Are You A Pebble Or A Rock?

Sermon Title: Are You A Pebble or A Rock?

Sermon Text: 1 Peter 2:4-12

Ralf HT Bergmann

Bethel Christian Church

Date: November 5th, 2000

Scripture Introduction:

It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, so apart from bringing out the chalkboard, Peter resorts to the next best thing, and that would be very picturesque language. The words that he uses in this particular section of Scripture are of such a visual variety that the images come to the mind quickly and clearly. Of course when the Holy Spirit does the directing, Peter as the main player in this scene could hardly go wrong. We have all used this kind of language to embellish the conversation and actually increase the understanding of whom we are trying to reach. As we prepare to hear and understand what the Lord has for us in this Scripture let us all ask the Holy Spirit to open our hearts and minds for the message that He has for us today.

Please join me in the reading of God’s Holy Word!

Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 2:4-12

4 And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 you also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For this is contained in Scripture:

“BEHOLD I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER STONE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM SHALL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

7 This precious value, then, is for you who disbelieve,

“THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,

THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER STONE,”

8 and,

“A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENCE”;

for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. 9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE. A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR GOD’S OWN POSSESSION, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for once you were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY. 11 beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. 12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Introduction:

In this particular text, Peter uses the statement, built up as a spiritual house, to describe our process of Spiritual growth toward the goal of the holy Priesthood. And in many cases we can use the building of a structure to illustrate the process of Christian Spiritual growth. The obvious place to start would be with the foundation. Now the thought of construction isn’t something that is new to the teaching of Biblical principles. We read the words of Jesus in the book of Matthew 7:24-27:

24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 "And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall."

The foundation of a house is probably the most important part of its construction, however another thing that needs to be considered is the surroundings in which it is built. I read this text and I thought about a story when I was a kid. Most of the houses in the neighborhood that I grew up in had basements, however there were a couple of houses right behind where we lived that didn’t. One of the families decided to have the house raised up and a basement put in. One day they heard a commotion downstairs in the basement. When they went to investigate the walls on one side of the basement had given way to the quicksand that the house had been built in. The pressure from the outside environment caused the foundation to collapse. Even though we have a good foundation in the Word of God doesn’t mean that our surroundings don’t affect us. This is where the need for fellowship and worship with fellow Christians comes in handy. It will be even a greater if not impossible struggle if we go it alone.