SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). We are children in the same family (1:22-2:3).
(2). We are stones in the same building (2:4-8).
(3). We are priests in the same temple (2:5&9).
(4). We are citizens in the same nation (2:9-10).
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• LEGO or 'Automatic Binding Bricks' as they were known in 1949,
• When their manufacturing began,
• Are without a doubt are the most famous kids (and adults) toys ever made.
• When you came in you received a Lego building block,
• I’ve got a challenge for you;
• I want you to build something with your Lego blocks but there is one condition,
• You cannot use anybody else’s Lego block.
• Question: Now what can you build with one Lego block?
• The answer is nothing!
• TRANSITION: This is how it is in the church.
• On our own we cannot build anything for God that will last,
• But when we all work together that we can be effective and enduring,
• When we together use the gifts, talents and time that God has given us.
Ill: 2 corny Lego jokes:
• A lorry carrying LEGO bricks overturned on the motorway.
• The police say they don't know what to make of it!
• What do I have if I have 8 red LEGO bricks in one hand,
• And 16 blue LEGO bricks in the other hand?
Answer: The answer of course is, really big hands!
• TRANSITION: Probably the first thing you ever built with Lego was a wall,
• You click the pieces into place and it’s kind of happens naturally without thinking.
• Sadly, the world in which we live builds walls (not talking now about Lego or brick),
• And these walls are built to separate us from one another,
• e.g., social walls, economic walls, racial walls.
• As Christians we are called to build bridges and not walls!
• We are to make sure walls of division that divide us stay down.
Ill:
• The German philosopher Schopenhauer compared the human race,
• To a bunch of porcupines huddling together on a cold winter’s night.
• He said,
“The colder it gets outside, the more we huddle together for warmth; but the closer we get to one another, the more we hurt one another with our sharp quills.”
• TRANISTION: God has showed us, and he empowers us to not only huddle together,
• But also, to deal with those sharp quills that can easily hurt one another.
Note: So far in our studies in 1 Peter, the teaching has been,
• Walk in hope (vs 1-12)
• Walk in holiness (vs 13-21)
• Today, will be, walk in harmony/unity (1:22 to 2:10)
• These verses show to us four pictures of the Church,
• And they are four pictures of unity among God’s people.
(1). We are children in the same family (1:22-2:3).
Quote:
“To dwell above with saints we love, my won’t that be glory, but to dwell below with saints we know, now that’s another story!”
Quote:
“You can choose your friends, but you are stuck with your family!”
• TRANSITION: God does not want for us to just be stuck together,
• Or even to put up with one another,
• His command goes deeper, we are to love one another!
• Remember from previous studies we have learnt,
• These Christians were hurting.
• They were scattered, forced out of their homes,
• They needed to leave their towns and villages (1:1).
• They were going through a variety of tough trials (1:6)
• Some were tempted to conform, compromise, or give up altogether (1:14-15)
• To survive these tough times, these Christians needed to support one another,
• They needed a community where they could find genuine love.
(A). We have all experienced the same birth (1:22-23)
“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”
Ill:
• When I had my bookstall selling Christian books and Bibles at Fareham Market
• Another trader came over to speak to me and soon realised what I was selling,
• He was from New Zealand and he said to me, “Are you one of those reborn Christians?”
• So, I explained to him in the UK we tend to use the expression,
• “Born again Christian”.
• To be born again, refers to a "spiritual rebirth",
• Or a regeneration of the human spirit from the Holy Spirit,
• We all had a physical birth, a time when we entered this world,
• Jesus used that idea in his teaching (John chapter 3),
• And the apostle Peter does to.
Ill:
• If you keep in mind that contrast of human birth and spiritual birth.
• The metaphor can go even further.
• For your physical birth you needed two human parents (father & mother)
• For your spiritual birth you will also need two parents.
• Parent #1: The Word of God (vs 23a)
• e.g. (“Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God” – Romans 10:17)
• Parent #2: The Holy Spirit of God (chapter 3 verses 5-6)
• e.g. (“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” – John 3:6)
God has given to us a new nature and a new power, the indwelling Holy Spirit:
• Therefore, our love can as Peter says in verse 22: “Have sincere love for each other”,
• He goes onto say: a “deep love, from the heart.”
• Our love is to be more than a handshake (remember those before Covid-19),
• And a smile at the beginning and end of a service.
• Our love is to be real and showing itself in our attitude and actions for one another.
Note:
• The apostle Peter mentions five specific sins (2:1),
• These sins will always build walls between us instead of bridges.
“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.
of every kind.”
Malice: is the desire to harm someone.
• We see that in the world, when someone hurts us, we might ignore them,
• But often we have an attitude of ‘it is payback time!’
• But not in the Church! In the Church some situations may need to be dealt with,
• But dealt with in an attitude of love and forgiveness.
• We are not out to hurt the other person but to help them and get reconciled with them.
Deceit: is deception or falsehood is an act or statement which misleads.
• The Greek word used here means, ‘two-facedness’ or ‘trickery’.
• The idea of bait on a fishhook,
• It promises something nice but all the time it is designed to catch and to harm.
Hypocrisy: The Greek word means, ‘To act a part, to hide behind a mask’
• Hypocrisy is when you criticize a person for their behaviour or activity,
• Then you go away and engage in the same activity yourself.
• e.g., Jesus spoke some of his strongest rebukes towards the religious leaders of his day,
• Because of their hypocrisy.
• God wants honest, sincere, genuine people not religious phonies!
Envy: Quote: Aristotle defined envy as pain at the sight of another's good fortune, stirred by “those who have what we ought to have.”
Quote Edward Gordon Selwyn: This sin is,
“a constant plague on all voluntary organisations, not least religious organisations, and to which even the Twelve disciples themselves were subject at the very crisis of our Lord’s ministry”.
Slander: This word literally means, “evil speaking”
• It happens the most when the victim is not there to defend themselves,
• Or to set the record straight.
• Slander is derogatory gossip.
Quote:
“Gossip is the deadliest microbe. It has neither legs nor wings.
It is composed entirely of tales, and most of them have stings.”
The apostle Peter tells us to, ‘rid yourselves’ of them.
• Like old smelly, clothes, take them off, literally, “strip them off,” lay them aside,
• They belong to the old nature and not the new nature!
• To feed the new nature, remember…
(b). We enjoy the same food (2:2-3)
“Like new-born babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
• The word of God gives life and it also nourishes life!
• We should crave this word, like a baby craves milk.
Ill:
• Physical growth happens automatically,
• I can guarantee that when the ‘full’ Church can meet again after Covid-19 has passed.
• Those who have been forces to self-isolate, will look at the children and say,
• “Haven’t they grown?”
• They will also look at you and me and think, “Haven’t they grown… older”.
• And in our minds, we too will be thinking the same about them!
• TRANSITION: Physical growth happens automatically,
• But spiritual growth does not, YOU must do something!
• The apostle Peter says we are to crave the word of God, like a baby craves milk.
Ill:
• When people lose their appetites there are often several reasons.
• e.g., they have been eating the wrong things (sweets before a meal)
• e.g., they are ill (sickness often reveals itself in lack of appetite)
• TRANSITION: If we do not seek to deal with the sins mentioned,
• i.e., ‘Malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander’.
• Do not be surprised if you lose your spiritual appetite for the word of God.
• Do not be surprised if you do not grow but remain a spiritual baby.
• So, in verses 1-3 Peter gives us two principles to help us grow as Christians:
• First principle: What to avoid (vs 1). Second principle: What to crave (vs 2-3).
(2). We are stones in the same building (2:4-8).
“As you come to him, the living Stone – rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him – you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:
‘See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.’
Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
‘The stone the builders rejected’
has become the cornerstone,
and,
‘A stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.’
They stumble because they disobey the message – which is also what they were destined for.”
Quote: William Andrew Ward.
"We can choose to throw stones, to stumble on them, to climb over them, or to build with them."
• The first three choices (throwing, stumbling and climbing over),
• Are the choices of the old nature, before we were ‘born again’
• And sadly, they are so often on display in our world each day.
• The last choice (building) is what our new nature is called to do,
• We are called to be ‘living stones’ building up each other and building well.
Note:
• There is only one saviour Jesus Christ, and there is only one spiritual building,
• That spiritual house/building is his Church, made up of all true believers,
• With Jesus Christ as the valuable chief cornerstone.
NOW HERE IS AN INCREDIBLE THING:
• Peter spells out for us in these verses.
• The wonder of God’s grace, mercy and goodness.
• The description given to Jesus is amazingly given to us!
(a). We are precious:
• 3 times Jesus Christ is described as being precious to God the Father in verses 4, 6 & 7.
• And 3 times the word ‘precious’ is used about us (Christians) in verses 9-10.
• Verses 9-10 demonstrate the fact we too are precious to God.
(b). We are stones.
• Verses 4, 6,7 & 8 refer to Jesus Christ as a stone (capstone).
• Verse 5 says we too are stones in the house of God.
(c). Not just stones but ‘living’ stones.
• Verse 4: Christ is the living stone.
• Verse 5: We too are described as living stones.
BELIEVERS ARE LIVING STONES IN HIS BUILDING.
Ill:
• Some Christians today may call a local church building the "house of God,"
• But if you want to be pedantic, that is not strictly true!
• What Christians mean by call a local church building the "house of God," is:
• The building is dedicated to God and His service,
• But it is not His dwelling place.
• God does not live there.
• The New Testament clearly tells us in verses like Acts chapter 7 verses 46-50:
• That ‘God does not live-in temples, buildings, dwellings made with hands.
The New Testament teaches that the dwelling place of God is twofold.
• God the Father & God the Son are enthroned in heaven.
• God the Holy Spirit dwells, tabernacles in the hearts and minds of every Christian.
• The true building or temple is Christ’s body, the Church.
• ill: Tyndale’s translation using the word, ‘Congregation’ instead of ‘Church’.
Quote: Warren Wiersbe:
“Each time someone trusts Christ, another stone is quarried out of the pit of sin and cemented by grace into the building.”
• Remember Peter wrote this letter to believers living in five different provinces,
• Yet he said that they all belonged to ONE "spiritual house."
• There is a unity of God's people.
• That transcends all local and individual assemblies and fellowships.
• Unity does not eliminate diversity.
• Not all children in a family are alike, nor are all the stones in a building identical.
• In fact, it is diversity that gives beauty and richness to a family or building.
• The absence of diversity is not unity; it is uniformity, and uniformity is dull.
• God may call us into different ministries, or to use different methods,
• But we can still love each other and seek to present a united witness to the world.
• Peter reminds us that we belong to each other.
• Because we belong to Christ!
(3). We are priests in the same temple (2:5&9).
“you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
PETER EMPHASISES TWO THINGS TO US IN THESE VERSES:
• Our status.
• Our ministry.
(1st). He describes our status, our standing before God:
• We are a spiritual house and a holy priesthood.
• He validates that in verse 9-10 by saying:
“We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, the recipients of mercy”.
(2nd). Peter describes our ministry.
• Then, after saying who we are,
• Peter tells us what we do.
• We offer spiritual sacrifices that God accepts.
• And he supports that statement in verse 9 by saying:
“We declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light”.
ill:
• In the Old Testament the Hebrews, Children of Israel had a priesthood.
• But today, all Christians are God’s priesthood.
• In the Old Testament priests could only come from the tribe of Levi,
• But in the New Testament each individual believer is qualified.
• Each Christian has the privilege of coming into the presence of God.
• (Hebrews chapter 10 verses 19-25).
This means that our lives should be lived as though we were priests in a temple:
• The role of a priest was important.
• They offered up prayers (interceding on behalf of the people.)
• They emphasised the spiritual side of life.
• And they offered up sacrifices.
Ill:
1. In the Old Testament the priests offered animal sacrifices.
But in the New Testament Christians offer "spiritual sacrifices."
2. We ought to give our bodies to Him as living sacrifices.
(Romans chapter 12 verses 1-2),
3. We are to offer him the praise of our lips.
(Hebrews chapter 13 verse 15),
4. The good works we do for others are also described as sacrifices.
(Hebrews chapter 13 verse 16).
5. The money and other material things we share with others in God's service.
Is also described a spiritual sacrifice (Philippians chapter 4 verses10-20).
6. Even the people we win to Christ Paul describes as sacrifices for His glory.
(Romans chapter 15 verse 16).
(4). We are citizens in the same nation (2:9-10).
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
• If those words sound familiar, they should!
• If you read the Old Testament you will recognise that the description Peter uses here,
• Parallels God's description of Israel,
• In the O.T. (Exodus chapter 19 verses 5-6 and Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 6.).
• Sadly, Israel in the Old Testament were a disobedient and rebellious people.
• In contrast God wants his Church to be obedient and holy.
• What Israel failed to be in times past.
• God wants his Church to be in the present and future.
ENJOY THE DESCRIPTIONS OF VERSES 9-10:
(a).
• We are a chosen generation,
• Which immediately speaks of the grace of God.
• God has chosen us purely because of his love and grace.
• "You did not choose Me, but I chose you" (John chapter 15 verse 16).
(b).
• We are a holy nation.
• We have been set apart to belong exclusively to God.
Ill:
• Paul told the Philippians in chapter3 verse 20:
• "Our citizenship," he says, "is in heaven."
• It was a picture his readers could understand.
• Philippi was geographically a Greek city northwest of the nearby island, Thasos.
• But it was a Roman colony, which meant,
• That in its government, lifestyle and attitude it was Roman through and through.
• e.g., Roman dress was worn, e.g., Roman magistrates governed.
• e.g., The Latin tongue was spoken, e.g., Roman justice was administered.
• e.g., Roman morals were observed.
• Even if they were living in the ends of the earth, they still remained unshakeably Roman!
Paul says to the Philippians,
"Just as the Roman colonists never forget that they belong to Rome,
as Christians we must never forget that we are citizens of heaven; and your conduct must match your citizenship. "
• So, we obey heaven's laws.
• And seek to please heaven's Lord.
(c).
• We are the people of God.
• In our unsaved condition, we were not God's people.
• Because we belonged to Satan and the world (Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1-3, 11-19).
• Now that we have trusted Christ, we are a part of God's people.
Now all of these privileges carry with them one big responsibility:
• Verse 9b: We are to be revealing the praises of God to a lost world.
• The verb translated “declare” or "show forth" means "to tell out, to advertise."
Ill:
• Drive along the motorway, or into a new city for the first time,
• One of the first thing you notice, is the golden arches advert.
• It normally says, “Turn off of McDonalds” or “McDonalds just 100 yards ahead”
• What they are doing is not only advertising their company,
• They are tempting you in, they are wetting your appetite,
• They are giving you the chance to experience their product.
• TRANSITION: Peter would say, “Watch and learn”
• Verse 9b: We are to “declare” or "show forth" meaning "to tell out, to advertise."
• Because each citizen of heaven (you & I) is a living "advertisement”.
• For the qualities of God and the blessings of the Christian life.
In Summary:
Each of these pictures emphasizes the importance of unity and harmony,
• We belong to one family of God and share the same divine nature.
• (1). We are children in the same family (1:22-2:3).
• (2). We are stones in the same building (2:4-8).
• (3). We are priests in the same temple (2:5&9).
• (4). We are citizens in the same nation (2:9-10).
Therefore, in view of that the apostle Peter says:
• Verses 11-12 are his punch line.
• Verses 11-12 are his applicational summary.
• He says in the light of who you are in Christ Jesus.
• You should now live in a certain way.
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=G6PCWsBmicLO5DDXfHLavkCbdazHO8ut
SERMON VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/aFPHHbebcEo
