WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:05.200 Hi, I'm Pastor Creighton, and thank you for tuning into Newsong Churches Podcast. 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:16.000 We're a biblically faithful, gospel-centered Anglican church in Port Perry, Ontario, proclaiming the true and life-giving word of Jesus as we love and serve our neighbors. 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:20.239 You can learn more about us at Newsongportperry.ca. 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:24.079 May God bless you today through his life-giving word. 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:31.039 Our New Testament reading is taken from 1st Peter chapter 2. 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:39.679 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:51.439 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 00:00:52.320 --> 00:01:10.319 As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:21.519 For it stands in Scripture, Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:25.200 So the honor is for you who believe. 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:35.040 But for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:40.640 They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:55.280 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 00:01:56.079 --> 00:02:00.159 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:05.120 Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:26.960 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:28.960 This is the word of the Lord. 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:32.560 Well, good morning. 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:41.599 Myself, Amy, and John are so happy to be here, and it is a great privilege to be in front of you, to open God's word again. 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:43.840 So as always, let us pray. 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:48.960 Heavenly Father, we now come to hear you speak directly to our hearts and our minds. 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:57.120 We ask, Father, that any distractions, uh, whether good or bad, from this week would fall away, that you would draw us to yourself. 00:02:57.280 --> 00:02:59.120 Father, help us to hear your word. 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:09.520 Uh help us to learn what it means to be newborn infants, to be a holy priesthood, to be those who are exiled but also living within the world. 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:11.680 Help us, Father, to know these truths. 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:13.439 And I pray us in Jesus' name. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:14.240 Amen. 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:15.680 Please be seated. 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:34.319 Now I believe um either the first year I was here or the second year I talked about the royal family at least once or twice. 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:40.800 But I'm gonna talk about them again, just briefly, because I think it makes a good um illustration to open this sermon. 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:44.400 And I'm gonna talk about them because I f I do find them fascinating. 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:56.719 They have this um they have this um aura about them, um, or this uh in unbreakable image about them that seems to never can never have any cracks or anything like that. 00:03:56.960 --> 00:03:58.879 There's like this mystery around them. 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:02.240 They almost appear, um, they have this enchantment. 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:08.479 And you can see that people from around the world feel the same way because the tourism in the UK is always booming. 00:04:08.639 --> 00:04:12.639 You go to London downtown, and it's always booming around the palace. 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:13.680 So why is that? 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:14.560 Why is this? 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:19.120 And this family seems to be from another era of history. 00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:20.399 It's very interesting. 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:22.879 And they've built this image around the crown. 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:25.279 Everything serves the crown. 00:04:25.519 --> 00:04:31.519 The one who wears it becomes the crown bearer, and the rest of the family serves the crown. 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:37.360 If one of the family members tries to get out from under it, the image begins to break a bit. 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:42.000 And we've seen this because of the rise of social media and everything is online now. 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:45.920 And they've in they've experienced intense scrutiny over the past years. 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:56.079 But regardless of this, regardless of this image, regardless of the things you see in the news about them, we still call them the royal family or the royals. 00:04:56.240 --> 00:04:58.800 People still flock to see them around the world. 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:00.000 And why is that? 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:08.079 Well, I think it's a good illustration because here in the text, there's this language of royals, royal priesthood. 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:10.000 And we're gonna look at that. 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:29.439 And this text we're looking at today shows us the royalty, language of royalty, set apartness, chosen priesthood, but it gives this distinction to Christ followers, to the everyday man Christ follower, not just to those who are in ministry who stand in front of you, or to those who do uh small groups or anything like that. 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:33.360 It's for everybody, this idea, this language. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:35.519 It's not just for those who are set apart. 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:36.720 So we're gonna look at it. 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:43.920 So please turn with me in your bulletins or in your Bible to 1 Peter chapter 2, verses 1 to 12, and we're gonna look at it. 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:52.160 And here we see Peter, who is one of the twelve disciples that Jesus chose, who traveled with Jesus and learned from Jesus. 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:55.360 He's an eyewitness of all that Jesus did. 00:05:55.920 --> 00:06:04.959 He walked with him, he saw Jesus die on the cross, he saw Jesus rise from the dead, and he saw Jesus ascend. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:08.800 We see that he's writing to Christians who are dispersed. 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:21.120 These Christians are dispersed, and in the opening verse of this letter, Peter writes, Thro uh, the groups that are dispersed in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithhnia. 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:23.199 If you look at a map, it's actually kind of interesting. 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:28.079 I never did this before until doing prep for this, is that they're all side by side. 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:33.519 So someone would have had to run a letter, they would have been a letter runner going to each area. 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:35.759 And it wouldn't have been how we have emails now. 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:37.839 Someone physically would have had to do this. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:40.319 And it most likely would have been Sylvanus. 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:44.959 And you see he's the one who closes out the letter. 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:46.639 It shows that he's the one writing it. 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:50.800 Um Peter is dictating it to him, and he's writing it in chapter 5, verse 12. 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:52.480 It would have most likely been him. 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:59.439 Peter is writing to them because these Christians are facing intense suffering and persecution. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:11.120 And the main theme of this letter, as it says in the ESV Study Bible, is those who persevere in the faith while suffering for perse from persecution should be full of hope. 00:07:11.439 --> 00:07:22.399 For they will certainly enjoy eternal salvation, since they are already enjoying God's saving promises here and now through the death and resurrection of Christ. 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:23.439 But how? 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:29.680 Creighton has uh alluded to this in his sermons about gospel living, with while being exiles. 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:30.879 How do we do this? 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:33.360 Yeah, there's this tension that he talked about. 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:45.680 He mentioned in his first sermon, which is very helpful, that at the time of this letter being written, a decree had not gone out through Rome that banning Christianity, making it illegal. 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:56.879 So the suffering and persecution they would have been experiencing will most likely have been verbal abuse and being discriminated, exiled, or ostracized from the community. 00:07:56.959 --> 00:08:03.279 It would have been hard for them to buy things, to make friends and be within the culture at the time. 00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:09.600 So it makes us easy, it makes it easier to relate than thinking of these men and women who are martyred. 00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:16.319 Now, in the first 12 verses, the verses that we're looking at here in chapter two, three main points. 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:20.000 This is quite a big um scope in these 12 verses. 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:21.040 A lot is said. 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:24.160 So it's kind of going to be like an overview a bit, looking at it. 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:28.399 And we're gonna look at it in three ways, because there's very there's three distinct parts in it. 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:31.120 The first is nourishment through the word. 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:39.360 The second is a life built on the cornerstone, and the third point is to live as exiles. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:42.159 So, what does it mean, nourishment through the word? 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:44.799 Well, let's look, verses one to three. 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:53.679 Peter writes So put away all malice, all deceit, and hypocrisy, and envy and all slander. 00:08:54.080 --> 00:09:06.559 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:09.440 Now notice how it says so. 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:12.000 This could also be translated to therefore. 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:18.320 This means that it's a continuation of Peter's argument, because it's a letter, he's continuing a line of thought. 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:28.320 And what this line of thought is, that it says in chapter 1, verse 22, is that you are to love one another earnestly from a pure heart. 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:34.879 The verse one and then in chapter two gives the example, one of the examples of how to do this. 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:42.720 How to truly love and treat someone is to put away all malice, all deceit, and hypocrisy and envy and slander. 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:45.279 Now we need to break this sentence down. 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:46.159 What does that mean? 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:48.320 What does it mean to put that away? 00:09:48.559 --> 00:10:02.000 Well, the idea, there's two ways to illustrate this, is that the idea is that, you know, when you go, if you jump into a lake or you jump into a pool with your clothes on, maybe we you did that when you're younger, maybe you do it now. 00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:03.679 Um your clothes stick to you. 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:08.000 It's hard to get your shirt off after you get out of the pool unless you dry off. 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:13.600 So it's the idea is that these things stick to you, they cling to you, they're hard to get off. 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:18.399 Or another example is that you need to view these things as rotten clothing. 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:22.000 It's disgusting, it's worthless, it needs to be thrown away. 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:24.799 This is what Peter is trying to show. 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:29.679 And now he uses these words malice, deceitfulness, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:32.960 Malice is another way of saying evil and wickedness. 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:36.399 You see this word actually a lot in um old mythology. 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:45.360 Malice is this idea that the inward part of you spews out wickedness or evil. 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:50.639 Now that we could think about extreme cases, but there's also very minor cases. 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:54.159 Deceitfulness is harming others through lying and falsehood. 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:59.919 Hypocrisy is masking an inward evil by an outward show of righteousness. 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:10.720 Envy is an opposite of thankfulness for a good that comes for to others, and slander is speech that harms others or intended to harm a person's status. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:14.000 That could be that could be gossip, gossiping about somebody. 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:24.399 But here we see that Peter is ascribing these things to Christians, to those who are facing uh verbal abuse and discrimination. 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:30.879 We would think that he'd be um talking about those who are non-Christians, but he's talking about Christians. 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:37.919 See, this inclination that Peter is so wisely pointing out is in all our hearts in some capacity. 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:41.200 You think you'd be talking about non-Christians, but he's not. 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:42.480 He talks about us. 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:46.480 He talks about those in the time he's writing, and then he's also talking about us. 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:53.360 Because these are things everyone is going to struggle with in some capacity until Christ's return, or we go to be with him. 00:11:53.679 --> 00:12:01.759 And if they run rat rampant within a person or within a church, it will consume people and destroy the church. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:08.000 And what makes these so dangerous is that they are they become permissible sins. 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:11.679 They become permissible things that we justify to ourselves about. 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:12.960 What do I mean about that? 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:16.320 See, we easily justify them in some ways. 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:22.960 We may say something about somebody, or we may have this intent for something, but then we justify it later. 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:34.080 See, I would encourage you, as um all week I've been doing this, is that to take the time, look at this verse, verse one, and pray to God and ask him to show you if any of these things are in your life. 00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:41.279 Because it's very important for the word to speak to us, to be, um, we look at it like a mirror and it points back at us. 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:44.559 So, how do we put these things away, these sins away? 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:45.120 How do we do it? 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:48.000 Well, I'm going to re read verses two and three again. 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:59.600 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:03.279 There's a common belief that we all fall prey to. 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:05.200 It's the idea that I've made it. 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:06.320 I have my faith. 00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:12.720 I come to church, I've checked off the daily reading, I'm good, I've said my prayers, I don't need to do anything else. 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:14.399 I can get on with my day. 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:25.840 But Peter uses language here of earnestness, and he uses a very good illustration about how to do this, to put these things away after telling them. 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:32.240 He does this, he instructs them where to find nourishment after you've taken these things off. 00:13:32.399 --> 00:13:35.440 Because it's hard to take them off and they daily pop up. 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:42.399 Like a doctor, he's telling a patient who needs proper nourishment where to find healing after surgery. 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:49.120 In verse 2, he talks about this idea of longing for pure spiritual milk, like a newborn infant. 00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:55.600 Now, Peter was married, we read about that in one of the gospels, but it never says if you had any children. 00:13:55.840 --> 00:14:03.759 But he's in he lives in a culture where everybody lives so closely together, and the idea of it takes a village is lived out. 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:07.919 So he would know what it's like to be around a ver a newborn infant. 00:14:08.159 --> 00:14:13.279 In 1 Peter 23, he talks about since you have been born again. 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:18.559 See, he's building on that idea of being born again, of becoming like newborn infants. 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:20.720 Newborns need milk. 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:22.159 Lots of milk. 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:24.799 Christians need milk, God's word. 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:30.080 See, a newborn infant is utterly helpless, helpless, can't do anything. 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:36.399 It's completely dependent on their parents or caregiver to long for the pure spiritual milk. 00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:41.519 See, newborns, when they're hungry, which is all the time, they let you know. 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:48.720 And if you miss it, their cues, if you miss the cues, they lose their minds and become desperate for milk. 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:58.240 See, if you're not familiar with it, they also do these things called cluster feeding, which is when they're growing, they feed more. 00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:06.559 And sometimes it's two to three hours, two to two to three times within an hour, and normally at night, and normally it lasts all night. 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:24.320 So the idea here that Peter is getting at, which is so um, it's such a practical illustration he uses, that Peter's getting at that the only way to put these things off is to be like newborn infants and to long for the pure spiritual milk. 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:35.200 When you're growing spiritually, which is normally through a hard season, you're to cluster feed for the pure spiritual milk, to have an intense personal desire for it. 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:41.039 I know it's a weird illustration to say cluster feed for God's word, but that's what Peter's getting at here. 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:48.720 See, Peter's continuing his argument that it's God's word, it's pure, unadulterated, it's infallible, inerrant. 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:52.879 It contains all things necessary to salvation. 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:56.559 Notice how it says to grow up into salvation. 00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:58.000 So sanctification. 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:02.480 It's this idea that when you become a Christian, it doesn't stop right there. 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:09.519 It's a continuation, it's a pilgrimage to the end, to either when Christ return or you go to be with him. 00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:10.559 It's a continuation. 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:11.759 You don't just stop. 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:18.879 And when you come to God's word, you desire God's word to read, mark, inwardly digest it. 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:27.919 It nourishes the same way milk nourishes a baby, this idea to cluster feed for God's word, to desire it wholeheartedly. 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:31.120 Now, you might be thinking, well, how can I trust the Bible? 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:34.559 Now we can go into a big talk about how to trust the Bible. 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:41.679 And we can stand on a firm foundation that people before us and currently study this. 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:52.639 And the Bible is full of ancient manuscripts, many, many manuscripts that we can put our faith and trust that this is the word that was written back then. 00:16:53.120 --> 00:17:04.400 These manuscripts are so many and written so shortly, especially in the New Testament, especially after Christ's death and resurrection, that nothing compares to it. 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:05.279 Nothing. 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:14.319 There's famous battles of Rome and the Greeks, and these are in our history books, and there's only one or two manuscripts written hundreds of years later. 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:22.559 These are written, this letter that we're looking at right now was written around 30 years after Christ's death and resurrection. 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:25.279 It's profound that we have so many manuscripts. 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:25.680 R. 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:25.920 C. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:30.559 Sprohl has a helpful little mini book called I Can Can I Trust the Bible? 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:31.519 And I would recommend it. 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:33.440 I believe it's pretty cheap on Amazon. 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:35.039 I'd highly recommend it. 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:37.359 But look with me again at verse 3. 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:38.400 Look at this. 00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:43.039 If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good, now what does that mean? 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:51.920 He's quoting Psalm 34, verse 8, where the psalmist says in the ESV translation, Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:55.279 Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. 00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:57.599 Now, what is he getting at here? 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:00.240 See, Peter's writing this idea of tasting. 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:02.799 What does it mean to taste that the Lord is good? 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:06.240 Well, think of Paul's or Peter's testimony. 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:09.039 As I said earlier, he was a disciple of Jesus. 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:11.599 He walked with him, he was close friends with him. 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:17.759 He spent every like all the time with him for three years of Jesus' ministry. 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:22.880 He said he was the first one to declare that Jesus is the Messiah. 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:24.160 He is the Lord. 00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:26.960 He was the first one to say, I would never abandon you. 00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:28.960 I'd go to I would die for you. 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:32.160 Then what does he do as we read in the Gospels? 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:37.759 He abandons and denies Jesus in Jesus' most dire moment. 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:39.440 He leaves him. 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:45.279 He denies him when Jesus is before the people making false accusations against him. 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:52.079 And then the rooster crows, as Jesus predict, predicted that would happen, and he goes and he weeps bitterly. 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:54.880 And it kind of seems like Peter's story is done there. 00:18:55.119 --> 00:19:18.880 But when you continue in the next chapters of the Gospels, you see something which I think is one of the most beautiful moments in the Gospel, especially the Gospel of Mark, where it says in chapter 16, verse 7, when it's the next day the women are going to the tomb of Jesus, and they see the stone is rolled away, and they go in and they see that there's these angels inside. 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:20.640 And what do they say to them? 00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:26.160 They say, Go and tell the disciples that Jesus is going before them to Galilee. 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:28.720 And then it says also tell Peter. 00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:34.400 It is a beautiful moment because Peter would have felt so dejected there. 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:36.960 He probably felt like that was it, he was done. 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:47.119 But God makes it a point to say, go and tell Peter, to show that you are, regardless of what you denied me, I forgive you. 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:48.079 I love you. 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:49.599 It's a beautiful moment. 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:52.960 And this is what Peter is probably referring to that you can taste. 00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:56.880 He can taste the goodness of the Lord, the forgiveness of the Lord. 00:19:56.960 --> 00:19:58.160 It's a beautiful moment. 00:19:58.400 --> 00:19:59.519 And we all have these moments. 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:01.920 Maybe it's not as drastic as that moment. 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:06.880 But we have these moments in our lives that we can reflect on and think about that. 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:09.519 These moments when the Lord has been good in our life. 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:12.000 And it's this idea of tasting it. 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:13.279 It may not be like that all the time. 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:15.440 It may be very brief moments. 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:19.759 But there are these moments that the Lord is good, that we can taste that He is good. 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:21.039 That's the idea here. 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:23.680 And God's word can also give this. 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:25.519 But how do we approach God's work? 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:26.319 God's word. 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:36.160 See, we need to approach it not like a book, that it is living, as it says in 2 Timothy, 1 Timothy, that you could God's word is living and is active. 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:37.440 It works. 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:40.480 As Christians, you gain your nourishment through the Word of God. 00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:42.640 The word does not lead one astray. 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:47.359 Others, other things claim to give nourishment, but require you to die for them. 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:51.119 God's word, the word made flesh, died for you. 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:54.960 Now, how do you build your life on a cornerstone? 00:20:55.119 --> 00:20:59.519 As Peter continues on in his um in his um in his letter. 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:08.480 See, this section uses extensively Old Testament imagery to show the New Testament believers the great privilege they have. 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:12.880 So bear with me, I have to give a little bit of background to make it more to make it have more sense. 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:17.200 There's two illustrations used here: temple stones and the priesthood. 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:25.920 In Exodus, God calls Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt, where they had been slaves for over 400 years. 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:34.160 This is the account of the ten plagues within Egypt that Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh, pleading for them to let the people go. 00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:37.440 Eventually they go, they cross the Red Sea. 00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:39.279 Pharaoh comes after them. 00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:42.720 The army of Pharaoh is consumed within the water. 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:45.119 Moses and the people go to Mount Sinai. 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:48.400 Moses goes up and communes with God and gets the law. 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:49.920 This is where the law comes in. 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:53.759 This is where the Ten Commandments come in that we just repeated at the beginning of the service. 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:55.440 And the other laws are given. 00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:58.720 This is where also the command for the priesthood is given. 00:21:58.880 --> 00:22:02.480 And this priesthood is Only for a select family line. 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:07.920 No one else, except for the priests born within the family line can become priests. 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:15.359 Now, in 1 Kings, Solomon, the son of David, builds the temple, and it's a beautifully built of stone. 00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:16.640 It's a beautiful building. 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:18.000 And it's worth looking up. 00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:22.319 Some Bibles have it in the back of them to look up what this temple looks like. 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:23.359 You can Google it. 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:26.799 The temple symbolizes where God would meet his people. 00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:30.400 There's two courts within the temple. 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:31.839 There's the outer court. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:37.039 This is the one where the everyday person would go and worship and make their daily sacrifices if they needed to. 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:40.240 And then there's the inner chamber, the holy of holies. 00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:49.920 And this is where only the high priest would go once a year to represent the people, to make atonement for his sins, and then also for the people's sin. 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:52.720 He is the only one who could represent the people. 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:54.960 But look at verse 4 with me. 00:22:55.279 --> 00:23:13.039 As you come to him, a living stone, rejected by men, but in the sight of God, chosen and precious, as you come to him, Peter is continuing his line of thought about the daily coming to Jesus, how it builds you up in your faith through prayer and worship. 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:14.319 But what's going on here? 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:15.359 What is Peter getting at? 00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:17.920 Because he kind of turns it up a not here, notch here. 00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:24.960 As you come to him, Jesus, a living stone, rejected by men, but in the sight of God, chosen and precious. 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:34.319 See the stones of the Old Testament, regardless how beautiful they were of this temple, no matter how much skilled masonry work went into it, they were dead. 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:35.680 They were just material. 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:38.240 It's like when you walk into an old church. 00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:44.319 You walk in and you feel moved by it in a certain way, because it's beautiful, but it's built with dead material. 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:51.599 Things have the wood has been cut, trees have been cut down, and over time you become desensitized to it and it loses its grandeur. 00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:58.079 But Jesus is described here as a chosen living stone, rejected by men, precious. 00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:06.240 See, humanity has rejected Christ, but God has chosen Christ, loves Christ, views him as precious. 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:08.720 Now in verse 5 we see this. 00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:21.359 You yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:23.200 Two things are going on here. 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:27.759 Christians are living stones being built up as spiritual houses. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:33.200 Christians are a holy priesthood who offer spiritual sacrifices through Jesus. 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:41.200 In the next section, verses six to eight, Peter quotes an array of Old Testament verses. 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:46.799 Then he quotes Isaiah 28, Psalm 118, and Isaiah 8. 00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:48.880 In verses 6 to 8, we'll see. 00:24:49.119 --> 00:24:57.119 For it stands in Scripture, Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone, chosen and precious. 00:24:57.519 --> 00:25:00.960 And whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. 00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:13.119 So the honors for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected had become the cornerstone, and a stone is stumbling in a rock of offense. 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:17.680 They stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do. 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:20.960 See, this only makes sense through the gospel. 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:33.599 When Jesus went to the cross to bear our sins, to die the death that we deserved, and rose from the dead, this did away with all the Old Testament sacrificial law and ceremonial law. 00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:37.920 The daily and the yearly sacrifices were complete through Christ. 00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:41.279 The old stone, the law, was no more. 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:46.640 And everyone who obeyed the old law, who tried to live up to it, was crushed by it. 00:25:46.799 --> 00:25:55.519 But the new stone, the living stone, chosen and precious cornerstone, frees those who trust in it and build their life on it. 00:25:55.680 --> 00:26:01.599 Jesus has become the new law, the precious law, the chosen law through Christ. 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:04.559 Now, how are stone houses built? 00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:07.599 We must think about a stone house, how it's built. 00:26:07.680 --> 00:26:11.200 You dig down and a stone is laid, the cornerstone is laid. 00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:14.960 This is the foundational stone that all others rest on. 00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:22.319 Without it, the house will not be structurally sound, will eventually start to go sideways and eventually fall. 00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:25.279 See, this is what Peter's getting at here. 00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:33.759 No longer are those who trust no longer sorry, no longer are those who trust in the living God required to go to a temple to worship. 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:38.559 This idea that you must travel to Jerusalem to worship in the one temple. 00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:39.599 That's gone. 00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:43.200 They simply have to trust in Christ and build their lives on him. 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:46.079 No longer is the temple in one place. 00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:51.920 Those who trust in Jesus are the new stones, which make up the new temple, the church. 00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:55.920 See, as we gather together, we build up the new temple. 00:26:56.160 --> 00:27:00.319 We are the stones that Christ is building off of him, the cornerstone. 00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:05.279 We are the church built on the sure foundation of Jesus Christ and the Word of God. 00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:09.279 But those who do not build their lives on Jesus will eventually collapse. 00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:14.319 No church can stand without him or those who replace him. 00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:16.880 So what about this priesthood? 00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:17.920 What about it? 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:20.160 Well, let's look at verses nine and ten. 00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:35.039 But you are a chosen race, a holy priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 00:27:35.279 --> 00:27:38.559 Once you were not a people, but now you're God's people. 00:27:38.720 --> 00:27:43.279 Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 00:27:43.920 --> 00:27:55.519 The priesthood, as we mentioned earlier, was only for a select family line, which would represent the people of Israel, and the people would come to them to offer sacrifices on their behalf. 00:27:55.759 --> 00:27:57.839 No longer is that the case. 00:27:58.160 --> 00:28:04.799 Not only are we the new stones of the church, we are also the priests of the church, the priesthood. 00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:11.279 No longer do we need a middleman between us and God to enter the holy room once a year. 00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:13.920 We have direct access to God through Christ. 00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:17.119 Through Christ's work on the cross, the finished work. 00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:19.839 Do I still need to make animal sacrifices? 00:28:20.160 --> 00:28:20.480 No. 00:28:20.880 --> 00:28:29.440 We are required to make spiritual sacrifices, not out of duty, but out of a willing love for Jesus, the precious the precious stone freely given. 00:28:29.599 --> 00:28:44.400 Through prayer, worship, reading scripture, attending church, giving up our time and possessions for the glory of God, helping the poor, sharing the gospel, loving one another, even loving one another and proclaiming the gospel even if it offends. 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:46.400 So why is church so important? 00:28:46.799 --> 00:28:50.000 Think of a stone in a field on its own. 00:28:50.720 --> 00:28:52.079 It's isolated. 00:28:52.960 --> 00:28:56.079 It becomes moss ridden, it becomes stuck in the dirt. 00:28:56.240 --> 00:29:00.799 Seasons cover it, dirt starts to cover it, and eventually it disappears over time. 00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:04.960 Think of stones built together into a beautiful building. 00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:07.279 It stays useful, it stays beautiful. 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:10.720 Even with age and weatheredness, it still stays beautiful. 00:29:10.960 --> 00:29:17.920 You see old churches on the outside, they're beautiful, even if they're covered in moss and everything from the weather. 00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:20.480 They're beautiful because they're built together. 00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:32.720 Because God has made us his royal priesthood, his holy nation, as it says here, his own possession, called us out of darkness, he is merciful, loving, and steadfast. 00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:34.640 We are his priests. 00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:37.920 We stand before God as priests. 00:29:38.079 --> 00:29:44.640 We make these daily worshipful sacrifices through prayer because it's out of love, not out of duty. 00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:46.160 We love Christ. 00:29:46.400 --> 00:29:48.160 He gave his life for us. 00:29:48.640 --> 00:29:49.839 But how do we do this? 00:29:49.920 --> 00:29:52.319 How do we live as exiles as this? 00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:58.799 We have this grandeur, this royalty calling over us, but we have to live as exiles at the same time. 00:29:59.039 --> 00:29:59.920 How do we do this? 00:30:00.079 --> 00:30:01.839 Well, look at verse 11. 00:30:02.799 --> 00:30:12.160 Beloved, I urge you as sir sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:17.680 See, Peter is getting at two things here: religious piety and careless living. 00:30:17.920 --> 00:30:19.039 Careless living. 00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:22.160 These two things can wage war on our souls. 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:28.799 We think that if we do these certain things, we read our Bibles constantly, we pray, we're good. 00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:33.599 That's that wages war in our soul because we put our trust in that. 00:30:33.839 --> 00:30:40.160 Or we think if we just go off and do our own thing and live carelessly, that God's just going to honor what we do. 00:30:40.319 --> 00:30:41.839 That's not it either. 00:30:42.079 --> 00:30:45.680 There's two ways that draw us away from Christ. 00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:47.200 There's two ways. 00:30:47.519 --> 00:30:52.000 See, these things um these things wage war on our souls. 00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:54.319 But in verse 12, it shows something else. 00:30:54.640 --> 00:31:07.440 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that then they speak against you as evildoers, because you don't act like them, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. 00:31:08.079 --> 00:31:20.000 West Huff, who is a Canadian apologist, which means he just defends the Christian faith, he defends the Christian belief, he has this talk called How to Not Look Like an Idiot Sharing the Gospel. 00:31:20.960 --> 00:31:23.279 And in it, he makes a very good illustration. 00:31:23.359 --> 00:31:26.240 He says there's actually five Gospels, not four Gospels. 00:31:26.480 --> 00:31:31.279 See, there's Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and then there's you. 00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:33.119 You are the fifth gospel. 00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:48.400 See, people may never listen to your arguments, well, they may never be persuaded by your words, but the way we live out our lives amongst those who don't call themselves Christians speaks louder and is more persuasive than words. 00:31:48.640 --> 00:31:51.440 They may not be listening, but they are watching. 00:31:51.680 --> 00:31:54.799 And that's how we can live out the gospel as exiles. 00:31:54.880 --> 00:31:56.400 How are you living out your life? 00:31:56.720 --> 00:31:58.480 Can people see the gospel in it? 00:31:58.640 --> 00:32:02.960 Can they see the gospel spilling out of you as you walk within this world? 00:32:03.200 --> 00:32:08.720 See, gospel living builds up the temple, but ungospel living destroys the temple. 00:32:09.119 --> 00:32:15.839 If you continue in 1 Peter, he gives more examples of how this is done, and Creighton will get on it in the coming weeks. 00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:19.440 See, how are we to be God's royal priesthood? 00:32:19.599 --> 00:32:23.920 It's through finding nourishment in the Word of God and nothing else. 00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:35.759 It's building your life on the cornerstone who is Jesus Christ, and it's to live as exiles amongst the people, to live a gospel-centered life, being exiled by while at the same time. 00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:43.680 Friends, brothers, and sisters in Christ, we have been given a great gift, Jesus the chosen and precious cornerstone. 00:32:43.920 --> 00:32:51.519 Build your life on him, long for the pure word of God, be his royal priesthood, offer spiritual sacrifices to him. 00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:59.519 See, you have been chosen and have been made God's possession out of love through his Son, Jesus Christ's work on the cross. 00:32:59.839 --> 00:33:01.279 And let us pray. 00:33:02.079 --> 00:33:06.480 Heavenly Father, we give you thanks and praise for your word. 00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:10.720 Well, first off, we give you thanks and praise for Christ and his work on the cross. 00:33:10.960 --> 00:33:15.440 But we give you thanks and praise for your word and how it nourishes our soul. 00:33:15.680 --> 00:33:23.920 We give you thanks and praise that you have chosen us, Lord, that we have done nothing to deserve it, but you have freely chosen out of given us mercy. 00:33:24.160 --> 00:33:27.759 Lord, help us to live a gospel life amidst this world. 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:34.319 As things pull so much on our desires, on our time, help us, Lord, to live out the gospel. 00:33:34.480 --> 00:33:41.839 We give you thanks and praise, Lord, that it is not anything that we do, but it's everything that Christ has done. 00:33:42.160 --> 00:33:44.079 And we pray us in Jesus' name. 00:33:44.319 --> 00:33:44.960 Amen. 00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:47.839 We hope that you've been blessed by God's word today. 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:53.519