1 Peter 2:4-6 - Living Temple and Spiritual Sacrifices.
1 Peter 2:4-6 (NIV) As you come to him, the
living Stone--rejected by men 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."
1 Peter 2:4-6 (NLT) You are coming to
Christ, who is the living cornerstone of Gods
temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen
by God for great honor. And you are living
stones that God is building into his spiritual
temple. Whats more, you are his holy priests.
Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer
spiritual sacrifices that please God. As the
Scriptures say, I am placing a cornerstone in
Jerusalem, chosen for great honor, and anyone who
trusts in him will never be disgraced.
1 Peter 2:4-6 (AMP) Come to Him [then, to
that] Living Stone which men tried and threw away,
but which is chosen [and] precious in God's
sight. [Come] and, like living stones, be
yourselves built [into] a spiritual house, for a holy
(dedicated, consecrated) priesthood, to offer up [those]
spiritual sacrifices [that are] acceptable and
pleasing to God through Jesus Christ. For thus it
stands in Scripture: Behold, I am laying in Zion a
chosen (honored), precious chief Cornerstone, and
he who believes in Him [who adheres to, trusts
in, and relies on Him] shall never be
disappointed or put to shame.
INTRODUCTION
The Jewish temple was built of hewn stones
quarried out of the mountains; and every stone was
fitted for its place in the temple, hewed,
polished, and tested before it was brought to
Jerusalem. And when all were brought to the ground, the
building went together without the sound of ax or
hammer. This building represents God's spiritual
temple, which is composed of material gathered out
of every nation, and tongue, and people, of all
grades, high and low, rich and poor, learned and
unlearned. These are not dead substances to be fitted
by hammer and chisel. They are living stones,
quarried out from the world by the truth; and the
great Master Builder, the Lord of the temple, is
now hewing and polishing them, and fitting them
for their respective places in the spiritual
temple. When completed, this temple will be perfect
in all its parts, the admiration of angels and
of men; for its Builder and Maker is God.
9T180
COMMENTARY PEARL
Foundation Of Faith
What's your favorite toy of all time?
According to a global survey, LEGO building bricks top
the list. LEGOs placed first for boys and were
in the top three for girls, easily making them
the overall winner. After being founded as a
wooden toy manufacturer in 1932, LEGO began making
its current design of plastic bricks in 1958.
More than 400 billion LEGOs have been created
since that time. Nineteen billion are molded each
year, which means 36,000 blocks are produced every
minute. In September 2012 a group in the Czech
Republic celebrated LEGO's eightieth anniversary by
building the world's tallest LEGO tower. The
tradition of creating massive LEGO structures began
with a fifty-foot tower built in London in 1988.
Since then the record has been broken by teams in
Canada, Austria, Germany, Brazil, France, the United
States, Japan, Denmark, and South Korea - to name
just a few. From September 5 to 9, volunteers in
Prague constructed a tower that measured nearly 107
feet tall! In all, about 500,000 LEGOs were used
in the massive structure.
How was the tallest LEGO tower built?
Brick by brick. The same thing is true about your
life with Christ. When you accept Jesus as your
Savior, it's like laying the cornerstone of your
faith. The Bible calls Jesus the cornerstone and
says anyone who trusts in the cornerstone will
never be put to shame (1 Peter 2:6).
The most important stone in any building
is the cornerstone. It's the first stone that's
put down and is perfectly level and square.
Every stone in the building must line up with the
cornerstone. As you put together what you believe, make
sure every "stone" lines up with the cornerstone
of Christ. Test every idea you hear against
Jesus' standards. Look to him as you decide what's
right and wrong. Learn to follow his commands.
Seek his will in every decision you make.
When the people around you know you're a
Christian, they'll watch you to see what it means to
follow Jesus. Build a towering life that honors
God. Stand tall for Jesus. By starting your life
on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ, you
won't crack and crumble under the pressures of the
world. [Case For Christ For Kids by Les Strobel re
vs. 6]
COMMENTARY
You Have Direct Access to God
In the Old Testament, priests did two
things:
1. They had the right, privilege, and
responsibility to go directly to God. They could pray and
talk to God, worship, and fellowship with God.
Everybody else had to go through a priest.
2. The priest had the privilege and
responsibility of representing God to the people and
ministering to the needs of other people (serving).
Those are the very two things that are
true of you when you become a believer.
The Bible says that when Jesus died on
the cross, there was a veil in the temple that
separated the Holy of Holies, where Gods Spirit
was, from where man was. Only priests could go
behind that veil once a year. When Jesus died on
the cross, God ripped that veil - about 70 feet
- from top to bottom, symbolizing that there
no longer was a barrier.
You now have direct access to God. You
dont have to pray through anybody else. You
dont have to confess through anybody else. You
dont have to fellowship with God through anybody
else. Read your Bible, talk with the Lord, and
fellowship directly with him.
You have also been gifted for ministry to
serve other people. Every Christian is a minister
- not a pastor, but a minister. Anytime you
use your talents and gifts to help others, you
are ministering.
The Bible says, For God saved us and
called us to live a holy life. He did this, not
because we deserved it, but because that was his
plan from before the beginning of time - to show
us his grace through Christ Jesus (2 Timothy
1:9 NLT).
One of the reasons God saved you is so
you could serve him and others.
How do you know what your ministry is?
Look at your talents, gifts, and abilities. When
you use those talents and gifts to help other
people, thats called ministry - nothing fancy or
scary about it. Its just helping others.
Can you serve God in a sales office? Yes,
you can. Can you serve God as an accountant? Of
course. Driving a truck? Absolutely. Anytime
youre helping other people in Gods name,
youre ministering. [Daily Devotional by Rick
Warren: https://pastorrick.com/devotional/ re vs.
5]
Divine Stonework
There wasn't a man in Maryland who could
build a stone wall like my father. Daddy was able
to combine his building skills with his
artistic talent to design walls that resembled
something out of a Robert Frost poem. His walls were
weathered sentries, balanced and sturdy. When my
father would build a wall, he wouldn't rush. He
would unload a big pile of boulders then sort
through them, putting aside the ones for the wall.
Daddy would pick up a rock, brush off the dirt,
turn it over in his hands, and line it up, this
way and that, placing it just right in the wall.
Then Daddy would cement it in with the trowel.
Picture the saints who, through the ages,
saw persecution and pestilence, holocaust and
heartache - they realized they were living stones
being troweled into the kingdom building. They
understood that suffering was, at times, sickening, but
life was worth living if it meant more time
granted for the world to hear the good news.
Like these saints, we experience the
biting reality of suffering; but we also remember
the enormously high price Jesus placed on a soul
- suffering is bad, but a soul lost is worse
(Matthew 16:26). We realize God is permitting
something he hates (pain and persecution) so that
something he prizes (more souls salvaged) could be
achieved.
I am happy, dear Lord, to be a living
stone that you have troweled into your kingdom
building. I pray that many more living stones will be
added today to your wall of salvation." [Joni
Eareckson Tada Daily Devotional:
http://www.joniandfriends.org/daily-devotional re vss. 4-6]
EXAMPLES OF SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES
Ps 50:14 " Sacrifice thank offerings to
God, fulfill your vows to the Most High,
Ps 50:23 " He who sacrifices thank
offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I
may show him the salvation of God."
Ps 141:2 " May my prayer be set before you
like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be
like the evening sacrifice.
Hos 14:2 " Take words with you and return
to the Lord. Say to him: "Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously, that we may offer the
fruit of our lips.
Mal 1:11 " My name will be great among the
nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun.
In every place incense and pure offerings will
be brought to my name, because my name will be
great among the nations," says the Lord Almighty.
Jn 4:22-24 " You Samaritans worship what
you do not know; we worship what we do know, for
salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming
and has now come when the true worshipers will
worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are
the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God
is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in
spirit and in truth."
Ro 12:1 " Therefore, I urge you, brothers,
in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as
living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this
is your spiritual act of worship.
Php 2:17 " But even if I am being poured
out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and
service coming from your faith, I am glad and
rejoice with all of you.
Php 4:18 " I have received full payment
and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I
have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you
sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable
sacrifice, pleasing to God.
Heb 13:15 " Through Jesus, therefore, let
us continually offer to God a sacrifice of
praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name.
Heb 13:16 " And do not forget to do good
and to share with others, for with such
sacrifices God is pleased.
CLOSING THOUGHT
Gods people failed often to rebuild
Gods temple after the captivity and since today
we are his temple how are we succeeding in
allowing him to rebuild his temple, your body, mind
and personality, that sin has defaced and
marred.
CROSS REFERENCES FOR FURTHER STUDY
Ephesians 2:20-22 (NLT) Together, we are his
house, built on the foundation of the apostles and
the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ
Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together
in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22
Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of
this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.
YOUR COMMENTS
If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in
hearing from you. Thanks in advance and let's keep
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred
Gibbs
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
Most Important Decision in Life:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0
A Man without Equal by Bill Bright:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVa7UoruIo
Seeking God Made Real:
http://vimeo.com/31489782
Prayer Made Real:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE
Importance of Choice:
http://creationhealth.com/CREATION-Health/Choice [click on video]
Medical Seminar on Healthful Living by David
DeRose, MD, MPH:
https://www.smartlifestyletv.com/lifestart
LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES
Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies:
http://www.liftingupjesus.net/
Amazing Facts Bible Studies:
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx
Hope Awakens Bible Study Guides:
https://www.hopeawakens.study/lesson-header;id=2
Glow Tract Video Bible Studies:
http://www.bibleresearch.info/
LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS
Islam and Christianity in Prophecy, The
Third and Final Conflict by Tim Roosenberg:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHSJB-fuHLU&list=PLWhQIHGTHlkaGg5Cwe3NDzWtFX8vNSpsE
Unlocking Bible Prophecies by Cami Oetman of
Adventist World Radio: https://www.awr.org/bible
Revelation Now by Pastor Doug Batchelor:
https://www.revelationnow.com/
Hope Awakens by John Bradshaw of IIW:
https://itiswritten.tv/programs/hope-awakens
Prophecies Decoded by Pastor Ron Clouzet:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657
