Christ, the Living Stone pt. 1 "Rejected By Men" - June 21st, 2026

And uh happy Father's Day to all the dads. Um, just a quick little personal announcement before we get our service started. Uh, my family will be traveling um and leaving for Korea tomorrow, and then we'll be back two weeks from now. So the next two Sundays, we're gonna have um two of our deacons uh preach the word. Um, they've been preparing for a while and um been mulling it over, and so they're gonna be bringing for the word to us over the next couple weeks. And so uh please do pray for us. It's the twins' first time in Korea since we left in 2018, and so we're very excited about that. So we're leaving uh tomorrow. We'll be back uh July 6th. Um, please stand again with me, and I want to read our passage for today, 1 Peter 2 4 to 8, and it reads, and coming to him as to a living stone, which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God.

You also, as living stones are be built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture. Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, and he who believes upon him will not be put to shame. This precious value then is for you who believe, but for those who disbelieve the stone which the builders rejected, this became the very cornerstone, and the stone of stumbling in a rock of offense, and they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this stumbling they were also appointed. Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you for this morning's time of worship, that you've invited us to come and draw near, and Lord, we honor you this morning, and we ask, Lord, that you would speak in a powerful way, speak clearly, and that our hearts would leave here so thrilled that we have a relationship with Christ.

And I pray that you would empower and strengthen your people. Lord, we are often easily entangled and discouraged, and we beat ourselves up over our many failures. But I pray that this morning's sermon would provide us with great hope, not in ourselves, but knowing that you finish what you started always. So strengthen your people, feed your people. We pray all of these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Go ahead and take your seats. In 1843, a very deeply religious Danish author by the name of Hans Christian Anderson wrote a fairy tale called The Ugly Dumpling.

I'd never done that before. This the story, the ugly duckling, has since become a classic, and it's been translated in over 125 languages. So I'm gonna assume you've heard of it. Nod your heads if you've heard that story. Okay. Well, the story of the ugly duckling begins in a barnyard where a mother duck awaits the hatching of her eggs. And one by one, the eggs hatch little yellow ducklings waddle forth. They are yellow, cute, and fluffy. And then from a larger egg out comes an oddly shaped gray duckling, and this ugly duckling is almost immediately mocked and mistreated by his duck siblings. He is unlike all the other ducklings. His color is different, his bill is a little different, and so his duck siblings are mean to him and they bully him.

And this mistreatment is contagious. It then spreads to the other at the other animals in the barn. The turkeys call him ugly.

And soon enough, even his own confused mother laments the fact that he had been hatched. And eventually the ugly duckling runs away, and he tries to make friends with a flock of wild geese, but they too reject him because of his appearance. He then tries to find shelter in a cottage with an old woman and her cat, but they chase him out. So he is rejected again. So the ugly duckling split spends the entire winter alone in the wild, barely surviving the freezing cold, but he survives. And so then it becomes spring. And at this point in the story, the duckling is beyond miserable and lonely. He had spent nearly the entirety of his short life alone, and feeling so alone and overwhelmed by a lifetime of constant rejection, the ugly duckling finds himself in great despair.

And here the story of the ugly duckling takes what looks to be a morbid turn. One day the ugly duckling notices a flock of elegant swans swimming in a pond. And then the ugly duckling approaches the flock of swans, hoping for a quick and merciful death. He approaches them, hoping that they would put him out of his misery. But to a surprise, not only do they not kill him, they welcome him warmly. And so to his shock, these swans heap praise on him. They call him graceful, beautiful. And so this is the first time he's ever been well received. So now the ugly duckling is a super confused. And in his confusion, he catches a glimpse of his reflection in the water of the pond, and the ugly duckling realizes he is not a duck.

He had never been a duck. The ugly duckling was a swan. Though not explicitly Christian, the ugly duckling contains a good amount of theology. It speaks of the rejection of the truly beautiful and majestic. It speaks of worth that is beyond appearances, and then it ends with glory and praise. History tells us that Hans Christian Anderson was a very devout and religious man, and he held tightly to a Lutheran faith. So it actually makes me wonder whether or not there were deeper meanings contained within the story. Well, we've arrived at a very meaty passage in 1 Peter, and in this part of the letter, the Apostle Peter similarly points to the rejection of Christ by men, but the acceptance of Christ by his saints, his elect brothers.

And Christ is not only accepted and welcomed, but celebrated by his kinsmen, his true brothers. They recognize him for who he is, and only the saints, like the swans, recognize him for who he is, and they love him, they adore him, they heap praise on him. And the primary difference is that the ugly, unlike the ugly duckling, Jesus knew from the beginning who he was.

But it says in Hebrews 12, 2, despising his shame, he submitted himself joyfully to a life of rejection and sorrow. And because of this, he was choice and precious in the sight of God, verse 4. So we've arrived at 1 Peter chapter 2, verses 4 to 8. And in these verses, the Apostle Peter gives us a theological summary and a recap of the gospel. Jesus Christ was rejected by men, but he was choice and precious in the sight of God. And he is precious to his elect saints. And so the saints cannot help but come to him as a living stone. They cannot help but marvel, because a living stone gives them a living hope. And they cannot help but come. They have heard his voice, and in faith they have chosen to follow, and the saints have been permanently changed.

And now, as a holy priesthood, these living stones are ministering in and to the world as priests. So if you're a Christian, you are a priest. Alright. They are building and offering up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable God through Jesus Christ. And that's a summary of this passage. And I hope it's a recap of your own personal testimony. You've correctly recognized the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and you've come to Christ, the man of sorrows. You've been reconciled to God through him, and now you are ministering in this dark world as a priest and as an ambassador for light. That is every saint's testimony. Amen. So in the verses here, 1 Peter 2, 4 to 8, revolve around the identity of Jesus the Messiah.

It's identity of Jesus the Messiah. The disciples, many years prior to this letter, they were asked a very important question. Jesus posed an eternally important questions to his disciples. Who do you say that I am? And we see the apostle Peter's spirit-informed and spirit-induced answer. And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjonah, son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father who is in heaven. So Peter's answer was the correct answer. His conclusion was theologically and spiritually correct. But Jesus wasn't testing the disciples here on any messianic trivia.

This was not a spiritual pop quiz. Jesus was drawing out a confession. And Peter's answer was the required and eternally acceptable answer. God had opened his eyes and revealed the answer to him. And this question is going to be of supreme importance for us as we process through the implication of 1 Peter 2, 4 to 8 for our lives. Who is Jesus Christ? And yes, the theological answer is of great importance. The theologically correct answer, though, is not the same thing as our heart's confession and profession. The demons are informed and answer correctly. James 2 19, right? But their correct answer is not their profession. So who is Jesus Christ to you? If Jesus were to address you in the same way, but you do you say that I am?

How would you answer? What would be your honest confession? Is he a good teacher? Perhaps even a wonderful prophet pointing us to God in his ways? Because that's how most of the world views him, right? Very few people actually have a problem with Jesus, the teacher. Right? People will claim simply to dislike many of Jesus' followers, but Jesus the man, Jesus the teacher, I like him. I approve. So is Jesus only a good teacher to you? Or is he a figurehead? Is he primarily and only theologically the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world? Someone who covers over your sins so that you can avoid hell and have an insurance policy toward the toward heaven? Or is Jesus truly your Savior in whom you believe?

Is he the Lord of your life? The chief cornerstone upon whom everything in your life is built upon. That's an important question. Is he everything to you? Is he the foundation? Is he the anchor point on which everything in your life hinges upon? Or is Jesus a great big disappointment? A tyrant, an overly demanding king, or perhaps an exaggerator or a liar, whose self-made claims of being God are a little bit too far out there. Many people have fashioned and followed a Jesus of their own imagination because there are things about the Jesus of the Bible that don't sit well with them. And so not intending to reject Jesus outright, many people simply modify him. They custom make Jesus to their liking, they tailor him to fit their preferences.

So to many in the world, Jesus is an idol. He is not Lord. Are you guys tracking so far? Is Jesus your idol or is he your Lord? Is an important question. The living stone has been rejected by men. And he will continue to be rejected by men. And we're gonna see today that most of all mankind has rejected Jesus or will reject Jesus. Don't be shocked by this, because this is what Jesus actually said himself, right? We will see today that most all mankind has either rejected Jesus or will reject Jesus down the line. Christianity today is the majority religion. Do you guys know this? It is the world's majority religion. But Jesus said he will be the Lord and Savior only to the minority. Christianity is the largest global religion at 31%, but Jesus says that those who enter through the narrow gate in the constricted way are but a few.

So many are on religious roads, and the way to destruction is broad, and the gate is wide, and many enter through that one, right? Matthew 7 13. So this is the all-important question who is Jesus. In these verses, the apostle Peter references three Old Testament passages. Isaiah 28 16, Psalm 118 22, and Isaiah 8 14. So Peter's become a theologian in this chapter. And all three are dealing with the identity of Jesus the Messiah. And so this passage is quite dense. So we're going to be in 1 Peter 2 4 to 8 for the next three sermons. I was actually writing one sermon this week. And then every day I had to keep like moving things around, and then I was scrambling until 10 29. Right? So it's become three sermons.

Alright.

And to take our time in digesting it. Alright. So today's sermon is going to center on the rejection of Christ by men. The rejection of Christ is a prominent theme in this passage. And then the following two sermons will be looking at how Christ is choice and precious to God, and how it is that Christ has become the believer's cornerstone. So as I said, this is a dense and meaty passage, and I pray that it satiates our souls and causes us to grow and to be strengthened in our faith. May the Lord nourish us through his word. Amen.

And I want to begin there. So I want to go back to 1 Peter 2, 4 to 8. And coming to him as to a living stone, those who have tasted that the Lord is good, his kindness, right? Which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God. I'm going to skip down to verse 7. This precious value then is for you who believe. But for those who disbelieve, the stone which the builders rejected. This has become the chief cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. And they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this stumbling, they were also appointed. So one and the same. Those who have rejected Christ are those who disbelieve. And then they stumble.

And they are super offended. These are all one and the same. So all these rejectors disbelieve, they're stumbled, and they're offended because their posture is one of defiance toward the word of God. Do you guys see that in the text? They're disobedient. And to this defiance, this disobedience, and eventually judgment and wrath, 2 Thessalonians 1 8, they were appointed. So in context, the words rejected by men are first referring to the Jewish people. You guys know this, right? So John chapter 1, verse 10 to 11. Jesus was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, the Jewish people, and the Jewish people who were his own, did not receive him.

So Jesus was first rejected by the Jews, the chosen people of God. So the very people who had been waiting for the Messiah, they did not receive the Messiah. They outright rejected him, and then they put him to death. You guys know this, right? We rehearse this every year a few times on the Passion Week, right? So that begs a very another very important question. How in the world did the Jews, especially the Jewish leaders, not receive him? How did they fail to welcome their king, their savior, who had been promised from old? They were experts in the Bible, right? The coming of the Messiah was embedded into the very fabric of their culture. Every Jew was well practiced in the observance of all the feasts and the festivals, and all the feasts and the festivals they knew pointed to Christ.

So most all of the Jews were as familiar with all the prophecies, the symbols, the songs, the meals, the decorations pointing to the Messiah as we are with Christmas. If I were to begin a Christmas carol, you could probably finish the line. If I were to ask you what the origin of a particular Christmas story is, you could probably tell me because you grew up in it, right? Every year. So they were so familiar with the promises and the prophecies of the coming king, but they rejected him and they made a mockery of him. So why did the Jews, especially the Jewish leaders, fail to receive their long-awaited Messiah? Verse 8 gives us insight into how this could be, and we're gonna spend the bulk of this morning parked here in verse 8.

A stone of stumbling, a rock of offense. The Jews stumbled because they are disobedient to the word. And to this stumbling, they were also designated, appointed, let go there, right? So the Jews rejected Christ, one, because he stumbled them. Literally, the word is he knocked them over. Okay? It was a flood of water, boom. That's what it means by stumble them. Alright. And two, he had offended them. So he was a stone of stumbling, he was a rock of offense, he had contradicted them, he had violated their religious standards, he had spoken negatively about them. He even addressed them as children of the devil publicly. You guys know this, right? Oh, you are sons of your father, the devil. So they had no choice but to reject him.

And ultimately, many of the national Israel proved themselves to not be spiritual Israel, and in their disobedience, they proved themselves faithless, reprobate, and not of the elect. And that's a fulfillment of what God had said would happen in Isaiah 8.14. So, in understanding Peter's point, it's helpful to familiarize ourselves with the context of Isaiah chapter 8. Here, if you have your physical Bibles, I'm gonna give you a moment to turn there. It's actually very helpful to track with your eyes the headings, the verses, and sometimes the words of Isaiah chapter 8. Okay, I'm gonna give you a moment to turn there so you can kind of track along because I'm gonna be jumping around in Isaiah 8.

The bulk of Isaiah 8 is prophetic and predictive. You guys understand, understand the words? Prophetic means God is gonna bring it forth, and predictive means it will happen, because God is gonna bring it forth. So Isaiah is given detail of what would take place among the Hebrew nation in the days leading up to the arrival of the promised Messiah. Isaiah chapter 8 was written around 734 BC, and that's about 12 years before the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel. And in Isaiah 8, Isaiah prophesied that the southern kingdom of Judah, there was a civil war, they would withstand and survive the Assyrian invasion for a time, but eventually they too are going to be handed over to the enemy for warranted discipline.

So the northern kingdoms under attack. The southern kingdoms temporarily going to be protected, but eventually all of them are going to be delivered over to the pagans. Because God would temporarily hide his face from his people, and then Israel would be pummeled by the pagan nations and would be delivered over to them for a lengthy stretch of time. It turned out to be about 400 years. 400 years, not a short time, right? But he would give them over. But in keeping with his promises to the nation, Yahweh God would rebuild the foundation of the people. And the people were commanded to simply continue in fear and in faith and in reverence toward Yahweh to regard him as holy. That's what they were supposed to do: to fear him, to believe him, to revere him, and to be holy, as he is holy.

Isaiah 8 8. You see the word Emmanuel. God is with us. He would be a sanctuary for his people, even though everything looks like judgment. So their call was to believe upon Yahweh, to trust and obey, because he is sovereign and he eventually will restore.

But simply because he was their God and he would be glorified even through their horrible circumstances. But here's the point that is a very offensive. Even the pagan nations would come to glorify God. The Jews hate that. Right? Even the pagan nations would come to glorify God. So now Yahweh has gone too far. Discipline, okay, we deserve it. But you're gonna make yourself known to all of Israel's pagan enemies too. Yahweh, you've gone too far. So that's Isaiah 8. And the prophecy of Isaiah 8, it continues to say that many of the ethnic people of Israel will not like the unfolding of God's plan. They would reject this because this would not fit in their Jewish theological paradigms. Many are going to reject that as conspiracy and propaganda preached by false prophets who misrepresented Yahweh.

And so in the future, Israel's descendants, they're gonna act upon instinct, they're gonna follow their bellies.

They would really be Jews in name only, and they're gonna turn to everything but God. The Jews are gonna turn to mediums, they're gonna turn to spirits, they're gonna turn to even greater religiosity, they're gonna reject God and his ways and then curse and blaspheme God in his anger. And so the Jews would be hardened and fail to walk by faith, but start walking by rage and by sight. This was predicted. In Isaiah 8 21 to 22. Pay attention, they will pass through the land hard-pressed and hungry, and it will be that when they are hungry, they will be angry and curse their king and their God as they face upward. That's a that's a visualization of the cross of Christ. Then they will look to the earth and behold distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, and they will be banished into thick darkness.

Again, Isaiah chapter 8 is prophetic and predictive. So the rejection of Messiah and their hostility towards him had been foretold earlier in Isaiah 8. Being dissatisfied with the ways of God, the ethnic people of God would fashion a God of their own choosing, created in their own likeness, who would do their bidding and then grant them success, which Yahweh had promised of old. This hardened unbelief would be characteristic not only of the northern kingdom of Israel, but the southern kingdom of Judah as well. And that's the quote.

Then he shall become a sanctuary. But to the house of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, a snare and a trap for the Jews. So the nation of Israel would not be pleased that God was slow to restore their fortunes, that God was in no rush to re-establish their geopolitical boundaries. The Jews would not be pleased that the Messiah would not immediately overthrow the pagan empires. They would not be pleased that this God would not be concerned about changing their circumstances. The Messiah would not have as his priority their health, their wealth, their success, or their prosperity. Are you guys trekking? This is Old Testament prophecy. So the worldly and short-sighted people of God would hate this Messiah because he was not in the business of blessing them.

That's the context.

So they're gonna shun him and they're gonna hate him for it. Jesus, the Son of God, would become a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and many of the Jews would reject him. And that's the original context of the Isaiah prophecy. So hopefully hopefully I haven't lost you.

So they rejected him. And those who were his own mistreated him, and then they put him to death. Did you guys know that today the Jews are still waiting for their Messiah to come?

So when I meet a Jew, I go, like, well, if we're gonna have a conversation, you know that I'm gonna just talk to you, assuming that the Messiah has come, right? They're still waiting. At the Passover meal each year, the communion replaced the Passover for Jesus' disciples. Okay? So at the Passover each meet each year, the Jews have a tradition in which they send a child to run outside of the house. The child goes to look for Elijah to see if Elijah has come. Because Elijah's arrival would signal the coming of the Messiah, Malachi 4.5, right? And then that signals in the day of the Lord, when everything gets restored. And after that child runs around for a few moments, he returns back into the house, and all who are gathered at the table collectively over the Passover meal, what they say is, next year in Jerusalem.

They all say this together. Next year in Jerusalem. Maybe next year Elijah will come. Every year at Passover, that's what they say. Next year in Jerusalem. And they've been saying this for the last three thousand years. So while we were worshiping on Good Friday just a couple of months ago, Jews all over the world were celebrating the Passover and thoughtlessly saying these words. Next year in Jerusalem. They don't expect it. And the Jews of present day are still living in disbelief. So verse 7 of chapter 2, this precious value, then is for you who believe, but for those who disbelieve, the stone which the builders rejected, this has become the chief cornerstone. And here's Isaiah 8 14. And a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this stumbling, they were also appointed.

So Jesus is either going to be a sanctuary, a refuge, and the only means of salvation, or he is going to be a stone, a stumbling and a rock of offense. There's no in between.

Is that clear? I mean, the Jesus of the Bible, not some random Jesus that is being taught in media. To the elect, Jesus is the way and the truth and the life, the only means to being reconciled to God the Father. Amen. No one comes to the Father except through him. But to everyone else, Jesus is a stone of stumbling, a rock of offense. So disbelief and disobedience is the default setting for all of humankind. Okay? So the message of the cross is the power of God for all who believe, 1 Corinthians 1.18. But to everyone else, it's what? Stupidity. The message of the cross is foolishness. So these people cannot believe this. And then when they're told to obey this God, they're offended. You're not allowed to sleep with your your significant other before marriage.

Because God hates the defilement of the marriage bed, Hebrews 13 5. How dare you judge me? You're not supposed to whore your wealth. You're supposed to be generous to the poor. How dare you tell me with my what to do with what my heart earned money? So a non-Christian, when they're told the laws of God, they're offended. Right. That's the default setting for sinful men. Disbelief and disobedience. That's the default setting of unregenerate man. And we have all inherited this. We have all been born this way. Do you acknowledge that? Praise God that he intervened. But we all have that in common. And I want to touch upon a few things that the scriptures detail that are characteristic to the unregenerate man who we all were.

These are not things that a man can fix or remedy by himself. So first, every single one of us enters into the world spiritually blind. Amen.

Okay? So 2 Corinthians 4, 3 to 4, Paul writes, even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In whose case the God of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, so they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. Why did the Jews reject their Messiah? They belong to their father, the devil, John 8 44. Not Abraham, the devil. Okay. And they were born spiritually blind. Satan has blinded all the minds of all the unbelieving, and so as a result, they were sons of disobedience, Ephesians chapter 2, verse 2. They were destined and objects of wrath, Ephesians 2 to 3. So the Jews rejected the Messiah because the gospel of Christ was veiled.

Can blind men see? Simple answer. No. No matter how logically and eloquently and accurately you explain a rainbow to a blind person, he will not be able to understand it. You guys are trekking? Imagine that. You have a friend who's been born blind. Explain a rainbow. You cannot. He cannot see it. He literally cannot picture it, right? So spiritually, the gospel will make absolutely no sense to the unregenerate. It will not be amazing grace to him. It will not be a sweet sound to him. Why? Because he's blind and he cannot see. So first, people reject Jesus because they are unable to see outside of the intervention of God. In addition to this, as a result of the fall, man became like just creatures of mere instinct, not able to discern their right from their left.

Man just pursued whatever his belly lusted and hungered after. That's all mankind. They follow their hearts, they follow their dreams, they follow their belly. Man also became an arrogant blasphemer, speaking on things in which he has no real knowledge. So he's blind, he cannot see.

Born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed. Think of anchovies. Okay, not like a majestic horse or an ox. Think of an anchovy. They're born to die and to be used as bait. But they blaspheme where they have no knowledge. So their end is destruction. Man enters into the world blind. Man enters into the world like an unreasoning animal, an creature of instinct. And the hilarious thing is that unregenerate man believes himself to be wise, to possess a lot of knowledge on all kinds of things. He knows more than God. And man makes great boasts about the things he knows very little about. Sinful man is born thinking himself to be wise. And so the Apostle Paul says something similar in Romans 1.

Professing to be wise, they have proven themselves to be fools. Man is an arrogant, the Greek word is idiote. What does that sound like? Idiot. I don't know if for some households that might be a cuss word, so, but to me it's not. So I just it's Greek. Alright. The futility of thought and the darkness and folly of the heart are results of the fall, and that's the default setting of man, which you inherited as well. Amen. Yeah, some of you guys are like, I don't believe that. I'm pretty smart. Okay, you may be smart, but you're not wise. Alright? That's the default setting. So the Jews, even present day, they disbelieve and they are disobedient. The Jews today, like the rest of mankind, live in blindness.

They roam about as unreasoning creatures, they boast and blaspheme, and no wonder they stumble. It's no wonder they are offended. The rejection of Christ is the default setting of all mankind. And ultimately, here's an important question. Why do unbelievers reject the invitation for salvation? Why do your family members and friends who are not saved reject the gospel? They might say that they haven't, but by the fruit of their lives, how why have they rejected the gospel? Because they'd rather have temporary pleasure than joy eternal. That's we're creatures of instinct. I don't care about tomorrow. Feed me today. Man's default setting is I would rather have the temporary pleasure than joy eternal.

John 3, 19 to 21. Do you guys know John 3 16? This is shortly after, alright? This is the judgment that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light. For their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. Okay, that's the meaning. But he who practices the truth comes to the light so that his deeds may be manifested as having been done by God. So why did the Jews reject their Messiah? Because ultimately they were in love with their sin. The Jews rejected and continue to reject the Messiah because they are in love with their sin. And that's the theme, that's almost the theme of the entire Old Testament, right?

The Jews were in love with their sin. Why did the Jews kill all the prophets who came before him before Jesus? For the same reason. They were in love with their sin. So they hated each and every prophet who preached to them a message of repentance. The Jews deemed every prophet calling on them to turn away from their sins, false prophets. Those guys are false prophets who are hostile to the promises and the grace of God. The people of Israel in the Old Testament called the true prophets of God false prophets. People gravitated toward false prophets because false prophets preached messages that people could remain in their sins and still receive the blessings of God. And that's what Jeremiah was told by God about the many prophets that had surrounded him.

And God said, I did not send these prophets, but they ran.

But if they had stood in my counsel, then they would have caused my words to be heard by my people and would have turned back from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds. So the fruit of a real prophet is to point out sin. You guys checking? False prophets say it's okay to sin, God will bless anyway.

The Jews, for most of their history, put almost every righteous prophet of God to death. Do you guys know this? Isaiah was sawn in half by King Manasseh. The wicked king. Jeremiah was stoned to death in Egypt. Ezekiel was murdered in Babylon. Micah was killed by King Jehoram. Amos, you guys heard of the prophet Amos? He was tortured and put to death by Amaziah, a priest. A fellow representative of God.

And Jesus talks about that in Matthew 23. Right? You killed Zachariah. So it is no wonder that the Jews seized and put to death their own Messiah. And that's the point of the parable of the wicked tenants in Matthew 21, 33 to 46. You guys heard that parable? They kept, they kept killing all the workers in the field. And then the king's or the the field owner says, I will send my son. They will listen to my son, but what do they do to the son? They killed him too. That's the parable of the talent. Or the uh the tenets. Unregenerate man wants God dead. Are you guys following? Unregenerate man wants God dead. Unregenerate man wants to fashion a God who will bless him while he lives in sin. Unregenerate man comes to over time, regard sin actually as blessings and evidences of God's favor.

So they start calling evil good and good evil. You guys have heard that verse before, also in Isaiah. Unregenerate man is in love with his sin so much that he has a visceral reaction towards anything that is righteous. Unregenerate man is in darkness, and he shrieks in pain when he sees the light. The ducklings have always hated the swans. Light has come into the world. Men love the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. John 3. So it's humanly impossible to logically win over and convert someone who is in love with his sin. Let me repeat this. It is humanly impossible to convert someone with logic or just passionate preaching. It's impossible humanly to convert someone who is in love with his sin.

You guys realize this.

By threat for kids by meme, by shaming him.

Unless God grants believe. Unless God who is enriched, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, loves a person and makes that person alive of Christ. Unless God calls the man out of darkness and puts him into the marvelous light. Only then will a person see the Messiah for who he is and adore him. Only then. So 1 Peter 2, 8 to 10. A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this stumbling they were also appointed. And that's the verse we parked at. But you are a chosen family, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light.

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.

Conversion is a supernatural event. Amen.

And an infinitely lesser to it to an even infinitely greater degree. I'm not going to be able to convert someone as a pastor. It is a work of God. It's a supernatural and a miraculous thing. So we have no boast. If people have come to Christ through you, let me burst your bubble. It's not because of you. If you have kids that have come to faith in Christ, you didn't do a good job. God was kind to your family. We have no boast. Either in the conversion of another soul or even in Christ-like change that we see in ourselves, we have no boast. Are you more Christian now than you were 10 years ago? Praise God. I can't say good job. Because you didn't do that. We have no boast. So here's a question.

Who is Jesus to you? Is He your precious cornerstone on whom you center every aspect of your life? Or is Jesus simply a means of gaining access to more of the world? Because unbeknownst to many, they see Jesus as a means to gaining more of the world. And many pastors, they tickle their ears.

Who is Jesus? In your journey as a Christian, if you're seeing more and more of the holiness of God and are being more and more repulsed by your own sin, praise God. If you see God as bigger now and holier now and more terrifying now than 10 years ago, 20 years ago. And you're seeing yourself more helpless, more disgusting, more distant, more fickle, more calloused. Praise God.

It's evidence of belief. Are you harder to offend now? Praise God. If you call me a selfish, dumb pastor, I'd be like, yeah. Amen. I might still be a little offended. I'm less offended now than when I was 25. Praise God. If I'm less reactionary, I'm more reasonable. I'm less boastful outside of anything but the cross of Christ. My only boast is in the cross of Christ. Praise God. That's evidence of belief. If your living hope is growing, rejoice, because you are seeing the faithfulness of the one who began a good work in you, carrying out the work of salvation to completion. And you are proving yourself as having accepted Christ and not as having rejected him.

There is no, I've partially accepted Christ. There is none of that. You either have or you haven't. And we're all a mess. But if we have, he's doing a cleansing work through his word. And there's evidence of it. Praise God that, as living stones, verse 5. We are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in scripture, and this is a promise for you. Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, and you and I who believe upon him will never be put to shame. Hallelujah. Praise God. That your acceptance of Jesus is very visible. Even if you regard your life as a complete mess.

Praise God. Let's pray together. Father, we are constantly wrestling. But thank you, Lord, for the work of sanctification that is evident in our lives.

We pray that you would help us to be quicker to surrender, quicker to repent, quicker to believe, quicker to love with each passing season as we see each other grow into the likeness of Christ. We thank you, Father, for your kindness. For it is your kindness that has led us to repentance, and it is your kindness that keeps leading us to repentance each and every day going forward.

We're going to take a time of communion. And um here's a few notes.