1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:05,500 Grateful if you’d open your Bibles at First Peter and chapter 2, where we’re discovering 2 00:00:05,500 –> 00:00:08,500 what the Christian life looks like. 3 00:00:08,500 –> 00:00:14,300 We’ve seen in chapter 1 that it begins with a new birth in which God gives us new desires 4 00:00:14,300 –> 00:00:15,680 and a new capacity. 5 00:00:15,680 –> 00:00:21,240 The power of the risen Lord Jesus Christ has touched the life of every believer. 6 00:00:21,240 –> 00:00:26,840 And that new birth is the beginning of a new life in which God calls us to pursue the path 7 00:00:26,940 –> 00:00:28,420 of holiness. 8 00:00:28,420 –> 00:00:32,139 We saw last time what that looks like, that it works out in three areas. 9 00:00:32,139 –> 00:00:37,259 First, in the fight against sin, there is a really struggle that goes on. 10 00:00:37,259 –> 00:00:42,840 There may be real failures for us, and yet, God has given us the power of his Holy Spirit 11 00:00:42,840 –> 00:00:44,820 to pursue this path. 12 00:00:44,820 –> 00:00:49,799 It’s worked out in relation to the future, we’re living as strangers here before God 13 00:00:49,799 –> 00:00:51,619 in reverent fear. 14 00:00:51,619 –> 00:00:56,340 The world thinks that everything in life is now, and that beyond death there’s only a 15 00:00:56,740 –> 00:01:01,419 shadow, but the Christian knows that everything we have now is only a shadow of what God is 16 00:01:01,419 –> 00:01:05,239 preparing for us beyond death in his presence. 17 00:01:05,239 –> 00:01:10,339 Then thirdly, this path of holiness is worked out in our relationships with one another. 18 00:01:10,339 –> 00:01:15,480 We’re born into God’s family, everyone who belongs to the Lord Jesus is our brother or 19 00:01:15,480 –> 00:01:19,680 our sister, therefore we are to learn to love one another deeply. 20 00:01:19,680 –> 00:01:23,139 So this is what the new life, the path of holiness, looks like. 21 00:01:23,139 –> 00:01:25,459 We take up the fight against sin. 22 00:01:25,459 –> 00:01:31,120 We live in the light of eternity, and we’re learning to love within the family of God. 23 00:01:31,120 –> 00:01:33,800 In Jesus Christ you have new birth. 24 00:01:33,800 –> 00:01:41,220 That new birth is the beginning of a new life that is to be the pursuit of the path of holiness. 25 00:01:41,220 –> 00:01:48,040 Now we’re going to take up Peter’s letter in chapter 2 and verse 4 today, and the focus 26 00:01:48,040 –> 00:01:52,779 in the first chapter has been on what God is doing in us individually, but now in chapter 27 00:01:52,779 –> 00:01:58,099 2 the focus will be on what God is doing among us together. 28 00:01:58,099 –> 00:02:00,419 Notice how he begins in verse 4. 29 00:02:00,419 –> 00:02:05,559 As you come to him. 30 00:02:05,559 –> 00:02:09,039 Now notice he’s using here the present tense. 31 00:02:09,039 –> 00:02:12,660 As you come to him. 32 00:02:12,660 –> 00:02:16,300 He’s talking about what God is doing now. 33 00:02:16,300 –> 00:02:20,380 In chapter 1 he was talking about what God has done already. 34 00:02:20,940 –> 00:02:25,839 You have been given new Birth into living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 35 00:02:25,839 –> 00:02:28,660 That’s what God has done in you already. 36 00:02:28,660 –> 00:02:30,940 But now he is talking presente tense. 37 00:02:30,940 –> 00:02:34,479 What is God doing among his people now? 38 00:02:34,479 –> 00:02:41,699 Now the word Peter uses for come here, is a word that was regularly used of God’s people 39 00:02:41,699 –> 00:02:44,080 drawing near to him in worship. 40 00:02:44,080 –> 00:02:47,639 It’s the word from which we get our word prostrate. 41 00:02:47,639 –> 00:02:50,179 It’s a worship word. 42 00:02:50,820 –> 00:02:57,279 Today we’re going to discover what it is that God does through a community of believers 43 00:02:57,279 –> 00:03:01,240 who come together to him in worship. 44 00:03:01,240 –> 00:03:05,800 By the way, notice a marvelous definition of worship that Peter gives us right here 45 00:03:05,800 –> 00:03:09,740 as, you come to him. 46 00:03:09,740 –> 00:03:14,539 That’s what worship is all about, you coming to him. 47 00:03:14,539 –> 00:03:19,899 The you is plural here, he’s not talking about a Christian praying in private on his or her 48 00:03:19,940 –> 00:03:26,300 own, he’s talking about us as a community of believers, worshiping and serving the Lord 49 00:03:26,300 –> 00:03:27,300 together. 50 00:03:27,300 –> 00:03:34,699 And Peter wants us to know what happens, what God does as we come to him. 51 00:03:34,699 –> 00:03:39,779 And the him, of course, is speaking about God, but more specifically, about our Lord 52 00:03:39,779 –> 00:03:41,539 Jesus Christ. 53 00:03:41,539 –> 00:03:50,179 Notice as you come to him, the living stone rejected by men, but chosen by God, and precious 54 00:03:50,179 –> 00:03:51,639 to him. 55 00:03:51,639 –> 00:03:55,759 The Living Stone is a name that was given to Jesus in the Bible and we’ll come back 56 00:03:55,759 –> 00:04:00,419 later to its significance and its meaning. 57 00:04:00,419 –> 00:04:06,699 But what we’re going to discover in these verses that lie ahead of us now is what happens, 58 00:04:07,479 –> 00:04:13,380 does when a community of people who are born again and are pursuing the path of holiness 59 00:04:13,380 –> 00:04:17,820 come together to worship Him and to serve Him. 60 00:04:17,820 –> 00:04:23,100 Now, Peter wants us to know that something very special happens there and we may describe 61 00:04:23,100 –> 00:04:27,399 it this way that God’s presence is known. 62 00:04:27,399 –> 00:04:35,779 Verse 5, you also, like living stones, are being built – notice the present tense this 63 00:04:35,779 –> 00:04:44,200 is what God’s doing among us now – we are being built by God into a spiritual house. 64 00:04:44,200 –> 00:04:52,119 This is what God is doing among us as we gather to worship Him, as we join together to serve 65 00:04:52,119 –> 00:04:53,160 Him. 66 00:04:53,160 –> 00:04:59,799 Now, in the Old Testament, when God’s people came into the land of Canaan, God specifically 67 00:04:59,799 –> 00:05:05,459 told them that they were not to worship Him at any place that they chose. 68 00:05:05,459 –> 00:05:10,899 See, the Canaanites would build a shrine any place they chose to do so. 69 00:05:10,899 –> 00:05:16,839 They would also build a shrine to any god who particularly drew their attention. 70 00:05:16,839 –> 00:05:19,980 And God said to His people, when you come into the land of Canaan, it’s to be very 71 00:05:19,980 –> 00:05:20,980 different. 72 00:05:20,980 –> 00:05:25,059 You’re not to put up a shrine or a place of worship any place you choose, there is 73 00:05:25,059 –> 00:05:27,980 to be one place. 74 00:05:28,019 –> 00:05:32,040 One place where I will put my name. 75 00:05:32,040 –> 00:05:36,480 This is Deuteronomy 12 and verse five, and it’s repeated many times throughout the Old 76 00:05:36,480 –> 00:05:37,480 Testament. 77 00:05:37,480 –> 00:05:42,220 There’ll be one place where I put my name. 78 00:05:42,220 –> 00:05:45,459 And there you’re to come and worship. 79 00:05:45,459 –> 00:05:50,320 Now, when God’s people arrived in Canaan, David discerned that this place that God had 80 00:05:50,320 –> 00:05:53,880 been speaking about would be the city of Jerusalem. 81 00:05:53,980 –> 00:05:57,980 That is why Solomon, his son, built the temple in Jerusalem. 82 00:05:57,980 –> 00:06:04,600 And God really sealed that as being the place where his presence would be known, when on 83 00:06:04,600 –> 00:06:11,519 the day of the dedication of the temple, the cloud, which was a visible representation 84 00:06:11,519 –> 00:06:15,380 of the presence of God, filled that magnificent temple. 85 00:06:15,380 –> 00:06:19,019 This was the place of the presence of God. 86 00:06:19,019 –> 00:06:23,519 That’s why if people lived a hundred miles from Jerusalem, they would travel to Jerusalem 87 00:06:23,559 –> 00:06:24,700 to worship. 88 00:06:24,700 –> 00:06:29,040 They would bring their sacrifice with them and give it to the priests in worship. 89 00:06:29,040 –> 00:06:33,359 If they wanted to pray from a hundred miles away from Jerusalem, they would turn their 90 00:06:33,359 –> 00:06:36,299 face towards Jerusalem while they prayed. 91 00:06:36,299 –> 00:06:37,299 Why? 92 00:06:37,299 –> 00:06:43,540 Because there was one place in which God had promised his presence, one place where he 93 00:06:43,540 –> 00:06:51,839 had said he would put his name, one place in all the earth, the temple in Jerusalem. 94 00:06:52,299 –> 00:06:54,480 Now, that’s the Old Testament. 95 00:06:54,480 –> 00:07:05,899 Now, when Peter was writing in the year AD 64, there was still a temple standing in Jerusalem. 96 00:07:05,899 –> 00:07:08,980 It wasn’t the temple that Solomon had built—that one had been destroyed. 97 00:07:08,980 –> 00:07:14,640 It had been rebuilt twice since then—but there was still a temple in Jerusalem, the 98 00:07:14,640 –> 00:07:19,079 place where God had said he had put his name. 99 00:07:19,079 –> 00:07:24,160 Would you remember that Jesus had said that a day was coming when the temple would be 100 00:07:24,160 –> 00:07:25,940 destroyed? 101 00:07:25,940 –> 00:07:33,059 Very specifically, he said not one stone would be left on top of another. 102 00:07:33,059 –> 00:07:40,899 Now, Peter knew this prophecy of Jesus, and that prophecy of Jesus was fulfilled in the 103 00:07:40,899 –> 00:07:47,160 year AD 70 when the Romans destroyed the city of Jerusalem and, in particular, destroyed 104 00:07:47,799 –> 00:07:54,799 Jesus prophecy was fulfilled not one stone was left on top of another. 105 00:07:54,799 –> 00:08:01,000 Now, in the year AD 64, Peter is writing in anticipation of this event because he knows 106 00:08:01,000 –> 00:08:05,119 the prophecy and the promise of Jesus. 107 00:08:05,119 –> 00:08:09,160 Against the Old Testament background, where the temple was the place, the one place on 108 00:08:09,160 –> 00:08:15,440 earth where God put his name and where his presence had been promised, the obvious question 109 00:08:15,559 –> 00:08:20,959 was if the temple’s destroyed if not one stone stands on top of another, where then 110 00:08:20,959 –> 00:08:26,119 is the presence of God to be known on the earth? 111 00:08:26,119 –> 00:08:35,799 And so, Peter gives the answer, as you come to him you also like living stones are being 112 00:08:35,799 –> 00:08:39,559 built into a spiritual house. 113 00:08:39,599 –> 00:08:41,000 See what he’s saying? 114 00:08:41,000 –> 00:08:46,940 God’s presence will be known on the earth wherever communities of believers who are 115 00:08:46,940 –> 00:08:52,239 born again by the power of the spirit pursuing the path of holiness gather to worship and 116 00:08:52,239 –> 00:08:55,500 to serve the Lord Jesus Christ together. 117 00:08:55,500 –> 00:09:00,460 There, His presence will be known. 118 00:09:00,460 –> 00:09:05,000 In the past you would have gone to the temple, people went on pilgrimages to the temple all 119 00:09:05,000 –> 00:09:06,820 the time. 120 00:09:06,820 –> 00:09:11,900 God’s presence has been known among these stones they would say as they walked around 121 00:09:11,900 –> 00:09:13,820 the temple. 122 00:09:13,820 –> 00:09:21,020 But now the temple is gone, the temple has never been rebuilt, never to this day. 123 00:09:21,020 –> 00:09:29,260 And God’s presence is known through communities of His people who gather to worship and to 124 00:09:29,260 –> 00:09:30,619 serve Him. 125 00:09:30,619 –> 00:09:33,239 There, His presence is known on the earth. 126 00:09:33,260 –> 00:09:38,919 This is what Jesus had said, where even two or three are gathered together in my name, 127 00:09:38,919 –> 00:09:44,659 Jesus said, there I am in the midst. 128 00:09:44,659 –> 00:09:49,460 And it is the purpose of God that such worshipping communities, serving communities, should be 129 00:09:49,460 –> 00:09:56,119 established and planted across the face of the earth so that its presence may be known. 130 00:09:56,119 –> 00:10:02,820 You think about the way in which the U.S. army is deployed. 131 00:10:03,619 –> 00:10:13,539 We have soldiers in Liberia, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, we have airmen in Turkey, we have airmen in 132 00:10:13,539 –> 00:10:16,739 England. 133 00:10:16,739 –> 00:10:23,219 Sometimes they are well-received, sometimes they are received with hostility, but wherever 134 00:10:23,219 –> 00:10:31,419 they go, these communities of our service people live under the flag. 135 00:10:31,619 –> 00:10:36,900 And they represent the presence of this country in another place. 136 00:10:36,900 –> 00:10:40,500 Now, you could think of the church a little bit like that. 137 00:10:40,500 –> 00:10:45,419 It is the purpose of the Lord Jesus Christ that his presence in different places throughout 138 00:10:45,419 –> 00:10:52,919 the Earth should be established and manifest through gathered congregations of his people 139 00:10:52,919 –> 00:10:55,340 who worship and serve him together. 140 00:10:55,340 –> 00:11:01,179 If you don’t like the military metaphor, think of an embassy. 141 00:11:01,200 –> 00:11:04,260 This country has embassies all over the world. 142 00:11:04,260 –> 00:11:11,940 In countries right throughout the Earth there is a place that is a sovereign piece of American 143 00:11:11,940 –> 00:11:17,380 territory with the ambassador in residence, with his staff, a little American community 144 00:11:17,380 –> 00:11:21,260 representing an American presence in the embassy. 145 00:11:21,260 –> 00:11:28,440 Now, you see, that is how the gathered congregation of God’s people worshiping and serving are 146 00:11:28,619 –> 00:11:36,619 to be thought of, that God’s Presence is manifest across the Earth through these communities 147 00:11:36,619 –> 00:11:39,780 of his people. 148 00:11:39,780 –> 00:11:44,419 That is why, in the early church, there were people who came in to a worship service, and 149 00:11:44,419 –> 00:11:50,059 they said truly God is among you. 150 00:11:50,059 –> 00:11:59,099 In specific locations God’s Presence is made known through worshipping and serving people 151 00:11:59,099 –> 00:12:00,539 gathered together. 152 00:12:00,539 –> 00:12:06,820 Now, if you glance back just for a moment to the very beginning of this letter in chapter 153 00:12:06,820 –> 00:12:14,440 1 in verse 1, you’ll see that when Peter wrote he addresses believers in various places, 154 00:12:14,440 –> 00:12:18,960 some of which are well known, others are somewhat obscure to us. 155 00:12:18,960 –> 00:12:29,080 First chapter 1 in verse 1, in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. 156 00:12:29,080 –> 00:12:37,640 Now, if you ask the question, where and how would the Presence of God be made known in 157 00:12:37,640 –> 00:12:41,119 the town of Pontus? 158 00:12:41,119 –> 00:12:47,700 The answer Peter is giving is that the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ will be manifest 159 00:12:47,700 –> 00:12:55,380 in Pontus through the gathering of born-again believers in Pontus as they come together 160 00:12:55,380 –> 00:12:59,479 to worship the Lord Jesus and to serve him. 161 00:12:59,479 –> 00:13:03,520 How will God’s name be honored in Cappadocia? 162 00:13:03,520 –> 00:13:09,260 The name of God will be honored in Cappadocia through communities of born-again believers 163 00:13:09,260 –> 00:13:14,200 who gather in Cappadocia to worship and to serve him. 164 00:13:14,239 –> 00:13:19,239 How will the presence of God be known in Displains? 165 00:13:19,239 –> 00:13:23,859 How will the presence of God be made known in Palatine? 166 00:13:23,859 –> 00:13:26,559 How will the presence of God be glorified? 167 00:13:26,559 –> 00:13:30,919 The name of God be magnified in Arlington Heights? 168 00:13:30,919 –> 00:13:37,559 Answer, through communities of believers who are born-again and are pursuing the path of 169 00:13:37,559 –> 00:13:41,380 holiness and gather to worship and to serve him. 170 00:13:41,400 –> 00:13:44,099 There, God’s presence is known. 171 00:13:44,099 –> 00:13:48,859 In the Old Testament, it was a building called the Temple where God put His name. 172 00:13:48,859 –> 00:13:50,219 Now that is no more. 173 00:13:50,219 –> 00:13:56,059 But God’s presence comes among the gathered community of His people, throughout the earth, 174 00:13:56,059 –> 00:14:00,179 these communities, of those who worship and serve Him together. 175 00:14:00,179 –> 00:14:02,299 Now, notice the present tense. 176 00:14:02,299 –> 00:14:03,880 This is something that God is doing. 177 00:14:03,880 –> 00:14:07,520 He is building us into this spiritual house. 178 00:14:07,520 –> 00:14:09,719 He is doing this work among us. 179 00:14:09,760 –> 00:14:17,179 But I can’t imagine a greater calling than this—to be part of the community in which 180 00:14:17,179 –> 00:14:23,659 the presence of God is made known in a local town, a local city. 181 00:14:23,659 –> 00:14:30,260 So, on Sunday morning, I’m not just asking the question, well should I go to church? 182 00:14:30,260 –> 00:14:39,000 The issue is, am I part of the presence and the glory of God being brought into this community. 183 00:14:39,000 –> 00:14:44,960 Of the magnifying of the name of God among these people in this locality. 184 00:14:44,960 –> 00:14:52,440 Now, not only is the presence of God made known, but secondly, the promise of God is 185 00:14:52,440 –> 00:14:53,440 fulfilled. 186 00:14:53,440 –> 00:14:56,080 Look again at verse 5 if you would please. 187 00:14:56,080 –> 00:15:00,900 You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house. 188 00:15:00,940 –> 00:15:09,080 You’re to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through 189 00:15:09,080 –> 00:15:10,080 Jesus Christ. 190 00:15:10,080 –> 00:15:13,340 You’re to be a holy priesthood. 191 00:15:13,340 –> 00:15:21,859 Now, the normal assumption in our culture is that anybody can come to God at any time 192 00:15:21,859 –> 00:15:24,679 and in any way that they choose. 193 00:15:24,679 –> 00:15:29,599 The Old Testament teaches us precisely the opposite. 194 00:15:29,640 –> 00:15:38,039 In the Old Testament, the priests were the only ones who had access to God, and the priests 195 00:15:38,039 –> 00:15:42,159 were a very, very exclusive group. 196 00:15:42,159 –> 00:15:49,479 If you wanted to be a priest in the Old Testament, you had to be a male descendant of the line 197 00:15:49,479 –> 00:15:50,479 of Aaron. 198 00:15:50,479 –> 00:15:54,640 So, a Scottish man would have no chance. 199 00:15:54,640 –> 00:15:58,799 A Swedish woman – no chance. 200 00:15:59,200 –> 00:16:03,359 A very, very exclusive group. 201 00:16:03,359 –> 00:16:07,739 You couldn’t walk into the inner courts of the temple in the Old Testament any more than 202 00:16:07,739 –> 00:16:13,479 you could walk into the Oval Office in the White House today. 203 00:16:13,479 –> 00:16:15,400 The priests had all the action. 204 00:16:15,400 –> 00:16:17,880 They went into the inner area of the temple. 205 00:16:17,880 –> 00:16:20,359 Even if I brought a sacrifice. 206 00:16:20,359 –> 00:16:24,119 I would bring the animal and I would give it to the priest, and the priest would offer 207 00:16:24,119 –> 00:16:25,119 it to God. 208 00:16:25,119 –> 00:16:26,599 It was all done at an arm’s distance. 209 00:16:27,119 –> 00:16:33,400 It was a very, very exclusive group. 210 00:16:33,400 –> 00:16:40,859 So the idea that anyone could come to God at any time is completely foreign to the Old 211 00:16:40,859 –> 00:16:42,940 Testament. 212 00:16:42,940 –> 00:16:48,359 Worship in the Old Testament was essentially a spectator event. 213 00:16:48,359 –> 00:16:50,559 The priests did all the action. 214 00:16:50,559 –> 00:16:56,000 They burned the incense, they offered the sacrifices, they did the washing of the hands 215 00:16:56,000 –> 00:17:00,940 in the bowl in the basin and so forth and so on. 216 00:17:00,940 –> 00:17:05,859 The role of the people was simply to watch. 217 00:17:05,859 –> 00:17:09,859 Now, the reason that it was like this in the Old Testament was very simply that the way 218 00:17:09,859 –> 00:17:13,239 of access to God had not yet been opened up. 219 00:17:13,239 –> 00:17:19,579 The Old Testament was merely illustrating what would happen when the Lord Jesus Christ 220 00:17:19,579 –> 00:17:21,020 came. 221 00:17:21,300 –> 00:17:27,300 And even in the Old Testament, God’s promise was that one day, all of God’s people would 222 00:17:27,300 –> 00:17:28,300 be priests. 223 00:17:28,300 –> 00:17:32,880 In fact, they would be more than priests, they would be royal priests, you have that 224 00:17:32,880 –> 00:17:35,319 phrase in verse 9 there. 225 00:17:35,319 –> 00:17:38,800 And there was nothing like that ever happened in the Old Testament because a king was never 226 00:17:38,800 –> 00:17:44,420 a priest and a priest was never a king, both the kings and the priests were obviously very 227 00:17:44,420 –> 00:17:48,640 exclusive groups limited to a very, very few people. 228 00:17:48,640 –> 00:17:54,520 But God is saying now He will bring these two together and He will give all of His people 229 00:17:54,520 –> 00:17:58,760 the privilege of being kings and priests, He will give them authority, that’s what’s 230 00:17:58,760 –> 00:18:04,760 with kings, He will give them access, that’s what’s with priests, and with that authority 231 00:18:04,760 –> 00:18:08,800 to live the new life and the power of the spirit and that access to God, there will 232 00:18:08,800 –> 00:18:15,439 be a royal priesthood not of a few but of many, of all of God’s people who will offer 233 00:18:16,040 –> 00:18:23,040 worship to the Living God. Now, Peter writes to ordinary Christian believers here, and 234 00:18:25,319 –> 00:18:32,319 he says, as you come to Christ, as we’re worshipping here in the Body of Christ, here’s what God 235 00:18:32,479 –> 00:18:39,479 is doing, He’s not only making His presence known among us and through us, but He is making 236 00:18:39,959 –> 00:18:46,959 us into a holy priesthood. See, as we come to worship, week by week, as we serve the 237 00:18:47,520 –> 00:18:54,520 Lord together, God does a very wonderful thing. He turns observers into participants. You 238 00:18:59,280 –> 00:19:06,280 see when you first become a Christian, this whole business of worship can seem very strange. 239 00:19:06,359 –> 00:19:11,199 It seems like it’s something that other people are doing. You know, there’s a choir and musicians 240 00:19:11,199 –> 00:19:16,439 and a pastor, and there are prayers and songs, and they pass around a collection plate, and 241 00:19:16,439 –> 00:19:23,439 there’s a Bible reading, and there’s a sermon, but as we come to Christ week by week and 242 00:19:24,880 –> 00:19:31,000 we’re engaging in the body of Christ, this wonderful miracle takes place in which the 243 00:19:31,199 –> 00:19:38,199 holy spirit will turn an individual from being an observer to being a participant. You are 244 00:19:42,219 –> 00:19:49,219 a priest of God. You’re not here, if you’re a Christian believer, to watch others worship. 245 00:19:49,920 –> 00:19:56,599 You’re here as a priest of God to participate in worship, and as you discover what it is 246 00:19:56,660 –> 00:20:03,219 that God has made you to be, you will find that you are able to sing. 247 00:20:03,219 –> 00:20:06,500 You see, at first, for many of us, we just come into a congregation like this and we 248 00:20:06,500 –> 00:20:12,140 stand when the congregation stands, and we kind of observe other people sing, and we 249 00:20:12,140 –> 00:20:18,579 listen to the good singers at the front and so forth. But, you will find that one of the 250 00:20:18,579 –> 00:20:23,979 wonderful things that God is doing in the gathered community of his people is that, 251 00:20:23,979 –> 00:20:29,479 as you’re born again, and as you’re pursuing the life of holiness, you will find that you 252 00:20:29,479 –> 00:20:39,699 sing also. You’ll sing in heaven. You can begin on earth. You will find that you’re 253 00:20:39,699 –> 00:20:45,439 able to pray. You will find that you can take the words that are offered in a public service 254 00:20:45,439 –> 00:20:52,420 like this, and you can use your own soul almost like a mirror, so that as you hear the words 255 00:20:52,520 –> 00:20:58,319 and they come to you, you are able to reflect them as your own prayer up to God. The words 256 00:20:58,319 –> 00:21:03,060 are given to you, but you offer them as your prayer. That’s very different from just sitting 257 00:21:03,060 –> 00:21:10,060 and listening. It’s like the difference between sitting at school and studying a love poem, 258 00:21:10,439 –> 00:21:15,979 and then taking that love poem and using it in a letter to your fiance. The two are entirely 259 00:21:15,979 –> 00:21:21,680 different things. The one is observation. The other involves participation. You will 260 00:21:21,780 –> 00:21:28,680 find that you want to give. You may have come and the passing of the plate, the offering 261 00:21:28,719 –> 00:21:32,479 as part of worship, has been utterly meaningless to you. You’ve seen it something that relates 262 00:21:32,479 –> 00:21:36,400 to other people. You’ve never thought that there would be any connection to you. But 263 00:21:36,400 –> 00:21:42,000 then you begin to see that what God is doing through the gathering of his people in worship 264 00:21:42,000 –> 00:21:49,000 and service and ministry is to make his presence known in this community. And you say, if that’s 265 00:21:49,880 –> 00:21:56,040 what it is, I want to be part of it in every way that I can, in every dimension. Let me 266 00:21:56,040 –> 00:22:01,880 be part of it in giving. Let me be part of it in serving. Let me be part of it in singing. 267 00:22:01,880 –> 00:22:08,060 Let me be part of it in my offering, my worship, as one of the priests in this gathered congregation. 268 00:22:08,060 –> 00:22:13,719 Think of it, in this one place, this one gathering of the Lord’s people today, there has been 269 00:22:14,719 –> 00:22:26,479 ascending from nearly 2,000 priests. You say, what can we offer? A holy priesthood offering 270 00:22:26,479 –> 00:22:32,680 spiritual sacrifices. No place for animal sacrifices, of course, the Lord Jesus has 271 00:22:32,680 –> 00:22:38,540 laid down his life for our sins, he shed his blood, but we’re being asked to offer spiritual 272 00:22:39,020 –> 00:22:55,060 sacrifices. Praise coming from your lips, gratitude, service, giving, sharing, acts of kindness, 273 00:22:55,060 –> 00:23:01,979 acts of mercy, hospitality. Think of that, that as part of manifesting the presence of 274 00:23:01,979 –> 00:23:06,680 God in this place there will be some folks who say, you know, there’s a lot of things 275 00:23:06,680 –> 00:23:12,579 I can’t do, but one thing I can do is cook a good meal and open my home. And I could 276 00:23:12,579 –> 00:23:17,939 do that for an overseas student over this next year, and build a relationship with someone 277 00:23:17,939 –> 00:23:22,400 who comes from a country where they may find great difficulty in finding any community 278 00:23:22,400 –> 00:23:26,439 of believers, but through my home they might find the presence of Jesus. That’s part 279 00:23:26,439 –> 00:23:30,760 of the ministry of the body of Christ. It’s a wonderful thing. 280 00:23:31,760 –> 00:23:39,839 What we offer, the Lord accepts through Jesus Christ. Now this is what the Lord is doing 281 00:23:39,839 –> 00:23:45,400 through congregations, communities of people who are born again pursuing a life of holiness, 282 00:23:45,400 –> 00:23:51,439 who gather for worship and for service to Him. God says, I make my presence known. You 283 00:23:51,439 –> 00:23:58,280 become like the temple multiplied throughout the earth, a community where my presence is 284 00:23:58,280 –> 00:24:05,819 known. You become a community of priests. I gradually draw one and another as new life 285 00:24:05,819 –> 00:24:13,239 comes to you from being an observer into being a participant in the worship of God. And thirdly, 286 00:24:13,239 –> 00:24:20,800 God’s praise is declared. Peter now returns to this theme of the stone, 287 00:24:20,800 –> 00:24:27,040 and he quotes three statements from the Old Testament all about stones. And it’s very 288 00:24:27,040 –> 00:24:33,959 significant because you remember that the name Peter means rock. Remember that Jesus 289 00:24:33,959 –> 00:24:45,300 gave Peter that name? You are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church. So, statements 290 00:24:45,300 –> 00:24:50,880 in the Bible about rocks seem to be very important to Peter. And I think that it is very significant 291 00:24:50,880 –> 00:24:57,500 therefore, you see that Peter is the one in the New Testament who says to every believer, 292 00:24:57,500 –> 00:25:04,500 now as you come to him, you are being built like living stones in the spiritual house. 293 00:25:04,500 –> 00:25:13,859 In other words, what Peter is saying, what Jesus said to me is true of every believer 294 00:25:14,359 –> 00:25:20,540 indwelt by the spirit of God as we gather together to worship him. 295 00:25:20,540 –> 00:25:26,160 When I notice how Peter takes up these other statements about stones. Verse 7. 296 00:25:26,160 –> 00:25:31,359 To you who believe this stone, that is, Jesus, is precious. 297 00:25:31,359 –> 00:25:35,500 But to those who don’t believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the 298 00:25:35,500 –> 00:25:45,400 capstone and a stone that causes men to stumble, and a rock that makes them fall. 299 00:25:45,400 –> 00:25:50,420 Let’s use our imagination for a few moments to try and get into this picture that Peter 300 00:25:50,420 –> 00:25:56,760 is using to communicate, imagine a building site. 301 00:25:56,760 –> 00:26:02,400 And on this building site, there are stones of various shapes and sizes that are lying 302 00:26:02,400 –> 00:26:04,979 all around. 303 00:26:05,619 –> 00:26:10,420 Builders arrive and they gather up some stones, they bring them to the foremost who sorts 304 00:26:10,420 –> 00:26:13,420 out what’s going to go into place in the walls in the next day. 305 00:26:14,319 –> 00:26:18,760 Uh, yes, we can use this one, he says, yeah that’s good, yeah, put that one over there, 306 00:26:18,760 –> 00:26:23,719 and then there’s this strangely shaped stone. 307 00:26:23,719 –> 00:26:26,660 And the foreman picks it up and he’s, aw, that’s useless! 308 00:26:26,660 –> 00:26:28,880 No place for that! 309 00:26:29,079 –> 00:26:36,400 And, he kicks it down the hill and it rolls down the hill to the driveway at the bottom 310 00:26:36,420 –> 00:26:43,199 where other houses have already been completed, and there it comes to rest. 311 00:26:43,199 –> 00:26:50,400 A few moments later, there’s a lad on a bicycle and he’s delivering the newspapers, and, you 312 00:26:50,400 –> 00:26:54,599 know, he’s doing the thing, he’s pulling the paper out the bag and he’s flinging them up 313 00:26:54,599 –> 00:27:00,079 the driveways of these various homes, and he’s whistling away and he’s got his headphones 314 00:27:00,079 –> 00:27:05,459 on and you know all that stuff, and, as he’s going along on his bike, you know what happens 315 00:27:05,459 –> 00:27:11,140 next, the front wheel goes, slam into this big rock that’s now lying in the street, he 316 00:27:11,140 –> 00:27:16,579 goes right over the rock, he lands over the top of his handlebars, breaks his glasses 317 00:27:16,579 –> 00:27:21,579 and all the rest of it, the foreman comes down, gets the boy back on his feet, dusts 318 00:27:21,579 –> 00:27:29,359 him down and then he picks up the rock, stupid rock, and he takes it and he flings it in 319 00:27:29,359 –> 00:27:37,319 the dumpster. Get rid of it. Nothing but trouble. 320 00:27:37,319 –> 00:27:47,020 Later that week, the Mason arrives. There’s an arch at the entrance of this new home that’s 321 00:27:47,020 –> 00:27:53,699 being built, and he has come to lay the capstone on the pillars. 322 00:27:53,699 –> 00:28:00,780 Where’s my stone? says the Mason. 323 00:28:00,780 –> 00:28:05,239 Well, there are stones lying all round here, can’t you see? Says the builders. 324 00:28:05,239 –> 00:28:15,219 No no no, I mean THE stone. I mean the stone that was specially cut for the arch. 325 00:28:15,219 –> 00:28:19,079 It’s been particularly shaved, there is not one that is like it. 326 00:28:19,079 –> 00:28:23,859 I sent it here personally to the site. Where is it? 327 00:28:23,859 –> 00:28:27,180 Well, the builders are beginning to get a bit embarrassed. 328 00:28:27,180 –> 00:28:36,459 Well, uh, actually, Joe here, he kicked it down the hill and Phil threw it in the dumpster. 329 00:28:36,500 –> 00:28:39,040 You did what? 330 00:28:39,040 –> 00:28:43,959 You took the capstone and you threw it in the dumpster? 331 00:28:44,219 –> 00:28:49,599 Well, we couldn’t see any use for it. 332 00:28:49,599 –> 00:28:54,339 The mason goes into the dumpster and begins to dig with his own bare hands. 333 00:28:54,339 –> 00:29:02,239 As he gets down two or three feet, there he finds the capstone, unbroken, in the dumpster. 334 00:29:02,239 –> 00:29:05,579 He lifts it out. 335 00:29:05,579 –> 00:29:07,900 And holds it high. 336 00:29:07,900 –> 00:29:12,439 This is the stone. 337 00:29:12,439 –> 00:29:14,400 He says. 338 00:29:14,400 –> 00:29:15,920 The builders are looking at the ground. 339 00:29:15,920 –> 00:29:19,239 They feel like fools. 340 00:29:19,239 –> 00:29:28,300 The mason takes it and he places it on top of the pillars, where everyone will see it 341 00:29:28,300 –> 00:29:31,380 and everyone will admire it. 342 00:29:31,380 –> 00:29:34,219 Now, take that picture. 343 00:29:34,459 –> 00:29:40,939 That’s what Peter is using to communicate to us from the scriptures here. 344 00:29:40,939 –> 00:29:49,920 The people God commissioned to build his house have rejected Jesus, the living stone. 345 00:29:49,920 –> 00:29:52,560 Many people stumble over him. 346 00:29:52,560 –> 00:29:58,619 He is, verse 8, a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. 347 00:29:58,619 –> 00:30:01,579 Jesus is not what many people are looking for. 348 00:30:01,579 –> 00:30:04,579 They stumble over his claims. 349 00:30:04,579 –> 00:30:09,339 They stumble over his call. 350 00:30:09,339 –> 00:30:15,099 But God has chosen him and God has highly exalted him. 351 00:30:15,099 –> 00:30:25,119 Verse 7, the stone that the builders rejected has become the capstone, and to you who believe 352 00:30:25,119 –> 00:30:30,180 this stone is precious. 353 00:30:30,180 –> 00:30:35,979 The builders of this world have not yet seen the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. 354 00:30:35,979 –> 00:30:41,359 As far as they are concerned, he is still for the dumpster. 355 00:30:41,359 –> 00:30:46,640 But, says God, you don’t believe that. 356 00:30:46,640 –> 00:30:49,979 You who have been born again are pursuing the path of holiness. 357 00:30:49,979 –> 00:30:56,099 You who gather here together for worship, you know that he is seated at the right hand 358 00:30:56,099 –> 00:30:57,140 of God. 359 00:30:57,839 –> 00:31:02,439 We’re the community of those who believe that he’s the Son of God. 360 00:31:02,439 –> 00:31:10,140 We’ve put our trust in him and, verse 7, that trust will not be disappointed. 361 00:31:10,140 –> 00:31:15,260 That’s why Peter says in verse 9, you are the chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy 362 00:31:15,260 –> 00:31:21,719 nation, a people belonging to God, so that you may declare the praise of him who called 363 00:31:21,719 –> 00:31:25,479 you out of his darkness and into his wonderful light. 364 00:31:26,359 –> 00:31:34,739 Now, you see, the gathered community of people who love and trust Jesus are the only ones 365 00:31:34,739 –> 00:31:37,400 in the world who can do this. 366 00:31:37,400 –> 00:31:46,780 In a world that has trashed Jesus, God calls communities of people who love him together 367 00:31:46,780 –> 00:31:50,680 to declare his glory. 368 00:31:50,680 –> 00:31:54,180 This task cannot be delegated. 369 00:31:54,199 –> 00:31:57,060 Only those who are born again by the Spirit can do this. 370 00:31:57,060 –> 00:31:59,739 Only those who are pursuing a life of holiness can do this. 371 00:31:59,739 –> 00:32:03,780 Only those who gather to worship the name of the Lord Jesus can do this. 372 00:32:03,780 –> 00:32:13,260 But when it happens, God says, my presence will be known, my promise will be fulfilled, 373 00:32:13,260 –> 00:32:15,640 and my praise will be declared. 374 00:32:15,640 –> 00:32:22,020 And, of course, that’s the motivating passion of all our worship and all our service, all 375 00:32:22,060 –> 00:32:25,959 our activity, all of our ministry in the life of this church. 376 00:32:25,959 –> 00:32:32,099 Job one of the church, to glorify God. 377 00:32:32,099 –> 00:32:37,979 We are not here to amuse ourselves or to entertain ourselves. 378 00:32:37,979 –> 00:32:43,099 We are here to glorify Him. 379 00:32:43,099 –> 00:32:49,859 God has said, let there be communities. 380 00:32:49,859 –> 00:32:58,180 Communities of people with one consuming passion, the praise of the Lord Jesus Christ. 381 00:32:58,180 –> 00:33:01,500 Let these be communities of people who are born again to a living hope. 382 00:33:01,500 –> 00:33:06,099 Who are pursuing the path of holiness and who gather together, learning to love one 383 00:33:06,500 –> 00:33:10,339 and one another and to praise the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and to give themselves 384 00:33:10,339 –> 00:33:13,619 in service for Him. 385 00:33:13,619 –> 00:33:24,099 Let these communities be communities of people who exalt the Lord Jesus Christ and when they 386 00:33:24,099 –> 00:33:27,060 do that I will come to them. 387 00:33:27,060 –> 00:33:30,540 I will manifest my presence among them. 388 00:33:30,540 –> 00:33:34,900 I will turn observers into participants. 389 00:33:34,900 –> 00:33:42,280 And my praise will be declared by them on the earth. 390 00:33:42,280 –> 00:33:57,099 Lord make us such a community of your people, for the glory of your name and for the blessing 391 00:33:57,099 –> 00:33:57,739 of this city.