Wayfaring Strangers
A Study of 1 Peter
Part 8
“Who are you”
Today after a 2 week break for Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday
We are returning to our sermon series
From the book of 1 Peter
Titled
Wayfaring Stranger
Before we dig in
Let me ask you a question
I will tell you
It is a rhetorical question
Because
I already know the answer
But I want you to open your minds before we begin todays study
How many of you have ever felt
Less than Perfect
Less than adequate
Less than valuable
Less than good enough
Strong enough
Less than smart enough
I could go on and on
We all at some time in our lives feel as if we don’t measure up
To whatever standard we using to measure ourselves by
Right?
This is exactly where the wayfaring strangers of Peter’s time found themselves
They had given up their old lives
Their old beliefs
They had accepted Christ
Shown that though the first act of obedience
Which is baptism
A public confession of faith
And suddenly they were told that they were lacking in something
That they were no longer good enough
Holy enough
Righteous enough
Many had been ostracized by their families
They had been abandoned by former friends
They had lost Jobs
Homes
To make matters worse
The Jews saw them as traitors
The Romans saw them as the potential leaders of a rebellion
So
They were neglected
Abused
Treated unfairly
Even tortured and killed for their beliefs
On top of that Satan was using everything he had to tear down their new faith
To render them ineffective at spreading the word of Christ
Old slick
Used fear
Disappointment
Despair
Sorrow
Anger
And many more tactics against these people of faith
In an attempt to stop them
To stop their faith
To make them hide
Or go back to their old ways of life
He tried
But he was unsuccessful
We know he failed because God’s word persevered
It is still changing lives today
But make no mistake
It is still being attacked by Satan and this evil world
All that is evil
Wants to stop
All that is good
So
I know
Because he whacks on me as well
That Satan
Will make every attempt to stop you as well
He will use every trick in his sack
Every tactic he knows
To make you feel less than what you are called to be
He will wage war
To make you doubt yourself
Your own worth
Make you doubt God
Make you think you are not good enough
Clean enough
Holy enough
Righteous enough
That you are somehow less than standard
And when he is able to accomplish this
He can sit back and grin
And work on the next ones
Because he has rendered us ineffective
He can’t take our salvation
But he can take the joy of our salvation
He can keep us from using our salvation to help change the lives of others
For us to combat these forces of evil
It is imperative that we understand his tactics
And them it is even more imperative that we understand who we are
Please open your bibles to
1 Peter chapter 2
Beginning in verse 4
It is my intent
To show you who
You are
And whose you are when you have accepted Christ
I need you to hear me on this
It is much more important whose you are than who you are
So for the first part of this message
I am speaking to believers
Those who have on purpose
Decided
To place their faith and hope in Jesus Christ
Listen to me
I am not talking about walking an isle because everyone else did
I am not talking about agreeing to be baptized
Joining this church or that church
I’m not talking about those who said a prayer and never experienced change in their hearts
Change in their minds
Change in their lives
I am talking about those who have understood that they are sinners
Understood that the sin in their lives separated them from a Holy God
Those who understood that without a savior they would get what they deserved
Which is eternity in Hell
Those who cried out to Jesus Christ as Lord
And received the gift of salvation
And the gift of the Holy Spirit filling their hearts
Right then
Redeemed
Saved
Forgiven
Listen
If that describes you
Then the next few minutes of this sermon are for you
If you are not in that category
It is not too late
Listen to this message
Open
Your minds
Your hearts
And
Listen
Because everyone who calls not the name will be saved
And everyone means you
So
It is vitally important to know who’s we are
Let’s see what Peter has to say
1 Peter 2:4-8
4 You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.
5 And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests.[a] Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. 6 As the Scriptures say,
“I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem,[b]
chosen for great honor,
and anyone who trusts in him
will never be disgraced.”[c]
7 Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him.[d] But for those who reject him,
“The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.”[e]
8 And,
“He is the stone that makes people stumble,
the rock that makes them fall.”[f]
Here Peter show us an image of whose we are
Verse 4
4 You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.
The cornerstone
God almighty
The creator of the earth
The redeemer of our souls
The bright morning star
The truth
The away and the life
Peter shows us
That when we accept Christ
We are building on a strong foundation
Pullin from a strong corner
We are building on the only thing in the world that will withstand the test of time
The only thing that will overcome evil
Our savior
Our rock
Our anchor
Our strong foundation
Jesus Christ
The one accepted by the few
And rejected by the many
This is who we are
We belong to
I AM
So, when Satan and the evil world start in with the negativity
The mental
Emotional
Spiritual warfare
The tactics
Of discouragement
Doom
Despair
And agony on me
We know whose we are
And so now we must see what he see’s and
Use this as our
Place of strength and refuge
So, who are we in Christ
Let; back up to verse 5a
5 And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. .
Jesus Christ is the cornerstone
But here Peter shows us that we are living stones when we are his
Part of his Church
His Body
His temple
Listen the church is made up of the people not the building
When we belong to Christ
We become Living stones
In his temple
And listen
Each and every stone in a building is important
They all have great value
They are all of use
You are a living stone
Verse 5b
What’s more, you are his holy priests.[a] Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.
This doctrine is sometimes called the priesthood of believers
Sometimes we as preachers
Try so hard to wow people with knowledge
And speak chruchanize
Like Mike Morrow always says
That we forget that we need to speak plain English
The priesthood of believers means
This
When you accept Christ
You have direct unrestricted access to God
You don’t need a priest
A prophet
And angel
The virgin Mary
To mediate for you
You can access God anytime
Any place
For any reason
And furthermore
You have the authority to offer your own sacrifices
Which are not burnt offering
Not the blood of cows and goats
But the sacrifice of obedience
Listen
I pray for each of you
And will continue to do so
But you don’t need me to access God
You are a Holy Priest
Not because of who you are
But because of whose you are
Verse 9b says it again
“You are Holy priests”
So, we as believers
Are Living stones and Holy priests
Let’s see what else Peter has to say
Verse 8-9a
8 And,
“He is the stone that makes people stumble,
the rock that makes them fall.”[f]
They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.
9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people.
Those who are not his stumble over him
Which simply means they don’t get it
Cause they can’t or won’t see
So, they won’t obey
But Peter says
You as a believer are not like that
9b
He says you are a chosen people
Hand picked
God chosen
Holy Spirt Convicted
Jesus cleansed
Child of the living God
He goes on to say in verse 9b
That we are
“A holy nation”
Once again
No longer lost or outcast
But Part of the family
Part of the body of Christ
Verse 9 d continues
“God’s very own possession”
Custom made into a new creation
By the hands of the master craftsman
No longer left to the desires of our hearts
No longer drifting though life
But once again
A priceless , prized possession of the king
Once again not because of who you are
But because of whose you are
Peter says in verse 10a
10 “Once you had no identity as a people;
now you are God’s people.
That we are his chosen people
Listen in the Old Testament
The Nation of Israel was God’s chose people
People of other nations had a hard time coming to God
It happened but it was rare
Now
Since the temple curtain was torn into
We when we accept Christ
Are his chose people
We have become part of the very family of God
Not by Birth
But By rebirth
Here’s my favorite part
I guess
Because I lived
A less than perfect past
Because I made a lot of bad choices
Made lots of mistakes
And even did a lot of worthless things on purpose
That I am so thankful for God’s grace
His amazing grace
That saved a wretch like me
Peter says that when we belong to the cornerstone
The strong Foundation
Jesus Christ
The Lord Almighty
That we are forgiven
Verse 10b
“Once you received no mercy;
now you have received God’s mercy.”[
Grace means not getting what we deserve
Mercy means getting what we don’t deserve
Grace means we don’t get the hell we deserve
Mercy means we get the forgiveness
The love
The joy
The compassion
The contentment
That we don’t
Mercy means God loves us in spite of us
So, what do we do with all this
Peter tells us we are living stones
We are royal priests
Chosen by God
Have become his people, a holy nation
His prized possessions
And recipients of his mercy
Once again not because of who we are
But because of whose we are
So, what do we do with that
Many simply sit back and wait on heaven
That does not please God
Peter tells us what we should be doing in verse 9e
Because we are his
Because we have received mercy
Because we are chosen, royal priests
God own people and nation
His prized possessions
We should Verse 9 e
As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
Because we have been called out of the darkness
We must let our light shine
Live like Jesus
Love like Jesus
Forgive like Jesus
And tell everyone we can about Jesus
Let me close now to those of you who may not belong to Jesus
You have never made that decision to follow him
Go back to verse 8 with me
8 And,
“He is the stone that makes people stumble,
the rock that makes them fall.”[f]
They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.
Jesus is the corner stone
He is the way the truth and the life
And no one can get to heaven
Get to the Father expect by accepting him
Failure to do so is stumbling over Jesus
And stumbling right into Hell
That is the fate that awaits those who reject the Cornerstone
It is not my intent to scare you
I don’t believe I can scare anyone out of Hell
Simply to tell you the truth because I love you
Like Christ loves you
And I do believe I can love you to heaven
And I want for you
What I have
I want you to change the fate laid out for those who refuse him
Close from the heart
Pray
