This morning as we continue our consideration of 1 Peter chapter 2, we do so considering verses 6 through 8. I had indicated in the bulletin that we would read the first 10 verses of 1 Peter 2, but I'd like to change that and have you turn with me to Psalm 118, of which we just sang. Psalm 118, reading verses 13 through the end of the chapter, 29, and then coming back to our text in 1 Peter chapter 2. In Psalm 118, it begins with the psalmist giving thanks, calling for thanks to the Lord and confessing that his love endures forever. And then he goes on to give a litany to talk about his anguish and the trouble that he had been struggling with. And then we take it up in verse 13 as we give our attention to the reading of God's Word. I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation. Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous. The Lord's right hand has done mighty things. The Lord's right hand is lifted high. The Lord's right hand has done mighty things. I will not die but live and will proclaim what the Lord has done. The Lord has chastened me severely, but He has not given me over to death. Open for me the gates of righteousness. I will enter and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous may enter. I will give you thanks for you answered me. You have become my salvation. The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone. The Lord has done this and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. O Lord, save us. O Lord, grant us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord from the house of the Lord. We bless you. The Lord is God, and He has made His light shine upon us. With bows in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will give you thanks. You are my God, and I will exalt you. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever. And turning over to 1 Peter chapter 2. Last week's Sunday evening we considered verses 4 and 5 together. And this morning we begin reading at verse 4 just to enter into the context of verses 6 through 8. Verse 4. As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him, You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says, See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame. Now to you who believe this stone is precious, But to those who do not believe, the stone the builders rejected has become the capstone and a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. They stumble because they disobey the message, which is also what they were destined for. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we look at this life and when we look at the world around us, when we even look at this room and those gathered around us, I think we would all agree that this world is made up of many different kinds of people. I might even say many different classifications of people. There are people of different color. There are people of different ethnic backgrounds. There are people of many different shapes and sizes. There are people of many different situations of life. And we could talk about many of them. For example, rich or poor, white collar or blue collar. Those who enjoy the outdoors. Those who don't enjoy the outdoors. Some enjoy woodworking, others sports, others sewing, still others reading, and any number of hobbies. Some enjoy traveling, others enjoy staying at home. Some live in countries plagued by war and famine, and others live in prosperous, peace-filled countries. Think about it, really it's easy to come up with even more different kinds of people based on likes or dislikes, Talent or lack of talent. Wealth or lack of wealth. Or even with many different beliefs. There are many different kinds of people in this life depending on the situations that you find people in. But you see, when it comes to the broad scheme of things, when it comes to eternity, there are only two kinds of people. Those who obey, those who disobey. Those who believe, those who do not believe. The righteous, the unrighteous. Children of light, children of darkness. The elect, or the reprobate. However you may want to classify them, there are only two kinds. And all people who have lived, all who live today and all who will live, will find their way into one of these two kinds of people based on the same standard. And that standard is Jesus Christ, the cornerstone that Peter has been teaching us about. Your relationship to the cornerstone determines the kind of person you are. Beloved, the cornerstone divides mankind as either a precious stone foundation or as an offensive stone of stumbling. You remember, of course, that Peter is preaching about Jesus Christ. He has been ever since the beginning of this letter. And as we looked at last week's Sunday evening, Peter is describing a building project that includes believers. But the importance and the strength of the building rests in that living stone rejected by men, but chosen by God and precious to Him. Now Peter is, of course, making some interesting claims here and he's using that fancy imagery of a building project. But notice also what he does. He makes it clear that these are not his own ideas. This is not just his gut feeling or gut instinct. Peter is preaching the text of Scripture. He begins verse 6, For in Scripture it says, He's talking about the Old Testament, the Bible as they had it at that time, that which we call the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. And then in the text before us, as well as verses 9 and 10, Peter quotes from various Old Testament passages. In other words, Peter is making it clear that God's Word as found already in the whole of the Old Testament contains the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. He first quotes from Isaiah 28, verse 16 to show that Jesus Christ divides mankind in such a way that to some He is a precious stone foundation. Verse 6, For in Scripture it says, See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame. Now Zion, we know, refers to the city of God, the new Jerusalem, the church. We talked about that a little bit in connection with verses 4 and 5 and that great building project. And we talked about the importance of the cornerstone in that foundation, in the foundation of that building. The cornerstone was the most important stone in the building. The ancient builders would literally search for just the right stone to begin the wall. And we can say that the cornerstone is as important to the foundation as the foundation is to the whole building. That stone would be crucial to the whole building. If the cornerstone crumbled and collapsed, the whole building would crumble and fall. The foundation determines the size and shape of the building. You don't put a smaller building on a larger foundation. You don't put a larger building on a smaller foundation. But the building follows the shape of the foundation. The foundation determines the size and the shape of the building. And so in truth we can say that Jesus Christ, the cornerstone of His church, determines the church. In verse 4, Peter talked about this living stone that was rejected by men. Again, as we mentioned before, this rejection took place after the builders had examined it. In a sense, they took that stone, and after examining that stone, according to their worldly standards, and according to what they thought the cornerstone should be like, they threw it aside onto the rejection pile because they saw this stone as useless. This stone didn't fit their expectations of the Messiah. But God had a different idea. He took just this stone and carefully laid him in place as the foundation of his new building, of his church. This stone was the stone of choice. There was no other. There could be no other stone. And this was the stone of choice from the foundation of the world. In the eyes of Almighty God, just this stone that was worthless and without value in the eyes of man was precious, that is valuable and costly to God. God gave Himself, His own precious Son, to pay the eternal price to save His people from their sins. And because of this, as God's people, we can have the assurance, as the text says, that the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame. Now, when we think of being put to shame, we think of embarrassment, don't we? We think of being embarrassed. We think of being made to blush. But here the idea is a little different. It comes from the Hebrew to have the idea of disappointment. In fact, it's translated in other versions, the one who trusts in Him will never be disappointed, will never be dismayed. The idea of frustration and even agitation. A lack of quietness and peace in life. We know that to be disappointed in something means that something doesn't live up to your expectations. Again, frustration. The idea that life is just not right. There's no contentment and peace for those who do not put their trust in this foundation, in this cornerstone. Boys and girls, when we think of disappointment, for example, if your birthday is coming and you're hoping for a particular gift, you've been thinking about this for months, and you've given your parents and your grandparents and maybe your brothers and sisters every hint that you can think of that this is what you would really like for your birthday, and then your birthday comes and you don't receive that particular something as a gift, you're disappointed. Even if you receive another nice gift that your parents might think is even better than what you asked for, it still doesn't fit your expectations. See, beloved, many things in this life do not live up to our expectations. You may not get that raise or that job promotion that you expected. Your children may let you down at times and therefore not living up to your expectations as parents. You may not be cured in this life from that illness that has struck you. Very simply, there are many disappointments in this life that cause us frustration and a lack of contentment with no peace, agitation in life. But praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that for those who believe in Jesus Christ, they shall not be put to shame. They shall not be disappointed. Why? Because He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. He has been smitten of God and afflicted. He has been pierced and crushed and chastened and scourged. He has been led like a lamb to the slaughter. And He has conquered over Satan, sin, death, and hell. And He reigns today. And because nothing shall separate His own from Him. But what does it mean, beloved, to believe in Him? What does it mean to trust in Him? Seems simple enough, doesn't it? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust in Him. But what does it mean? You see, we're talking about true belief. Not just a head knowledge. Not just knowing the facts. But a heart knowledge. James 2 verse 19 says, You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe. And tremble. You see, true belief is more than knowledge. It includes knowledge, to be sure, knowledge of all that God has said in His Word. But it is more than simply knowledge, and it is more than simply agreeing with that knowledge. True belief, true faith is heartfelt trust in that knowledge, in the content of that knowledge. It is to put all of our hope and trust in Jesus Christ completely, body and soul. And to rest assured in that firm foundation. Now when Peter says that the one who puts his trust in Him will never be put to shame, what's the time frame he's talking about? Is he saying that this is something temporary? Is he saying that believers shall not be put to shame or disappointed just today or just tomorrow, but next week could be a different story? No. If we look at the force of the Greek, the emphasis is on not. And we can read it this way. And the one who trusts in Him shall never, ever be put to shame. Never, ever be disappointed. Disappointment in Jesus Christ definitely will not happen. It's guaranteed never to happen. He will not let you down. Unfortunately, we can't say the same, can we? We let Him down daily through our daily sin. But the truth is, quietness, contentment, peace, and security are found only in Him. You see, He who truly believes in Jesus Christ by true faith, certainly, without a doubt, inherits glory and that promised hope that Peter talks about in chapter 1. Jesus Christ is the one and only object of faith, and if you are built upon Him, if you are built upon that firm foundation, you cannot and you will not be shaken. it doesn't mean that we will never become anxious. It doesn't mean that we will never feel unsteady in this life. We do at times. But you see, it means we will not be shaken off of that firm foundation. Think of the greatest earthquake that could happen, the highest one the Richter scale could even record, and even something like that, in a sense. Cannot shake God's people. Use the imagery. You cannot shake God's people off of that firm foundation of Jesus Christ. By the grace of God, you will stand firm in this world. Some of you have come to know that one of my favorite hymns of faith includes these words, My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. And Peter summarizes that for us when he says in the beginning of verse 7, Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. This is the reason why those who believe in Jesus will not be put to shame, because they too are precious to God. I believe that we are to think of this preciousness in two ways. First of all, because Jesus Christ, the cornerstone, is precious to God, He is to be precious to us also. Very simply, God's choice is to be our choice too. No matter how much Christ is despised by the world, He may not be despised by us because by God He is regarded as very precious. He is to be precious to you and me because only He gives true life and as Scripture says, He gives it abundantly. But the second way, congregation, because He is precious to God the Father, because this cornerstone, Jesus Christ, is precious, to God the Father, those who build upon Him by the grace of God, those who rest secure on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ, they become precious to God too. Because they are a part of Christ's body. Just as the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us by faith, freely given to us, credited to our account, to those who believe, so is His preciousness, freely given to us. We are precious in the sight of God for the sake of Jesus Christ. To those who believe in Jesus Christ, He is a precious stone foundation. A foundation that cannot be shaken. A foundation that gives life and security and peace and a guarantee. A guarantee that you will never be disappointed. That He who began a good work in you will perfect it, will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. You know what that means? That means that if you believe in Jesus Christ by true faith, then you don't have to worry about salvation. And you must not worry about it. Does that mean that we take it for granted? And that you go ahead and live as the world pleases because it doesn't matter anyway? Not at all. Paul addresses that in another place. Instead, for those who truly believe, you will, in the strength of the Holy Spirit of God, Desire to live a life worthy of the calling with which you have been called. You will desire to live a life that matches the name Christian. Christ follower, we might say. To live on that precious stone foundation means to live according to the standard of that foundation. And again, that foundation gives shape for life. And it gives direction for life. But those who are not built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, for those who are not built upon that foundation, that cornerstone then serves a different function, doesn't it? He is an offensive stone of stumbling. Peter says, second part of verse 7 and the first part of verse 8, But to those who do not believe, the stone the builders rejected has become the capstone, and a stone that causes men to stumble, and a rock that makes them fall. Again, there are only two kinds of people. Those who believe in Jesus Christ and those, as Peter says, who don't. Those who strive to obey Christ and those who are disobedient to the Word. Here Peter quotes from Psalm 118 and talks about the stone the builders rejected. The unbelieving Israelites, those who were supposed to be God's people, tried to build a kingdom, not of God, but of the world. This cornerstone, the promised Messiah, didn't fit into their world of kingdom. Their actions were later on supported by the scribes and the Pharisees and the chief priests, the leaders of the church in Jesus' day, who gave clear evidence when they put Him to death, had Him put to death on the cross. Gave clear evidence that they thought He was useless. But even today, Jesus Christ continues to be rejected by modern day scribes and Pharisees who try to teach God's people that theology is boring. That it's outdated. When there's nothing more exciting than justification by grace through faith. And they try to teach us that the confessions are simply ancient history. They try to teach us that you don't need to believe in Jesus Christ exclusively for salvation. All we need is love, you see. but they don't bother to tell you and me what it really means to love God above all and your neighbor as yourself. They don't bother to tell you and me that true love is not toleration as society tries to preach to us. They freely quote from Paul's words to the Philippian jailer in Acts 17, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. But that's where it ends. They don't bother to tell you and me what it is that you must believe about Him. I had this very discussion with a friend of mine when I was in seminary talking about the differences among God's people and the things that were dividing us. And he brought this verse up. Well, the Bible only says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. He says, yeah, but what does that mean? What does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? You see, they conveniently forget to tell you and me that to believe in Jesus means to believe and obey all. that He has recorded in His Word. Not to pick and choose, not to take what suits my fancy and to leave the rest, not to take that which I agree with, but all that our Lord has said in His Word. But to see, congregation, in spite of all the rejection throughout history, as the psalmist says, this stone became the very cornerstone, the capstone, All the rejection couldn't stop that from happening. We said it before, we'll say it again. God chose this rejected stone and carefully laid Him in place as the foundation of His church. He is the head. He is the chief cornerstone. And the resurrection and the ascension of our Lord is a clear picture of this. God has given Him the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, as Paul says. Every knee. Some willingly in faith. and the rest unwillingly in unbelief. But every knee will bow. You see, by rejecting Christ, the unbelieving do not take away the honor that the Father has given Him. They try, but they don't take it away. Even though He is oppressed by enemies, Jesus Christ continues in the dignity given to Him. Oh, they will be ashamed on Judgment Day. Ashamed because they rejected Him. See, Peter says here, He is a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. Another version translates it rock of offense. But it is as if God has laid this choice, precious stone at the corner in order for believers to be built upon Him securely. And at the same time, He has also laid the stone in the pathway of those who would reject Him. and they stumble and fall over this stone. Why? Because they disobey the message. The interesting thing is this is not a one-time stumbling. Again, if we look at the tense of the Greek throughout our text, we see present ongoing activity. And when Peter says to you who believe this stone is precious, he is saying they believe continually and they are precious to God continually. And here in verse 8 when he says they stumble because they disobey the message. He is saying that they stumble continually because they are continually disobedient. But it makes sense, doesn't it? Because the Word of God as revealed in general revelation in that world book of general revelation is always there. It's always before the eyes of mankind. The psalmist says the heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. Paul says in Romans 1 that all men have within them a sense of the divine. He says in verses 19 and 20, Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them, for since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. But what has man done with this revelation? As Paul says, he suppresses the truth in unrighteousness. Verses 21 and 22, For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God, nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened. You see, to those who believe and obey, Jesus Christ is a precious stone foundation. but to those who do not believe and instead disobey, He is an offensive stone of stumbling. They continue to stumble over the truth of Jesus Christ because they follow the way of lies. Throughout history, Jesus Christ has been an offense to many because the way of salvation is contrary to sinful nature. Sinful human nature says and has always said, And in a sense this was the gist of the conversation between Satan and Eve. It has always said, you mean to tell me that in order to be saved I have to submit to someone else? I have to let someone else be in charge? I can't do it on my own? You mean to tell me that it's really not my life? That I have to give my life to someone else? You're trying to tell me that I can only be eternally saved by one who died on a cross? You see, we don't like to be told, do we, that we aren't capable of doing something. We don't like that. In fact, that brings aggression out in some people to prove that they can. To tell me that I can't do something is offensive to me. The Jews professed themselves willing to receive the Messiah. But they rejected Him when He presented Himself to them because He didn't fit their ideal. Never mind what the prophet Isaiah said about the suffering servant. Forget about what the prophet Mike has said about His coming from Bethlehem. These guys probably just got their facts mixed up. That was a long time ago, you see. And today, many profess Christ too until His Word tells them that they're living all wrong. We know that still a majority of people in the United States claim to be Christian. but when they're told that they're living all wrong, that they must stop depending upon themselves and depend completely on Him, then they turn. They reject. And we too, beloved, sometimes we are set in our ways, aren't we? And we become offended when the Bible contradicts our way and it's made known to us, whether from the preacher or from a brother and sister in Christ. Beloved, many stumble over this stone because they're disobedient to His Word. They know the Word, but they refuse to obey it. And here's where we see man's responsibility. Paul says in Acts 17.30, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent. All people everywhere are called to repent. But those who refuse to repent and submit their lives to the Word of God will suffer the punishment of hell for their own foolishness. But we must not forget that this is their destiny. Paul ends verse 8 by saying, they stumble because they disobey the message, which is also what they were destined for. Now this is where it gets difficult, huh? We like to talk about election, don't we? Being elect by God from the foundation of the world is a comforting message. But reprobation, that's a different story. Reprobation isn't so nice. Sometimes it's hard to believe that God has only chosen to save some and not to save others, but instead that He has passed over some. That's what reprobation means. The Lord willing will deal with this in more depth later on in our consideration of the Belgian Confession. But Proverbs 16, verse 4 says, The Lord has made all for Himself. yes, even the wicked for the day of doom. The point here, beloved, is that God is sovereign in all things. Just as some are saved only because of God's mercy and grace, others are lost because of their own sin and rebellion. By God's grace, we are saved as believers in spite of our sin and rebellion. God is in control. He has determined beforehand who would and who would not believe. He has chosen to give some the gift of faith and not to give it to others. All have been called, all have been given the responsibility to repent. But not all have been given the ability by the grace of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. Can we explain this completely? Can we understand it fully? No. But we have no right, as we've said before, to say, Not fair. God is not fair, unless we look in the mirror and say it about ourselves. Not fair that I should be saved. This is the teaching of God's Word. God has determined that you should hear His gospel message today. What a blessing. What a gift. Do you see it as such? Do you believe it? Do you embrace it with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength? Are you built upon that firm foundation with Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone? You see, if you are, then indeed you have been given strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. If you are built upon Him, you have the comfort and the assurance that as the storms of life and as the persecution and trials come along, then you will stand firm. Well, the wind will blow. It'll blow, sometimes hard. But you will stand firm. We will be faced with persecution as individuals, individual believers, even as a church. Some of you may recall about six, seven years ago, I can't remember exactly when, by reading an article in the Christian Renewal that dealt with my former congregation in Kalamazoo, that we dealt with some protests by the gay community because of a benevolent case. The gay community got rather upset at our church. And on Saturday of a particular week, they made it very clear they were going to be protesting. They called the news media and everybody to be there. And sure enough, the next morning, they weren't there when church started, which we were thankful for, but they showed up. And we closed the blinds so they wouldn't be a distraction. And sure enough, they were there picketing, about 20 or 25 of them. And I received a call from a news reporter as well and declined to comment and so forth. But on Monday there was an article in the newspaper from their side. And on Tuesday we were able to get an article, or Wednesday whenever it was, telling the truth. And how beautiful it was, beloved. What a reminder that when you stand firm on the Word of God, He'll take care of the rest. Because when the truth came out immediately, the controversy died. Because we told the truth. We had the truth of the Word of God with us. And they told a lie. You see, if you're looking for peace and contentment and acceptance by the world, then you must know and understand that there is no peace with God. Trials will come. Young people, your friends may laugh at you. They may laugh at you for striving and desiring to live pure. They may laugh at you for wanting to be honest in all that you do. They may laugh at you for not being willing to work on the Lord's Day. They may laugh at you for saying publicly that you love the Lord Jesus Christ. They are on shaky ground. But you are on a firm foundation. And you see, beloved, may it never be that any of us would be ashamed because of Jesus Christ. May we stand firm. But if you are here this morning and you continue to stumble and fall and take offense at the Word of God, then you too are called to repent today, to seek the Lord while He may be found, and to call upon Him while He is near. If you don't find in Him a precious stone foundation, then not only will He be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, but He will be to you a crushing stone of judgment. But if you believe in Him, you will never be put to shame. You will never be disappointed. Remember again, it doesn't matter how close you are lying to that foundation. It won't do you any good unless you are fitted and being built upon, lying upon that foundation. Jesus Christ, the cornerstone, divides mankind. Beloved, on which side are you? Amen. Shall we pray? Father, as we bow before you again in the morning hour of this day, we thank you for your word of truth. We thank you for the security that your people own in Christ Jesus. And when we face the storms of life, when we feel shaken and rattled, we pray that you would remind us that our firm foundation is sure the rock will never be moved because great is your faithfulness to your people and your promises are sure. May we live in that joy and in that comfort day by day. May that be the joy and the comfort as well that we freely profess to those in the world. Hear our prayer, O Lord, for Jesus' sake and in His name alone. Amen. Thank you.