flesh escapes.
That's why John says in I John 2:15-17, "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever."
We are scattered among people of other beliefs, other values, very different morals and standards of life and frankly, we are just not a part of this world. However, as Christians, we have always had to live among pagans, whose lives are rooted in a lower order, which Peter exhorts us to rise above. Peter is calling us to that righteous life in a hostile environment. If we are to have an impact on the world in which we must live, we must live a disciplined life. To sum it up, abstain from fleshly lusts.
Because we have been cleansed, because we have received a new heart, the new man battles against the flesh. It doesn't help matters that we live in an immoral, pornographic society. However, he's not talking about just sexual immorality, though that's part of it, he's talking about the strong cravings and desires, and the expression of the depraved craving of our fallenness. Fleshly lusts show up in a number ways.
In Galatians 5:19-21, Paul lists of some of them for us. "Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you,
just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will
not inherit the kingdom of God."
On one hand, we are called to desire the Word and offer up spiritual sacrifices and at the same time, we have fleshly lusts attached to unredeemed humanness. Becoming a Christian does not eradicate the strong, inner, emotional tug toward self-will and sin. As long as we live in this body, we must be vigilant and fight against these inward desires. Therefore, we must abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against our souls, while we wait for the redemption of our bodies. In other words, there must be inner purity and outer fruitfulness.
In verse 12, Peter says "Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation." He's saying you're going to prove them wrong in the very things with which they try to discredit you. And by doing so, you're going to lead them to the believability of the gospel.
The word Peter uses for evildoers is the word "kakopoiós," which means someone of a malicious disposition. It expresses the idea of a very wicked person, one who is worthy of severe punishment. Pagans frequently verbally abused Christians, evildoers was a contemptuous term. Christians were distrusted, they were despised and they were hated. They accused them of all kinds of things, including accusing them of atheism, because they refused to worship the Roman gods or the Roman emperors who claimed to be gods.
They accused them of insurrection, because of communion, they accused them of cannibalism. Because of the "agape feasts," they were accused of immorality, incest and wild orgies. They were accused of home wrecking. They were accused of hating men since they were opposed to the world system. They were being slandered, mocked and accused from every direction. So, Peter says there is only one way to do away with all of this, and that is to live an absolutely excellent life. And, as they observe your good deeds and continue to observe them, they will glorify God in the day of visitation.
In the day of visitation, was a very common phrase in the Old Testament. The obvious indication here is the time when God visits them. In the Old Testament God visited man basically for two reasons, blessing or judgment. In Luke 1:68, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people," refers to a visit for redemption.
And in Luke 19:44, "and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation," it talks about the time of the future when judgment will come. Because you rejected the visitation of salvation, He'll come in judgment.
So, what Peter is saying when the Lord moves in on the heart of the unsaved and enables them to discern the truth of sin and the gospel and opens their heart, they'll remember the lives of faithful Christians. If you think about it, this is really a beautiful thought. This is exactly the kind of life that God calls us to live. So that they unbeliever will respond in saving faith and glorify God because he remembers the tremendous testimony of the believers he observed.
In Closing..
It’s so easy to get caught up in the ways of the world, living for ourselves, pursuing personal pleasures. Living as the world lives, seeking self-fulfillment and personal happiness. However, God is calling us to pursue Him and all that He is, it is the only way to true self-fulfillment.
The blessings of God are not simply for our own enjoyment. Each of these blessed privileges carry with them a most noble responsibility and the worthy task of proclaiming the excellencies of God. Because the world is in spiritual darkness, it is crucial that we who have been so richly blessed, proclaim His excellencies.
So many are lost, in this world of darkness. It is our job to shine the light of Christ as a beacon of hope.
In their own woeful sinful condition, there is only one solution, that is salvation through Jesus Christ. If we live in the light of God’s Presence, our lives will radiate the
marvelous light into which God has graciously called us to live.
Let us take a moment to reflect on our sinful past and give God thanks and praise for our enlightened
present and the matchless inheritance that is ours in Christ Jesus.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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