Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. The same Christ. Calls us.
Some reject him.
Some sit on the fence, but to us who believe, his choice. And precious. relationship to Jesus Christ determines your eternal Yesterday. This is the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. The Christian faith isn't just about individual salvation.
It's about becoming part of the body of Christ. Today, as we continue our series in 1 Peter, we'll explore the beautiful picture where Peter describes Christ as the living cornerstone. Understand our connection to Christ and our relationship with one another in God's plan of redemption.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe with today's message. Shine Christ's light. It's undoubtedly the case that followers of Jesus Christ are to make a difference in our world. That's often easier said than done. as there is always opposition.
But the greater the darkness, the greater impact even a small light makes. In 1 Peter 2, verses 4-10, Peter writes to encourage a persecuted people who know much about suffering and to remind them of the unique privileges they have. In the middle of our suffering and difficulties in life, it's very easy for us to feel sorry for ourselves. All of us need to look up to Christ rather than being focused on our difficult circumstances. Just think of the difference you can make this week in your sphere of influence, whether that be your home, your street, your workplace, or your church community.
We ask you to open your Bibles to 1 Peter. Chapter 2. If you're new, we're going consecutively through this letter of Peter towards the end of our Bibles in the New Testament. Peter being the leader of the apostles, and he writes two letters, and we're thinking of the first one, and we come to chapter 2, verses 4 through 10. Peter continues to set out the implications of our so great salvation.
Peter in this epistle now challenges us as to the implications of that. And so far we've learned at least three things. First of all, If we have responded to what he has done, we are to be holy. Secondly, we are to love one another. We've experienced the love of God in our hearts, and now, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are to be characterized by love.
So you're to live a holy life, you're to love one another. And then, as we saw last time, we are to long for the Word of God. We are to long for spiritual nourishment which comes through God's living word. And now, Peter, in our verses today, chapter five 2 verses 4 through 10. He stands out Something very, very important and something that we need to hear.
that while the Christian life Begins with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I come in saving faith to Christ for salvation and forgiveness. It doesn't end there. We don't live our lives as Christians, as individuals, but God calls us. to a spiritual house.
to have priesthood. To a holy Nation. As we'll read, they are the people of God.
So now we come. To verse four. of 1 Peter 2. Let me read from Verse 4 through 10. As you come to him, that is our Lord Jesus, 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'm 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. But for those who do not believe, The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone and the stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble. Because they disobey the word as they were destined to do so. But you, you're a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness.
into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now You have received. What a wonderful passage of scripture. Outstanding as Peter is describing who we are, all because of who Christ is and what Christ has done.
Now, first of all, in verses 4 and 5, we see that God's people have unique privileges. We have unique privileges, and I will mention three of them. First of all, God's people are privileged Because we come To Jesus Christ. Verse 4, as you come. to him.
That's not wonderful. That in the gospel, God calls us, and we obey, and we come to Christ. A Christian is someone who has obeyed Jesus Christ. He said in chapter one. Verse 2, at the end of verse 2, for obedience to Jesus Christ.
and for sprinkling with his Blood. Chapter 1, verse 22, having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth. We have heard the good news preached. He said at the end of chapter 11. One We've heard the gospel.
We've heard the call of Christ, and now we come. Humbly Obediently. to Christ. Having received the word, the word of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ.
So becoming a Christian. is obeying the call of Christ. It is coming to Christ, to the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to understand that. As the gospel is preached.
As I stand here and proclaim the message of the gospel, some of you accept it and some of you will reject it. John tells us regarding the life of our Lord Jesus Christ in John 1. He said he came to his own and his own received him not. But as many As those who did receive them. He gave the power to become the children.
of God. We don't come to Christ by entering the church. Fundamental mistake. You don't come to Christ when you're baptized. You don't come to Christ when you become a member of a church.
You don't come to Christ by entering the church. Rather, you enter the church by coming to Christ. It begins with this personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I ask you: have you come to Christ? In the Gospel, Jesus stands and says, Come to me.
All you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The Gospel says the one who comes to him, he will not cast out.
So the question is: have you come to Christ? Followers of Jesus Christ have come to him. We know Christ. But also The authentic believer of Jesus Christ, as opposed to the mere professor, continues to come to Christ. It's not that I come to Christ and then live my own life and say it's wonderful to be saved.
My sins are forgiven, and now I can live as I like. That's not the gospel. Peter is writing to Christians. He's saying, as you come to him. We continue to come to Christ.
to worship him, to love him, and to serve him. If you love someone, you want to be with them. How can you say you love someone and you go your own way? No, if we love Christ, we continue to come to Him. In God's sight, And ours.
As he says so beautifully in verse 4, in the sight of God, chosen and precious.
So we're privileged. First, we come to Jesus Christ. But we're also privileged. Think of this, that we are living stones. In God's house.
Now he's using a metaphor. And he describes Jesus Christ Notice verse 4. As you come to Him that is Christ the Lord, a living Stone. He's not only a living stone, he is a life-giving stone. We come to the Lord Jesus Christ in our sin, in our spiritual deadness, and the one who is.
Who has conquered death, who's alive forevermore, he gives us his life. Our life, our security, my eternal destiny is utterly dependent on my Lord Jesus Christ. This is why I must come to Him. Without Him, I'm eternally lost. I notice what Peter says.
As you come to him, A living stone. reject it By men. Coming through the centuries, there have been those who receive Christ and those who reject him. During his own lifetime, what happens to him? He is rejected.
Isaiah the prophet said that would happen. He said of the Messiah, he was despised. and reject it By mine. What did we do to our Savior? Willingly embrace him?
Absolutely not. As we've been singing, we put them on a cross. Rejected. Bye, man. That cornerstone That living stone As Been Reject it.
He's a living stone, but Peter has already told us that we have a living hope Because we've been born again through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He's rejected by the world. Ah, but in God's sight, Peter says. He is, again, verse 4, in the sight of God. chosen and Precious.
Reject it. Crops. That's not the end of the story, is it? No, he is risen from the dead. He has ascended to his Father in God.
He is seated at the Father's right hand. He is now choice and Precious. And here, Peter in this passage is referring to the great Psalm, Psalm 118. If you've got your Bible, would you turn there? Psalm 118.
And you'll see How our Lord Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. Psalm 118, verse 22: The stone that the builders rejected. Does that sound familiar? For speed or two. The stone that the builders rejected has become the Conderson.
Rejected by man, but in God's sight, choice and precious, and that stone which is rejected by man has become the cornerstone. Verse 23. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous. in our eyes.
As we think of the glorious ascension, The glorious resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, we can say, Yes, man rejected him, man put him on the cross, but in our eyes, this is the Lord's doing, this is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. It's often taken out of his context, but it's primarily referring to the great day of the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. The stone is rejected, but in God's eyes is precious, and in our eyes, Those who are followers of Jesus Christ, we rejoice and we also say, as we've been singing today, this is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
When it was announced that Queen Mary in England in fifteen fifty eight had died and that the Crown was now now coming. to her half sister Elizabeth Elizabeth I. daughter of Henry VIII. It said that she was reading her Bible. And she was reading this passage, Psalm 118, reading it in the Greek version of the translation from Hebrew into Greek.
And as she was told that now you are the new queen, she quoted this and said that it's the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in her eyes. Perhaps a little self-serving. But we rejoice. Not at the coronation of an earthly queen or king.
We don't follow an earthly king or queen, or a president, or a prime minister. We serve and we rejoice that we follow the king of kings and lord of lords. And although man has rejected him, we can say this is the Lord's doing, it is marvelous in our eyes, this is the day. that the Lord has given us. Let us rejoice.
and be glad in there. It wasn't that marvelous. to be a follower Of Jesus Christ.
Now know this. And as a result of coming to Jesus Christ, We come to him. Because he is the living stone, we also are living stones. Verse five, you yourselves like living stones, Jesus is the living stone. We come to Him, He gives us His life.
You yourselves, like living stones, are being built up. as a spiritual house. And Peter describes the church. Not as Paul does, as the body of Christ, but he describes it as a spiritual. How's In this spiritual house, the church, our Lord Jesus Christ is the cornerstone.
He holds it all together. But as we come to Jesus Christ, something marvelous happens. God doesn't leave us as isolated, cold stones. To live a Christian life by ourselves? No.
We receive spiritual life from Christ. And now we are being built up as a spiritual Yeah. What a privilege. Think of the wonder of the gospel. We are.
The household of God. Paul uses that in 1 Timothy 3, verse 15. We are the house of God. in which God dwells. We come to Jesus Christ first.
Secondly, we're living stones in God's house. Third, We are a holy priesthood. Verse 5. You yourselves like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house. To be a holy Priesthood, this is amazing, isn't it?
To be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ. We are all priests. If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, you are a priest. Every single one of us has immediate access to God.
Hebrews 4:16. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace. The humblest believer The little boy that receives Jesus Christ as his Savior. can come Right into the throne of grace through our Lord Jesus Christ. Because through The redemptive work of Christ through what He has done, He has opened up that way.
So that all of us can enter into the throne room of Good. Not only then are we stones in the house, we are priests in the temple. Built up as a living stone in the house of God. No this It is a holy Priesthood. Set apart and consecrated to God.
You say, well, what does that mean to be a priest? He tells us A holy priesthood to offer Not animal sacrifices. Not bringing your fruit or your lamb to God, no, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. The sacrifice of praise, the sacrifice of worship. We do that spiritual sacrifice when we serve.
It is a priestly act. You're presenting that service as an act of worship to God.
Now if you're in it for yourself If you're self-serving, self-glorifying, it's not a spiritual sacrifice. You're doing it with the wrong motive. But when you do that, you are acting as a priest in our praise, in our service, in our giving, in our generosity. It's unthinkable in the Old Testament that you'd go into the presence of God empty-handed. Yes, we receive, but we also give.
We give financially. This is an act of worship. I'm a priest. Um Demonstrating to God My deep, deep thankfulness of His grace and of His mercy in our life. And of course, the greatest sacrifice, you know what that is?
It's of ourselves, isn't it? As we come. And surrender. And say, here I am, Lord. An act.
of a priest. A unique privilege, yes, coming to Christ, a living stone, holy priesthood. But not only have we unique privileges, God's people trust. in a unique person. Verses six through eight.
For it stands in Scripture. Behold, I'm laying in Zhang a stone. A cornerstone chosen of precious, and whoever believes in me will not be put to shame. For the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Remember.
A church. Jesus Christ. is the cornerstone. Here in these verses, Peter quotes from three Old Testament passages, from Isaiah 26, Psalm 118, as we've already read, and Isaiah 8. to establish That in the Old Testament The Messiah was coming as a choice Cornerstone.
He's the rock. He's the cornerstone. And great care is taken in building, isn't it, as to the choice and the laying of the cornerstone. It's the foundation stone for the whole structure. All other stones are put in place in regard, in relationship to the cornerstone, is the point.
And we who believe in him, this is an act of faith. will never be let down. Never put to shame, never disappointed. Is there anyone here who has believed in the Lord Jesus Christ? And he has let them down?
No. To us who believe, He's precious. He's chosen by God. He is the cornerstone. And we come to him over and over and over again, don't we?
To receive his mercy, his forgiveness, his strength, being assured that he is with us, as he himself said, for where two or three are gathered together in. My name. There am I in the midst of them. What does it mean to be gathered in His name? It's to do it His way to remind ourselves that Christ is here.
He is a cornerstone abbot also. Peter tells us He's a stone of stumbling, verse eight. A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. Yes, the same stone. That we come to for salvation is the same stone that is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to those who don't believe.
To us who believe To us who come to the cornerstone rather. We receive his life. But that rock. That stone is a stumbling stone to those who disbelieve.
So the central question Really, of humanity, the most important question that anyone could ever ask is: who is Jesus Christ to me? Let me ask you who Well how would you answer that? Is he a living stone? that you come for salvation.
Something else?
Some substitutes? He's the central figure of human history. The central figure of eternity, and as the gospel of Jesus Christ is preached. There is no neutrality. You want to sit in the fence, don't you?
You want a little bit of Christ and a little bit of the world. You want to obey Christ sometimes and Go your own way other times if that doesn't work. No, to us who believe, he's precious. To the unbeliever He's a stumbling block. This is the verdict with Pastor John Monroe and a message titled Shine Christ's Light.
The metaphor we heard today of believers as living stones in God's spiritual house offers a beautiful picture of our collective identity in Christ. To continue to develop your understanding of God's Word and your eternal perspective, we'd like to offer you a free copy of John's illuminating booklet, For the Time is Near. This resource helps make sense of biblical prophecy. by examining five key biblical themes from the book of Revelation. which help us understand God's ultimate plan for the future.
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Now, with his closing remarks, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? Do you see yourself as one redeemed by the grace of God, a privileged person? A person with much to be thankful for? Or do you primarily think of yourself as a victim? Caught up in difficult circumstances.
Remember. You're a child of God. Adopted into his family, redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, part of the body of Christ, a member of a holy priesthood with immediate access to God.
So this means that we keep looking to Christ and to Christ alone. You're greatly privileged. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
