Sermon Tone Analysis

1 Peter 2:4-10

A young man wanted to prove to his new father-in-law who was a building contractor that he was not a klutz.

The newlywed couple had bought an old house and they planned to renovate it by themselves.

The young man thought he’d begin by painting two of the rooms.

He worked all through the night painting.

The next morning his father-in-law stopped by to see how he was doing only to find the young man collapsed on the floor in a pool of sweat wearing a ski jacket and an overcoat.

When the father-in-law asked why he was dressed like that he replied, “The instructions on the paint can said for best results to use two coats.”

I don’t think the he impressed his father-in-law.

Turn to the second chapter of 1 Peter.

Peter started the letter talking about our living faith in Jesus.

Our faith is alive because Jesus is alive.

Next, Peter talked about living holy lives that reflect our living faith.

Now Peter is going to talk about Jesus and our relationship to him.

A holy life is not just a matter of what we don’t do; it’s a matter of what we do for God.

We are to put off sin and grow in our salvation.

We grow by feeding on God’s word.

In our passage tonight Peter compares our growing to that of a building.

Remember, Peter is writing to primarily to Jewish Christians who had been scattered throughout the Roman Empire because of persecution.

They had been suffering because of their faith.

They would remember the temple in Jerusalem.

It was the center of their worship.

The first temple had been built by Solomon.

After the Babylonians destroyed it, the temple was rebuilt and then remodeled under Herod.

If they had never seen the temple they dreamed of traveling to Jerusalem to see it.

That temple had been built under the covenant God made with his people at Mount Sinai, but there was a new covenant that had been made with the death of Jesus.

You’ll remember what Jesus said in the upper room:

1 Corinthians 11:25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Under this new covenant a new temple or spiritual house was being built one not made by hands but by the Lord himself.

And the building material wasn’t wood, stones, silver, or gold, but it is being constructed of living stones – the lives of those who have placed their faith in Jesus.

In our passage Peter gives three pictures of the church.

First, we are stones in the same building.

1 Peter 2:4-6 4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—5 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.

6 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.”

Peter emphasizes that each of us is a stone – you are a stone.

Each of us who have come to Jesus and accepted him becomes a stone for God’s temple.

While each of us individually is a stone, everything Peter is going to say he says of us corporately and not individually.

Peter says that we are stones and together are we being built into the temple of God.

We saw this same idea in Ephesians where Paul wrote:

Ephesians 1:19-22 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church.

Both men are saying that together we are being made into a temple for God.

And they aren’t referring to each individual congregation but all of the congregations around the world.

Together we are a temple for God.

Peter says that we are “living” stones.

I think it’s interesting that the KJV translates it as “lively” stones.

We’ve all known some lively people, but a better translation is “living.”

Like our living faith we are living stones.

The word for stone designates a hewn or cut stone.

We were designed to fit together into this building that Jesus is constructing.

Because we are living are still moving and occasionally we’re going to bump into each other.

When that happens we’re not going to appreciate it.

But we’re still being built into one temple.

I can’t remember if I’ve shared this illustration with you.

In premarital counseling I remind the couple how God says that in marriage they become one.

I illustrate it with my hands bringing them together interlocking my fingers.

It looks easy, but there’s a lot of banging that goes along with it.

It’s the same as we are being built together as the temple of God.

There are too many people who think they can go at it alone.

They don’t think they need the church.

But that’s not what the Bible teaches.

God’s word teaches that we need each other.

People may say they don’t like the church, but God likes the church and gave his only Son to die for the church.

The church is the body of Christ in the world today and it will be the bride of Christ when he returns.

It is impossible to grow in Christ apart from the word of God or apart from the family of God.

When we neglect either of these we are neglecting what God has given us to help us grow our faith.

We need each other as together Jesus is building his church.

If you want to know what God is doing in the world today you need to look at the church.

Jesus is building his church as people are being saved.

Sunday we looked at the story of Jesus asking the disciples who they thought he was.

After Peter gave the good confession of faith Jesus replied:

Matthew 16:17-18 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.

18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

Who does Jesus say is building the church?

Jesus says that he is building it.

Sometimes we get the idea that we are building it.

There are things we can do and that Jesus has commanded us to do like share the gospel, but he is the one doing the building.

So when it grows we don’t take the credit, it all goes to Jesus.

A second picture Peter paints of the church is that we are priests in the same temple.

We passed right by this one in the verses we read earlier.

1 Peter 2:4-8 4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—5 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.

6 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.”

7 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,” 8 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.

In the Old Testament God established the Levites to be priests for the nation of Israel.

As priests they represented God to the people and the people to God.

They went between the people to God.

However, the entire nation was to be as priests to the nations around them.

Exodus 19:5-6 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.

Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.

The Israelites were to represent God to the world and go to God on behalf of the world.

In the New Testament that role shifts to the church.

We are a holy priesthood and as we’ll see in verse 9, a royal priesthood.

As a result we can come directly into the presence of God through Jesus.

There was a process in the Old Testament when someone officially became a priest.

First, they were chosen.

They had to be a part of the family of tribe of Levi.

We too have been chosen.