It has turned to God's word and
we turn to the first epistle of Peter and the second chapter
and I'll read verses 4, 5 and 6 portion that we were considering
last Thursday in first Peter chapter 2 and verses 4 and 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
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 cornerstone,
elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be
confounded. We were considering then something
of that spiritual house that he's spoken of here in verse
5. He also, as lively stones are
built up a spiritual house. And it follows on from what we
were considering last Lord's Day evening. when he turns to
the words of Paul, the apostle Paul in 1st Timothy chapter 3
and verse 15 where he speaks of the house of God, the house
of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and
the ground of the truth. Now these apostles, be it Paul,
be it Peter, assert remarkable things with regards to what the
Church is. And we did observe on Thursday
something of the sameness of the materials that are found
in both the foundation of the Church and also the superstructure. Is Christ the foundation? Well, what is true with regards
to Christ as the foundation is also true with regards to that
structure that is to be erected upon Christ as the foundation. In verse 4 Christ is spoken of
as that living stone to whom coming as unto a living stone
and so those who are built upon that foundation in verse 5 are
said to be lively stones ye also as lively stones are built up
a spiritual house. There is such a union between
the foundation and the superstructure, such a union between Christ and
the Church that we see a wonderful sameness. And we remarked on
these things last Thursday. We see there in verse 4 how Christ
is spoken of as that one who is disallowed indeed of men. Remember how when he came into
the world we are told in John chapter 1 and verse 11 he came
unto his own, he came unto the Jews, he was born a Jew and he
was found there amongst God's ancient covenant people, he was
that one of course spoken of throughout the Old Testament,
the promised Messiah. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. He was rejected of men. He was
a man of sorrows. How they cried out before Pontius
Pilate, the Roman governor, crucify him, crucify him. He was truly
disallowed of men. In verse 7, the stone which the
builders disallowed. and what is true with regards
to Christ we see to be true also concerning those who are in Christ
concerning the Church of Christ when Christ in the course of
his ministry there in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter
5 speaks of the blessed ones the happy ones in the Beatitudes
he says blessed are ye when men shall revive you and persecute
you, and shall say all manner of evil against you, false before
my stake. Rejoice on the exceeding glad,
for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you. They not only persecuted the
prophets, they persecuted him who is the great prophet. And
what is true in the heads, using another figure, that of the head
and its body, what is true in the head, Christ is also true
in his body, the church. Again, when Christ comes to the
end of his ministry in those discourses that we find in John's
Gospel, in chapter 16 for example, he says, These things have I
spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put
you out of the synagogue. Yea, the time cometh that he
who serveth killeth you will think that he doeth God's service,
and these things will they do unto you, because they have not
known the Father, nor me. As Christ was, so are we in this
world, disallowed indeed of men, but, he says, chosen of God and
precious. Who is not the Lord Jesus, God's
principal chosen one? Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
mine elect, he says, in whom my soul delighteth. He is that principal chosen one,
chosen of the Father. And here in verse 9, concerning
that church which is built upon that precious foundation stone,
he says, ye are a chosen generation a royal priesthood and holy nation
a peculiar people. As Christ is chosen so the church
is chosen in him according that he has chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world. We see then this sameness between
the foundation and that structure that is to be built upon that
precious chosen foundation stone. Well this morning I want to direct
your attention more particularly to what we're told here in verse
6 where in order to authenticate his ministry we find Peter appealing
to the Old Testament and appealing to those words that we read in
Isaiah chapter 28 where for also he says 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 this chief cornerstone there which is the very ground of the
faith of believers. And the first thing I wanted
to observe with regards to the cornerstone is the fact that
it is laid by God. Here we see that this is God's
own work. Behold, he says, I lay in Zion
a cheap cornerstone. It is God's own work. And as I say, it's really a quotation. It's the words that we have in
that portion that we read earlier in Isaiah 28, that chapter that
speaks of terrible judgements that were going to come upon
Ephraim and Israel, upon God's ancient people because of their
sins and that God would send the armies of the Babylonians
upon them. and there they would be overrun,
they would hear people of another tongue. This was the judgment
that was spoken of there at verse 11. But in the midst of speaking
of that terrible judgment, we have the promise concerning this
foundation in verse 16. Therefore, thus saith 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 hate. Now, you will immediately observe
there is a difference in the wording as we have it there in
Isaiah 28 and as we find it here in this second chapter of 1 Peter.
So obviously he's not simply quoting, he's not quoting verbatim
what was written in Isaiah 28. He, in a sense, is also interpreting
it, we might say. It could be that the quotation
is more in line with what is written in the Septuagint, the
Greek version of the Hebrew Old Testament. which it seems that
the apostles were familiar with. But he is writing of course here
under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit that inspired
Isaiah. So we don't have any problem
with regards to the difference in the wording as we find it
in these two parts of scripture, it's the same truth. It's the
same truth because it's the same spirit who inspires both the
Prophet and the Apostle. And we see quite clearly there how
that it is God himself who has laid this foundation. In both places God declares quite
plainly, Behold I love. Behind what the Prophet was saying
there, back in Isaiah 28, there lay God's great purpose. This
is why the prophets, of course, could make these pronouncements
and these predictions, because God himself had already purposed
certain things. And what are the prophets doing?
They are foretelling, often times, those things that God will do
in the appointed time, in the fullness of the time. Now the
Lord Jesus Christ in the course of his earthly ministry of course
was very conscious that he must come and do the will of him who
had sent him. There was a work that he had
engaged to accomplish in terms of the eternal covenant. And so we find him making such
statements as these in Luke 22 and verse 37, 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. Now observe what
Christ says that that is written he says must be accomplished
in me the things concerning me have an end. It is God's great
purpose And the Lord Jesus Christ is that one who has come to fulfill
that work that the Father has given him to do. It is the work
of God, it is God as it were through Christ accomplishing
his great purpose. And so we have the fulfillment
of those things that are spoken in prophecy. We have Christ of
course being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God. when he comes to his crucifixion.
But all that Christ did, not just his dying upon the cross,
his birth, his life, his ministry, every part of that life that
he lived upon the earth was the fulfilment of what God himself
had purposed. And in this we have, as it were,
the laying of the foundation, the great foundation of salvation. It's laid in what Christ himself
has done, in fulfilment of the purpose of God, those things
spoken of in Old Testament prophecy. Wherefore also it is contained
in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion, the chief cornerstone,
elect, precious, or what a foundation can no man find than that which
is laid which is Jesus Christ the Lord. Now observe what God
has done in his laid foundation. What is the foundation? As I
say Peter doesn't quote verbatim the words that we have back in
Isaiah there are certain differences and one of the words that we
find back in Isaiah that doesn't appear here in Peter is that
word TRIED it's spoken of there in Isaiah as a TRIED stone it's
a precious cornerstone, it's a TRIED stone God as it were
we can say TRIED the strength of the Lord Jesus Christ and
that was no small thing that was no small thing when God as
it were tried the strength of this stone. Him like I said,
it was here the Lord of life appeared and sighed and groaned
and prayed and feared but all incarnate God could bear with
strength enough and none to spare and it was tried as the weight
of the sins of all the company of the elect were laid upon it.
oh what a tremendous load was laid upon that precious corner
stone and he was tried in by the father he did a tried stone
and it was proved of course in all that was laid upon it and
believers do they not also try that stone and prove that stone
just as the father tried that stone Believers also know something
of trials, and Peter certainly speaks of the believers' trials.
In the opening chapter he speaks of the trial of your fates, being
much more precious than the gold that perishes, though it be tried
with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at
the appearing of Jesus Christ. And what he says there, in a
sense repeats later in chapter 4, Beloved, think it not strange
concerning the fiery trial that is to try you as though some
strange thing happened unto you? Believers are trying. And in
the midst of all their trials, what do they do? They prove what this precious cornerstone
is. They try the stone itself. They
rest in this stone. they are rooted, they are grounded
in the Lord Jesus Christ as their foundation and it is all the
work of God I say now as with the foundation so in that that
is formed and framed upon the foundation Christ is that one who supports
believers He is the foundation stone. But he is not only the
foundation stone, what we see here is that he is also that
chief cornerstone. They are bound up in him as it were.
He is the one who holds the whole of the building together. It's
all knitted and bonded together in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the figure that we have
in the text. Behold I lay inside a chief cornerstone, it says. Elect, precious. It's not just
the foundation, there is more than the foundation. The whole
building is, as it were, knitted together in this cornerstone.
We're aware, I'm sure, of the importance of the bond when a
building is being erected. And I suppose in these days we
don't often see some of the lovely bonds in brickwork that might
have been used in a previous day. You look at old buildings
and often you see there's different bondings. It's not just all stretches
one after the other, but there's different ways in which the bricks
can be laid. There's an old English bond,
we're told, there's a Flemish bond, and you can observe these
things in old buildings, but the bond is so important to the
strength of the structure. And so also is this precious
cornerstone. Jerusalem, we're told, in the
Psalms, is built as a city that is compact together. And that's
true, is it not, with regards to the church, that is the spiritual
Jerusalem, the true Zion of God. It's built as a city that is
compact together. He also, as lively stones it
is, are built up a spiritual house and Christ himself is that
one who is so vital to this bonding because he is that chief corner
stone. Again, The same figure is employed
of course by Paul when he writes to the Ephesians there at the
end of the second chapter. He says, of the church that is
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus
Christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom all the building
fitly framed together have it all bonded together, you see,
in the chief cornerstone, all the building, fitly framed together
groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are
building together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. All the importance here, of the
foundation stone, the importance of the chief cornerstone, And
that is his sameness as we said with regards to all the materials
that are being employed in the erection of this building. There
must be a proper foundation when the Lord Jesus Christ concludes
his sermon on the mount that we referred to earlier. Remember how he speaks of those
who hear his ministry and receive his ministry those who believe
the truth that he declares are likened unto that man who builds
his house upon a rock and then in contrast those who refuse
him and refuse his ministry are like those that build upon the
sand the end of Matthew chapter 7 therefore whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine and doeth them 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
winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell. and great
was the fall of it. Now what is the difference between
those two? Well, the one man simply builds
upon the sand, he doesn't dig, he doesn't dig deep that he might
find the rock and establish a sure foundation deep upon the rock. It's a superficial building that
he erects, he builds it simply upon the sand, he looks only
to himself. In Job, Chapter 4 and verse 19
we read of those whose foundation is in the dust. Those whose foundation
is in the dust, those who build upon the sand, those who only
look to themselves. What is made is made out of the
dust of the earth, dust thou art, and out of dust shalt thou
return. Oh yes, we are to be mindful
of what we are, we are to remember something of our base origin. We are not to lose sight of that.
We are not to look to ourselves. We are not to trust in ourselves.
Again, look at the words of the Prophet there at the beginning
of Isaiah 51. Hearken to me, ye that follow
after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord. Look unto the
rock when she are hewn, and to the hole of the pit when she
are digged. We are to be aware of what we
are. and we are to see that there is nothing in ourselves and nothing
on ourselves we are to be those then who see our need of being
deeply rooted in that rock which is the Lord Jesus Christ not
like those foolish sinners whose foundation is in the dust the psalmist says he brought
me up also out of a horrible thing and out of the mire he
climbed, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings."
The importance then of us being those who are built upon Christ. And I say again, friends, it
is the work of God. It's God's work. Behold, he says,
I lie in Zion, a chief cornerstone in that precious and he that
believeth on him shall not be confounded. God is able, you see, to build
the sinner upon Christ, build the sinner into Christ. There's
that remarkable statement that we find again in the book of
Job, in Job chapter 26. And verse seven, concerning God,
it says, He hangers the earth on nothing. God hangs the earth on nothing. Remarkable, is it not? He lays the foundation of the
earth, as it were, in spice. He sets it on nothing. You see,
we're clearly shown that nothing is impossible with God. God is
able to do all things. And so God can make a Christian
out of a sinner. That's what God can do. He can
take a sinner and He can lay the foundation of that sinner's
salvation in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what God's able to do, it's his work. Again, Paul says in 1 Corinthians
3 to that church at Corinth, ye are the building of God, it's
God's building. He lays the foundation in Zion.
And there he builds. And who does he build? Well,
he takes those out of that pit that's spoken of in Isaiah 51
and the forms and fashions and makes them lively stones and
builds them up into the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's the
church. That's the church. He also, as
lively stones are built up a spiritual house, he says. Wherefore also
it is contained in the scripture, behold I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, inept, precious. It is God who lays the foundation. Then what, then, if God lays
the foundation, if the work is altogether God's work, what are we to do? What is it
to be laid upon this precious foundation? To be established
upon the rock which is the Lord Jesus Christ? To be bound into
this chief cornerstone? What are we to do? Well look
at what the text actually says. Wherefore also it is contained
in the scripture. Behold. Here is the exhortation. Behold says God. I lay in Zion
a chief corner stone. What are we to do? We are to
behold it. That's what we are to do. We are to behold what
God does. And you know the force of the
word that he's using here, this word translated behold, it means
to search, to look, to consider. That's all we have to do. We
have to look to God. Look unto me, he says. Look unto
me. And be ye saved, all the ends
of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else. and again
in Hebrews 12.2 it's that looking onto Jesus, that looking away,
that looking away from every object and looking only onto
Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. Isn't that what
faith is? It's the eye of faith. It's the
looking away from ourselves. Now this is what Peter did. Peter
certainly beheld what God had done what God was doing in
the work that Christ Jesus came to perform. At the end of John
6, is it not Peter who speaks those words when the Lord suggests
that maybe even the apostles will forsake him? All have forsaken
him. the multitudes there at the beginning of John chapter
6 how they were winnowed and sifted by the ministry that Christ
is exercising as he speaks so plainly in that chapter of the
sovereignty of God's grace and they slowly drift away and there's
only these twelve left and we know one of them is the devil
one of them will betray him and when Christ says will ye also
forsake me what does Peter say? Lord to whom shall we go? to
whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal
life and we believe and are sure that thou art the cross the son
of the living God though our preacher looked to him, where
else could he go? he can only look to the Lord
Jesus Christ and what do we read concerning those who believe
those who are looking to Christ he that believeth on him It says,
shall not be confounded. He that believeth on him shall
not be confounded. Now again, it's interesting to
make the comparison between what we have here in Peter and what's
actually written there at the end of verse 16 in Isaiah 28.
Because here it says, make haste. He that believeth on him shall
not make haste. Is it not a fact, friends, that
often times we are confounded? We are confused when we act too
hastily. There is a sense, and we have
to recognise it, there is a very real sense in which we must be
urgent and we must be diligent in the things of God. We don't
dispute that. The King's business requires
a heist. Behold, now is the accepted time.
Behold, now is the day of salvation. We have to be very much aware
of the present, the present opportunity. The seasonable opportunity that
God gives us when he brings us together again under the sand
of his Word. And we have to be careful then
to regain the time, to buy up the time, to make full use of
the time that God affords us in this day of grace. There should
be some urgency. in our lives in our seeking after
God however we make haste wrongly sometimes and when we make haste
wrongly we can be guilty of misjudging God misunderstanding God the
psalmist confesses as much does he not I said in my haste I am
cut off from before thine eyes. See, we misjudge God. We come
to hasty conclusions when God brings us into that trial, when
God is proving us. If we are those lively souls,
as that precious chief cornerstone is tried, so we must be tried,
but in the midst of the trial sometimes we come to the wrong
conclusion. we judge God hastily. There is then the danger sometimes
of us becoming confused, confounded, because of our hasty judgements. We can rest assured, can we not,
that our God will yet appear, and God will appear. And God
will always appear for his people, if we might use the expression,
in the nick of time. I said in my haste I am cut off
from before thy eyes says David in the psalm but then he acknowledges
God's help God shall help her and that right early right early
God's time you see is the right time and so we are not to make haste
either believers on him shall not in that sense make haste We are to be those who would
rest in the Lord then. Those who would wait patiently
for him. For there is a need, is there
not, for us to do that? In the midst of all our trials
and all our troubles, to behold, to look. To look to that God
who works, who lays the foundation. Because to work is altogether
God's work, not ours. oh friends this is our conflict
we are told are we not that Christ's house are we these are the words
of the apostle in Hebrews 3.6 whose house are we if we hold
the confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end
if we are those who are truly God's house, God's church we will be those who desire to
hold fast that confidence and that rejoicing of hope firm.
We are to be those who would seek above all things that we
might be really, truly rooted in the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is the mark, I say, of the Church. You see what Peter like Paul
in those other scriptures that we referred to in Ephesians 2
the end of that chapter or what we were looking at last Lord's
Day evening in 1 Timothy 3 Paul and Peter together there speaking
of those marks of the true church of God and that church is built upon Christ are not
only built upon Christ as the sure foundation stone, but also
bound up with Christ as that one who is the chief cornerstone. And so as the Apostle says here
appealing to those words that we find in that strange 28th
chapter of Isaiah that speaks so much of God's terrible judgments,
those things that came upon his ancient people, Israel and Judah,
In the midst of that we have the great promise concerning
what God does for his people, where God establishes his people.
Wherefore also which is contained in the scripture. Isaiah 28 16
Behold I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Spoken
there then In the Old Testament, in the language of the prophets
Isaiah, we observe again the difference in the terminology
that's used. Therefore thus said the Lord
God, Behold I lay in Zion for a foundation. More there the emphasis upon
the foundation than the chief cornerstone. I lay in Zion for
a foundation, a stone, a trident stone, a precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation. he that believeth shall not make
haste and we have this repetition and as you know there is no vain
repetition here is a certain emphasis that God himself in
his word is laying upon this great promise concerning the
foundation that God himself has laid and laid it in the midst
of Israel or God grant that we might be those in who are truly
built upon that foundation, other foundation can no man lie than
that which is lied, which is Jesus Christ the Lord. May the
Lord be pleased to bless His word to us.