Alright, take your Bibles and
turn to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2 and we're going to
read three verses. 1 Peter 2 verses 6 through 8
will be our text this morning. 1 Peter 2, 6 through 8. 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. 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 a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to
them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto
also they were appointed. Now we saw last week how that
our coming to Christ is the work of God. God does that in the
sinner, bringing them to the Lord Jesus Christ, so that while
countless millions and even billions of people hear and reject the
Christ, the salvation that God has provided, we, by His power,
by His glory, by what He's done in us, we hear that word and
we believe, we receive the word concerning Christ, that He is
our salvation. So that even though by nature
we're spiritually dead and unable to do this for ourselves, we
see His power working in us, doing for us what we cannot do.
He does it for us. So that now we are added to the
house of God as the living stones being built up in His house,
being dwelt in by His Spirit, so that by His Spirit we bear
fruit unto the Lord We offer up those spiritual sacrifices
that please Him. We come by faith, offering the
blood of Christ. We come by faith in and under
the blood of Jesus Christ so that by Him, we know that we
are accepted with God the Father. It's not by our works. And we
come offering the calves of our lips, giving thanks and praise
to God for what He's done for us in His Son, Jesus Christ. Our title this morning is Christ
the Chief Cornerstone. Christ the Chief Cornerstone. So what I want us to see this
morning is that how it's this one, that he's not just a stone
used of God the Father, but rather he is the stone that God has
chosen. He is the chief cornerstone chosen
of God, elect and precious so that by Him we know that He is
sent of God to do this work that we cannot do for ourselves. So
that we also know and are taught by the Spirit that we need not
fear. that when we get there in that
day and stand before Holy God, that somehow our righteousness
is going to be insufficient, because we're not coming in our
own righteousness, we're coming in the blood and righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We'll have two divisions, Christ
the foundation and cornerstone, and that'll take up the majority
of our time. And then we'll look briefly at what this means to
the unbeliever, the one who has disallowed the stone that God
has chosen, the one who wants nothing to do with the salvation
that God has provided in the Son. All right, so having looked
at and seen what Christ has accomplished for us, Peter, in his epistle,
having seen what God has done for us in the Son, Jesus Christ,
he now affirms this by the witness of the prophets. And if you look
in verse 6, 1 Peter 2, 6, wherefore also, he's quoting Isaiah, 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. So why don't we just turn there
to Isaiah 28, Isaiah 28, because this is the context that we want
to see where this scripture is taken from. Now the priests and
the prophets were to be builders in the house of God. They were
to instruct the people in the way that they should go. They
were to teach the people of the coming Messiah. They were to
prepare the people for the Messiah, that he would do the work of
salvation, that he would put away their sin, that he would
be their righteousness. Instead, they focused on the
law and teaching the people that by the law, that would be their
righteousness. So that the people were taught
to look to and have confidence in the works of their own flesh.
They were miserable, horrible builders in the church of God.
They weren't doing what they were supposed to do. So instead
of teaching them of Christ, What they were teaching led to more
and more sin and more unrighteousness, even in those that thought they
were righteous by their law keeping. That was even more offensive
and more egregious than what they were doing. It says in Isaiah
28, verse 7 and 8, speaking of the builders, but they also have
erred through wine and through strong drink are out of the way.
The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink. They
are swallowed up of wine. They are out of the way through
strong drink. They err in vision. They stumble in judgment. What
they were teaching is likened to wine and strong drink. And
what they were doing was putting the people under a legal bondage. They were yoking them with the
law. And it says, verse 8, for all tables are full of vomit
and filthiness, so that there is no place clean. And it's just
like what we see today in our own day. The more men take the
law and whip and beat the people with the law and try to yoke
the people with the law, the more and more sin comes out,
the more wickedness comes out so that you have some that think
they're righteous by their keeping of the law and they think themselves
to be fine and right and everything's good. You have others that are
made weary because they really are trying. They think that this
is their righteousness and they're trying to come to God by the
law and they're weary and they need to rest. But the builders
of the church aren't preaching and teaching who the rest is
in, that it's in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then you have plenty
of others that say, I don't want nothing to do with it. I'm done
with church. I'm done with all religion. I
don't want to hear any more of it because I'm sick of everything
that you're saying. Now God wasn't silent on how
he saved his people. Look at verse 12, Isaiah 28,
12. To whom he said, this is the
rest. wherewith ye may cause the weary
to rest, and this is the refreshing, yet they would not hear." So
the people that should have heard it, they wouldn't hear it and
they wouldn't teach it, right? They wouldn't hear Hear what
God had been saying through thousands of years of sending the prophets.
They wouldn't hear Christ when he came declaring the truth.
They wouldn't hear his apostles and his prophets that he sent.
They won't hear the preachers of today that are preaching that
salvation, that rest for the weary is in the Lord Jesus Christ. They won't hear it. So this is
how they saw it. This is how they hear the word
of God. Look at verse 13. But the word of the Lord, this
is how they hear it, the word of the Lord was unto them precept
upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line,
here a little and there a little. And the reason why is that they
might go and fall backward and be broken and snared and taken. So that they thought that by
their doing, their little bit of work in each day, They're
hearing what the law was saying and trying to get that down and
get that right. And once they felt like they got that sufficiently,
they'd go on to the next one and try to work on that and get
that down and get that right. It was just precept upon precept.
Lined upon line, they're working their way up to the Lord by their
own works of righteousness. That's what they were trying
to do, and that's what they had their confidence in, was in their
own works of righteousness. But the Lord is not going to
accept that counterfeit righteousness. It's not the righteousness that
God accepts and receives. So he exposes what it is that
they're saying and what it is that they're trusting in in the
vanity of it in verses 14 and 15. Wherefore, hear the word
of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is
in Jerusalem, because ye have said, We have made a covenant
with death, and with hell are we at agreement, when the overflowing
scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us, for we
have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. what people are doing today. You know, the Lord is coming
again and this time when he returns, the second time, he's going to
judge the world in righteousness. He's not coming in weakness,
he's not coming in the likeness of the sinful flesh, but he's
coming as a triumphant king who rules and reigns and he's going
to destroy all the wicked works that men do in this world. And
the people hear this and they say, you know what? I'm good.
Don't worry about me. I've got it all under control.
I'm trusting in this lie here. I'm trusting in my own works.
I'm happy and content with what I'm doing. Don't worry about
me. Worry about somebody else, because I got this. I got this
down. I got this little shelter of
a lie in the storm. They don't say it that way, but
that's exactly what it is. It's just a lie. It's just falsehood. It's not going to stand in the
day when Christ comes to judge this world in righteousness,
true righteousness. So thankfully our Lord, in spite
of what the teachers were saying, thankfully he didn't trust that
work to us. Thankfully he doesn't wait for
us to figure it out and to get it right because if he did, we'd
all be wiped off the earth because none of us ever gets it right.
We're all wicked, we're all full of sin and guile and deceit so
that we can't work this thing out. But God says, I'm going
to do it. I'm going to establish righteousness
in the earth. Look at verse 16. Therefore thus saith the Lord
God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation of stone, a tried
stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth
shall not make haste. He shall not be ashamed. So in the midst of the people's
rebellion, God provides a rest for the weary. Our Lord said
in Matthew 11, 28 and 29, Come unto me, all ye that labor and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you
and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall
find rest unto your souls." And Peter captures the rebellion
that's in the heart of man. He says there in verse 4, 1 Peter
2, 4, that Christ is disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God
and precious. So that Christ is the one that
God has put his seal of approval on, saying, this is my son, hear
him. This is the one in whom you're
going to find rest for your weary souls. Stop looking to the law,
stop trusting in your own righteousness, look to the one I've provided,
the salvation I've provided, and my son, Jesus Christ. Now, turn over to Psalm 118.
I want us to look here at a good portion of Psalm 118, because
the psalmist here captures the glorious salvation that we have
of the Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ. And Peter quotes from Psalm 118
in verse 7, but we're going to look at a few verses in the context
of Psalm 118. We'll start in verse 1. It sums
up perfectly what Christ has accomplished for his people.
Psalm 118, verse 1. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good, because his mercy endureth forever. Now Christ
turns to all those who look for salvation in Israel. Verse two,
he says, let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth forever.
And then Christ turns to the law and says, what do you say,
law? And it says, let all the, verse three, let the house of
Israel now say, sorry, let the house of Aaron now say, that
his mercy endureth forever. The law has been satisfied. Now
Christ turns to all those who fear and tremble before the word
of God, not trusting in their own righteousness, but in the
righteousness of God. He says, verse four, let them
now that fear the Lord say that his mercy endured forever. Now this is a triumphant, joyful
praise of the people of God, the rejoicing and the salvation
that God has wrought for his people. If you think about it,
let's just say that we were all here camped out in the city of
Nixon. And this is where we are. And
we have a great wall around us. And we're in and joined with
the people of Nixa. It's probably about 20,000 people
that live here in the city. And surrounding us was a great
army. All of China and all of Russia
are coming down with all their missiles, their tanks. We hear
the roar and the rumbling of their diesel tanks. Engines going
and the helicopters are coming in. They're coming towards us. We're afraid, we're fearful,
because we know that anything we have is not going to withstand
all the armament of our enemy. They're going to destroy us.
And then suddenly you hear the bombs dropping and explosions
and the screams and the cries of people, but you realize that's
not us in the city. That's the enemy that's being
destroyed. So that all about you, your enemy that you were
sure and certain was going to destroy you and wipe you and
your family and all your loved ones out, they've been destroyed. And that's what has happened
in Christ, that Christ came that we could not free ourselves of
the coming destruction. We were going to be destroyed.
The enemies were circling about us and coming to wipe us out,
and we had no hope. We were going to die and be cast
into hell forever. But God provided the salvation. He provided it in the son Jesus
Christ, so that the enemy, all our enemies, have been destroyed.
and they can no longer touch us or do anything to us anymore. Look there in verse 5. I called
upon the Lord. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
speaking now. I called upon the Lord in distress. The Lord answered
me and set me in a large place. So no enemy, though they reach
out and they try to get him, no enemy can touch him. He's
in a large place. They cannot reach to where Christ is now.
The Lord is on my side. I will not fear what can man
do unto me. They took the Prince of Peace,
the Lord of Glory, and did to him whatsoever was in their heart
to do. They took him and they crucified him on the cross as
though he were a common criminal, as though he were a sinner. Yet
he himself had no sin. They tried to destroy him. They
said, we're not going to have this man reign over us. We don't
want his righteousness. We don't want what he's talking
about. We have our own righteousness, and we're content in our own
little lie, believe in our own little confidences, and that
we've made a covenant with hell and with death, and we're trusting
in that. We don't want this Christ to reign over us. So they took
him, and they crucified him. All they wanted was to lick the
vomit off those tables that they had, because that's what they
were pleased with, and they were satisfied with that, trusting
in that word. But in Psalm 118 verse 10, this
is what Christ says, All nations compass me about, but in the
name of the Lord will I destroy them. They compass me about,
yea, they compass me about, but in the name of the Lord will
I destroy them. They compass me about like bees,
they are quenched as the fire of thorns, for in the name of
the Lord I will destroy them. Thou hast thrust sword at me
that I might fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength
in Psalm and has become my salvation. So that you hear boom out of
the heavens comes a joyful and a glad rejoicing from the people
of God because God has provided salvation in the land. He's done
for them, worked out all their salvation, provided all their
needs so that there's nothing more for the people of God to
do so that they rejoice. There's a voice of rejoicing
and joy and gladness for what God has done through the Son.
Verse 15, the voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles
of the righteous. The right hand of the Lord doeth
valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is
exalted. The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. Now who
is the right hand of the Lord? But the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And Christ is exalted before
the eyes of the people because he's the one that has wrought
our salvation. It's like the beloved martyr
Stephen. when he was being stoned, and
he laid his eyes down in rest, trusting in Christ. And what
did he say? Behold, I see the heavens open, and the Son of
Man standing on the right hand of the throne of God. Christ
is the right hand of God, and he is exalted. He has triumphed.
He has gained for us the victory, so that we need not be ashamed
or afraid in that day when we stand before God Almighty. For
we shall not be ashamed. He has provided all the righteousness
that his people need. You don't need to add a single
thing to it. Rest in Christ. In Psalm 118, verse 17, he says,
I shall not die but live and declare the works of the Lord.
The Lord hath chastened me sore, but he hath not given me over
unto death. And that's as the Hebrew writer
captures for us in Hebrews 5, verse 7 through 9, who in the
days of his flesh when he had offered up prayers and supplications
with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save
him from death, and was heard, and that he feared, this is Christ,
though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which
he suffered, and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal
salvation unto all them that obey him. So Christ was chastened,
Christ suffered for his people, so that we are assured that this
one whom God proved before our very eyes, God proved him, and
Christ was found faithful and righteous and just, so that all
who hope in him are assured that just as God has proved them,
we are proven in Christ, that we are righteous before God because
we come by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ, not in our own
works, not looking to the things that we do or don't do in this
flesh, So cast all your care upon Christ. He careth for you. He's done for you what you can't
do. He's provided the righteousness that we need to stand before
the throne of God. In Psalm 18, verse 30, the word
of the Lord, oh, this isn't in that 118, but let me just quote
it in Psalm 18, which is very similar in wording to Psalm 118.
It says, the word of the Lord is tried. That's Christ who is
the word. He's tried and he is a buckler
or a shield to all those that trust in him. So our triumphant
king comes to the gates of heaven now and he boldly says in verse
19, open to me the gates of righteousness. There he is, the triumphant one,
standing there before the throne, before the gates of heaven, the
gates of righteousness, open unto me the gates of righteousness.
I will go into them and I will praise the Lord. If we try to
come before the Lord in our own righteousness, we'll be blown
right back, we'll be carried away as rotten dead leaves blown
around in the lawn. The Lord will not receive our
righteousness. But Christ comes and he says,
I'm righteous. I am righteous. I've obtained
righteousness for me and for the people. And he did that so
that he now comes to the gate and says, open them up. Open
them up to me. Here I am. I've done what I came to do.
If you turn over in Revelation 5, you see this picture before
Christ comes. I think it goes very beautifully
with it. Revelation 5, verse 1. Here we
are in heaven, in the throne room of heaven. And I saw on
the right hand, John says, of him that sat on the throne a
book written within and on the backside sealed with seven seals.
And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy
to open the book and to loose the seals thereof? This is, who's
going to establish the kingdom of God on the earth? Who's going
to provide that salvation work? If no one's found worthy, then
you and me, we're dead. We're doomed. God's going to
destroy us because there's no righteousness for us. We can't
establish the kingdom of God and the will of God. We can't
do that. We need another to do that. It says, verse 3, no man
in heaven nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to
open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because
no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither
to look thereon. But one of the elders saith unto
me, Weep not. Behold, the line of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book,
and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and lo,
in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the
midst of the elders, still land, as it had been slain, having
seven horns, which is strength, perfection of strength, and seven
eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent forth into all the
earth, so that Christ, as the Lamb of God, has prevailed for
his people, so that he can say to the gates of righteousness,
open them up, open them up to me, that I may come in and worship
and praise my God. Now verse 20, Psalm 118 verse
20, it says, this gate of the Lord into which the righteous
shall enter. Now think of it, brethren, that
Christ Jesus alone is the only one righteous to enter those
gates. He's the only man himself worthy
to go in to those gates. Not you, not me, we're not worthy
of ourselves to enter into the gates that only the righteous
shall enter into. And Christ, who is already righteous,
he's God himself, he is righteous, yet he left glory. He left his throne of glory and
was born of a woman under the law and fulfilled all righteousness,
even though he himself didn't have to, but he did this for
his people. He fulfilled all the righteousness
that they need so that we, brethren, in Christ might come up to those
gates and enter into those gates that only the righteous can go
into. bearing and wearing the righteous robe, that righteous
garment that Christ has secured for his people. So that what
an honor it is that we in Christ, enter into that gate, brethren,
because of what Christ has done, our forerunner has gone and done
before us. And he says in verse 21, I will
praise thee, this is him speaking to the Father and we speaking
to him, to Christ, I will praise thee for thou hast heard me and
art become my salvation. For Christ is that gate wherein
we now enter into the righteous throne of God Almighty. He said in John 10 9, I am the
door, or the gate, that word can be translated as. I am the
door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. But
in spite of all this glorious work that Christ Jesus has done,
what did the builders of the church do? What did they say?
What do they think of this glorious work that Christ has done? In
verse 22, Psalm 118, verse 22 and 23, the stone which the builders
refused, they refused him, but he's become the headstone of
the corner. This is the Lord's doing, it
is marvelous in our eyes. So taking in that whole view
of Psalm 118, Peter is taken up with that view of what Christ
has accomplished for his people, and he says there in 1 Peter
2, 7 and 8, unto you therefore which believe Christ 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 a rock of offense even to them which stumble at
the word being disobedient whereunto also they were appointed so God
the God of Israel He is called a rock, right? He is our rock.
And so we look to him who is our rock and trust in him. We
know that we don't trust in this flimsy, fickle, weak flesh like
the world is doing. When you're looking to the law
to establish your righteousness, whether it's for justification,
or even in sanctification, whereby you have some part in the work
of Christ in making yourself righteous and acceptable before
God, that's standing on weak ground. But we stand upon the
rock that God has provided, that sure and perfect ground, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now he's called a rock in Israel,
and that's who God is, but he became a stumbling stone and
a rock of offense to the builders in Israel. But if you look there
in Deuteronomy 32, they always said, you know, even Moses himself
said, look to God who is the rock, look to Him who is your
rock. He said in Deuteronomy 32 verse
1, Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak, and hear o'er the
words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the
rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain
upon the tender herb and as the showers upon the grass. because
I will publish the name of the Lord, ascribe ye greatness unto
our God. And the law will do that, right?
The law shows the perfection of holy God. It's only when we
begin to lower it to what we can do, or what we think we can
do, that then it is made, that's when it's used unlawfully by
men. Verse four, he is the rock, his
work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment, a God of truth,
And without iniquity, just and right is he. In verse five, they
have corrupted so that those who have not submitted themselves
to the righteousness of God, do not hear what the law says,
they're trying to go about to establish their own righteousness.
Verse five, they have corrupted themselves, their spot is not
the spot of his children. They are a perverse and a crooked
generation. And that's what Paul said when
he wrote to the Romans Romans 10 3 he said for they being ignorant
of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own
righteousness Have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness
of God so that men are trying still to this day to to establish
their own righteousness by their doing and by their works of the
law. And he said, Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it.
For Moses described it, the righteousness, which is of the law, that the
man which do with those things shall live by them. Meaning that
we can lower the standard of the law just so that we can now
meet it or come to some amount of precepts or line upon line.
Because that's what man does. He tries to lower what the law
says so that he can meet it and feel good about himself, rather
than what God says. He's to submit to the law, which
says, guilty. That's to submit to the law.
To hear what the law is saying, what it's saying to us is, either
I keep it perfectly, 100%, never offending in one way, or I accept
the fact that I'm guilty, and I look to the Lord to provide
His righteousness, to provide His means of salvation. So we're
either trying to save ourselves or we're trusting in the salvation
that God has provided through his son, Jesus Christ. As it's written, there's none
righteous, no, not one. But the righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this wise, and Romans 10, say not in thine
heart who shall ascend into heaven. That is to bring Christ down
from above, or who shall descend into the deep. That is to bring
up Christ again from the dead. So that they're just judging
men. They're saying, well, this one's good and that one's not.
That's just to judge. And we're not to judge other
people by their works. But what sayeth it? The word
is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart, That is the
word of faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. So that with that confession
of faith, we enter in the gates of the righteous, the gates that
the righteous alone can enter. We enter by faith, bearing that
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, being covered by that blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on him, the rock of Israel, shall not be ashamed. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ,
you shall not be ashamed when you stand before him. So we who
hope in Christ, we shall not be turned away, will not be ashamed
in that day, In Ephesians 2.18, Paul wrote, For through him,
Christ, the gate of righteousness, we both have access by one spirit
unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints
and of the household of God, 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. in whom ye also are
builded together for inhabitation of God through the Spirit. And
for this cause, seeing how Christ has fulfilled all the prophets
and all the scriptures that were said of him, that foretold of
Christ and what he would do, Paul was so moved by that, just
as a witness and a testimony to the fact that Christ really
is the salvation that God has provided. Paul willingly became
a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said there in Ephesians
3 verse 1, for this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of the Lord
of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. That's not just an allegory,
that's not hyperbole or anything like that. He really is, he became
a true, a real prisoner in Caesar's household locked up for the Lord
Jesus Christ because he believed that this indeed is the righteousness
that God has provided through the Son. He says, If ye have
heard of the distensation of the grace of God which is given
to you, All he had to do was renounce Christ. All he had to
do was say, you know what? You're right. I believe what
you Jews are saying. I trust in the righteousness
which comes by the law. All he had to do was renounce
Christ. If it's not so, he just had to renounce him and he would
have gone free. He would have been set free just
by doing that. But instead, he said in Ephesians
3.3, how that by revelation, God made known unto me the mystery
as I wrote a foreign few words whereby, when ye read, ye may
understand my knowledge and the mystery of Christ, which in other
ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now
revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ
of God. He is the one that God has sent
to save his people. He is that living stone, disallowed
indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. Ye also, as
lively stones, in Christ are built up a spiritual house and
holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable
to God because they're by the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how
we come to him, by Christ. Wherefore also, Peter says, it's
contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a cheap cornerstone,
elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be
confounded unto you therefore which believe he is precious. So that, brethren, again, you
who hope in Christ and trust in Him, you are righteous. You
are fit and able to enter into that gate that only the righteous
may go, because we enter in through the blood of Jesus Christ. And
He is precious. He is unique. There's none like
Him in all the world. Not in this generation, and not
in all the generations of all the world before us. Not one
is like Christ. He is precious, as there is none
like Him. He alone is salvation. He is
the only way to God. There is no salvation in any
other under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. He is precious. Now, what does
this mean for the unbeliever? What shall become of those who
have rejected the salvation that God provided in his Son, that
trusted in their own works and their own righteousness? Peter
describes them in the latter half of verse 7 and verse 8.
He says, Unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders
disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a
stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which
stumble at the word being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. so that they refused to believe
on the righteousness that God had provided in the Son. And
they trusted in, they stayed in, their own works of righteousness. So that they said, nope, no thank
you. I'm just rejecting that salvation.
I want nothing to do with that. I'm going to trust in my own
little lie, my own little righteousness that I think. And he says in
Isaiah 1431, how low gate, cry, oh city, thou whole Palestine
art dissolved. For there shall come from the
north a smoke And none shall be alone in his appointed times,
so that Christ has appointed a day of judgment for all those
who come in their own righteousness." They're going to be judged, and
they're trusting in their own works right now, but trusting
that that is going to enable them to stand before God. So
that those who refuse this one, it said in Isaiah, well, of what
it said, that God laid in Zion this stone, that we might be
saved. This is the tried and proven
stone that God has laid, the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who
refuse him, Isaiah 28, 17 and 18 says, judgment also will I
lay to the line. You judged my Christ unworthy,
I'll judge you and see how worthy you are. You judged him insufficient
and unfit to save you, I'm gonna judge you to see how fit and
sufficient you are in your own righteousness. We'll see who's
going to stand in that day. And I'll lay righteousness to
the plummet and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lives,
and the water shall overflow the hiding place, and your covenant
with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell
shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge
shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. Now brethren, I pray that the
Lord make it clear to you that He has provided salvation. It's
in His Son, Jesus Christ. And you who aren't sure or hearing
this for the first time, Christ is the righteousness that God
has provided. That's how we enter into His
gates of righteousness, by the Lord Jesus Christ. I would encourage
you, sometime this week, make a little note and read Matthew
21. Matthew 21, where he's speaking
to the builders of Israel there, and Matthew 21, 33 through 44,
and see how they rejected Christ. And out of their own mouth, they
said, God should destroy them. Not one should destroy them who
killed all his servants and killed his son and tried to seize the
inheritance. Let them be destroyed. And that's exactly what the Lord
will do. But those who hope in him, shall
have a joyful entrance into heaven because of his righteousness.
I pray the Lord will bless that to your hearts. Let's stand and
we'll pray and take a 10 minute break. Our gracious Lord, Father, we
thank you for your mercy and kindness for providing the rest
for the weary. Lord, I pray that You would indeed
make us weary in ourselves, that we would not have confidence
or trust in our own selves and in our own righteousness, but
that we would look to You alone for the righteousness You provided
in Your Son, Jesus Christ. Lord, bless this people. Bless
us, Lord. Put Your Spirit upon us. Help
us to hear the Word. We pray in Jesus' name, our Lord
and Savior. Amen.