Hello and welcome to Wisdom for the Heart. Stephen has just released a new book entitled In Pursuit of Holiness. Our behavior cannot save us, but God does expect those who follow Him to live holy lives. How can we do that?
Well, Stephen teaches you how in this brand new resource. This book is on sale right now, and I've put a link in the show notes. Get your copy of In Pursuit of Holiness Today.
Now, here's Stephen with today's message. Walk in love. Just like Christ, who loved us and gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God is a fragrant aroma. In other words, the self-sacrificing love of Christ was not only a fragrant aroma to God the Father, but an example that we should also offer that sacrifice.
So whatever you sacrifice, your will, your interests. And you demonstrate selfless love toward another. Your love is actually a fragrant, aromatic offering to God.
Now, what I want to do is cover. The next few verses, and I'm going to do it by just simply giving you an outline if you care to write down these kinds of outlines. But the first point is simply a sacred relationship, and the second point is. A sacred Response. Let's pick it up where we left off at Chapter two and beginning with verse.
Four. 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.
Now let's stop there for a minute. Actually, for about 40 minutes.
Okay? Here we go.
Now as Peter changes the illustration from the nursery to a building site, He begins by drawing our attention to the focal architectural piece of this. building program, and it is Jesus Christ our cornerstone. And I thought we'd get there. We're not going to get there. We'll talk more about that in our next discussion.
But what Peter begins to do here is describe the Lord. For those of us who love him, and those who are considering. him. Uh our world. The two reactions that to this day exist when it comes to Jesus Christ.
He, on the one hand, references those Who reject him. Notice he writes, he is rejected by men or mankind. Peter is quoting here from Psalm 118, verse 22, where we read the prophetic announcement that the Messiah is the stone the builders rejected. Certainly Israel and and even to our day and and beyond including us. I don't know about you.
I'm sure many of you have delivered the gospel. I hope all of you have. But you've delivered the gospel if you've lived long enough. Like some of us, we're I've done it enough times where I can actually see their expression cloud over. As I'm delivering the gospel where Jesus moves from becoming a possible attraction to them to becoming an offense to them.
And you can see it in their eyes. As they shut down. Notice again, verse 4, you have this. Response of rejection, the beginning of the verse, you have the response of reception and coming. To him.
As a living stone, the verb he uses for coming. is actually a reference not so much to initial salvation which would be included in that, but he He uses In this original grammar, the idea of a repeated voluntary Habitual Coming to Christ for communion and fellowship and strength and hope. In fact, you as a believer have arrived today to do just that corporately. With the body. of brothers and sisters.
So you've received him. It's the same verb, by the way, the writer of Hebrews used to talk about. People, believers, drawing near. To God, chapter 10 and verse 22. That's the same word used here.
And to whom are we drawing near?
Well, Peter describes Jesus here as a living Stone. He's the only New Testament author to designate Jesus this way. And it strikes you at first. Stones aren't alive. Stones might be strong or enduring Solid But we refer to something being stoned dead.
Not Stone alive, if you reverse the order. But for Peter, the stone is living because this stone is a person. It's an implication of the resurrection. He's alive. And one author, in fact, picks up on the uniqueness of this expression by writing these words: No other faith can claim a living founder.
who has passed through death and has risen to a triumph At God the Father's right hand and remains now continually available to the immediate fellowship of each person who trusts in Him. Just like he is today. To you and me.
Now, Peter goes on here in verse 4 to inform us that God the Father has measured up Jesus. He said that's what he's saying. He has sized him up and he has found him worthy of his election. The word is choice. As Redeemer.
He adds that Jesus Christ is also precious. That is, he is of the highest. Value is the expression. He is, you see, this is our opinion. We agree with God the Father, Jesus.
is our chosen Redeemer and He is precious. In other words, what the world considers worthless and discards, we consider priceless. And in him we delight.
Now, what Peter says next is surprising. He uses the same terminology for the Christian that he just used. For Jesus, notice verse 5, you also as... Living. This is another study for you, perhaps on your own, but It's interesting in the New Testament, a number of names or titles are given to Jesus in the singular, and then they're attributed to the believer in the plural.
For instance, he is the Son of God, we are called sons of God. He's called the light of the world. We at other places are called lights. In the world. He's the Lamb.
We are called. Lambs. He is now here, the living stone, and we are. Living Stones.
Now let me address this word for just a moment. The word Peter uses here for stones isn't just some random collection of rocks. Lying around on the ground that you might have, as a kid, you know, you might have thrown them at squirrels or. Other animals. That comes into your property.
You know, he's not referring to that. He's talking about stones. In a very unique way. He's talking about a stone that has been dug up. from the quarry.
And cut. and shaped and fashioned. to fit. The builders purposes. What a great analogy.
for the Christian. We are stones dug out, rescued from the pit of sin and death, and then by his grace shaped and fashioned by the divine builder to suit his divine purposes. And don't miss the fact that We are living stones because we belong to the one who is the way, the truth, and the life. The giver of life. The text reminds me that without the grace of God, none of us.
belong here. We wouldn't be here. We'd still be in the pit. We need to be rescued by the grace of God, it also reminds me. that Peter doesn't say we're bricks.
manufactured to look alike and Same dimensions and everything's alike. But stones, a reference to the unique variety In This house of God. A little girl I read about this past week had memorized Matthew 22, 14. Which she then got confused as she quoted it. The text reads: Many are called.
But few are chosen. She said it this way, many are cold. And the few are frozen. Yeah. It's pretty good.
But not all manufactured to look alike, we're different. By faith in Jesus Christ, we are living stones uniquely fashioned by God's. Delight. for his assignments.
So, if you're here today and You don't know? Christ or Maybe you have an image that you do, but you know in your heart you don't care about him, you don't care about his word, you don't care about his church, you're here because your parents made you come. You're here because your wife asked you to come, or you're here because your business profile looks better because you did come, or whatever. But you know in your heart you really don't care about any of it, and certainly you don't care about him. Listen, somebody somewhere on the planet is going to be the last living stone.
I pray it will be you. And I'm afraid it might not be. For those of us who have believed, By the grace of God, and found in Christ our life, and our hope, and our strength. Do we just sit around? Is that all there is to a truly sacred life?
No. Oh no. We have the sacred relationship, but now something is to take place in this sacred response. Let me show you. Look at verse 5 again.
You also As living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, now notice, for a holy priesthood. to offer up spiritual sacrifices. Acceptable to God. Through Jesus Christ.
Now, granted, Beloved, especially those of you who are older in the faith, it's easy. You know, after 1,900 years in this dispensation, the church to sort of yawn your way through that and say, yes, that's great. But for many of Peter's Readers. who were old enough. To have lived in the Old Testament, who now live in the New Testament.
Imagine. The staggering implications, and by the way, Peter was one of them. Wonderful doctrine. The individual priesthood of the believer. And by the way, 400 years ago, people died because they believed this.
that we might yawn through. See, in the Old Testament, God's people had a priesthood. In the New Testament, God's people are. The priesthood. And that is That's a staggering distinction.
I can't imagine those early believers living in both. See, believers now have this direct access. Through Jesus Christ, the only mediator between God the Father and mankind, 1 Timothy 2. And Peter is describing or implying here this stunning privilege of the New Testament believer: you can confess your sins immediately. You don't have to wait till Saturday and bring your turtle of.
I mean, you sin, you confess. Because you're a priest. You can fellowship with God intimately. You can serve in His presence. Immediately, daily.
See, here's the implication. For the Old Testament believer, that once-a-year moment when the high priest went in to the Holy of Holies with a little blood to sprinkle it on the mercy seat, they were terrified. There was no boldness in their approach. They were singing their way through that veil. They had a rope tied around that guy's ankle, and if the bells on the hem of his garment stopped jingling, they assumed that God didn't accept it and struck him dead, and they'd drag his body out.
And we We? Get to go into his presence as if he's saying, Do you realize? As a priest, you actually Live. Inside the Holy of Holies. Daily.
Moment by moment. First, We can offer to God the sacrifice of our bodies. Paul wrote to the believers living in Rome to offer their bodies. A living and holy sacrifice. Paul describes the unbeliever as offering their bodies.
to do evil. And the believer as one who offers his body to do righteousness or right things. That's Romans chapter 6.
So offering our bodies With every Ability? and every disability. Secondly, we offer to God the sacrifice of praise. The writer of Hebrews says this is. This is the fruit of lips, the sacrifice of praise to God.
giving thanks to his name. That's Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 15. It's a sacrifice. Under God. The third and fourth sacrifices are in the next verse in Hebrews chapter 13, and that's verse 16.
Which reads and do not neglect doing good. And sharing, for with such sacrifices. God is pleased, again, borrowing terminology from the Old Testament.
So these are the sacrifices of doing good deeds. and sharing with us In need. Fifth, you can offer to God the sacrifice of financial. Generosity. It's interesting that Paul commends the church in Philippi for their sacrificial giving, and he again dips into the Old Testament terminology to give them the analogy of what their offerings are.
Listen as he writes, But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now, unless you've revived your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. You've done well to share with me. No church shared with me in the matter of giving. As a missionary, he wasn't supported very well.
But by this church, And he says, I am amply supplied, having received what you have sent. And now notice. He says, what you have sent was a fragrant aroma. and acceptable sacrifice Well pleasing. to God.
Number six. Is a sacrifice most often overlooked. It's the sacrifice of converts. Reconciled. Sinners who come to faith in Christ, who are forgiven.
and reconciled God, you've delivered the gospel to them, and they've believed. Have you ever offered that sacrifice? To God. Have you ever delivered the gospel to someone and you have seen them, you have been with them as they prayed to believe the gospel and receive Christ? I can tell you, there's no sacrifice.
offered to God like that one. Number seven is the sacrifice of love. Sacrificial love. Paul wrote to the Ephesians that we should imitate Christ and his sacrificial love. He wrote, We should walk in love.
The love. Just like Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God is a fragrant aroma. In other words, the self-sacrificing love of Christ for us was not only a fragrant aroma to God the Father, but an example that we should also offer that sacrifice. Sacrificial love. So whatever you sacrifice, your will, your interests.
Your needs Your desires, and you demonstrate selfless love toward another. Your love is actually a fragrant. Aromatic offering to God. And by the way, God may be the only one who notices. or appreciates it.
But in the end, he's going to be the one. You're going to be thrilled to hear commendation from. for having offered it. Finally, number eight. It's the sacrifice of intercession.
or prayer. Prayer is often overlooked and undervalued as a spiritual sacrifice. It's often viewed as something less than good deeds, or being on the front line, or being in public. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the prayers of a committed wife. How much I appreciate The prayers of people who gathered today at 8 o'clock in the morning and prayed over me and then prayed through the hour.
How much I appreciate gathering with some of our lay elder. teammates before the last hour to pray. We frankly, the older I get, the more a mystery becomes. We have no idea how God hears and records and appreciates and rewards and orchestrates. and orders and designs and responds.
to our prayers. But it's interesting to me, as John the Apostle writes his last letter, we call it the book of Revelation, he sees before the throne of God the prayers of believers taking physical shape, as it were, ascending to God the Father. Like incense. As priests, we offer. The sacrificial incense of intercession.
Knowing it is heard and received. By our Heavenly Father. who chooses to respond according to his purposes. The Washington Post carried the story of a woman. And I'll start wrapping things up with this.
She died a few years ago. Her name was Emma Daniel Gray. Every night She had a night shift and she would clean, in fact, for 24 years. She cleaned the White House. She took Pride.
in pursuing excellence in her work. She was diligent. Her official title was Char Woman. And that title goes back to the sixteen hundreds. Char has been.
You know, morphed into our word chore. She was one of the custodians, primary custodians or housemaids. She was a chore woman. She traveled every day by public transportation. She would serve behind the scenes in the White House from 1943.
until her retirement in 1979. When she died a couple of years ago at the age of 95. Her pastor Eulogize that she not only responded to her environment, but she set the tone.
Sort of set the tone. To her commitment.
Now, what made her life compelling to me wasn't just that she was a hard worker. But it was to read Surprisingly, out of a Washington Post article that Miss Emma, as she was called, was a committed believer. She was a hard worker. Offering her work as a sacrifice to her Lord. The Washington Post article actually included this telling vignette, and this is where I'm trying to get to.
Whenever Miss Emma cleaned The Oval Office. Mm-hmm. By yourself. Every night she would pause. Cleaning materials in one hand and with her other hand resting on the President's chair.
In the solitude of that office, She prayed for him. Ha ha ha. Those Who knew her and her family knew that she did this, and she was praying that God would give the president wisdom and safety. That his leadership would lead to the blessing of God on his family and our nation. She would serve and do that for six presidents of these United States.
Until she retired. in the 1970s. And we've been going downhill ever since. I would say, Miss Emma Daniel Gray. Got it.
She understood she was a priest. standing between God and May I Bringing people, as it were, to the attention of God and offering through her sacrifice of prayer. Quiet. Unknown. Faithful Intercession.
In this case for the President. You know, I couldn't help but think, who knows?
Well, capital W. Who knows? What God orchestrated and accomplished. through the presidents of the past. And current presidents Because of people like her.
who have the boldness and audacity and courage. As she had. They're in that oval office. to represent the president. To God.
As you move through this coming week. View life as a priest assigned to sacred duty. No matter where you are, No matter what you've been assigned. At the moment. Maybe talk over lunch.
or write some things down about ways that you can offer your body. Your gratitude. Your Good deeds. Sharing with others in need. Financial gifts.
Self-sacrificing love. Prayer. See, the truth is, beloved, we'll never know until much later what God orchestrates and arranges and accomplishments and accomplishes as a result of. His Church made up of priests. Who understands they have a sacred relationship.
With the Lord who rescued us from the quarry of sin and emptiness and hopelessness and death and judgment, who shapes us and fashions us and fits us into His assignment for this week. And this is then our sacred response. the privilege of perpetually living life as an offering of all these sacrifices. to our living Lord. Knowing that at some point The building will be finished.
Maybe today. In the meantime, we understand Beloved, that this is what it really means to live a deeply spiritual Holy Sacred. Life. That was Stephen Davey, and this is Wisdom for the Heart, a production of Wisdom International. Learn more at wisdomonline dot org.
