Let us turn to God's Word again
in the chapter that we read, the first epistle general of
Peter and the second chapter. And we read again verses 4, 5,
and 6. 1 Peter chapter 2 and verses 4,
5, and 6. To whom coming as unto a living
stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious.
He also, as lively stones, hath built up a spiritual house and
holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God
by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained
in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Here we are reminded that God's
Church is a spiritual house, the beginning of verse 5. But
I want us more particularly to consider this morning the foundation
of this spiritual house that he's spoken of as the precious
cornerstone. Here in verse 6, Also it is contained
in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be
confounded. It's interesting to observe that
there is a certain sameness in the materials that are employed
both in the foundation and also in the superstructure. In verse
4 we read, "...to whom coming as unto a living stone," speaking
of the Lord Jesus as that living stone. And then in verse 5, "...he
also, as lively stones, built up a spiritual house." We see
then that there is a union, a spiritual union between the Lord Jesus
Christ and His Church. Does He not say in the Gospel,
because I live, ye shall live also. All that new life, all
that spiritual life that is in the soul of the sinner is from
the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a real spiritual union. But as I said, it's more particularly
this foundation that I want us to consider this morning. And
when we think of the foundation, are we not reminded of the truth
that the Lord Jesus Christ himself is in fact the ground of faith,
or faith is rooted and grounded in Christ? Last week we said
something more concerning faith we were thinking in the morning
in particular of the impossibility of faith as we considered those
words in John chapter 12 and verses 37 and 38 where reference
is made to the many miracles that the Lord Jesus had performed
and yet they believe not There was that saying of Isaiah, who
hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed. For any to believe, God must
make bare his arm. There is the miracle of bringing
the sinner to that place of trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
so we were thinking in particular last the Lord's Day morning of
the impossibility of believing, the impossibility of faith. And
then we went on in the evening to look at words at the end of
Hebrews chapter 10 concerning the endurance of faith. We're
not of those that draw back to perdition. We're to be those
who believe to the saving of the soul. He that shall endure
unto the end, the same shall be saved. How important it is
that we have That's faith that perseveres. It's not just the
beginning of faith. It's the ending of faith also.
It's our confidence in the Lord Jesus that He who has begun a
good work will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. But thinking now more particularly
of the foundation and how true faith is that that is grounded
in the Lord Jesus Christ. These words then here in verse
6, Wherefore also it is contained
in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded."
There is a reference here to what is written, a reference
to the Old Testament Scriptures as it is contained in the Scripture. And the particular word that
is being referred to is back in Isaiah 28 and verse 16, "...therefore
thus said the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation,
a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make
haste. You see that there are differences
in the verses. Peter is not simply quoting from
the Old Testament, but under the inspiration of the Spirit
he is interpreting the Word and in some measure expounding that
verse of Scripture. But what we have here is the
fulfillment of that prophetic Word. It has found its fulfillment
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course, behind the prophecy,
that prediction that we have back in Isaiah, behind all of
that lies the great purpose of God. And it is in that purpose,
that eternal purpose, that the foundation was laid. As the Lord Jesus Christ was
appointed to be the one who would come in the fullness of the time
to save his people. It was in all that the Lord Jesus
Christ did. It was in his birth, in the incarnation. It was in the life that he lived,
the work that he performed, his obedience to all the commandments
of God. His obedience unto death, even
the death of the cross. He's dying there as that one
who is the substitute, dying the just for the unjust. Twas
in His rising again from the dead and then His ascension to
heaven and His eternal session at the Father's right hand. It
was in all of these things that the foundation for the Church. The foundation of the Church's
salvation was laid in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus. And evidently the Lord Jesus
Christ was very conscious of these things in the course of
His own ministry. He comes to do the will of Him
who had sent Him. He comes to execute all that
He had undertaken in the eternal covenants. He comes to fulfill
all those things that were written in the Old Testament. And so
when we find him addressing his own disciples, for example in
Luke, Luke chapter 22 and verse 37. For I say unto you that this
that is written must yet be accomplished in me. and he was reckoned among
the transgressors for the things concerning me have an end he
says oh how conscious the Lord Jesus Christ was behind all those
prophetic words all those things concerning him spoken of in the
Old Testament have their end have their fulfillment
in himself, in the life that he lives, and in the death that
he died. And so when he sends forth the
Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and we see Peter there in Acts
chapter 2 preaching in all that blessed unction of the Spirit,
all that gracious authority with which he was able to utter the
words of truth, Peter speaks of Christ as one who has died
in fulfillment of all the purpose of God, in being delivered, he
says, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, he
hath taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. It is in Christ that we see the
foundation laid. Paul says other foundation can
no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. And so here in the words of our
text, Behold I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elects precious. You will have observed when we
made reference to the actual scripture that is being referred
to back in Isaiah 28, that there were a number of differences.
And one of them is this, that there, back in the Old Testament,
we have the expression, a tridestone. Here we have I lay in Zion a
chief cornerstone, elect precious, but there also in Isaiah it speaks
of that stone as one that has been tried. What is the significance
of that expression? Well, it reminds us that God
himself has tried the strength of this stone. If a foundation
stone is laid, it must be able to bear the weight of all that
superstructure that is going to be erected on top of it. And the Lord Jesus is a tried
stone. Our God, in a sense, we might
say, tried the strength of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was tried in every part of
his human life here upon the earth. We are reminded of that
in the language of the New Testament epistles. How Peter and Paul
and all the apostles speak of him and speak of the detail of
his life and the things that he had to endure. Paul, for example,
when he writes there in Hebrews chapter 5 speaks of him who in
the days of his flesh when he had offered up prayers unto God
with strong crying and tears was hurt in that he feared though
he were a son yet learned he many things by the things that
he suffered. How the Lord Jesus suffered throughout
his life when we see him in all the agonies of the Garden of
Gethsemane as he is beginning to contemplate the great purpose
of his coming into this world. The death of the cross is before
him. And there we see him wrestling
with his father in prayers. The hymn writer says, "'Twas
there the Lord of life appeared, and sighed, and groaned, and
prayed, and feared, for all incarnate God could bear, with strength
enough and none to spare." How He was tried, and how He was
determined that He would execute the work that was given to Him.
He prays to the Father, if it be possible let this cup pass
from me nevertheless not my will but thine be done. He doesn't
just go forward as some stoic who feels nothing. How he feels
these things, how all that burden of the sins of his people was
beginning to be laid upon him. Paul again, going to the Corinthians,
speaks of his crucifixion and says how he was crucified through
weakness. It was a real human nature. It
was a sinless human nature. But it was in that nature that
he suffered and bled and died. Or how he is, that tried stone. And he executes the work. He
accomplishes all the goodwill of his father. as he dies, that's
death upon the cross, obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. He is truly a tried stone. But then also, as we've already
said at the outset, there is a blessed sameness between the
foundation and the superstructure. There's a similarity. Because
as the Lord Jesus Christ was tried, so God also tries the
reality of the faith of his children. And we certainly see that in
the context back in that portion from Isaiah 28 that is being
quoted here in Peter. The verse specifically referred
to, as we said, is that 16th verse in chapter 28. But observe
how the Prophet continues. He writes in verse 16, Therefore
thou saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation
a stone, a tried stone, a precious corn a stone, a sure foundation,
neither believeth shall not make haste judgment also will I lay
to the line and righteousness to the plummets and the hail
shall sweep away the refuge of lies and the water shall overflow
the hiding place." Speaking of the foundation in verse 16 he
goes on in the 17th verse in to speak of that that he's going
to be erected the superstructure he speaks of the line and the
plummets that would be employed by the builder as this building
is being erected. All is to be tried, all is to
be tested. And he says he will sweep away
the refuge of life. God tries. his people just as
the Lord Jesus Christ was so sorely tried throughout his life
and Peter as you know in this epistle does speak of this trying
of faith back in the opening chapter that seventh verse he
speaks of the trial of your faith being much more precious than
the gold that perishes though it be tried with fire might be
found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus
Christ. There is a trial where there
is faith and these two cannot be separated. If we know nothing
of the trying of our faith we must question whether we ever
have any real faith at all It is the common lot of the people,
of God, those who are believers, that God will come and test and
try. He goes on later in chapter 4
to say, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery
trial that is to try you, as though some strange thing happened
unto you. There is nothing strange here.
This is what God does, He comes to try and to test His people. just as the foundation is a tried
stone. So the whole structure of that
church, that spiritual building, that spiritual house, is also
one that is sorely tried. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
not only that one who gives support and strength to his people as
the foundation of their faith, But here we are reminded that
the Lord Jesus is that one who, in a sense, knits and binds and
holds the whole of the structure together. He is spoken of, you
will observe, as a chief cornerstone here in this sixth verse. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect, precious and he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded. We know that in a building the
bond in the brickwork is so important if the structure is going to
be sound and stable and You're probably aware, I'm sure many
of you, that there are different types of bonds that bricklayers
employ. If you look at old buildings,
it's interesting to observe that there are quite a variety of
bonds. Old English bond or Flemish bond,
the way the bricks are laid. One can discern a certain pattern
And it's not only done in order that it might look pleasant to
the eye, but it's also done to lend strength to the whole structure.
But all is keyed in to that chief cornerstone of which we read
here in our text. How the Lord God carefully constructs
this spiritual house which is his church. in that symmetrical
psalm that we just sang, Psalm 122. We are reminded of how God
has built his Jerusalem. In that second verse, Jerusalem
is built as a city that is compacted together. Compacted together. And so here in verse 5, He also,
as lively stones, built up a spiritual house. As this is the fulfillment
of God's great purpose, we said just now that behind all that
we're reading here is the purpose of God, that prophetic word back
in Isaiah. It's fulfilled here in the Lord
Jesus Christ. But behind what the Prophet says
is the eternal purpose of God. Now God quite carefully and deliberately
is building His Church. Oh, the Lord Jesus was aware
of that. And He knew that the gates of
hell could never prevail against that Church. It must stand, and
it must stand to all eternity. God doesn't work by harms. God is pleased to fulfill all
his goodwill and pleasure. And the detail, we're reminded
of it in the language that Paul employs there at the end of Ephesians
chapter 2. Again he's speaking of the church. Verse 20 says, "...and are built
upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building, fitly
framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord's,
in whom ye also are built together for an habitation of God through
the Spirit." Specifically, the language is how deliberate God
is in executing His great work. The foundation is laid. Yes,
the Lord Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone, but then we
have mention of the ministry of the apostles and the prophets
of the New Testament. These are offices that are foundational. What was the mark of an apostle?
He had seen the Lord Jesus. He could bear testimony to Christ's
resurrection from the dead. That office is foundational.
There are no more any apostles and prophets in the church. This
is where we part company, of course, with the charismatic
movement. We say that these are foundational
offices, but once we have the complete canon of Scripture,
there is no more any need of those supernatural offices. When
we think of the miracles associated with apostolic ministry to authenticate
their teaching, no more any need. It's simple now, it's to the
law and to the testimony. If they speak not according to
this word, it is because there is no light in them. Here is
the church built upon that foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. And then in
whom all the building, all that is erected is fitly framed together
and grows into a holy temple why it is building together for
an habitation of God through the Spirit. Not just the foundation but also
the way in which the whole of the building is being framed
and keyed into this chief cornerstone the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Oh, he is that one who is truly
the foundation. Not only are we to think in terms
of the church, but when we think of our own individual experience,
when we think of our own faith, and he speaks of faith here,
he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Remember what
the Lord Jesus says at the end of his preaching in the Sermon
on the Mount? That sermon that's recorded in
Matthew 5, 6, and 7? When we come to the end of that
seventh chapter as the Lord Jesus is concluding His sermon, He
speaks are building, building upon the sand or building upon
a rock. He's just been giving His instruction
to His disciples there in the mountains. We go back to chapter
5, seeing the multitude. He went up into a mountain. When
He was set, His disciples came unto Him and He opened His mouth
and taught them. And then the sermon follows.
right through to the end of chapter 7 verse 24, Therefore, whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, says the Lord,
I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon
a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the
winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it
was founded upon a rock. And everyone that heareth these
sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a
foolish man, which built his house upon the sand. And the
rain descended, and the floods came, and the wind blew, and
beat upon that house, and it fell. And great was the fall
of it." And that's the end of the sermon. And then we read,
"...it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these signs, the people
were astonished at his doctrine, at his teachings." for he taught
them as one having authority and not as the scribes." But
he concludes the whole sermon by means of that illustration,
the two-manual building. And here is the difference, you
see. You might say that the buildings are erected in the same place, but one was erected without a
proper foundation it was simply built upon the sand there was
no depth whereas with the other there was much depth even down
to the rock there was a proper foundation oh the Lord Jesus
is that one and if the Lord comes and works in our lives we want
him to do a real work and a deep work and a proper work We don't
want a superficial faith, we don't want a superficial religion. Job chapter 4 and verse 19 we
read of the sinner whose foundation is in the dust. That's the sinner's
foundation. There's no foundation at all.
And that person who is building his house upon the sand, what
follows? No foundation. Oh, we need a real work to be
accomplished in our souls. We need that depth of work. We
need to be brought to see what we are. We need to remember what
our origins are. We need to be conscious of our
sinnership. We need to be convinced of that. We are to look unto the hole
of the pit from whence we've been dark. We're those who've
sinned. We've sinned in Adam, we've sinned
in our own persons. We've transgressed, we've fallen
short of the glory of God. And when the Lord comes, you
see, and does this work of conviction, how necessary it is, a deep work,
to make us to see that there's nothing of ourselves, that we're
nothing but weakness, impotence, unable to do anything. it is God that must do the work
the Swami says he brought me up also out of a horrible pit
and out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock or to
be delivered from ourselves and any sort of confidence in ourselves
and to be those who are built upon that rock that rock which
is the Lord Jesus Christ himself when he says to Peter there in
Matthew chapter 16, upon this rock I will build my church,
at the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. He's not
referring to Peter himself as the Roman Catholic Church seeks
to interpret that passage. He is referring specifically
to Peter's confession, thou art the Christ. the Son of the Living
God. This is the foundation. Not a
foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is
Jesus Christ. And we need to be established
upon that rock. Or God says here, Behold I lie. This is what the Word of God
says in the mouth of the Lord's Apostle Peter quoting from the
Old Testament He says, wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture,
behold, I lie, I lie. Why? The work is God's, and it
is God's alone. He must lay the foundation, and
He lays that foundation in the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is
where we have to be brought, to see what it is to come to
the complete and utter end of ourselves. and to recognize that
all our salvation is only in Christ. All that depth of work, even
to be convinced of our sinnership, and the impotence that is involved
in a knowledge of that sinnership, to be taught that dreadful doctrine
of the sinner's total depravity, his utter inability to do anything
for himself. the work is God's. Oh, but what
a God is this who lays such a foundation. Again, in the language of the
book of Job. A remarkable statement that we
find in Job 26.7 concerning God, it says, He hangeth the earth
on nothing. He hangeth the earth on nothing. I remember that was a favourite
text of our late friend Sidney Norton. He used to say, remember
who God is and the greatness of God. How He suspends the world
in space. He hangeth the earth on nothing. He lays the very foundation of
the world in which we're living our lives, He lays that foundation
in space itself. All you see with God, nothing
is impossible. Nothing is impossible, that's
our comfort. God is able to save. He is able to save the greatest
of sinners. Only God can make a Christian
out of a sinner and lay the foundation of that sinner's salvation in
the person and the work of the Lord Jesus. Again in Isaiah we
have that statement, Thou also has brought all our work in us,
O Lord our God, are the lords beside Thee have had dominion
over us, but by Thee only will we make mention of Thy name. All the work is altogether God. as He brings the sinner, the
individual sinner, to salvation and sets him upon this blessed
foundation. He also, as lively stones are
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, wherefore also
it is contained in the Scripture, Behold I lay in Zion A chief
corner stone, elect, precious. Ought to be in that foundation,
to be in the Lord Jesus. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. All things are passed away, and
behold, all things are become new. Here then we see the significance
of this foundation stone, this chief corner stone. and it all
must be knitted into the Lord Jesus Christ and he is the the ground of all saving faith
it all centers in him the believer simply rests in the Lord Jesus
but look at the language that we have here this word of exhortation
as it were it doesn't just say it is contained
in scripture I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone elect precious and
he that believeth on him shall not be confounded but the whole
statement is prefixed by that word behold behold says God I
lay in Zion now what is the significance of the words behold you know
something I'm sure of the force of that word, it means see, look,
consider, it's a strong word really because it has the idea
of fixing the eye and examining carefully and closely the statement
that is being made we are to behold this foundation,
we are to look to it Look unto me, says the Lord, and be ye
saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God's and there is none
else. How this looking is such an integral
part of saving faith. You want to try to define what
faith is, as we've said before in scripture it's not so much
that we have definitions of faith we do have a definition if we
turn to that 11th chapter in the epistle to the Hebrews we're told in the opening verse
that faith is the substance or the margin says the ground of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen. And then we read through the
chapter and we have mention of those of faith from the Old Testament.
But I can't think of any other part of Scripture where we have
any sort of definition of faith. But what we do constantly find
in Scripture is that the object of faith, the Lord Jesus, is
the one who is being set before us. he says to the Jews in his own
ministry search the scriptures these are they that testify of
mine when those Grecians come to the disciples they want to
see Jesus and we have those words in Hebrews chapter 12 looking
on to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith We are to be aware of Him who
is the great object of faith, we are to look to Him. As we
search the Scriptures, do we search God's Word desiring that
we might meet with the Lord Jesus Christ, that we might see Him
with the eye of faith, that with the ear of faith we might hear
all that He is saying to us and saying to the churches. Here God then is directing us
to the exercise of faith. Behold, look, consider, fix the
eye. I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elects precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be
confounded." And again it's interesting to observe the difference between
what we have here in the New Testament and the passage that
is being referred to back in Isaiah 28. Because back in Isaiah
it says, He that believeth shall not make haste. Making haste, sometimes we are
confounded. Now, we know that in a certain sense we have to
recognize how important it is to be urgent and to be diligent
in the things of God. Procrastination is a terrible
sin. David says, the king's business
requireth haste. And that's true. Behold, now
is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation,
says the apostle. In a sense, there's no guarantee
of a day of salvation tomorrow. Now. Now, he says. He repeats himself there in 2nd
Corinthians chapter 6. There is a place for urgency
there. However, we can make haste in
a wrong way. And when we make haste sometimes
we misjudge and we become confounded. And the Psalmist knew that. The
Psalmist certainly knew that. Psalm 31 verse 22, I said in
my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes. He's speaking to
God and he feels himself to be cut off from God. Sometimes when
the Lord is dealing with us, you see, and digging that foundation
as it were, when the Lord is doing that great work of conviction
in the soul of the sinner, The sinner comes to this that he
has no hope, he feels he is cut off. He's acting in haste, he's misjudging
the works of God. We know that the Lord God doesn't
make any mistakes. He will appear in due time, He
will appear in the appointed time. He himself has declared
that there is a time, a time to be born. There's a time to
be born in every sense for the child of God, a time for the
natural birth, a time for the spiritual birth. God shall help
her, it says, and that's right early. Therefore, why are we
to rest in the Lord and to wait patiently for Him? That's what
the Psalmist says, speaking out of his own soul's experience,
you see. recognizing that in his haste he had come to the
wrong conclusion, saying he was cut off from before the eyes
of God, but then brought to realize that he must rest in the Lord,
he must wait upon the Lord. God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in time of trouble, it seems. and all the
preciseness of the language that we find when we turn to the word
of God and there in that 46th Psalm it says God is a very present
not just a present help he is more than a help, he is
a present help but he is more than that, he is a very present
help in time of trouble always to be those then who would Behold
His works, those who would seek to be looking to the Lord our
God. Again, listen to the language
of the Apostle in Hebrews 3 and verse 6. He says, Christ's house
are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of hope firm
unto the end. Ought to be that spiritual house
the Lord Jesus Christ's Church, His house our work, if we hold
fast the confidence and the rejoicing of hope, firm unto the end, looking
away from ourselves and looking only unto the Lord Jesus, the
author and the finisher of our faith. who for the joy that was
set before him endured the cross despite the shame and he sat
down at the right hand of the throne of God. This is the one
that we are to look to, that one who is now exalted in heaven,
that one who is able to say. What does he say here then in
verse 6? Wherefore also it is contained
in the scripture, behold I lay in Zion The chief cornerstone
elect precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
Unto you, therefore, which believe, he is precious. Oh, that the
Lord Jesus might be that one who is indeed precious to us
today. The Lord bless His word to us.