That's one of the greatest hymns that's ever been written. Written by a young man whose name was Robert Murray McShane. I think he died when he was something like 27 years of age, something like that. Several more verses to it. But that was beautiful, thank you.

Let's go back to 1 Peter chapter 2. Just about every time I hear that song, it just touches my innermost being. It won't be till we see our Lord face to face and we wind up in His presence. Having been fully forgiven of our sins, standing in the beauties of Christ, embraced by our Savior, it won't be till then that we'll fully realize how much we owe to Him, what He saved us from. It's a great song. My subject this morning is Christ the stone. from 1 Peter 2, the first few verses, Christ the stone. He's the rock of ages. One of the first times that our Savior is referred to as the stone is in the book of Genesis.

You need not turn there, but it's in Genesis 49, and Jacob is speaking to all of his his sons, all of whom were grown at this time when he blessed them and spoke concerning their future. And it got down to Joseph. And he said in Genesis 49, 24, he was made, Joseph was made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. Then he said, from thence is the shepherd, from thence is the shepherd the stone of Israel. That's Genesis 49, 24. Well, we know Christ is the shepherd, the scripture says he's the The chief shepherd, he's the great shepherd, he's the good shepherd. He said, I'm the good shepherd that giveth his life for the sheep. We know he's the shepherd, he's also the stone.

He's the stone. Throughout the word of God, our savior is referred to as the rock or the stone. And of course, we sing the song, rock, of ages cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. We're often reminded in our singing that he is the stone. He's the rock. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. And of course, that hymn is taken from Matthew 7, where the Lord talks about those who build their foundation, who build their salvation, who base their redemption and being right with God upon the rock, Christ Jesus. You take your stand upon the rock, Christ Jesus, you'll never fall. He's a sure foundation. Isaiah tells us that. He will never fail. He's the rock. The rock of ages. You remember when Israel had crossed the Red Sea and they sang the song of redemption and they began to go out into the wilderness a little bit and they came to a place called Rephidim. Rephidim. There wasn't any water to drink.

And these people who had just been miraculously delivered from the Egyptian army by the Lord opening up a very wide path through the Red Sea, they saw and experienced the greatness of the power of God and the mercy of God, and they all stood safe on the far side of the Red Sea, whereas the Egyptians, who pursued them into the Red Sea that was, at that time, that path was dry. Once the Israelites were safe, then the Lord released the waves and washed all the Egyptian army into an eternity of sadness and punishment. The Israelites just experienced that. You'd think they'd never doubt God ever again. The Lord had sent those miracles, the various plagues, and spared Israel, sent them to the Egyptians and not to the Israelites.

Then the Lord had spared the firstborn of Israel by means of the blood of the Passover lamb. The Scripture says there was a cry in every Egyptian house that night, Because the firstborn died because the only ones who were spared, the only house that didn't experience the death of the firstborn was the houses that were marked with blood. And all the rest of them, they screamed because of a terrible death that came to the firstborn. And there the Israelite firstborn children were spared. But after seeing all the things that they did and then having been the recipients of the mercy of God, when the Lord opened up a path through the Red Sea, they go across and they come upon their first little difficulty.

They murmured against the Lord and against Moses and said, why'd you bring us out here to die first? But the Lord is merciful. Moses went to the Lord and said, Lord, we need water. And the Lord said, go up on this rock and take the elders with you. And that rod that you smoked the Nile River with and it turned to blood, y'all remember that? Moses held out the rod and the Nile River turned to blood. The Lord said, take that with you because that rod is the symbol of judgment and the justice of God. And the Lord said, you go and then you smite the rock.

And he took that rod and he smote it, and water came just gushing out. In fact, the scripture says that rock in 1 Corinthians, the 10th chapter, that rock was Christ Jesus. You see, he's the rock of ages. I already said that. He's the stone that Jacob talked about, the shepherd and the stone.

And he was smitten. He was smitten with the rod of God's justice when He died on the cross of Calvary. He bore the sins of all of His people, and God judged Him instead of judging His people. And Christ was condemned. God took the rod of His judgment, of His justice, and He smote the very soul of our Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore we read in Romans 8, there is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.

Why not? Why won't I ever feel the smiting of the rod of God's wrath? Why won't you ever experience? Those of you who have been brought to believe the Lord Jesus Christ, why won't you be brought before God and then condemned? Why is it you're going to escape?

Any punishment for the multitude of your sins, it's for this reason. Our Savior died as our substitute. He bore the wrath of God for us. That stone, that rock. You know, later, Israel became thirsty again toward the end of their journey. And the Lord told Moses, he said, now speak to the rock. He didn't tell him to smite the rock again. He said, speak to the rock. He said, well, what's the reason that he didn't smite the rock the second time? Because Christ died one time. That's one of the many things wrong with Catholicism, Roman Catholicism. is that the mass is the smiting of our Lord Jesus Christ again. It's killing Christ again. He died once, once.

He died under the wrath of God to redeem us. And if you're interested in salvation, if you're interested in the forgiveness of all your sins, if God has given you an interest on how to be right and righteous with God, speak to the rock. Speak to the rock, oh God, show me mercy. But he'll never be smitten again. Once for all, Christ has died. And when he died, the fountain of living water flowed out from him.

You remember in John chapter seven, our Lord was at the Feast of Tabernacles. And there's a whole lot to go into the Feast of Tabernacles. I'll give you just a little bit of what was going on. It lasted eight days. Seven days for the feast, then the eighth day was the great day of the feast.

Every day, every day the Israelites took palm branches and branches from other trees and they stacked them up and they stayed in them in order to remember that their forefathers in the wilderness, they lived in temporary housing. They lived in tents. And every day they did that for seven days. On the eighth day, they all marched around the brazen altar. All of it, thousands of people. That'd take a while to do that. What do you think that put them in memory of? When their forefathers marched around the city of Jericho. And then after everybody had done that, after they had encircled, walked around, the temporary tabernacle, as it were.

Then the priest, the high priest, went to the pool of Siloam, and he had a golden pitcher, and he dipped that pitcher down, and he filled it full of water. Then he stood before Israel, as they read and sang Psalm 118. And he poured that water on the ground, the water that God gave to them so abundantly, that is to their forefathers. And when he was doing that, when the great high priest did that, our Lord Jesus Christ stood and yelled out.

The word said he cried. And the word cried means he yelled as loud as he could yell so that tens of thousands of people could hear him. He stood and cried saying, if any man thirst, Let him come to me and drink." Why would he say that? Because he's the true rock.

He's going to be smitten by the rod of God's justice. And the waters of salvation flow out. In fact, the people would also sing that verse in Isaiah. Therefore with joy shall you draw water from the wells of salvation. And there's the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He is the well of salvation. Soon to be smitten by the rod of God's justice. And the water of everlasting life flows out. It flows from him. He said to the woman at the well, he said, I am the living water.

He that drinketh of me shall never die. He's the stone that gives forth the water of life. Anybody interested here in everlasting life? Anybody interested here in eternal life, which is to know God? Then come to Jesus Christ, who has been smitten by the rod of God's justice, and the water of life, by the sovereign grace of God, will flow to you.

Build on the rock. Jesus. He's the stone. Peter says here in verse 4 of chapter 2, he says, to whom coming, always coming. Know this, faith in the Lord Jesus is not a one time and done deal. You're always coming to Christ. I came to him yesterday. I'm still coming to him today. And by his grace, I'll be coming to him tomorrow.

See, true faith never quits. False faith will quit sooner or later. A storm will arise, it'll be so severe that that false faith won't get you through. And if somehow or another false faith lasts till you die when you face God, it will be proven to be false faith then. But the true faith that God gives to his people is a faith that lasts.

Let me tell you several things about this stone. Number one, according to the scripture here in verse four, he's a living stone. That's what kind of stone Christ is. He's a living stone. You see, when Christ is signified or typified as being a stone or a rock. That shows his stability, his strength, his reliability. God, when Israel was headed into the land of Canaan, He gave them a law.

Don't make an idol out of stone. You see, an idol made out of stone is dead. It's lifeless. Can't help you. The unique thing about this stone of God, Christ Jesus, the Son of God, He's a living stone. He's a living stone. And all those who come to Him will have everlasting life. He gives life. He maintains that life. He's the author of life. He's the finisher of life.

And those who come to Him do so because in verse 5, they're made to be living stones, lively stones. Just like Peter has said at the end of the first chapter concerning regeneration or the new birth. We've been made to live. We're stones that live. You see, our Lord is building a spiritual temple made up of living stones.

When Solomon's temple was building, took what, seven years, something like that, They'd go to the quarry. They'd measure where the next stone was to go, and they'd go to the quarry, and they'd cut it out right there and bring it and fit it into the building. It was already measured and purposed where that stone that they were going to cut out of the quarry, where it would go, where it would fit. And these lively stones are put into a living building, the living temple of the Lord.

And we were fashioned and purposed in old eternity. And then in time, the spirit of God finds us in the vast quarry of mankind and he chisels us out of that state and gives us life and fits us in the temple of God. And guess what? We fit right in. We're living stones, living stones. We were dead, but we're made alive in Christ Jesus. Here's the second thing.

He's not only the living stone, the stone that's living, but secondly, he's the stone that's disallowed of men. Look also in verse four, kind of in the middle, disallowed or rejected of men, disapproved by men. Isaiah said he's despised and rejected of men. You notice the words here, he says disallowed indeed.

Indeed, don't overlook that word. Indeed means it is a fact. It is a fact, all of mankind, including those of us who've been brought to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we disapproved of Him originally. Oh, we didn't disapprove of baby Jesus in the manger. We thought, that's sweet. We'll just put one of those scenes in front of our house. Ain't that nice? And we'll have a Christmas parade, and we'll put one in the Christmas parade. And everybody say, that's sweet little Jesus. They don't mind Jesus in the manger. I'll tell you where they hate Jesus. I'll tell you where everybody hates Jesus by nature.

On the throne. As the ruler. As the sovereign. The one who does his own pleasure. Our Lord is preaching one time. And he went into a synagogue. It's found in Luke 4. And boy, they were so happy to see him. They thought he was going to perform some miracles for their entertainment. They said, physician, as you've done in other places, we want you to do right here. Show us a miracle. And they just pulled up a seat, you know, and maybe got a glass of iced tea and said, boy, this is going to be good. He didn't show them a miracle. He started preaching.

And remember, he's preaching to Jews and he said to them, and I'll put it in today's language, you folks remember reading how that in the days of Elijah, a lot of widows in Israel because they'd had a war. A lot of the Israeli men died in battle, left behind a lot of widows. And they were poor and needy, many widows in Israel.

And then he said, but to none of those was Elijah the prophet sent. What? Many widows in Israel, but the Lord didn't send his preacher to perform a miracle for any of the Jewish widows. He sent Elijah to perform a miracle for a Gentile widow, not an Israelite widow, but a Gentile widow.

Well, that didn't sit well with him. He said, let me tell you something else. In the days of Elisha, There are a lot of lepers in Israel. A lot of lepers. That's a common problem back then. But to none of them did the Lord send Elisha, the prophet. To none of them did the Lord send Elisha, but to a Syrian, a Gentile general, Naaman. The Lord didn't send His preacher, His prophet to perform a miracle for the Israelite widows nor for the Israelite lepers. He sent His mercy, He sent His grace to a Gentile widow and a Gentile man. And those people got so upset. See, that's called sovereign mercy. That's what that's called.

And they got so mad, it's hot under the collar. So we're not going to stand for that kind of preaching. What are we going to do? Let's take him up to the top of this hill and throw him off. It's a bunch of church people, huh? This is a bunch of people that most folks thought they were the holiest people on earth. They said, we'll take him up here and throw him off this mountain until his brains are dashed out.

The Lord slipped away. That's sovereign mercy is what that is. And that's what people hate about Christ. It's all right if he's in the manger. We're not going to get upset over that. It's all right if he performs some miracles. Maybe he'll heal me or somebody in my family. But I tell you what, we don't want him on the throne of grace dispensing his salvation to whoever he wants to. And he doesn't have to give it to you. And he doesn't have to give it to me. He's the king."

They got upset with him. He's the stone who was disallowed of men. He was disallowed by the Jewish leaders, the high priests, the scribes, the Pharisees. and the biggest part of the bulk or body of that nation. They rejected him as Messiah. They despised him as the stone of Israel. They refused him as the foundation stone. They left him out of their building altogether.

We got along just fine without you before you came, and we'll get along fine without you after we kill you. That was their attitude. But you see, this is the Lord of whom the scripture says, he doeth his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay his hand or say unto him, what are you doing? You can't do that. He didn't pay attention to that. I'll tell you something else about him. Number three, he's the stone chosen by God. It says here in verse four, to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed or rejected indeed of men, but chosen of God."

Chosen of God. You see, the doctrine of election begins with the election of Christ. Christ was chosen to be the Savior, to be the Redeemer. to be the one who would come and take our place, die our death, establish righteousness for us. He was chosen of God. And then God chose us in Him. He was chosen to that high office, to be the head of the church, the savior of the body, to be the foundation of a spiritual building, To be the author and the giver of spiritual life? This shows the excellency of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who else could be the Savior? Huh? Who else could be the Redeemer? Who else could bring a sinner like me into the presence of God and God be well pleased with me based upon the doing and the dying of my substitute? Who else could do that but Christ? He's a stone chosen by God. And he's the stone who is very precious to God. Last word of verse four, precious. Precious. Of infinite value. Of exquisite value. He's been highly honored. He sits at the right hand of God. He's the king over all, blessed forever.

And it says in verse 5 that through this living stone, us as lively stones are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood To offer up spiritual sacrifice is acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. We're accepted by God in this stone and our worship this morning is accepted by God through Christ. Through Christ.

And it goes down here in verse six, and he says this, wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect and precious, a chief cornerstone. But the Jewish people by and large, except for a remnant according to the election of grace, they despised him. Here's an interesting story. It is said, according to Jewish history, that when they were building the temple, Solomon's temple, that the men in the quarry, when they began, dug out and chiseled the stone that they wanted to use.

Remember, the stones were measured and cut out of the Rock? Well, they had another rock. Man, I don't know how they got it up there. It was big. They brought it up there, and the guys who were building the temple said, can't use that. We can't use that rock. What'd you bring that up here for? Well, we thought it'd be a good one to fit in there. No, get rid of it. So they rolled it off of the mountain. And it went down in the Valley of Kidron, and there it lay, with weeds growing around it. Laid there for nearly seven years.

And then the builders said, we need a chief cornerstone. Where are we going to find a suitable stone for a chief cornerstone to tie everything together? And somebody said, what about that stone that they dug out of the mountain back a few years ago? Hmm. They said, maybe that would work. Where is it? Well, we rolled it off the hill. It's down there in the Valley of Kidron. Weeds have grown around it. They went down there and looked at it and they said, clear them weeds away. That's exactly the stone we want. The stone that the builders rejected.

And that's our Lord Jesus Christ. And maybe you, as far as you're concerned, weeds grow around him. You're just not interested in him. Well, I can't give you an interest. But I'll tell you what, if God ever gives you an interest, you'll be interested in that stone that the builders rejected. Because he's the one who keeps it all together. He's the living stone. And I say to you, build your hope of glory on him. You will not be disappointed. Well, let's sing a closing song, shall we? Get your hymn books out.