1 Peter 2:4-10 Living Stones Built Into a Spiritual House

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Living Stones in a Spiritual House

1 Peter 2:4-10

Introduction: I think it is difficult to think of ourselves as exiles in this world. Is that true with you? Now if we were like Peter’s audience, ripped away from our homes and transferred thousands of miles away into an adverse culture who always spoke of Christians in demeaning ways, I think we’d feel like exiles! But Peter wants us to embrace that identity. No, we don’t need to be ripped from our homes or live in a culture where people hate us, but we do need to train our hearts to embrace that “God has caused us to be born again to a living hope… to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1:3-4). It is born again to a new hope, but also to a new life to be lived, with a new identity.

Therefore, look at the descriptions of the text:

• Living stones (5)
• Built up as a spiritual house (5)
• To be a holy priesthood (5)
• To offer spiritual sacrifices (5)
• So this honor is for you who believe (7)
• You are a chosen race (9)
• You are a royal priesthood (9)
• You are a holy nation (9)
• You are a people for his own possession (9)
• That you may proclaim the excellencies of him (9)
• Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people (10)

1. Relating Exiles to David (Psalm 34)
   1. Peter’s letter is short, only five chapters. But the shortness of the letter is deceiving in that Peter makes constant references to OT texts without referencing the text. This pattern speaks to the extensive knowledge of the scriptures by his audience. 
   2. For example, in order for us to see the fullness of our text, consider the final words of 2:3, “if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” The reference comes out of Psalm 34. However, Peter was not haphazardly picking out a verse to give credibility to his message. The introductory heading to the psalm is: Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.” 
   3. Psalm 34 was written by David when he was an exile from Israel during the days of King Saul and had his true identity discovered by Abimelech’s men. David barely escaped with his life by pretending to be insane when he was brought before Abimelech. Therefore the Psalm is thanksgiving and praise for God’s deliverance and God’s watchful care. 
   4. However, Peter goes even further than we think in also quoting from Psalm 34:4 at the beginning of 2:4, “Coming to Him, a living stone…” In fact, Peter is quoting from the LXX instead of the Hebrew, which reads, “I sought the Lord, and he hearkened to me, and delivered me from all my sojournings. Come to him, and be enlightened; and your faces shall never be put to shame.” What better background could we have for Peter’s encouragement of these present day exiles!
2. Coming to Him, a Living Stone 
   1. First, we need to see how the text flows from the previous thoughts, and how Peter transitions to the following text.“As you come to him…” is specifically connected to the previous phrase: “if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” 
      1. Thus the reason we come to him is because we have “tasted” his goodness. Please do not limit this tasting to only the “word of God” in the sense of how enjoyable it is to learn and enjoy the Lord.
      2. When David uses this phrase in Psalm 34, he follows with the words, “Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Or, in the LXX, “Happy is the man who hopes in him.” In other words, David has experienced how delicious it is to trust in the Lord under the worst circumstances.
      3. We need to understand how taking refuge in God or hoping in God taste so good. This again relates to trials and stress. When we are under pressure, it is the most likely time for us to make poor choices and even sinful choices because we trust in our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). I see this most often in marriages. When things go really bad, it always seems that it can’t work out and it would be so much better to just quit. But that is a lack of trust in the Lord. We often do not realize that trusting in the Lord goes beyond repenting and be baptized!
      4. Therefore, we need to trust the words at the end of verse 6: “whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” Even when everything in your body says this isn’t worth it, trusting means we are counting on something that we do not yet see. And even though it can “feel all wrong” because of the pain of the moment, there is only one route in which you will not be put to shame.
      5. Let’s put this from King David’s point of view: what do you know about tasting the goodness of the Lord until you have experienced his deliverance when you were at the depth of despair, but still trusted in him even at the point of Sheol? That is what David is extolling! That is David’s praise! Refuge in the Lord is knowing that if I truly give up control of my life in favor of “waiting on the Lord,” I will then truly taste the goodness of the Lord.
   2. Conclusion: We have been so foolish over the years by simply thinking in terms of our own salvation. This is the reason Jesus died on the cross for me. He died to save me. And indeed, Peter has spoken in detail about the great mercy God showed us so that we can be born again to a living hope.  
3. What It Means to “Come to Him”
   1. First, please notice that after Peter identifies Jesus as a living stone and we as living stones, he quotes three OT texts that have to do with a “stone” to offer them assurance and an identity that connects them to God’s eternal purpose. 
      1. In Isaiah 28:16, God was rebuking a disobedient Israel because they trusted in their idols and foreign powers to deliver them. But God was laying down a cornerstone, perfectly chosen and precious. This “stone” would be the cornerstone of a great kingdom built by God. Only in God and his kingdom could they find refuge.
      2. The second stone image is taken from Ps. 118:22. Just as Ps. 34, so this psalm is a psalm of deliverance which was sung by the Levites in commemoration of the Passover deliverance. The “builders” referred specifically to the Jews. They wanted to build the nation according to their liking and therefore rejected Jesus. But to their dismay, the Lord made Him the chief cornerstone.
      3. Peter applies the third, Isa. 8:14, to those who do not believe. Isaiah 8 was a rebuke against both houses of Israel who refused to trust in the Lord during the Assyrian threat. They wanted to do things their way. The result was that God became a stone over which they would stumble. To the believers He is a sanctuary; to the unbelievers He is a stone of stumbling.
   2. Now consider how important the “stone” metaphor is. this is not a stone that can be picked up; it is a foundation stone, large and immovable. We understand the picture when we think of Jesus. But we need to see that we are built on this powerful, immovable foundation, and we ourselves also become “stone” and by virtue of being built on him are also immovable.
   3. Lesson: God does not give us the choice to exclude Him in our life. The world of Peter’s day, as well as our world, would like to think that one can choose any way we would like live, religiously or otherwise, without consequence. Sincerity and one’s personal belief is to reign supreme. But the Lord is a stone that stands in each person’s path. You either use Him as a refuge, or you are destroyed by Him. (Acts 4:11-12). Every person must make a decision about what they will do with Jesus. What will you do with the Stone in your path?
4. But You Are… (vs. 9-10)
   1. These verses directly connect back to the words of verse 5 (a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices) and verse 7, “The honor is for you who believe.” 
   2. The fact that the Lord made us living stones built up as a spiritual house indicates that we are not some immobile building. We are a temple that is alive and active as is indicates by these verses.
   3. To get the full impact, look at the end of verse 9–10. To appreciate the honor given us, we must remember that we were in darkness and he called us out into his marvelous light. At one time we were not a people, but now we are the people of God. At one time we had not received mercy, but now we have received the mercy of God.
   4. These last words come from Hosea. Hosea called his second child “no mercy”, and the third was “not mine”.  They represented Israel, but ultimately the whole world, who as prostitutes turned away from their Husband. The honor. Is that God now extends mercy and calls us mine.
   5. Peter’s four descriptions in the beginning of verse 9 are all quoted from the LXX.
      1. “Chosen race” comes from Isa. 43:20-21 “…for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen race (LXX), the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.” Isn’t that beautiful! He formed us for himself that we might declare his praise. What an honor.
      2. “Royal priesthood” comes from Exodus 19:5-6 where the Hebrew translates “kingdom of priests.” From a Jewish perspective it is an amazing statement. Israel’s priests were mediators for the people of Israel. But now all God’s people are appointed to be a priesthood – playing the role of mediators for God to all the world. What an honor! 
      3. “Holy nation” also from Exodus 19:5-6. Again, how could this even be imagined in Israel? A few had been holy, but never the whole nation. And how can this be imagined in any part of the world. And yet, this is what God has done. He has made a holy nation, a nation that will reflect his glory. What an honor! 
      4. “A people for his own possession” – Exodus 19:5-6 translates, “a treasured possession” or “special possession.” Out of all the world he called a people to be his. He claimed us for his own. We are his treasure. What an honor! 

Conclusion: If we can embrace the new identity God has brought to us, we will feel our exile status. We are a new nation, a holy nation, unlike any other. We are a priesthood, sent as God’s priests to bring a world of lost people to him. We are his own special possession, made to proclaim the excellencies of the one who called us out of darkness. That makes us exiles! What an honor. 

Berry Kercheville