Today I would like you to turn
your Bible, for our Bible study this morning, to 1 Peter chapter
2. 1 Peter chapter 2, and let me
read beginning at verse 6. 1 Peter chapter 2, and I would
encourage you to get your Bible this morning, and let's read
these verses together. Wherefore also it is contained
in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect and precious. He that believeth on him shall
not be confounded. unto you therefore which believe."
Now clearly God has laid the Lord Jesus Christ for the foundation
for the sinner to rest upon. And he says in verse 7, this
is 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 7, unto you therefore which believe
he is precious, or Christ is precious. But unto them which
be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the
same is made the head of the corner. a stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word,
being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed." And
then he says in verse 9, you are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people, that you should show
forth the praises of him, of God, who called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light, in which in time past You were not
a people, but now are the people of God, which had not obtained
mercy, but now by God's grace and His purpose, now you have
obtained mercy from God. Now let's go back to verse 7
and let's look at these verses together. It says in verse 7,
unto you therefore which believe. Believe Christ and trust Him,
that precious cornerstone that God has laid, the only foundation
of salvation. Unto you therefore which believe,
Christ is most precious. He is altogether lovely." Now
this is faith estimation of the Lord Jesus Christ. To the believer,
He is everything. We can say with Paul, Christ
is all and in all. Peter says here, To the believer,
the Lord Jesus Christ is precious, most precious. Now, for something
to be rightly called precious, it must have at least these three
qualities. Now think with me. For something
to be called precious, it must possess these three qualities.
It must be rare, that is, it must be one of a kind. It must
be valuable, must have inherent value of its own, must be a valuable
thing to be precious. And thirdly, it must possess
important qualities and properties. Now, can't we say that? You who
trust Christ alone for salvation, can't we say that of the Lord
Jesus Christ, that He is one of a kind? There's none like
Him. He's rare. He's one of a kind. He is absolutely unique. There is none like Him. He's unique, and there's none
like Him in His person, without controversy. Great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. There's none like him. Totally
God and yet a real man come to save his people from their sin.
There's none like him. He's rare. He's one of a kind
in his person, in his office. One God. One mediator between
God and men. The man, Christ Jesus. We have
just one high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God's high
priest after the order of Melchizedek. You see, there's none like him
in his person, in his office. How about his sacrifice? He says
in scripture, for but one offering, he perfected forever them that
are sanctified. His one sacrifice was sufficient
to put away the sin of God's people. How about his salvation?
Well, there's salvation in no other. You see, he's one of a
kind. There's salvation in no other
name but the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the second point, the second
quality we see in the Lord Jesus Christ, you see, He is precious
because He's extremely valuable to you who believe now. He is
precious, He's valuable. Who can estimate how much He's
worth? The apostle in Ephesians chapter
4 made this statement. He said, grace, much grace was
given unto me. whom less than the least of all
the saints grace was given that I should preach among the Gentiles
the unsearchable riches." Did you get a hold of that? Did you
hear that? The unsearchable riches that are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said in another place to
the Corinthians, thanks be unto God for the unspeakable gift. You see the Lord Jesus Christ
is extremely valuable to you who believe. The unsearchable
riches of His grace, the unspeakable gift of His love, His mercy,
His grace, His salvation. And we can say with Paul, thanks
be unto God for this unspeakable gift of God's grace. How about
redemption? In whom we have redemption through
His blood according to the riches of His grace. Redemption according
to what? Not our works, not our deeds.
not our obedience, but according to the riches of God's grace. You see how extremely valuable
the Lord Jesus Christ is in salvation, in justification, in all things. Paul said in another place, how
valuable is Christ? Well, he said to the Philippians
that he's able, the Lord Jesus Christ is able to meet all our
need according to his riches in Christ Jesus. You see, he's
rare. He is precious. He is extremely
valuable to you who believe. He is precious. And thirdly,
here's the third quality. The Lord Jesus Christ does possess
important, useful, and saving properties and qualities to you
who believe. Oh, he's important. He's useful. He's healing to the sick. He
didn't come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. He
is our healing. He was wounded and bruised for
us and through that sacrifice we have the healing from sin,
deliverance from sin. He's righteousness to the sinner.
He's the Lord, our righteousness. He's freedom to the slave. He
came to set us free by his sacrifice through his shed blood. That's
why Paul encouraged the Galatians and us who believe, stand fast,
therefore in the liberty we're with Christ, have set you free. He's life to those who were dead
in sin. He called himself, he said, I'm
the bread of life. You see, he does possess important,
useful, and saving properties and qualities. Now, you who believe,
and I believe you know in your heart, listening to this broadcast,
you know in your heart, if you believe Christ or not, if you
trust Christ alone or something else. To you who truly believe
the gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ is precious. Let me ask you this
question. How do believers show that Christ
is precious to them? How do you show this? Simply
by this, by trusting everything to Him. In Him dwells all the
full, trusting everything to Christ. In Him dwells all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily. That is in Christ. And the believer
stands complete in Him. Christ alone is all our salvation. Now this is exactly what King
David said way back in Psalm 62. If you'd like to turn over
and read Psalm 62, let's begin reading at verse 5. We read,
My soul wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from Him. He only, now get a hold of this
word only, He only is my rock and my salvation. He's my defense,
I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation, my glory,
the rock of my strength, and my refuge is in God. Trust in
Him at all times. How do we show that Christ is
precious to us? Trust Him at all times, ye people. pour out your heart before him.
God is a refuge for us. Christ alone is all our desire
and all our salvation. Believers have committed everything
to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what Paul said, I know
whom I have believed and I'm persuaded that he's able to keep
that which I've committed unto him against that day. And the
believer We have committed everything to Christ. The remission of sin,
we don't try to put our sin away. He did that for us. Our righteousness,
we don't go about to establish a righteousness. Christ is our
righteousness. We don't go about to save ourselves.
Christ is. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by Him. You see what the text is saying?
To you who believe, Christ is precious. But then it mentions
those, in verse 7, who were disobedient. Those who were unbelievers. And
it says, to some, Christ is a stumbling stone, a rock of offense. Even to them that stumble at
the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is
not precious to everyone. Not to everyone he's not. To
those who are disobedient and unbelieving and who are rebels
in their heart against God, the Lord Jesus Christ is not precious
to them, rather a stumbling stone. Paul, when he wrote to the Corinthians,
he warned us about those who were unbelievers. He said the
Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach
Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block. And why was
it a stumbling block unto them? They tried to earn their salvation
by their deeds and merits, and Christ crucified was a stumbling
block to them. And to the Greeks, Christ crucified
is foolishness. The wise man sees no need of
a crucified, risen, and glorified Redeemer, but unto them which
are called, both Jews and Greeks, called by the gospel, called
by the Spirit of God, Christ the power of God, and Christ
the very wisdom of God. You see, to some he's a stumbling
stone, to some he's a rock of a fence. Christ crucified to
some is, they see no necessity in a substitute dying in their
room and in their stead. Some even stumble at the word
of God, no regard for the word of truth, the doctrine of truth
revealed in scripture. But unto those who believe, And
then in verse 9, Christ is precious. To some, he's a stumbling stone.
To some, he is precious. Now, who has made us to differ?
Why is Christ precious to some, and why is he a stumbling stone
to others? Well, I believe we have the answer in verse 9, 1
Peter chapter 2, verse 9. Let's read this verse together.
He said, but you, but you. Now, get a hold of that word,
B-U-T. God has made us to differ, but
God. But God, we read in Ephesians
2, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved
us. The Apostle Paul asked that question
to the Corinthians, who had made you to differ? Well, we say with
Paul, by the grace of God, I am what I am. But you are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people
that you should show forth the praises of him who called you
out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now, here's the reason
we believe and the reason that Christ is precious to those who
believe. We acknowledge that it is the
sovereign grace of God who has made us to differ. You are a
chosen generation. What does he mean there? We're
a chosen people. Our Lord told his apostles and
disciples plainly in John 15, you didn't choose me, I chose
you. And God hath from the beginning,
from eternity, chose a people unto salvation. He said you're
a chosen people, you're a royal priesthood. Through our union
with Christ, believers are crowned with his very righteousness and
dressed in His royal robes. He calls us a holy people, not
in ourselves, but in Christ. He's our sanctification. He calls
us here in this text a purchased people. We're bought with a great
price. Whoever he has redeemed with
his blood, he will claim. We're a purchased people, bought
with a price, his blood. And then he says in the text
here, you're a called people, called out of darkness into his
marvelous light. You see, it's God who commanded
the light to shine in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Christ. And then he says in
the text here, you are a worshiping people, every believer, readily
and thankfully and boldly proclaim the salvations of the Lord. We
worship him alone. We say with those in the revelation
unto him who loved us and washed us from our sin in his own blood.
We're appraising people. And then he also describes those
who believe to whom Christ is precious in verse 10. He said
you're a blessed people. He said at one time you didn't
obtain mercy but now you have obtained mercy. How do we obtain
mercy? Well, we certainly don't deserve
mercy. We certainly don't earn mercy.
Mercy is received by the sovereign grace of God. Listen to this
scripture in closing. in Titus 3, 5, it clearly says
that salvation is by mercy. We have obtained mercy as the
gift of God, not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to His mercy. He saved us. Now here's the question. Is Christ precious to you? If you believe You're a believer. You're trusting Christ alone
for salvation. You can say in your heart, yes,
He is precious. He's everything to me.