Good evening, good morning, good afternoon, wherever and whenever this finds you. On behalf of the elders at Redeemer Bible Church, I wanna say we miss you, we love you, we can't wait till the day that we're able to and choose to regather again. In the meantime, we're gonna continue to work as hard as we can to provide resources to you, to equip you and shepherd you towards not only a greater knowledge of God, but a deeper love for him. and love for one another. I don't know about you, but during this season, I have grown a deeper affection and appreciation for the church. I miss it. I don't think I'll ever take it for granted again, and I'm grateful for that. If you haven't already, go ahead and subscribe to our YouTube channel as a church, and make sure that you're getting the most up-to-date resources from all of the pastors and preachers here at our church. We have very gifted and gracious men who are putting out resources, and we want you to be able to take advantage of those. So if you haven't already, again, subscribe to the YouTube channel. For now, in this message, go ahead and turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter two. We're gonna be in verses four and five, a message titled The Treasure of the Church, and it's part one of a three-part miniseries in the midst of the 1 Peter series that we'll get to as we move through the book. But this particular passage points out the treasure of being one in Christ for the church. And so let's read it together. Stand with me wherever you are as we give reverence and honor to God's word and read the passage together. Peter writes. 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. Let me pray for our time together. Father, as we come upon this text and what will be the first of three messages in this particular section, would you raise in our minds the treasure of your church, the joy of being a part of your body, being one with you, Lord Jesus Christ, all the privileges that that entails. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for being so gracious to us. We want to lift up not only our time as a church, but we want to lift up another local church, Family Bible Church in South Gilbert, and ask that you continue to move there as they faithfully preach and declare your word to the congregation there, and really all over our valley. and beyond, continue to do a mighty work as the church goes through a season of trial and challenge of different decisions and different preferences or views or opinions or methods. Lord, keep us all unified when it comes to the gospel and keep our hearts knitted together in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. On the Greek islands, you can go and visit the home of the famous founder, really, of medicine, or the father of medicine, Hippocrates. Now, he lived a very long time ago, and why that is kind of a good tourist attraction is not only his historical region or home, but over there, there is an olive tree. that is said to be from the time of Hippocrates, about 2,400 years old, this olive tree is said to be. Now, it doesn't look like a very fruit-bearing or olive-bearing tree anymore, but it's massive, and it's hollowed out, and people come from all over the world to see it. Its branches extend out, just a few of them, a long way, and they're supported by wooden columns, and people come and look at this thing that once was. The tale of its time, if you will. The beautiful olive tree in the area, growing olives in abundance. Not far from where that tree is, the tree of Hippocrates, are many other olive trees. Younger olive trees. More attractive olive trees. They're covered in leaves. They're rich looking olive trees and they produce olives in abundance. And what you have in that area is this really interesting contrast. You have this old tree that appears to be and really has outlived its purpose. It only produces a few olives a year. There's nothing really attractive about it. You could say that it's still an olive tree and it's still there. but the function is most certainly not. You know, there's some churches like that today, right? Big relics, they look beautiful, they're old, they're really into their history, all that they once were, all that they once did, but they're not really producing fruit any longer. They appear as a building to still be there. but they have ceased to function under the divine purpose that God builds the church and calls it with. Now, while that's true, that is not how the church at large is. But there are some people who would say, hey, the church is just like that. In fact, the whole church is like that. In fact, Christianity is very much like that. It's an old relic. It has long outlasted its purpose. You know, the church really isn't important anymore. It's hollowed out. It's haggard. In fact, look at it even now. It's so divided. You know, the online church says they're the real church. You know, they're loving people, because they're not giving anybody coronavirus. And then you got the meeting in person church still, and you know, they're the real church, because they're not scared of coronavirus. And on and on and on it goes. And the world looks on and thinks, this old relic, this thing's done, it's divided. The devil seems to rejoice in it all. And people wonder, is the church a construction project that's gonna run out of funding, lose its permits, and be like one of those buildings in the middle of town sometimes that is unfinished and there it sits, hollowed out, unfinished. I guess they didn't have what it takes, people think. Is that what the church is gonna be? No. Jesus said it and you could take it to the bank with your mask on or no mask on. He will build his church and the gates of Hades or hell will never prevail against it. That is the encouragement from this text and what begins to build in this section as Peter explains quite clearly that the church is God's treasure and it has and will continue to triumph because we are not in and of ourselves, but we are in and of His Son, Christ. This is a truth that brought great peace to troubled souls in Peter's day. with all that they were going through and the chaos and the uncertainty, the world losing its mind. Hey, it's a lot like it is for us today. They are reminded of union with Christ, which gives us perfect peace. You know, we are a lot like them. We're spiritual snowbirds of sorts. Our citizenship isn't really here. Do we care about our environment? Oh, sure. Do we want to love our neighbor? Yup. Do we want to be faithful wherever we are and whatever we do and have a daily purpose? Yes. But are we so attached to this world and the fleeting cares of it that we lose ourselves and our identity is wrapped up? Absolutely not. We are a people heading home. That home is eternity with Christ. And so in this passage, I wanna break down each phrase and then show you some powerful truths that when applied will impact the way you view the church and the way that we treasure the church. The first is number one, we are accepted in Christ. We are accepted in Christ. I could have made the point, you are accepted in Christ, but I really can't use those type of second person pronouns because this is a plural text. It's we, it's about the church. It's about all of us together. That's what Peter is getting at, and he says, 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. His writing style, of course, is in word pictures. It's a vivid metaphor. What he's describing here is you and I being united in Christ and with Christ as the church, so that you can understand the value of the church to God. Where do I get that from? Or where could you summarize that from? Well, let's look at some of the phrases here. The first is as you come to him. This isn't in the sense of a new believer coming to Jesus or believing in Jesus, but the phrase really means to be occupied with something. This is as you are growing in relationship, as you are intimately acquainted with Christ, as you are loving him and relishing in relationship with him, this is what you're experiencing. And he was a living stone and he was rejected. But he is, as these words mean, precious or choicest, most excellent and distinguished of God. The immediate question comes to mind. What is a living stone? What is a living stone? Well, we need to look around the passage for some clues. And when we do that, we see in verse four that Peter's making a reference to the church being built. And so we know that this stone isn't some jewel or some diamond or a sapphire, but rather it is an actual building stone. That's what Peter wants you to imagine, something that you would build with. Maybe it looks like one of those Jerusalem stones, if you've ever been to Israel. They're large, they're rectangled, they're kind of squared off on the edges, they're shaped and ready to be used to build with. That's the picture that he wants you to have in your mind. And next, we would gather from other passages that he's kind of borrowing from the Old Testament prophets and the Psalms a lot. There's a lot of quotes in 1 Peter that are from there. And this one, In Psalm 118.22 says the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Well, a cornerstone was traditionally the first stone that you laid. It was the most important stone you built up on and around that particular stone. And so why is that all helpful as you begin to study the scriptures? You begin to see pretty quickly that Jesus is the stone that the church is being built on and around. He's the sure foundation. And the metaphor, the picture is not that he's a dead one. It's that he's a live one. And that you are coming to him. You're in relationship with him. That is a huge deal. But even beyond that, we see the point begin to come clear and clear to our minds that we are accepted in Christ or by Christ because we see that the living stone was at one point rejected. Who rejected the living stone, like the passage says? Well, Jews at the time. You see, they rejected Jesus. They didn't believe he was the Messiah. The phrase literally means to see something and regard it as unworthy. Yeah, we don't need that. That's not the one we're looking for. When it came to the Messiah, that's what they thought about Jesus. The men who were so blind to the truth thought he was unfit or unworthy, but to God, the Father, And as Peter's attempting to convey to the church, Jesus is the most choice, the most chosen, special, perfect, excellent of God. What the Jews rejected, the Father accepted. He is the powerful Son who the church is built upon and in union with. When you're in Him, that means you're accepted by Him, no matter what anybody says or what anybody thinks. And this is really what passages like Colossians 3, 1 through 4 mean. When you've ever heard, my life is hidden in Christ, or I'm in Christ. What does that mean? Colossians 3, 1-4 says, if then you've been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Paul to the Colossians, Peter here explaining to his audience that's dispersed around a few different regions, You're in Christ. You're with Christ. He was a living stone, so are you. He was loved and accepted by the Father, though he was rejected by men, so are you. You're in good company, church. You're in the company of Christ. That means that if you're in Christ, you have everything you'll ever need. That one day, when he returns, all who rejected him will see clearly what the church now sees, Christ as a treasure, and they'll see what Christ sees, the church as a treasure. It means that if you're a believer in Christ, you're hidden in Christ and in God, which is what Colossians three impacts further. And when he returns or calls you home, you're going to be on the right side of God's judgment. Those are great truths, but I want to go back to something really quick and you need to see it. He's the living stone rejected by men in verse four. Let's not skirt over so quickly. All the blessings in Christ are great. All the acceptance and joy in Christ is great. But union with Christ and being a living stone like Christ also means that you and I will endure times of rejection like Christ. Peter's audience needed these encouragements because like us, they were becoming despised by many people. Their life may have been hidden in Christ, but it was being attacked by the culture. And so maybe like them, you and I can be tempted at times to downplay our relationship with Jesus, or to even avoid the church, or be tempted to think less of the church, to appease the culture around us, to avoid controversy, to avoid ridicule, and even persecution, but we need to remember who he is and who we are in him, fearing not rejection from the world, but rather rejoicing that we are accepted in Christ. One of my favorite old-time preachers, historical heroes, G. Campbell Morgan, he's on a list of many old dead men who I respect, was a legendary part of the Welsh Revival. Now, say what you will about revivals. This particular one, the Welsh Revival, is known in history I saw God move powerfully. At one point, 70,000 people are saved in just a couple of months. Historically known facts are this, public drunkenness actually began to fade and the police had a lot less to do. There was a revival happening. It was so broad and so real and authentic as well that even at a rugby match where 40,000 people were watching rugby, 10,000 of them broke out into singing hymns together. That's what was happening. G. Campbell Morgan was a part of that, but before ever getting to be a part of a great move of God, he was a very sickly child. He couldn't really attend school, so he was tutored at home. He studied the scriptures diligently. He really wanted to be a preacher, and so eventually, He went to become ordained and he had to pass a written Bible and theological exam and also he needed to preach a trial sermon and be voted as accepted. Unfortunately, he became very nervous. In the large auditorium where many other pastors and others gathered to evaluate him, he crumbled, he preached badly. Two weeks later, his name appeared on the list of men rejected for ordination at that time, and so he cabled his father, which back that time, that was kinda how you did a telegram, or he cabled his dad, and he just wrote one thing, he just wrote rejected. Well, he writes in his diary, everything seems dark, still I trust the Lord knows best. His father ends up sending a message back to him, and this is what he says. Never forget, rejected on earth, accepted in heaven. Love, Dad. In 1904, G. Campbell Morgan says from his pulpit after this great revival, and he had been a part of it and went from being rejected to realizing he's accepted in heaven and being used mightily by God, let no man hear of what happened in Wales and try to start it in his own land. Why? Because no man started it in Wales. We cannot produce revival. We can only pray that God would be gracious to us and send it abundance. Church, he was rejected by men but a part of a great revival triggered by God. Reminds us of a great example that what the culture or others may reject, God accepts. That the church is his treasure, that those used of God, you and I, are purposed in God. It doesn't matter who rejects you, how the world changes, what stones are being thrown, what wars are being fought, when you are accepted by Christ and you're in Christ, we as the church can boldly declare, if God is for us, who can be against us? The church is a treasure. It is a privilege to be a Christian. and there is power in and through the church because of Christ. You and I, we are accepted by him. I could easily end this message right now, but the text has more, so let's keep going. Number two, not only are we accepted by Christ, we are built upon Christ. We are built upon Christ. Peter continues, you yourselves are being built up as a spiritual house. Listen, this is really simple. If you were all here right now in the seats, I would look at each and every one of you and I'd say, you're a living stone, you're a living stone, you're a living stone, you're a living stone, you're a living stone, you're all living stones, and you've been built up as the church. But even where you are right now, I can look in the camera and say, you're a living stone. You're a living stone. You are a living stone and Christ is the cornerstone and you, like a living stone, like he is a living stone, are being built up as the dwelling place of God. You are a spiritual house. You house the presence of God and the power of God and he works through you, the church. What a privilege, what a treasure. God doesn't dwell in buildings. Doesn't matter what social distancing there is right now. He does not dwell in a building. He dwells in a people. It is exactly as Acts 7, 48 says when Stephen is explaining and quoting, he says, the most high does not dwell in houses made by hands. A church, he dwells in a people. And oh yes, Do people come together and do wondrous things in worship? Absolutely we do. Do people come together and do commanded things? Oh, yes we do. And that is still evident in a portion of the text that we're gonna finish with, but here and now, Peter's emphasis is not so much on the physical togetherness of the church in a physical sense, but spiritually. that we are as people, the people of God, that we are wherever we are, the house, the dwelling place of God himself, and that we are built up that way and built upon Christ. Exegetically speaking, based on what the Bible teaches, Those who gather physically aren't more or less hidden in Christ than others. Those who use online technologies are not more or less hidden in Christ than others. We might apply things in different ways. We may employ different methods. We might live in different states or deal with different governing authorities and laws, but spiritually speaking, the church as one is being built upon Christ and nothing can stop us. That. If we gather together and we're persecuted for it, does it change our spiritual identity? No. If we don't gather and yet we're persecuted for it, does that change our spiritual identity? No. If we wear a mask or we don't wear a mask, does that change our spiritual identity? No. Matthew 16, 18, I've already said it, I'm gonna say it another time, because it's important. Jesus said, I'll build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. But Paul explains even further, the way that the church is being built up, come hell, heaven, or high water. If heaven comes, we're all gone. But beyond that, the church will be built. He explains in Ephesians 2, 19 to 22, so then you're no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. You're built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Church, we may not agree on everything, but we have to agree on that, that he's building his church. and he's doing it no matter what. He's doing it through drive-in church. He's doing it through regathering or physical church. He's doing it through tent church, parking lot church, gonna do our building still, church, registration for services, church. camera church. You may not like that, but you can't prove, and no one can, that exegetically, based on what the text says, if the book talks that he's not building his church, he is building his church, no matter what you and I say, what the government says, what the devil says, what all of hell can say, heaven is coming, and he's building his church. That's a joy. We can rest easy. You don't have to put the whole weight of the world on your shoulders, neither do I. We don't have to figure it all out. He's got this. He's building his church and we're built upon Christ. So here's a little helpful roadmap for times like these. Okay, we can all calm down. Right? Even me, I'm pretty passionate right now preaching. I'm pretty fired up because I'm excited of what God's word says, but, but we can all calm down, right? We don't have to get too aggressive about it all. We can pray. We can let the text talk. The book can do the work. The word can carry the load. We can trust the Lord, right? We don't have to trust ourselves. We can trust him. We can also be patient. We can wait on the Lord. We don't have to be hasty. In fact, often things done in haste will lead to worse results. You know, we can be prudent too. Prudence is not just thinking of the immediate decision, but how that decision affects everything else. It's like a ripple effect. We can be prudent. You know what else? We can watch our words. We can choose to love. We can make our decisions and then we can rest in Christ. We're being built up upon him. And therefore we all must be very aware that one day we will all appear before him to give an account. And so what's the purpose of our being accepted by Christ and our being built up on Christ? It is because The final point, we are ministers through Christ. We are ministers through Christ. 1 Peter 2, 5, there. The second part of it, to be a holy priesthood. You are yourselves like living stones being built up as a spiritual house. To be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament, the priests were mediators between God and man. The people offered sacrifices and the priests did so on their behalf as well. And all of this was to be acceptable to God. All of it. After Jesus became the final sacrifice and he was established as our high priest, Hebrews four and chapter five, priests are no longer legal mediators, rather they are loving ministers. That's you and I. They're no longer limited to only the tribe of Levi or the Levites. It is for all people. We are one in Christ. instead of it just being the tribe of Levi. It is all believers. We are representatives, acceptable representatives, ambassadors, if you will, like 2 Corinthians 5.20 explains, for Christ. We minister through him and now we don't offer physical sacrifices like a lamb or a ram or some doves or what have you like they would. We offer spiritual offerings or spiritual sacrifices. And so the immediate question comes to mind. Okay, Costi, I got it. Peter, really God's word says, I'm accepted by Christ. It doesn't matter what the world says right now. I've got confidence in that. Okay, all right. And then we're being built up. upon Christ. All right, so it doesn't matter really what's happening now. We don't have to freak out. We don't have to go to war. We don't have to all divide, and we don't have to get political and aggressive. We can just kind of go, okay, he's building his church. Everybody calm down. All right, I got that. Now, what's it all for? Okay, it's for spiritual offerings. What are those? What am I supposed to be doing? What does God want to use me to do? What's the privilege of all of this? Why? Here it is. sacrificial offerings in the Bible. I did a brief little study to look for those key words, and here they are. First, we give the sacrificial offering of our bodies. It's Romans 12, 1 and 2. Paul writes, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, it's your spiritual worship. There it is. Don't be conformed to this world, be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so by, or that by testing you may discern what the will of God is, what is good, acceptable, and perfect. So we offer ourselves, every faculty of our being. for the service of God. Second, we give the sacrificial offering of praise to God. This is found in Hebrews 13, 15. Through him, then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. So church, you ought to be praising right now, no matter where you are or where this finds you. Give your body over, your faculty, your being to God. as a sacrificial offering and then give your voice, your life, your lips to God in praise. Third, we give the sacrificial offering of good works, of good works. We're ministering. Through Christ, our good works. Hebrews 13, 16, the very next verse after the last one says, do not neglect to do good and to share what you have for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. There's a sacrificial offering, something you are doing that's sacrificial. God is pleased. He said, great job. You're being my church. That's a privilege. Only you can do that as my people. Fourth, We give the sacrificial offering before the Lord of generosity. Philippians 4, 18-19, Paul explains, I'm well supplied, he tells the Philippian church, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. What are they? Just money? Just stuff? No, they're a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. God sees it, he smells it, he's aware of it, it's beautiful. As God says, oh, that is the gift given by my people to one another, that is a beautiful smell to God. And he says in verse 19, my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. Basically he's saying, hey, he provided for me too, he can provide for you. Another one, a fifth sacrificial offering that I have found, Romans 15 verses 15 to 16. Paul says, but on some points I've written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel, there it is, as a priest, but not an Old Testament one, a New Testament one, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. You got the offering of the good news. You got the offering of preaching, the offering of the gospel. And finally, another one that I found in John's vision in the book of Revelation, Revelation 8, three to four, another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints rose before God from the hand of the angel. Oh, it's the sacrificial offering of prayer, church. Did you know that our prayers literally rise to heaven like incense? That unless you're a 1 Peter 3, 7 insensitive husband who's being nasty to your wife right now, other than that and a few other instances in the Bible, that God hears all of our prayers? Did you know that they're going up like incense into heaven? That's a beautiful privilege. It's a sacrificial offering. And might I point out that offering our bodies, our faculties for spiritual worship and sacrificial offerings, for offerings of praise and good works and generosity and preaching the good news and prayer, if you imagine for a moment, maybe you can, asking yourself, can I do all those things right now? Am I able to be the church in those ways? Yes, there are other important things we need to do, most certainly baptize and celebrate the Lord's table, absolutely. But when you look at what the church can do and should do, and has the privilege of doing church, we are able to do it. The question is, will we? And see, it's easy to make excuses on either side of things. Well, it's real hard because I can't, you know, leave the house. Well, you could send something. You can get online. You can pray. You could be generous. You could praise. All right, and well, we gotta all get together to do this. Well, no, we don't. We can pray wherever we are. We can preach from wherever we are. We can do good works to whomever we can, wherever we are. We can praise. I can go on my sidewalk and praise. I can go online and be generous. I can give myself over to God. You can give yourself over to God from wherever you are. So do not buy the lie that we can't be the church right now. He's building it. We can be it. Will you do it? We're ministers through Christ. That's what he's called us to be. We present ourselves as offerings to God. We're precious to God. It's your heart with the church. David Livingston was a missionary and a bad one at that. He really wanted to go to China initially, ended up in Africa. didn't have a lot of conversions, kind of a complicated individual, but eventually he found himself really against slavery in Africa and he did some great things and he became somewhat of a legend there. And by the time his life had ended in 1873, he had loved Africa so much that they buried his body, his remains at Westminster Abbey in London, but they took his heart and they buried it in Zambia. because he was said to have loved Africa so very much that while his body was buried in London, his heart did and forever would love and belong to Africa. What a perfect illustration of how the church can be today. That no matter where our bodies are physically, our hearts are one with Christ and each other spiritually. Peter's goal is that these Christians would see the privilege and the purpose and the assurance and the security and the joy of being the church no matter where they were or what they were going through. Do we see the church as the treasure that it is to God and the privilege of union with Christ for all that it is? Let me pray for you. Father, these are trying times. It's a crazy world out there. There's a lot of noise. There's a lot of news. There are different places with different laws. There are different approaches. There are different methods. There are different churches. Would you help us all please to remain united in you? Thank you that we're accepted by you, even if others reject us. Thank you that we're built upon you, Lord Jesus. No matter what this world says, the church has to be or can be or can't be, that we're built upon you. And thank you so much. that we're ministers through you in so many ways from wherever we are, however you've called us to be. Help us please to rest in you. Help us as elders to make wise decisions in the days ahead, to be prudent, to be bold and courageous, no doubt, to make the decisions that best fit our context, for others and other churches to make the decision that best fits their context, for all of us, wherever we are in whatever unique situation, to be faithful to you, knowing that we won't stand before the judgment seat of each other, but we will stand one day before the judgment seat of Christ. Help us to choose to love. and we know that you're gonna carry us through this season. Would you grow us through it, please, and purify your bride for your glory and our good. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. We love you, church. Looking forward to continuing to study with you. Next week, Pastor John is gonna jump back in with an exciting new series that he's starting, and so I'm just thrilled. to keep studying God's Word with you. We all are. We'll see you this week online and wherever this finds you, keep trusting the Lord.