Buxton | 08/03/26 | Living Stones | Harry Thompson

Buxton

Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/354059/episodes/18896712-buxton-08-03-26-living-stones-harry-thompson.mp3

Harry continued our series on the fundementals of church life, looking at us being living stones. 

Transcript

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Servants, which is maybe a slightly unusual title for the church, but that's that's what the Bible teaches. So and it's appropriate to me, I find it quite interesting that Peter is the one who wrote about the living stones, because you may remember that Jesus gave Peter the name or stone. So it is appropriate that Peter should be writing about us as living stone. 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. For it stands in Scripture, behold, I'm laying in Zion the stone, the cornerstone, chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. So the honor is for you who believe, 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. They stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do. 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 Godness into his marvelous light. That's what we'll be doing now, we'll be proclaiming Jesus' excellencies. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. So the first aspect of this is the priority and supremacy of Jesus Christ, the living stone. So before he talks about us as being living stones, Peter talks about Jesus as the living stone. Living may be a new idea in terms of the stones, but Jesus as stone, or as cornerstone, isn't a new thing in terms of biblical history. Jesus quoted Psalm 118, verse 22, to the religious leaders, where he said, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. So Jesus identified himself as the cornerstone, the fulfillment of prophecy. And Peter quoted it in Acts 4 when he was making his defense before the Jewish leaders after he'd been arrested for preaching the gospel. And he continues it again, quotes the same verse again in his letter to the churches in Asia Minor. There he describes Jesus as chosen by God and precious in his sight. As we grasp who Jesus is and what he has done, we should be overflowing with worship and praise to Jesus. There's not enough words you can use to praise Jesus because he's worthy of God. Nothing and no one else warrants being called awesome in comparison to Jesus. It's a word that's used a lot quite flippantly these days, but Jesus is really the only one who is right to be called awesome. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 11, for no one can lay any foundation other than the one who laid, which is Jesus Christ. So he is the cornerstone, the chief cornerstone. Jesus and who he is, what he has done for us must be the foundation on which we build output both our lives and our church. What is a cornerstone? Well, AI tells me a cornerstone is the first most crucial stone set in a masonry construction. Based at the corner to unite two walls, bear the weight of the structure and ensure stability. And I think that's a lovely picture of what Jesus is, what he is to the church. He bears the weight of the structure, he ensures stability. And as Philip said, we already need that today. We need to have that stability that Jesus brings to our lives. And then the next slide we see that the priority, that's well, we talked about the priority of Jesus as Jesus as the chief cornerstone. And then we read about the church as a spiritual house made of the believers as living stones. I find it quite amazing that first Peter talks about Jesus as the living stone. And then he talks about us as living stones. What a privilege, what an honor. And it's not the only place in scripture where this happens. Jesus proclaimed that I am the light of the world. And then elsewhere he says, You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth. We're to be Jesus to people, we are to reflect him in our lives. And Peter goes on, you also, in other words, ordinary people like you and me are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices. So those last words, to be a holy priesthood, are offering spiritual sacrifices, give us a clue that the house that Peter was referring to was in fact the temple. And when Israel was freed from captivity in Egypt, the Lord gave them instructions to make a tabernacle, a tent, a worship tent basically, which they carried with them as they wandered around the wilderness. And then later Solomon built a temple in Jerusalem. And these were identified as the place where God's glory built, where his presence was there by the Holy Spirit, where God lived among them. But it wasn't always at a bit of a distance. You had to come to God through priests, you had to come and offer sacrifices. But then when we get to the gospel, we read in John 14 where Jesus is called the Word. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus referred himself to his body as the temple. And he was full of the Holy Spirit. The disciples, Peter, James and John, saw him in his glory when he was transfigured and mountain. And Jesus himself prophesied that destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. So the presence of God is no longer stuck in a building away from the people that had traveled miles to if they wanted to go and worship God. But it was in a person, it was in the person of Jesus. And then the next phase we go to Acts 1. Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, the very first verse of that he said, in my previous book, he's writing to his friend Theophilus, and he tells him, in my previous book, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach. And the implication of that is he isn't finished. He's carrying on doing and teaching and building. All the believers were full of the Spirit. And the church then became the place where God's Holy Spirit lived. What a proof. And this is we have to keep the place where God is evident. No longer a building, but people, but us as the church. So Peter tells us we are living stones being built into a spiritual house. Clearly, he's not talking about a building as we are living stones. It's not something static because it's living. It's growing both numerically as people come to faith in Jesus and as the living stones as we grow and mature in our walk with people. Paul used the same illustration in Ephesians, calling us not just a house, but a household, more like an extended family. He said, Consequently, you're no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household. Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple to the Lord. In him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his spirit. Isn't that wonderful? We're being built together to become a temple where Jesus lives by his spirit. And it was interesting seeing him picture there. And it got me thinking about all how the stones fizzed together. No two stones were the same. I like the idea of when I think of us as a spiritual building, I think of a dry stone wall because it's not just a whole lot of identical bricks. Each stone is different. It's got its own shape, its own color, its own texture. And that's like we are, we are all different. But God has a particular place for each of us in the structure that is a build. No two stones are the same, we're unique as individuals, and we have a unique role that God has prepared for us. In Ephesians 2 verse 10, just after He has made it quite clear that we are saved by grace and that's not of our souls, a lot of works. Paul then says, we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus, to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. So each of us, God has a role for us, and he has good works that he has intended for us to do. And we like those stones that make a beautiful wall. And God is putting us in and watching this guy making his putting his wall together. He look around at this pile of stones there, and he knew where he was wanting to put something, and he picked a stone that was the right size and shape and put it on there, and then you chiseled a little bit off it if it didn't fit quite properly. May have to cut a bit and reshape it so that it fits snugly. And sometimes it feels like that's what God is doing to us because really sometimes the things chiseled off us, the things that need to be changed in our lives. And God is working so that we fit snugly and we fulfill our purpose and we keep out the wind, we keep out the rain. We're part of what makes the church a building. And then God is the architect and builder. He has the master plan. We may have our ideas of what the building should look like, but we haven't yet seen the whole picture, what he has in our mind. And we need to be humble enough to admit that God is a much better architect and builder than we are. We need to be also to be careful, not to limit what God wants to do, how he wants to use us, and how he wants to use other people. We may think that we don't have much to give, but God has a particular use for us, a particular job for each of us to do. I love what Paul says in 1 Corinthians. Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise and the world's eyes were powerful or wealthy that God called you. Instead, God chose the things that the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose the things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. And the end result of this, if you can go to the next picture, if you see on the right hand side of the picture what the world looks like when the master builder has finished with it. So think of beauty and of function. It serves its purpose and it's standard for years and we're keeping all the wings, giving shape and structure to that fear. All right. In the next slide, what does God want to use us for as living stones? In 1 Peter 2 verse 5 again, we have you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices and acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. So what does God use us as living stones for? Well, a different metaphor here we've got different metaphors. Peter tells us we're a holy priesthood, and priests offered sacrifices, so we are also offered to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. It's not the sacrifices of animals, thankfully. But we're to offer spiritual sacrifices. I think that's what this whole series that we've had the last couple of months about what the church is showing, what those spiritual sacrifices are. First and foremost is worship. We are to bring worship to God completely. And it's as we see Jesus and as we see him as he is in divine glory that we get the right perspective, things fall into place. Another of the spiritual sacrifices is prayer. So important, uh, and as mentioned the the Wings 7 prayer meeting, and I love it that has been a focus of church in the peak is on the words of prayer. And then there's God's word, discovering what God's will is, and then living lives of obedience to God. And it's not legalism, but the right response to what Jesus has done for us. And then the great commission which Jesus gave when he ascended into heaven was to point others to Jesus, to make disciples. And this can happen in a number of ways. Some are especially gifted in evangelism, but we can all share what God has done for us and draw people to God, be a link in a chain that may bring somebody to God through something that you have said. And then last week you we talked about giving. And then he's caring for one another in practical ways. And I love what I'm seeing in this body as people care for each other and encourage one another. A lot of the WhatsApp group, how people are encouraging each other and becoming a fan in Jesus. Then we look at what we are in Christ or who we are in Christ. The last couple of verses of the passage we read at the beginning. That you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. Isn't that wonderful? God has given us so many privileges. We are a chosen race. We're not here by accident. God has chosen you. God has given you himself. He died for us so that we could kind of have a relationship with him. We are a royal priesthood. Royal replies that you are children of the king. We're all children of the king. And just as the priests were intermediaries bringing people to God, we have the privilege of pointing people to Jesus. You are a holy nation. Being part of God's family is our boundary identity. We are a people for his own possession. Isn't it wonderful that he treasures us like well we might treasure a special possession? Finally, I want to talk about us being living stones in the local church. In the beginning of the book of Revelation, John has this vision of Jesus and he's totally awe there. But he sees him standing among a hole of candlesticks, golden candlesticks, which are which he was told represent the seven local churches. And in the next two chapters, Jesus has messages for each of these local churches showing that he knows and cares about the challenges they face. He wants to put them right where they're off the horse or and he encourages them in their suffering and their hardships. He addresses each local church in a way that relates to their unique context. And he relates in a similar way to us too. It's Buxton Church in the Peak. Nikki Gumble has written, I've observed over the years the astonishing achievements that are possible when every member of even a small congregation gets involved in praying and serving and giving. Terry Bergo puts it so well in the book People Prepared. He says, We need to rediscover the incredible value and significance of the local church in God's plan and perspective. She is not to be ignored or despised, she is to be honored and church. Each lampstand is not plastic but golden, of pureless words to Christ. Because each local church can know the full joy of being the dwelling place of God in the spirit. What a wonder the local church is. What a mighty and glorious privilege to be part of one. And so that's something that we can address as being part of the spirit of the church. That God is making us into a family of a building of four years ago.