Hope Beyond Guilt: Becoming Living Stones, Part 1

Today, Chuck Swindoll reminds us that God is on our side.

God is for us who can be against us. You remember that tomorrow morning when you don't feel like He is. Remember that when you have failed. Remember that when you have sinned.

God is for you. Guilt is a nagging emotion. It's not like some feelings that come and go. Guilt has a way of lingering.

It sits in our inner being and festers. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll is teaching from a passage in 1 Peter in which the apostle imparts godly wisdom on dealing with guilt. He doesn't suggest we should just shrug it off and move on. Instead he says we should present our guilt to God, the living stone.

Why did Peter choose that unfamiliar reference? Chuck provides an answer in his message titled, Hope Beyond Guilt. Contrary to popular opinion, God doesn't sit around in heaven with His jaws clenched and His arms folded in constant disapproval of us and everything we do. He is not frowning. He is not ticked off at His children for all the times we trip up and fall flat on our faces.

Remember this. Our God is a loving Father. And believe it or not, we His children are precious in His sight.

How wonderful that is to remember. In today's message we are going to catch a glimpse of God's pure delight in us. And even the way He refers to us, we're going to learn how favorable that is. You're going to find some of this pretty amazing.

Need to tell you ahead of time. So turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 2. I want to read for you the first 12 verses of this chapter.

1 Peter 2 beginning at verse 1. Therefore putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander like newborn babies long for the pure milk of the word so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. 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 cornerstone 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 cornerstone 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 works as they observe them glorify God in the day of visitation. You're listening to insight for living to dig deeper into 1st Peter with Chuck Swindoll be sure to download his searching the scriptures studies by going to insight.org slash studies and now the message from Chuck titled hope beyond guilt. For some unexplainable reason we seem to outgrow a close relationship with God if your experience was like mine when you were real small you had a an intimate feeling toward him and you brought him the well in adult world and adult talk you brought him the most trivial things and you just had in a childlike faith the confidence that he cared about him and he and he met the need and there was nothing too small there was nothing too big to ask of him just like a child talking to his mother or to his dad he just he was just there and you felt free to relate to him in that intimate way somewhere between childhood and adulthood however a distance grows we feel increasingly less close to God sort of a fear builds up maybe by then we have done a number of things that we're not pleased with and certainly not proud of and maybe even ashamed of and though we know he forgives and though we know he wipes our slate clean we we feel that those things have caused that sense of distance and how could we ever feel as close to him as we once did for years I've wondered why we don't have the closeness in adult life that we had when we were children I was reminded of just how open and close children feel when I came across a little book recently called Dear God it's a wonderful little book it's sort of disarming and the theology isn't always great because kids don't have great theology but it's a series of letters that children have actually written God it's terrific one little letter from Alan age 9 reads dear God I saw the Grand Canyon last summer nice piece of work isn't that great who would ever think of saying that to God nice work here was another one dear God and Jesus I'm a big follower of you guys I root for both of you all the time keep those miracles coming your best friend Stephen age 8 the next one's from Mike age 11 dear God I think I think that you are very kind and generous can you see if I can get a bigger allowance no need too small no request too great then this one from Marty age 9 dear God I wish I could spend all my time with you we could go to beautiful places together like Paris we could fill all the world with love we could make every kid and grown-ups smile I don't think you can do it alone why don't you make me a special helper my family and my teachers will understand I'm willing to give up some kids stuff it will be for a very good cause how about it with all the love in my heart Marty ps I would like to take my pink and white dress with me if that's okay just the closeness just the sense of caring there is nothing too big and nothing too small nothing that he's not interested in but in the process of a period of time as we get to be adults something seems to happen there seems to be this sense of distance I think if I were to ask adults to write God a letter and take a rambling sample of what they write I think it would be altogether different than what they wrote as children as a matter of fact I I think probably there will be written across the pages of those letters feelings of guilt and fear and sort of pleading for relief from these feelings of distance we have so much to learn from children let's that's why for the next few minutes I want us to turn in our bibles and get a rather quick and simple profile of God's appraisal of us he has taken us in our brokenness and he has made something beautiful of our lives let me take a random sampling through the old and new testament for just a few minutes first psalm 103 and let's remind ourselves of God's appraisal of us okay I think children write those simple letters and have that simple faith because they really believe God believes in them and God loves them and God cares for them I want us to leave with the same sense that God still has a care for us psalm 103 bless the Lord oh my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name bless the Lord oh my soul and forget none of his benefits and then he lists them you wonder what God thinks of you he pardons all your iniquities he heals all your diseases he redeems your life from the pit he crowns you with loving kindness and compassion he satisfies our years with good things so that our youth is renewed like the eagles verse 11 high as the heavens are above the heavens high as the heavens are above the earth so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him as far as the east is from the west so far has he removed our transgressions from us just as a father has compassion on his children so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him for he himself knows our frame he is mindful that we are but dust I find that very relieving he understands our limits he realizes our struggles he knows how far we can take pressure he knows how extensive we can handle the tests he knows how we're put together he realizes that we're really nothing but a handful of dust his expectations aren't that great we set up our expectations not God and we don't take our cues from him nor he from us we give ourselves this kind of unrealistic agenda and then when we don't live up to it we feel like he brings judgment down on us but this verse says he remembers he knows our frame he is mindful that we are but dust what is his agenda for us turn from psalm to jeremiah 29 I just read this today in the one-year bible as many of you did by the way you're hanging tough on that assignment aren't you is it as tough for you as it is for me some mornings I would like to say it's always easy going sometime I have to confess I look ahead to see how many pages I have to read this morning oh I'm glad I'm not the only one that does that jeremiah 29 look at verse 11 and then verse 12 you want to know what his agenda is for you tomorrow morning what his agenda is for you the next day these are his plans he wrote them originally to israel but by by application they fit jeremiah speaking for the lord god I know the plans that I have for you declares the lord my agenda for you would be plans for welfare not for calamity to give you a future and a hope then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you isn't that wonderful I have plans for you and they are plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and to give you a hope I had to leave out so many but I did want to go to Lamentations that's the book that little journal that Jeremiah kept after the after the fall of Jerusalem over Lamentations chapter 3 if you're not familiar with the book it's right after the book of Jeremiah locate verses 25 and 26 as we continue to build this appraisal God has of us chapter 3 of Lamentations verses 25 and 26 let me start at verse 21 this I recall to my mind therefore I have hope the lord's loving kindness says plural the lord's loving kindness is indeed never cease for his compassions never fail they are new every morning great is thy faithfulness thy faithfulness the lord is my portion says my soul therefore I have hope in him now look at his appraisal the lord is good to those who wait for him to the person who seeks him it is good that he waits silently for the deliverance of the lord now some of you are right now waiting for something from the lord most people I meet are in a holding pattern of some kind you have something on the horizon maybe not too distant horizon that you're trusting God for he is good to those who wait for him he is good to those who seek him you're waiting for him you seek him he'll be good to you you have nothing to fear nothing from the lord you have to fear over the little letter to the colossians in the new testament chapter one we're working our way toward first peter you notice colossians chapter one verse 12 when I was a little boy I called this galatians I had a Sunday school teacher that corrected me the book of colossians chapter 1 verse 12 giving thanks to the father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light look at that before you think the next time God's coming down on you remember colossians 1 12 you have reason to give thanks because he has qualified you you haven't qualified yourself he has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light why because he's done a deliverance in your life he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and has transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son literally he has transferred us to the kingdom of the son of his love if he wants his son there and it's surrounded by love and if he wants you and me there surrounded by love the same treatment he gives his son he will give to us one more the book of james chapter one sometimes it's kind of nice just to thumb through the scriptures and find promises that tell us what God thinks of us especially in a world that's continually telling us of all the things they have against us and all the things they see wrong with us it's kind of nice to find the things God says about us that are affirming james 1 verses 17 and 18 every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow literally that last little phrase says or shadow of turning in other words God's light God's gifts come constantly and they come even when we turn away from him no shadow is cast on on him by our turning seems to be the idea there is no variation in his giving no shifting shadow that causes him to become moody and hold back his gifts to us in the exercise of his will he brought us forth by the word of truth so that we might be as it were the first fruits among his creatures you know what all of this could be wrapped up in the statement paul says in romans 8 31 a little part of the verse if god be for us who could be against us i want you to remember that for a long time god is for us god is for us say that with me will you god is for us do it again god is for us you remember that tomorrow morning you don't feel like he is remember that when you have failed you remember that when you have sinned god is for you never ever ever tell your children that if they do wrong god won't love them that is heresy there's no grace in that the grace is child even though you do wrong god will continue and i will continue to love you god is for you god being for us means who could ever be against us would amount to anything now all of this leads me to an idea i got the other day as i was humming the little children's tune jesus loves the little children all the children of the world red and yellow black and white they are precious in his sight jesus loves the little children of the world i thought well what about all the grown-ups so i changed the words of that little song jesus loves his adult children all the grown-ups of the world red and yellow black and white we're all precious in his sight jesus loves all the teens and adults of the world and that's true why do we think his love is just for the little children innocent and disarming as they are he loves all of his people he loves all of the grown-ups all of the teenagers and all of the children he is for us the reason i've begun in this vein is because in the study of first peter i've come across six lovely portraits that peter paints six specific titles god gives his people found in verses four through ten of chapter two in first peter they're beautiful they're brief they're little pin portraits and they're all word pictures i love word pictures especially when they come from the scriptures they're extremely encouraging and affirming and positive right away verse four of first peter two falls the the emphasis falls on christ coming to him by the way the context is in verse three if you have tasted the goodness or the kindness of the lord now coming to him the lord now coming to him verse four continues as to a living stone remember that word picture rejected by men but choice and precious in the sight of god when we come to the to the lord who is full of kindness we come to the living stone as we're going to read later the choice stone the cornerstone of the of the house of god the family of god the living stone rejected by men but choice and precious in the sight of god now here's the first title or portrait of god's people and you also as living stones so the first picture we have in scripture is we are living stones in a spiritual house that's verse five as living stones we are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to god through jesus christ focus on we are being built up as a spiritual house some of the references in this passage are unfamiliar to us chuck swindoll will help us understand what it means to be living stones and he'll describe peter's reference to a spiritual house so please keep listening chuck titled today's message hope beyond guilt if you'd like to learn more about this ministry visit us online at insightworld.org well it was july 1979 when insight for living was first aired on the radio in 1984 in canada technology has changed a lot since then and other facets of our culture have surely changed as well but when it comes to the human condition nothing has changed at all for that reason and more we remain fully committed to making disciples of jesus christ and we're relying on friends just like you to join us your regular giving is needed because people around the world are longing for biblical encouragement for instance someone sent an email from southern texas that said i've listened to insight for 38 to 39 years and in the last four or five years i've depended on these messages to get me through some difficult times and then the writer talked about losing a brother in a tragic accident adding i found your words a comfort and sound advice on how to react with grace you know these sacred moments when the bible intersects with life are made possible in part by people just like you you see when you support insight for living you're allowing us to make disciples of jesus christ here's chuck let me ask you a direct question after all you'd expect nothing less from me huh what are you doing to fulfill the great commission i'm going to level with you when it comes to these marching orders from jesus i've learned that no one gets a pass whether you're a shepherd or or one of the sheep jesus told every one of us to do the same thing to go and to make disciples of all the nations i can honestly say the great commission has become the driving force of my life that's the reason i no longer use the word retirement you see i'm in this for the long haul and insight for living ministries is as well we're serious about making disciples for the rest of our lives so let me ask you another direct question are you willing to come along with us are you ready to say yes to his call you can start right now by sending a generous gift today you see you either go or you give that others might go and when you give and when you give financially to insight for living ministries you're fulfilling your christian duty to go and make disciples of all the nations because your donation applies directly to telling others about jesus hey the doors are wide open to reach more people than ever before in our lifetime so let's march through those doors together doesn't that make sense let's do it with boldness and with confidence that jesus will fulfill his promise to be with us even to the end of the age by the way thanks so much for responding to the need and joining with us in fulfilling the great commission today getting in touch with insight for living is simple if you're listening in the united states you can call us at 800-772-8888 again that's 800-772-8888 or you can give a donation online at insight.org thank you so much for your generous support i'm bill meyer join us next time when chuck swindoll concludes his message called hope beyond guilt on insight for living the preceding message hope beyond guilt becoming living stones was copyrighted in 1988 1990 1996 2006 and 2010 and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2011 by charles arswindahl all rights are reserved worldwide duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited