Let us turn to God's Word in
that short portion of Holy Scripture that we read at the beginning
of the second chapter in 1 Peter and drawing your attention now
to verses 4, 5 and 6. The first epistle of Peter, chapter
2 and verses 4, 5 and 6, to whom coming as unto a living stone,
disallowed indeed of men, 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
therefore also it is contained in the scripture behold I lay
in Zion a cheap cornerstone elect precious and he that believeth
on him shall not be confounded last Lord's Day evening, we were
considering something of the Church as the Apostle Paul speaks
of it, writing to Timothy, remember there in 1 Timothy chapter 3,
we were considering verses 14 and 15 and particularly what
he said there at the end, Paul, is exhorting and encouraging
Timothy as to how he should conduct himself whilst Paul is absent
and yet desirous that he might come again to Ephesus where he
had left Timothy and he speaks of how that young man is to behold
himself in the church and refers to the church as the house of
God which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the
grounds of the truth. So we sought to consider the
significance of that description of the church, the house of God,
the pillar and the grounds of the truth. And I want to continue
with that theme as we turn to these three verses that I've
just read here now in the epistle, the first epistle of Peter of
course these apostles speak with one voice they're all inspired
by the same Holy Spirit and here we see how that Peter describes
the church as a spiritual house so that's the thing that I wanted
to take up He also, as Lively Stones, he says, are built up
a spiritual house. And just one or two very simple
observations from the verses, first of all, to say something
with regards to the materials that are taken up in this particular
building. There is, of course, reference
here to foundation, there's reference to the cornerstone, as we see
in verse 6 where Peter quotes from the Old Testament in fact
quotes from the book of the prophet Isaiah where for also it is contained
in the scripture behold I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone elect
precious and either believeth on him he says shall not be confound
it. She's quoting as I said from
Isaiah, the words are found in chapter 28 of Isaiah verse 16
where we read of a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure
foundation. And what are we told with regards
to this foundation? Is it not founded in the grace
of God In verse 3 he says, if so be ye have tasted that the
Lord is gracious, the Lord is gracious, to whom coming as unto
a living stone, his foundation stone, is laid in the grace of
God. And when we think of the foundation,
of course, we can think in terms of that great purpose of God,
his eternal decree, the purpose of salvation which is rooted
and grounded in himself, the sovereignty of the grace of God. Other foundation can no man lay,
says Paul, than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ the
Lord. And it is important that we recognize
that it is Christ himself who from eternity was appointed to
be the foundation stone and the chief cornerstone. Peter is not
the foundation. You probably are aware of the
claim that the Church of Rome makes when it says that Peter
in his confession of faith at Caesarea Philippi in Matthew
16 is there declared to be the foundation of the Church. And
Rome's claim, of course, although it has no historic substance
to it, is that Peter was the first Bishop of Rome, the first
Pope. There's no historic substance,
I say, to establish that. But that's what they say, and
then they claim that Peter, as such, is the very foundation
of the Church. Now it's true, of course, that
when Peter made that confession, Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the Living God. The Lord did declare him to be
Peter. Thou art Peter, he said, and
upon this rock I will build my church. And the name Peter means
a stone or a rock. So Rome says, you see, that the
Lord is acknowledging this man to be the foundation. But that's
not the case. He's not the person of Peter
that the Lord is referring to is the confession that Peter
himself had made, and the confession was concerning who Jesus of Nazareth
was and is. Thou art the Christ, says Peter,
the Son of the Living God, and that is the foundation of the
Church of God. And again we see quite clearly,
do we not, in what another of the apostles, what Paul says
when writing there in Ephesians chapter 2, the end of that chapter
he speaks of the church 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, in whom ye also are builded together for
an habitation of God through the Spirit are the foundation. And no man lay than that which
is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Here is the foundation stone.
Here is the chief cornerstone. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
very basis of the Church. It is His Church. and that building,
that superstructure is erected upon him. And so, having remarked
then on the foundation stone and the cornerstone, we're also
here told of the superstructure itself. As I said in verse 5,
ye also, says Peter, as lively stones, or living stones, are
built up a spiritual house. And that, of course, answers
to what he has already said at the beginning of verse 4, to
whom coming as unto a living stone. There is a living stone
which is there at the basis, the foundation, and upon that
living stone is built these lively stones to make up a spiritual
house. Archbishop Leighton in his commentary
here remarks on a certain sameness of materials in the foundation
and in the superstructure. And that sameness indicates,
of course, the near relationship between Christ and his church. There is a spiritual union. And
we see it, do we not, in the similarity that is laid before
us in these verses concerning Christ, the foundation and the
cornerstone, and concerning the superstructure. What do we read
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ? He is that living stone that
these believers have come to, verse 4, but he says of that
living stone that it is disallowed indeed of men, disallowed of
men, rejected of men. Isn't that what we're told concerning
the Lord's suffering servants? He is despised and rejected of
men. a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. He is disallowed. When he comes
into this world he is born of course into a Jewish family. He comes as one who belongs then
to God's ancient covenant people, Israel. But John tells us he
came unto his own. But his own received him not. He was rejected of men. and not just rejected of the
Jews, we can say in a general sense when he was in this world,
although he was the creator of the world, yet he was disowned.
The foxes have holes, he says, the birds of the air have nests,
the son of man hath nowhere to lay his head. How he is disallowed
then whilst here upon the earth. And what is true of Christ as
the foundation is also true of those living stones that make
up the superstructure the ones to whom Peter addresses his very
epistle as we see in the opening verse Peter an apostle of Jesus
Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia Cappadocia,
Asia and Bithynia isn't this descriptive of those who are
Christ? they are strangers they are strangers
in this present world and so here verse 11 he writes dearly beloved
I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims that's a description
is it not of those who are built upon Christ as Christ was in
the world so are his people I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims
abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having
your conversation honest among the Gentiles. But whereas they
speak against you as evildoers, they may buy your good works
which they shall behold. Glorify God in the day of visitation."
They are watched by the world, these people, and they are despised
by the world, and they want to answer the world they might speak
of them as evildoers, that's what the word says concerning
God's children but they answer by good works they live their
lives so as to commend God their saviour and we know from what
the apostle says in Hebrews chapter 11 that this was always true
in that chapter we have the catalogue of the faithful from the Old
Testament And what does the apostle say concerning those of faith? Hebrews 11, 13, these all died
in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen
them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Strangers and pilgrims on the
earth disallowed of men just as Christ himself is that one
who is rejected of men but though disallowed of men chosen of God that's what we're told are we
not concerning this one who is the foundation stone verse 4
disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God and precious. It is, of course, in terms of
that eternal covenant that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Father's
chosen one. When we think of the relationship
that he sustains with the Father in terms of his deity, he is
one with the Father. He is not servant of the Father
when we think of his relationship in the Godhead, because God Father,
Son and Holy Spirit are not only co-eternal but they are co-equal. There is no superiority, no inferiority
in their relationship. It is God the Father, God the
Son and God the Holy Ghost and they are equally God. When we
think of that eternal covenant of Christ it is there of course
that the eternal Son of God equal with the Father, willingly becomes
his servant, who will come in the fullness of the time to do
his Father's will. So the Father says, Behold my
servant whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth, I
have put my spirit upon him. He is that one then who is God's
servant, he's God's chosen one, he's God's elect. and as he is
chosen so those who form this superstructure are also chosen
and they are chosen in him according as he has chosen us in him says
Paul before the foundation of the world as Christ is chosen so they are
chosen and in their election we see their eternal union with
the Lord Jesus our chosen in him we sang just now in that
hymn of Isaac Watts Christ be my first elect he said then chose
our souls in Christ our head that's another figure here we
have the figure of the building with the foundation and the superstructure
but the church is also in scripture compared to a body and Christ
is the head of the body of the church the body and the head
here we have the foundation and the superstructure but always
we see there is this relationship as Christ is the chosen of the
father so his people are also those who are elect look at what
he says then at the beginning of verse 9 ye are a chosen generation
a chosen generation. Again, if he had continued reading
the opening words of exhortation, he doesn't only address himself
to strangers, scattered, but he speaks of them as elect. Elect
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ grace unto you and peace be multiplied. They are elect. And here of course
in the second verse in the first chapter we see the salvation
of the church in terms of all the persons of the Godhead. They
are elects by the Father, and elect according to His foreknowledge,
how He has foreknown them. And it's the intimacy of that
knowledge He has set His love upon them. And those who are
sanctified by the Spirit of God, how they are set apart, and how
the Spirit is the one who comes and works in their hearts to
sanctify them, and that great work of course is involved initially
in their regeneration, they are born again by the Spirit of God,
they become partakers of the divine nature, but then also
we have this reference to that great work that Christ did, how
Christ has reconciled them to God, it's the obedience and sprinkling
of the blood of Christ, the work of Christ is applied to them,
applied by the Spirit. It's all the work of God. How they are bound up then, with
the Lord Jesus Christ they are one with him and they have an
interest then in that great work that he accomplished they are
disallowed of men but they are chosen and then also we see this
truth that applies both to Christ and to the church both are living
Both are living. Where does the church receive
its life from? Its life comes from the Lord
Jesus Christ. He has said, as you know, John
14, 19, Because I live, ye shall live also. If we have any spiritual
life, all our spiritual life is drawn only from the Lord Jesus
Christ. Again in prophecy Isaiah 26 19
Thy dead men shall live he says together with my dead body shall
they arise. We have an interest in that resurrection
life of the Lord Jesus and remember how Paul states that so plainly
and so forcibly in those words that we often quote from the
end of Ephesians chapter 1 concerning those who believe the exceeding
greatness of his power To us who do believe, which is according
to the working of his mighty power, he says, which he wrought
in Christ, when he raised him from the dead. In order for you,
in order for me to believe, savingly believe, we need to know something
of that power of God. Or we might believe in a In a
natural way, in a historic way, we might accept the truth of
scripture, we might accept what is said in scripture concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, but saving faith, justifying faith. And we need the power of God
to bring us to that complete and utter reliance upon the Lord
Jesus Christ. The exceeding greatness of his
power, to uswards who believe. And now, as we said in times
past, Paul there just piles the words together. Not only his power, not only
the greatness of his power, but the exceeding greatness of his
power. And it's all according to the
working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, in
Christ's resurrection. Is Christ a living stone? He is that, as we see in verse
4, to whom coming as unto a living stone. And then verse 5, he also
as lively stones are built up a spiritual house. I say, there
is this sameness in the material that's there in the foundation
and also there in the superstructure. disallowed of men, chosen of
God, living in Christ, and then also this, they are priests. They are priests. Christ is a
priest. Christ is the great High Priest.
Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Jesus
Christ. Says Paul to the Hebrews and
remember now there he speaks of Christ's priesthood and now
his priesthood is so different to that of the priesthood of
Aaron he's not of the tribe of Levi Levi was the priestly tribe
Aaron was of Levi but here is one now
who is not of that tribe he's of the tribe of Judah it's a
different priesthood And so in Hebrews chapter 5 we read of
his priesthood, do we not? Christ glorified not himself
to be made an high priest, but he that said unto him, Thou art
my son, today have I begotten thee, as he saith also in another
place. Thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. And as Christ he is a priest,
so also, so also his people are priests. Verse 5, 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. And again in verse 9 A chosen
generation, he says, a royal priesthood. A royal priesthood. What was Melchizedek? He was
King of Salem. And Christ, of course, he's that
one, he was King of Kings. And aren't the Lord's people
truly a royal priesthood? Revelation 5.10, we are made
unto our God kings and priests, it says. Kings and priests. And we shall reign upon the earth.
And here is the sacrifice, you see, that these priests present
as spiritual sacrifices, not bloody sacrifices. Christ has
made the one sacrifice for sins forever. The sacrifice that we bring is
that sacrifice of praise and worship. I trust that we're all
clear with regards to this great doctrine of the priesthood of
all believers. It's one of the great distinguishing
marks really of our Baptist Church Order. We don't see any priestly
caste. We don't look to any man as a
priest. We believe that every believer
is a priest. We're all priests. And we're
all those, if we are the Lords, who are to bring the spiritual
sacrifices that are acceptable by Jesus Christ. Here then, we
see something of the material that goes into this spiritual
house of which the Apostle Peter is speaking. And it's the church.
It's the same as Paul speaks of in that verse we were looking
at only last Lord's Day evening. the pillar and the ground of
the truth. But let us, before we conclude tonight, just say
a little with regards to the manner of the building. How is
this building constructed? The important expression here,
surely, is what we have at the beginning of verse 4, to whom
coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but
chosen of God and precious. How do we come? How do we come
to this foundation? How are we built upon this foundation? Well, the coming, of course,
is not a physical coming. We don't come in a real physical
sense. It's not a local coming in that
sense. It's a spiritual coming. It's a spiritual house, and the
manner in which we come must also be spiritual. Well, what
is the manner of our coming? Well, our coming really is equivalent
to believing. The words of the Lord Jesus in
John chapter 6 and verse 35, He says, He that cometh to me
shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Clearly, in what the Lord is
saying there, we see that the coming is equivalent to the believing. He that cometh shall never hunger,
he says, he that believeth shall never thirst. Believing is the
same as coming. But who come? Well, the Lord
Jesus says, in the course of exercising his ministry amongst
the Jews, remember how he comes unto his own, his own receive
him not, he says to the Jews, ye will not come to me that ye
might have life. Men will not come. None will
come. Christ is disallowed of men,
rejected of men. It were those who come Well,
again we see how the Lord Jesus makes that quite plain in the
course of ministry. No man, he says, can come to
me except the Father draw him. No man can come except the Father
draw him. And he goes on, as it is written
in the Prophets, they shall be all thought of God. Every man
therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh
unto me. Only those who have heard of the Father and learned
of the Father ever come to the Lord Jesus Christ. No one else
can come. No one else would ever come.
We cannot come of ourselves. That's the truth of it, is it
not? We cannot come of ourselves.
And have not some of us felt that in the Lord's dealings with
us when we would come, we desired to come, we longed to be saved,
we wanted faith, we couldn't give ourselves faith. Our God
has to teach us, you see, what we are. He has to show us something
of our condition, our total depravity, our spiritual impotence, our
complete inability to do anything. This is how we are taught of
God, is it not? We have to be brought to that
place where we see that there is nothing of ourselves that
we can do. That salvation is truly of the
Lord. This is the great doctrine, is
it not, of divine sovereignty. And I referred to several aspects
of the Lord's ministry there in the course of his preaching
in John chapter 6. And see what is said there when
we come towards the end of that chapter, towards the end of that
long chapter, that remarkable chapter of John chapter 6. In verse 65 Christ says, Therefore
said I unto you that no man can come to me except it were given
unto him of my father from that time. Many of his disciples went
back and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the
twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him,
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ,
the Son of the living God. Why did those disciples, they
professed Christ, they were apparently outwardly followers of Christ,
but they went back, it says, and they walked no more with
him. Why? Well, it's from that time. And we see the significance
of the juxtaposition of verses 65 and 66. He said, I said unto
you that no man can come unto me except it were given unto
him of my father. That's the offence. That's the
offence, you see. That's the doctrine that men
despise the truth of God's sovereignty, how they hate it. And so look at what he says here
at verse 7, Unto you therefore which believe he is precious
but unto them which be disobedient the stone which the builders
disallowed the same is made the head of the corner and the stone
of stumbling and the rock of offence to them which stumble
at the work being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. How solemn the words are, you
see, it's an offence. It's a stone of stumbling, it's
a rock of offence, that's Christ he's speaking of. Men don't like
the truth of God's absolute sovereignty. They are such solemn words and
here we see the awful doctrine of a double predestination because
it says their disobedience where unto also they were appointed
however let us go back to what the Lord says in the course of
his own ministry there in John chapter 6 and verse 37 he says
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me and he that
cometh to me I shall in no wise cast out all fences and at our
comfort if we will but come He that cometh to me, says Christ,
I will in no wise cast out. He will not cast out his people.
He will not cast out any of those who come to him and call upon
him. Now what is this coming? To whom coming? What we have
here is in fact the present participle. In other words, it is a continuous
coming. It's not just a coming once.
It's a coming and the keep on coming that's being spoken of.
To whom coming? Always coming. Are we those who
are always coming? Are we those who are not only
built upon this foundation, to whom coming as unto a living
stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious,
not only built upon this foundation, but also those who are built
into Christ. He's not only the foundation,
He is the cornerstone. Wherefore also it is contained
in Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone. Elect,
precious, he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Are we those, friends, who built
upon him also desire that we might be ever and always built
into him, rooted, built up in him, established in the fire?
as Paul writes to the Colossians, or is this our desire that we
might be those who are increasingly conscious of our dependence upon
Christ to be rooted and grounded in him and to see him as that
one who is our all and in all. Here then we see something of
the manner in which the building is erected. It is a spiritual
house, it's that great work of faith that God accomplishes in
the hearts of all his people. These lively scones then are
those who are believers. He that believeth on him shall
not be confounded unto you therefore which believe. He is precious. Father Lord, bless to us his
truth.