Let's turn tonight to 1 Peter chapter 2, where we will read the first 10 verses, and then begin a Lent series focusing on verses 7 and 8. 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 1, Wherefore, laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that she may grow thereby. If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious, to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. Ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you, therefore, which believe he is precious, But unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, for unto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness, into His marvelous light, which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." So far we read God's holy, inspired Word. Now notice with me verses 7 and 8. "'Unto you, therefore, which believe, He, Jesus, is precious, but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed." That's our text. The Old Testament prophet spoke more than once of the cornerstone that the Lord had chosen and upon which He would build His church, but which those called to build the church would refuse." Three passages I have here, Isaiah 28, 16, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. According to another passage in Isaiah, chapter 8, verse 14, the very one that the Lord had chosen to be this cornerstone would become, quote, a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, the northern tribes and the southern tribes. Then one more passage from the Psalm, Psalm 118, verse 22, the stone which the builders refused has become the headstone of the corner. These are all prophecies of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, whom God sent into the world to be the mediator. God had eternally chosen Him to be the cornerstone of the church, the one upon whom the entire church of God is to be built. But those charged with the actual building of the church rejected Him. They could not find a place for Him in the church that they were building. In fact, they stumbled over Him to their own destruction. But God, even though He was rejected by the so-called builders of the church, made Him the cornerstone of the church anyway, even using the rejection of the builders to accomplish his purpose. That's what was prophesied in the Old Testament. I intend to develop these ideas for a Lent series with the theme, The Stone Rejected, and begin that series tonight by considering this passage out of 1 Peter 2, verses 7 and 8. Interestingly, in these two verses and the verse before, the passages that we cited out of the Old Testament, those three, are all referred to here or quoted. Let's start with verse 4. There, Peter describes Jesus as a stone, a living stone, disallowed or rejected in deed of men, but chosen of God and precious. Then, the apostle goes on by inspiration to explain what that's all about. In verse 5, he calls us, the saints of God, living stone, which together comprise the house of God. Ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house. We are living stones in the house of God in which he dwells. And according to the next verse, verse 6, Jesus is the chief cornerstone of the spiritual house of God, from which all the stones of the house receive their life and become living stone. And the apostle makes that clear by quoting one of the passages we already read, Isaiah 28, verse 16. Behold, I lie in Zion, a chief cornerstone, alack, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. He's quoting Isaiah. And it's on that basis that we become living stones and are built up a spiritual house. Then, in the verses we consider tonight, Jesus, or Peter, makes a contrast. He talks about those who believe. Unto you therefore which believe, He, Jesus, this chosen cornerstone, is precious. Now the contrast, but to them which be disobedient. And I don't know why the King James has disobedient, because the word is very obviously believe, or unbelieve. unbelievers. To those who are unbelieving, Peter goes on to say, they reject Jesus as the cornerstone. And not only do they reject Him as the cornerstone of the church, but Jesus also becomes a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. And Peter makes that clear by quoting the two other passages that we cited just a moment ago from the Old Testament. And so we call attention then to this passage tonight under the theme, The Stone Rejected. We notice first of all who this stone is, secondly, how he is rejected, and finally, how he is precious. Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone of the house of God. We have to understand a little bit about what a cornerstone was, and especially the chief cornerstone in a building. It was really the most important piece of the whole house. The foundation of the house was made up of many different stones and rocks of different sizes, but there were several cornerstones, depending on the shape of the house, probably four. Could be five, depending on how the builder wanted to shape the house. But then there was the chief cornerstone. That was the main stone of the foundation. The foundation was constructed in such a way that the whole foundation, and thus the house that was built upon it, rested upon that chief cornerstone. The size and the shape of that stone really determined the size of the foundation and the shape and size of the house. Sometimes a builder would spend several months searching and searching just for the right stone to be that chief cornerstone upon which the foundation and the whole house rested. Now, In the house of God, Jesus is the one chosen by God to be its chief cornerstone. This passage and the context view the church as the house of God. Notice verse five, he also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house. And that concept is found elsewhere in the New Testament. And the church is viewed as the house of God in that it becomes the dwelling place of God, where you dwell. That's your house, because God chooses to dwell in the church. It becomes His house. How is that so? Well, God is a covenant God who has eternally determined to establish His covenant with His elect people. In that covenant, God calls His elect one by one out of the darkness of unbelief and death unto the light of faith and salvation. And Peter refers to that In verse 9, ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light by the power of the word, God in Christ. calls the elect, come unto me, believe. And he makes that call irresistible and powerful so that they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And they become the called out ones, and that's what the church is. The word church in the original is our word ecclesiastical, and it means the called out ones. That's what we are here, those who have been called out of darkness unto faith and salvation and are joined to Christ by faith. God has done that so that He can live with us and dwell with us in friendship and fellowship. But He can only dwell with us if He first dwells in us. And that's why He joins us to Christ. The Bible speaks of the fact that by faith we are in Christ, and Christ is in us. And I'm getting ahead of myself a little bit, but the fact of the matter is that through Christ, God literally dwells in us. And because He dwells in us, He dwells with us as our covenant God. And so the church is viewed as the very house of God, and each member as a living stone in this house. And of this house, Jesus is the chief cornerstone. There are other stones in the foundation of God's spiritual house. We read in chapter 2, Ephesians, verses 20 and following, that we are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom also we are built together for inhabitation of God through the Spirit. Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone, but the apostles and the prophets also belong to that foundation. Why? Because those were the ones commissioned to proclaim Christ. And so there too also are part of the foundation. But the house of God all rests upon the cornerstone, which is Jesus Christ. Now, how is Jesus Christ the chief cornerstone of the church? In two ways. First of all, because he is Emmanuel, that is, God with us. Jesus is and remains forever the eternal Son of God. But in the fullness of time, he became one of us through the virgin birth and remains now for all eternity truly and fully God, but also truly and fully man. He is literally Immanuel, God with us. God, come down to live and dwell with us. And it is only through Jesus, the Emmanuel, that we become the house of God. This is where I got ahead of myself a moment ago, being called out of darkness into the marvelous light of faith and salvation. We as God's elect people, are literally joined to Christ with a living connection, even as a branch that is engrafted into a tree becomes part of that tree. So we become part of Christ. And the Bible expresses that connection to be so close that literally Christ says, you are in me and I am in you. When you speak of Christ, you speak of us. When you speak of us, you speak of Christ. And who is Christ? Well, He's one of us. But He's also God. And so it's only through Christ, who is God and us, that the whole beautiful reality of the covenant is established. The whole covenant becomes a reality. God comes in Christ. and lives in us and lives with us and we become the house of God because he's Emmanuel. But Jesus is the chief cornerstone also and that he alone makes it possible for God to live in us and with us, the elect in fellowship and friendship. You see, the whole reality of the covenant and God living in us and with us requires a payment for sin. The elect of God, a great number and strong, are the heart of the human race that fell into sin. We're guilty! We're just as guilty of ourselves as those who will perish eternally in hell, and we're just as hopelessly lost as those who will lose their soul in hell. And God cannot and will not fellowship with, enter into fellowship and friendship with such life. There must be atonement. one must come and take the penalty of our sin upon himself and carry it all away and he must perform a perfect obedience where we failed that alone opens the way for God to live in us and with us and for us to be his house and Jesus Christ God with us is the only one who can do that Being one of us, He alone can take the punishment of our sin. Being God, He alone can endure it all away. Being one of us, He alone can walk in obedience in our place. Being God, He alone can walk in perfect obedience for you and you and you and for countless others. He's the only one who can provide this atonement He did this all his life long, but especially at the cross. That makes him the chief cornerstone of the church, the one upon whom the whole structure of the house of God depends. All the other foundations, stones in the foundation merely set forth the gospel of Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, and his perfect sacrifice. He's the chief cornerstone. The whole house of God rests squarely on him. According to the verses before us, and this is our second point, this elect cornerstone was rejected, disallowed, by those who were disobedient. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient, well, they rejected him. And again, remember that word translated disobedient really is unbelieving, unbelieving. And these unbelieving people are described in verse seven in the first part of the quote that Peter makes of Psalm 18, verse 22. The stone which the builders disallowed, the same became the head of the corner. This speaks of builders. who in their unbelief disallowed or rejected a specific stone. These had been appointed to be building on the church. They are primarily the leaders of the church that seek to build the church through the preaching of the word and by the word to add new members to the church and to strengthen the members of the house of God. And the viewpoint here is that in their work of building on the church, they rejected a particular stone in the building. They kept on adding stones, adding people to the church, but there was one stone. No, they couldn't find a place for that stone. This one doesn't belong in the building that they were erecting. This one doesn't belong in the church. that we're constructing. According to Psalm 118 verse 22, which is quoted here, the stone which the builders refused is Jesus, the very one whom God had chosen to be the chief cornerstone of the church. We see this rejection by the builders of the church in every part of history. Already in the Old Testament, when the prophets came with a revelation concerning the promised Savior, the one whom God would send to bring salvation, they shook their head. They wouldn't believe it. So that Isaiah chapter 53 verse 1, Isaiah says, who has believed our report? We came talking about this most important block in the church and no one believes us. And they had no room for what Isaiah was saying as they were constructing supposedly the house of God. And that was true also in the time of Jesus himself. Jesus came teaching as one who had authority the people recognized. He did miracles. He gathered great crowds for a while, but ultimately those who were building what they said was the house of God had no place for him. They added this brick and that soul but they could find no place for Jesus. In fact, finally, they rejected him violently and arranged his crucifixion. They rejected him. And even today, many would-be builders of the church refuse Jesus as the chief cornerstone. They give lip service to Jesus, even the Jesus of the Bible, but in fact, they deny him. They really have no place in all the church that they're building for the real Jesus, whom God has chosen to be the cornerstone and whom He has revealed in Scripture. Not only is that true, but this stone, which the builders refused, has now also become a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. That's stated in verse 8, which is a quotation of Isaiah 8, verse 14. Unto you, therefore, which believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, even unto them which stumble at the word. This passage speaks of a stone and a rock. The word stone refers here to a building stone, a stone used to erect a building. A rock indicates it's a rather large stone. We're talking, therefore, about a large building block. And the idea of stumbling, that this is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense has the idea of tripping over this rock so that one falls to his destruction. And, of course, Jesus is this stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, arcing back to the figure of the builders rejecting Him for the building they were erecting. He was there, set there by the prophets, set there by the teachings and miracles of Christ Himself, set the day before the builders of the church and Scripture. No, they don't want him. No, they can't use him. He doesn't belong in our building. And they're constantly tripping over him. He's always in the way. And finally, they stumble over him to their eternal ruin. That's the figure here. And the reality that is expressed here is found in the rest of verse eight. a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient," or again, unbelieving. That word translated disobedient is close to the word prior in this passage to disobedience. Here, the emphasis is on refusing to believe the Word of God. In spite of all the evidence, they refused to believe. What? That Jesus is the one chosen by God to be the cornerstone of the church. And so they stumbled. They were offended. Why? Why couldn't they and wouldn't they believe? Already in Isaiah's day, he was presented as the suffering servant who had no beauty, no form, nothing from an earthly point of view that was desirous. That was because he had to come and suffer the shame of the sin of God's people and stand in their place and on that basis erect Not an earthly kingdom, but a heavenly kingdom. That's why the builders of the house of God in the Old Testament, most of them didn't have any room for Christ as spoken by the prophet. They were consumed with works righteous. They were driven by the unbelief that somehow, in some way, they were going to do something and accomplish something that would at least partially be the foundation of the house of God and their own salvation. And it would attain and bring them, they weren't interested in a heavenly kingdom, it would bring them an earthly kingdom. I think it's true that all works righteousness somehow has within it the dream of an earthly kingdom here, built upon and based upon what we do. That's why they stumbled in the Old Testament. And what God said about the coming Christ, whom he ordained to be the chief cornerstone, That was why they, in Jesus' day, refused Him. How could they refuse a man who taught as one with authority? The people recognized that and not as their scribes and Pharisees. How could they not believe one who confirmed His message with many mighty miracles, but the message was not to their liking? He came as a humble, lowly servant, and it all came crashing down when He allowed Himself to be humbled before Pontius Pilate. No, there's no place for Him in our house. Away with Him. Crucify Him. We don't want Him. And that's the problem today. Many driven by the works righteousness error have no place in their theology and in the houses they're building supposedly for God or the blood theology of Scripture. They stumble, they're offended. Talk about a good example that we can follow and we can pull ourselves up by our bootstrap. That's what they want. But they don't want the suffering servant, the blood theology, that proclaims the hopelessness and the helplessness of man, but the great and powerful work of God's grace to erect a great house, eternal kingdom. so they stumbled to their own ruin, eternal ruin. And to this we read, they were appointed. Imagine that! That means that God has eternally appointed these people who stumble over Christ to their own destruction. He's appointed them eternally to their unbelief, to their rejection of Christ, and to their eternal destruction. This is taught specifically with regard to those that crucify Jesus. In Acts chapter 2 and Acts chapter 4, Listen to this. As part of Peter's speech on Pentecost, explaining the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2, we read in verses 23 and 24. Start at verse 22. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know him. being delivered by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain he's talking about their very rejection of the chief cornerstone by wicked hand you have taken and crucified him you refused him You tried to destroy him. And it was all by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God. God appointed them to this. Then we read something similar in Acts chapter 4, verses 27 and 28 of a truth. And this is part of a prayer of Peter with the church. of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. They were eternally appointed to do these things, to reject him as the chief cornerstone for any stone and the house they were built. We're standing here before the decree of reprobation, aren't we? This is one of the classic proof facts of reprobation. Reprobation is the reality that God has eternally predetermined some, in fact, the vast majority of mankind to eternal ruin in the way of their sin and unbelief. And in his decree of reprobation, God also appoints many to reject Christ as the cornerstone of the church. You understand you can't reject Christ as the cornerstone of the church unless you hear the gospel. And throughout history of the world, only a minority have heard the gospel. But God has eternally determined that many who hear the gospel will shake their head and say, we have no place. We have no place for him in our lives, in what we're building. Yes, we will build the church of God, but no place for Jesus. You understand, also here, reprobation serves the cause of election. We've been charged because we insist on maintaining the biblical teaching about reprobation that we're making reprobation and election co-equal. And God, therefore, an arbitrary tyrant. Not so. Election or reprobation serves a purpose. God reprobates. to create a world that the church needs to live in and to pass through for God's purpose of her salvation. And now those builders, now especially let's focus on those supposed builders of the church in Jesus' day were appointed by God in His eternal decree of reprobation to reject His chosen cornerstone through unbelief, exactly so that by their rejection, Jesus could be and become the cornerstone of that church. How else can He be the cornerstone but by being rejected of men and being brought to the cross and cruelly nailed there to endure the full punishment of God upon the sins of God's people? God appointed eternally those leaders to that position to accomplish His purpose so that Jesus might be the chief cornerstone of the church. But unto us who believe, he's precious. He's precious. That's how this passage starts. Unto you therefore which believe, he is precious. That has to be understood in light of the previous verse, verse six, where Peter quotes Isaiah 28, verse 16. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect precious. He that believeth in him shall not be confounded, or literally be put to shame. He that believeth on Jesus as the chief cornerstone will never be ashamed. And that's what makes him so precious. Those that believe will never be ashamed, resting upon him. What is it to believe on Jesus? That's what this passage talks about. Unto you therefore which believe, To believe in Jesus is to place all your confidence in Him so that you rely upon Him for all things. That's what faith is. You rely upon Him for forgiveness and reconciliation with God. We're sinners. We deserve eternal death and ruin. There's nothing we can do to restore ourselves back to God and receive His forgiveness except Christ's perfect atoning sacrifice. That's what I'll bring to God, to be reconciled and to be forgiven. Faith also relies upon Jesus to be strengthened in order to serve the Lord God in this day of temptation and darkness. Faith recognizes I can't serve God. I can't meet my responsibilities in the house of God as a living stone. I can't overcome temptation by myself, only in Christ and in his power. So that brings the believer again to his knee. One who lives in faith relies upon Jesus for courage and strength and contentment and peace and for all things. Those who believe on him in that way, we read Isaiah 28, 16, quoted by Peter, shall never, never be ashamed. One is ashamed when he places his confidence in someone, is sure that with this person, everything will turn out all right. He even tells others, And then he finds out his confidence was not well placed. The one whom he trusted was not worthy. He was let down. He didn't get what he thought he was going to. He was misled. He was fooled. Then you're ashamed. I once talked to a man who was led out of a church by a man whom he thought was going to lead him in the right way. Later on, he came back to that church and he said, I found that he wasn't worthy of my trust. He wasn't worthy of my confidence. It was a bit of shame. And he was taken back. The negative language here suggests that this often appears to be reality. You put your trust in Jesus, the one whom God has chosen to be the cornerstone of the church, and you're going to end up being ashamed. You're not going to have any place in standing among men. You're going to find that often it appears as though what God promises in Christ can't happen and won't be true. Yes, it often appears as though those who believe on Jesus will be ashamed. But we're told no. No. He's the cornerstone. by His person and work. The whole church is built upon Him, and we become the dwelling place of the Most High God. You'll never be ashamed. Therefore, He is so precious. He's the One. When you rely upon Him, never ashamed. Always come out ahead. Always be honored why he is precious, those that believe on him. Let us believe on Jesus, the chief cornerstone of God's church. Let's cling to him by faith so that we become in Christ living stones in the house of God. Are we not those who are true members of the church by faith? Isn't that rooted in our very election? Interestingly, immediately after, Peter here talks about those who were appointed to unbelief and stumbling at the Word and rejecting Christ. He says, but you, you are a chosen generation. that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Let us then believe in Jesus. And never be ashamed. Those that reject him, have no place for him in the supposed house of God they're building will be ashamed. They'll stumble over him all the way to their eternal ruin. But for those that believe on him, they'll never be ashamed. There will only be honor and glory now and forever. Amen. Dear God and Father, we give thanks for thy word. Thanks for Jesus. Thanks for his person. Thanks for his work. is positioned to be the chief cornerstone of the church, of which we are a living stone. Lord, give us faith, make him precious to us, and honor us in him. For Jesus' sake, amen.