[0:00] You're listening to the sermon podcast of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, Tennessee. To learn more about us, visit our website at gracereformed.org.
[0:11] And now, today's sermon. As you can see in the reading from this morning, Peter is preparing us for our mission that we're about to embark on, which is not an easy one.
[0:23] He's about to send the church on a journey faced right in front of them as a spiritual battlefield with all kinds of mockery that they're going to face.
[0:38] And it's not from strangers. Typically, it will come from friends and family, close neighbors. This is why he's already said in verse 4, if you're in 1 Peter, if you'll turn there with me, 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 4.
[0:51] He says, as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men. Jesus was rejected, and we too will be rejected. But in the sight of God, chosen and precious.
[1:05] What Peter is going to do next, so this is kind of the introduction to this next section of verses 9 through 12. We're going to go back and revisit some of the Old Testament quotes, or new, what we call the First Testament quotes.
[1:16] So Peter is going to reach back and pull from Isaiah and David in the Psalms, and he's going to use God's prophetic power to help them see prophecies that were fulfilled and use them as the means of their confidence, or as he says, a foundation to stand upon.
[1:37] You look at verse 6, he says this, 1 Peter 2, 6. For it stands in Scripture, meaning this has not been disproven. This did not fail.
[1:49] It remains true because it's fulfilled. Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious. And whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.
[2:01] So the honor is for you who believe. But for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone and a stone of a stumbling and a rock of offense.
[2:14] They stumble because they disobeyed the word as they were destined to do. We would, I think it's safe to say that we do not live in a culture that observes Christ as the stone that we are building upon, that we are creating our life around.
[2:32] And Peter is warning his believers that as those, the host readers, as those who have rejected Jesus in the past are going to continue to reject him in the future and then we're going to feel this.
[2:46] He uses a symbol or a metaphor, a picture, something we don't typically use today. We don't see it. When you go by, there's a lot of construction in Spring Hill right now.
[2:59] When you go by, you see cranes and two-by-fours, right? There's not a lot of stone buildings anymore. And so a stone masonry was normal. In this day, this is how they would build the temples, how they build buildings.
[3:12] And so the practice would be, this is, he's using this metaphor, that the masons, the stone masons would go to this pile of stones and they would start sifting through it so that they could find the cornerstone, the foundation piece that would uphold the rest of the building.
[3:28] And the metaphor was, they saw it, they found it, the perfect one, the chosen one, and they rejected it. They moved past it to find another. And in doing so, they stumbled over the very piece that was supposed to save them.
[3:46] If you want to look at some of the cross-references that Peter's quoting here, it'd be good to read them in their context. The first one's going to be Isaiah chapter 28 and Psalm 118. If you want to turn to these with me in the Old Testament, Isaiah 28.
[4:03] Several hundred years before Christ even is ascended to, descended to earth, Isaiah's prophesying so that we might be able to read this and remember how Christ fulfills it for the sake of our faith.
[4:17] He says this, Isaiah 28, 16. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, behold, I am the one who was laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone of sure foundation.
[4:32] Whoever believes will not be in haste. That's a way of saying, remember if you back up, he says a tested stone. Have you ever purchased something and you have buyer's remorse?
[4:46] You would say you purchased it in haste. You probably should have stepped back and examined it because now you're walking away going, I should not have done this. He's saying when the foundation of Christ comes and you believe in him and you trust in him, you will not have buyer's remorse because he has been tested.
[5:07] And how is it that we know he's been tested? That's what last week's sermon was about. Jesus' entire life, when he finally comes into the water and he's baptized by Jesus. I'm sorry, he's baptized by John the Baptist.
[5:19] He's fulfilling all righteousness. He is proving I am the perfect high priest. I am the one that can take away the sins of the world. I've been tested. So Isaiah is prophesying that this is the case.
[5:31] And now we can look back and say, Isaiah said what happened. It did happen. We do not have to believe that this is going to be a bad decision. If you turn to Psalm 118, David also prophesies of this day and wrote a song to remind, to remember what God would do for those who believed in the coming Messiah.
[5:51] I know this is all kind of technical, but just walk with me because Peter is setting something up for us and it's wonderful. So Peter quotes David here in verse 7 of his letter and then he's referencing Psalm 118, 19 and following.
[6:08] So let's read this together. It says this, Psalm 118, verse 19. Open to me the gates of righteousness that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
[6:20] This is the gate of the Lord. The righteous shall enter through it. Now, I want you to stop for a moment. What did Jesus tell people he was? I'm the gate.
[6:30] I'm the door. I'm the way. Through me is righteousness. You cannot see the Father unless you go through me. David's prophesying of this.
[6:42] I can't wait to go through the gate. Lord, let me go through your gate. Not my righteousness, not my obedience, not what I can do, but Lord, let me go through your righteousness, which becomes Christ.
[6:56] Verse 21. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
[7:08] This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. He's not talking about that day. He's talking about the day that Jesus came, our cornerstone, and the path of our salvation, the granting of righteousness.
[7:26] David goes, this is the day that we rejoice in, for he is our salvation. So Peter's last statement should also bring us to our knees knowing that nothing happens that is outside of God's plan.
[7:42] This is all designed, if you're going to build your life on something, you want to make sure it stands. So look at verse, go back to 1 Peter chapter two. I promise we're done flip-flopping.
[7:53] We're going to stay in Peter now. 1 Peter chapter two. I'm probably a liar. I don't know what's coming next. I got notes all over the place. 1 Peter chapter two, verse eight.
[8:06] And a stone of stumbling, a rock of offense. They stumbled because they disobeyed the word. We'll talk about that in a moment. As they were destined to do.
[8:17] God's will, what he has proclaimed, plays out on the world stage. We watch it. We, the actors, the participants that happen in this play, we do our part.
[8:33] We say our lines. And we assume we are the ones directing it. We assume we are the ones who made the decisions. And we rightfully did. We did make the decisions.
[8:44] But in the end, the result is always the same. God's plan will not be stopped. It's what Paul, it's what Peter means here.
[8:57] We may have picked the script, but God picks the destination. And this is what he means. This is why he tells, Paul tells us in Corinthians that he did not reveal the entire will of what was happening.
[9:09] Because if he did, the enemies would not have destroyed or would not have killed Jesus. And so all of this is part of the fulfillment. Peter is now quoting David, saying this was a part of the plan.
[9:23] It was always to be. We make real, true decisions. And God keeps his real, true promises. And how those two go together, well, only God knows.
[9:37] We're just here to see it as a way that we can trust in God's promises. That it doesn't matter who it is, no one can stop him. And this leads us back to our first quote from Peter.
[9:49] Really, I want to spend the rest of our time this morning. Talking about the prophecy of what has come true after several hundred years. So this is 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 6.
[10:00] He says this. He says this. Where it stands in Scripture, behold, I'm laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone, chosen and precious. And whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.
[10:15] The way that Isaiah says it is, it was not a hasty decision. This is, if you remember from the introductory of Peter's letter, letter 1 is in the midst of hostile, letter 2, is in the midst of persecution.
[10:34] They're feeling the hostility in the first letter. They're being killed in the second letter. He's preparing them for this. So they're being mocked and rejected. They're being made fun of. Their hearts are beginning to feel this.
[10:47] And so Peter is reminding them that their faith is not blind. They're not just assuming this or hoping this all works out as what we call optimistic hope.
[11:00] He is pointing them to the tangibleness of their faith. This is what was prophesied. This is what Jesus fulfilled. That's the foundation that you're standing on. Jesus told everyone he was the only means of their entrance into the kingdom.
[11:17] And coming to him by faith alone would give them the cleansing and the righteousness. He kept saying this to them. But it was going against everything that was in their system and in their heart and in their desire.
[11:30] Do you guys remember the old children's song? The wise man built his house upon the rock. Do you guys know? And he did the house thing. And the sand. The rains.
[11:40] Does it just mean the rains came? Come on now. Who knows the song? Raise your hand. All right. Sing it with me. Just kidding. As I was preparing for this that little song was just like humming in my head.
[11:56] Right? Thankful for faithful Sunday school teachers. Matthew 7 is where Jesus tells the story. I want you to pay attention to how Jesus chooses his words.
[12:10] Okay? Remember Peter says and Isaiah says for those who obey the word. We'll get to what that means here in a minute. Jesus uses the same phrase as Isaiah and David in Psalm.
[12:23] Jesus says Matthew 7 24 says everyone then who hears these words of mine I am the gate I am the way come to me and I will provide for you righteousness. Everyone who hears these words and does them believe in me.
[12:37] They will be like a wise man who built his house on a rock. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on the house but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock.
[12:49] And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell and great was the fall of it.
[13:10] I think what's important about this picture Jesus presents there were two houses built. It wasn't that there was only one house that was built. There were two. You meaning Jesus believes you can build your faith your life around something other than him.
[13:27] It's possible. And guess what is guaranteed to come in both scenarios? Storms. Destruction is coming in both scenarios. One stood and the other he said had a great fall.
[13:40] and what was the difference is where one built their house. We often wonder why am I building my life upon these biblical principles when the world seems to be building their life and they're not using the same foundation I am and they seem fine.
[14:01] This is Psalm 83. The righteous are blessed and they have fun. I do what is right and I'm poor. What is with this? Because when they stand before the storm of God when his judgment comes because he's withholding it later on in Peter we'll learn this in 2 Peter don't count my patience that I don't care I'm withholding my wrath because it's coming and I'm waiting that all might repent I'm waiting that all might come because when the storm comes when the wrath comes those who have built their house upon righteousness of their own will have to see if it stands and Jesus says if the righteousness is not built upon me then it will not stand.
[14:51] Peter uses another metaphor as well the stumble of the rock those who fall over it they didn't just reject it it was placed right in front of them it was obvious I mean Jesus did say I'm God you are prove it feed 5,000 walk on water change water into wine then they're like give us another sign he's like really another one that's enough it's sufficient that's what he tells them he says you don't want the sign you want your stomachs to be filled so Jesus uses this illustration in John chapter 11 speaking of people who see the foundation of Jesus and yet they trip right over it stumbling on themselves instead of seeing instead of seeing Jesus as a shelter to stand within the foundation of they take offense at him like they get mad at Jesus because you caused me to fall
[15:55] Jesus this is John 11 verse 9 Jesus says and there are there not 12 hours in the day if anyone walks in the day he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world but if anyone walks in the night he stumbles because the light is not in him so for those of us who can see our eyes have been opened Christ has entered into our life and brought us to see we see the foundation and it becomes for us our life but what Peter is saying is this you are going to face opposition to those beliefs because everyone else around you has their eyes closed and the very thing you want to stand on is what they trip over and say now that's annoying that's offensive because it says a rock of offense it wasn't like oh that was annoying I tripped on it it was that offends me I do not appreciate how that makes me feel
[16:58] Jesus is not my hope Jesus is not my salvation and so this is where the mockery comes in this is why he says he has to warn them I know you feel like everyone around you is shaming you is mocking you for this ridiculous life you have chose to live but they're blind they're blind and the foundation they are standing on will crumble I wanted to think about alright let's take Peter's letter and he's applying it to their context let's try and apply it to our context what are ways in which we are going to stand on the foundation of Christ and it becomes an offense for others it becomes a stumbling block for them where they become upset they want us to remove it because what do you do with something you trip over in my home you just leave it there but what do you do typically what do you do with it you remove it that's what they want to do they want to remove Jesus from the world they want to remove him from our life they want to remove him from our hope and our faith because he's in the way of what path they chose to live so here are three offenses that I can see not only from the text that we're about to face either Peter has already addressed these or will address these in his letter these are the three offenses or the three ways in which we will be mocked for our faith number one is spiritual warfare number two the radicalness of grace and number three the purpose of our lives being that it's for Christ's mission let me explain these first of all spiritual warfare because we live in such a materialistic even a metaphysical world the way in which we think about it we assume all of our problems can be solved by human means and logic that's how we approach them there's a few shows that I like to watch on YouTube one of them is called the Y Files he likes to take mysteries and solve them he's kind of like a Sherlock Holmes of the internet and there was one he was doing
[19:14] I was particularly watching last night where they were drilling a hole in Russia like 12 miles into the earth and apparently they busted through a cavern that was down there and all this gas came out of it and the drill became very very hot so much so that it was like they don't understand where the heat was coming from and so they pulled it out and as they pulled it out they were hearing noise coming up through the cavern have you guys heard this story so they dropped a microphone down as far as they could before it would melt and they got about three to five seconds of audio and what people said they heard terrified them and everybody quit and they ran because they couldn't believe what they were hearing which was the screaming torments of humans scary right not real he discovered the logic behind the story and where it came from that's why I love watching him but in his discoveries he will say things like well this animal hasn't existed for over 127 million years and I was like bro how do you have facts for that one 127 million years is a long time but we want to be able to do this we want to have logical explanations for everything all right logical explanations for go what Houdini would do is he would go into seances and he would figure out the tricks behind what these people were doing to get money and that was part of his gig was exposing these false seances there's something about that that we it makes us feel safer to say it's just fantasy all right demons and talking to the dead and the spiritual realm there's a logical explanation for it until you read people who walked with
[20:59] Jesus and these 12 men who walked with Jesus were like yeah we saw them cast out demons and they're still around Paul multiple times says well the weapons of your warfare you can't do it with the flesh you will not use human logic to explain what you are facing this is why you have to wear armor you cannot see you have to wear the righteousness of Christ by faith by means of the gospel that's why he says in 2nd Corinthians he says the weapons of our warfare are of divine power because they're built upon words and these words tear down lies so you tell so here's this is how you're going to be mocked the moment you believe there are there is a realm and in that realm that realm can and does hurt you and does control you example tell people they live in an Ephesian 2 world go tell them that and they say well what's an Ephesian 2 world I says well if you're not under the control of
[22:01] God and his love and the spirit doesn't live within you you're under the control of another God his name is Satan he's in this particular passage he's called the prince of the power of the air and he dictates what you do I'm not saying this Paul is just imagine what your co-workers face is going to look like if they're not a Christian how dare you tell me that my actions are the result of Satan who how dare you judge me I'm not judging you man I'm just telling you the truth this is why Paul's like I'm not ashamed of the gospel some of you are because the gospel liberates you out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light it's not that you are a bad little boy and now you're a good little boy you have been delivered from slavery this is the spiritual nature of what Peter is going to be dealing with letter two he's warning them listen if you do not take your faith and standing on Christ serious and you protect your mind and your heart
[23:06] Satan is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour so this is not language that he's trying to use to control and scare us he's exposing us to the truth to the reality of what's real but we struggle to read an Ephesians 2 world view and here's why this is my my assessment I could be wrong this is what I think is true in my own heart and people that I've talked to we have a hard time believing that there is a powerful spiritual being that is influencing the world because we didn't read the first half of our Bibles in its entirety we didn't accept there to be an actual realm that rebelled against God we look to the Old Testament to help us with our marriages and our parenting and our careers whatever you know we're struggling with our weight loss whatever you want to put in there we're trying to find solutions to the flesh the Old Testament is a story about how God redeemed sinners because of a spiritual war that happened that started in the garden but we don't want to hear that because we actually don't want to have to trust something outside of ourselves that's the spirit this is why it's not a warfare of nations or a warfare of the flesh this is why we put the word spiritual in the front of it because it's not of our flesh we're not we can't even take up arms with the flesh we have to use a power that's beyond ourselves when you read your Bibles you are faced with massive stories stories that are really unbelievable to hear they're hard when you need to wrap your mind around it a world filled with gods who rebel and they end up being making golden calves out of them called Baal and then you hear about these angels who are procreating with humans and creating these giants and there's this constant fighting between the nations and Saul is told don't talk to people who talk to the dead and don't practice divinations and do not practice sorcery but those are the things that they do and causes a curse upon the nation there's all these curses there's talking donkeys it's nuts right
[25:23] I just love the donkey one it's just fun but the donkey sees an angel that's when he's like will you please stop kicking me there's an angel in front of us that's the story if you haven't read it it's crazy so the next time you can't get your dog to come inside just you know who knows I'm just kidding do you guys remember when Jesus shows up on the scene Jesus shows up and what is Jesus constantly facing he's facing people who are controlled by powers greater than themselves you remember this they had to chain people because they were so powerful and they were causing so much destruction people who were blind because of powers inside of them people who were crippled and God is proving that he is a greater force the force because he's relieving these people from these forces this is part of the gospel narratives but the foundation of where it gets started is in the old this is why there's a mockery in today's world and even in our own churches where we struggle to believe that no John if you give me the proper motivation to do my part through my flesh then I can accomplish what God has for me that's the problem that's the problem is because you actually don't have the capacity to do it as parents we will feel the weight of our children as we warn them of what they're about to face and you can either hand them fleshly means that you think are going to help protect them and it won't or you can hand them the supernatural power of the gospel the truth that breaks down the very strongholds of their hearts and nothing will separate them from the hope that is in Christ because it's built upon not a flesh explanation but a foundation of Christ what has scares me is that the more I've been processing this concept of there being three kingdoms the world that we live in
[27:39] Christ's kingdom and the kingdom of the evil one his toolbox has zero rules zero rules if you think about it the way in which he wants to destroy and hurt us he'll use whatever means possible he'll go after those who are hurting and those who are weak and frail one of the realities that my wife and I had to come to is our children started to get older and leave the house for various things we had to keep ourselves in mind that we couldn't protect our children from every harm that they were about to face as much as I wanted to bubble wrap them and put plugs in their ears and tape their eyelids shut the real problem wasn't outside of them was it where was the real problem it was inside that's the real problem it's a spiritual problem so I really want to help my children I teach them the power of Christ and the gospel and how lies want to destroy them so when they face them they can use Christ as their hope and Christ as their armor and not fleshly means but how do we fight back it's not being defensive of what I've learned it's actually being offensive we then attack through the means of the proclamation of Christ for us we're tearing down the lies and building them back up with the hope of Christ so this is a war and yes the enemy will use our children to fight for him if we let him so to all of us parents we need to protect our kids
[29:20] I think this if you want to know well John how do we do that like what do you mean protect our kids remember what goes into the heart first comes in through the mind right this is why there's so many verses of scripture that says be renewing your mind right take every thought captive and filter it through Christ take every thought captive right prepare your minds for action which means you can't be lazy you have to be alert these are truths that we teach our children to be not afraid of living in our world but be able to identify that which can attack the heart and the soul you speak like this and people will call you crazy legalistic fundamentalist they will call you all kinds of weird things because what's their mind it's so bad that as parents of the United States we're almost not allowed to tell our children if they can have surgery or not for certain surgeries the world is trying to tell them what gender they should choose so we're over here trying to teach them how to know Christ we're not in agreement they are mocking us you understand the connection here if you do not infiltrate their mind with Christ something else will this actually leads us to the second means is that this is why we believe that grace is the only power and it is radical in its nature so the radicalness of grace is often what we are mocked for turn with me so you can underline this and see this in your Bible this has been pretty profound for me lately this is Romans chapter 7 the radicalness of grace
[31:07] I face this one often our church often faces this almost daily it's probably the number one reason why most people leave our church is because they feel as if we de-emphasize the nature of ourself and we over-emphasize the nature of Christ in the gospel it's a radicalness of grace it's too much grace and I find comfort when Paul says if the foundation of Jesus and all that he is for us in the end you're not going to be ashamed of that you won't make it to the end of your life and go man I should have done more it's not what he's saying listen to this this is Romans chapter 7 it is very important you understand the tenses of Paul's writing he is writing in the present tense he is speaking of his current battle as a believer one who has the Holy Spirit that lives within him alright so this is Romans 7 verse 18 he goes for I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh for I have presently the desires to do what is right but not the ability to carry it out underline that highlight it circle words whatever you like to do put dots put a star check it the most prolific writer and missionary of the New Testament carried out his missions received more persecution than anybody than anybody that I know of and the way he did it was well I didn't do it with my flesh because I don't have the ability to do that in my flesh like if it's required for me to do it in my flesh and then he gives you the list of the things that he accomplished in the flesh in Philippians and he's like well if you pile that all up it's worse than what you see on the side of the road of the dog manure it's not of any value there's nothing in my flesh that produces this this is why if you turn quickly just over to Galatians chapter 3 he has a very stark warning to these Galatians when it comes to the radicalness of grace in comparison to the trusting of our flesh to do the work that God has called us to do because notice here he's not talking about salvation
[33:15] Paul is saying I want to do the right things I have the desires to do them but I'm not able to pull it off Galatians 3 verse 1 oh foolish Galatians who bewitched you it was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified let me ask you only this did you receive the spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith that's grace right right there that's the radicalness of grace did you come to believe in Jesus by doing something no you heard the gospel grace fell upon you and you believed are you so foolish having begun by the spirit this grace of the gospel are you now being perfected by the flesh did you suffer so many things in vain if indeed it was in vain does he who supply the spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law or by hearing with faith you see
[34:21] Paul felt the mockery and the pushback where people wanted to say yeah I understand that I'm saved by faith Ephesians he has to say this in Ephesians 2 right it's like there's nowhere where we ever stand before God and we boast of what we have done in the flesh not only that every single person in here if you truly are a believer you're sitting here going I want to do what's right you with me I know what it's like to do what is wrong it's not only fun it's not it's only not fun but I hate how it makes me feel I want to do what is right I agree but you have to come to the conclusions of Paul and say if I'm going to do what is right I cannot do it in my flesh which means I cannot manipulate discipline motivate my body to then do spiritual actions we're going to do spiritual actions church we're going to fulfill the mission that Christ has called us to do that is inevitable
[35:25] I'm not saying sit back and don't obey not even close what I'm saying is you cannot obey unless you use God's means which is his grace in our life that's why it's radical we are saved and sanctified we obey in the same way in which we are saved I don't even you finish this phrase for me everyone out lied we walk by we say it but it's a hard time to actually do it you know what that means you live every day under the truth of what Jesus is for you and believing in his supernatural power in your life you actually live that way versus I'm going to wake up and cause my flesh to do the things I know I need to do I love Hebrews 12 Hebrews 12 1 we know this let me read it to you therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses boy the way that's chapter 11 and they are a great cloud of witnesses a bunch of failures
[36:33] I hope no man in this room ever lives the life of Abraham or David please don't do that bad okay or there was also a harlot in there as well that's the great cloud of witnesses witnesses who learn to live by faith since we have so great a crowd of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which easily clings to us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us looking where looking unto Jesus but this is more important don't miss this the founder the one who gave you your faith and the one who ends up perfecting it to the end you look to Jesus setting aside the weight and anything that gets in the way because he not only began my race he will end my race that's how we get the work done I was teaching a class this week on saint and sinner the audio should be out later this week and I added another third in there another third S saint sinner and the supernatural because Paul adequately teaches us not only are you justified by God you are loved perfectly and cleansed and holy you're still a sinner so you have to learn how to reject the flesh and live by the spirit the rest of your life so this is what
[37:53] Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 9 this is why we have to be people of grace he says this 2 Corinthians 12 9 this is this is Paul crying out God I've got this thorn in my flesh we don't know what it is please three times I've asked you take it away it's weakening Paul in his flesh that's what it's doing that's what you learn it's weakening his flesh Jesus says my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness so that the power of Christ may rest upon me for the sake of Christ then I am content with weakness insults hardships persecutions calamities for when I am weak then I am strong church the Bible is not calling us to be strong in the flesh it is not your discipline of your body you trusting in your own strength will not produce any work that God is interested in but we are so tempted to believe this and this is why we get mocked we get mocked because we're saying John you can't just teach that you have to tell people what they need to do and I'm like
[39:09] I am telling you what to do I am I'm telling you obey trusting that Jesus is sufficient trusting his truth centering your life around his truth under the realization that the moment I trust my flesh I will fall this is not in my notes but this is where my heart is my heart is broken right now for the amount of pastors that I know that trusted in their flesh and they are no longer in ministry or married I am terrified of that when I read the apostle of apostles the most famous Christian probably in the world Paul he's like my flesh is weak to the point where it can do nothing what does that make us we all should just be like I gotta run and hide he's gonna get me he's gonna get me and then he goes no no no hold on hold on when you feel at your weakest that's when you're the strongest because you will not trust yourself you will only trust me so yeah grace is radical because the world is using their flesh and look at the results
[40:26] God says trust my will my purpose and my spirit and you will have strength that comes from me we had a marriage seminar on Friday this is what we were focusing on I gave no tips on how to make their marriages better you wanna know why you don't wanna know how my marriage is going my tips don't work ask my wife they're a bad idea but if you trust in the power of the spirit and you walk by faith believing in the gospel and you transfer that to your spouse you're gonna have a marriage full of grace that reflects mercy and kindness and humility and gentleness meekness because you're not doing it in the flesh so my meriting tips for you is renew your mind in the power of the gospel what a great tip don't ever tell me I didn't tell you something to do I gave you something to do right there but the more I preach this message the more I am ridiculed and mocked and I find
[41:27] Peter's comforting he says but in the end if you were telling people to build their life on Jesus it's the foundation you won't be ashamed of that as a pastor I will be judged for what I say I will be held accountable for what I say and as a pastor I read this and go okay as long as I push you to put your foundation on Jesus I won't be ashamed of what I said you won't be ashamed of your life number three and that just kind of quickly leads us to our purpose which does change if you believe there's a spiritual warfare you believe grace is our only hope in that warfare and our life that means the purpose of your life changes we no longer allow the flesh to drive our desires and our habits and what we want to do we have to allow the truth of Christ to drive those the greatest mission given to the church is not our marriages it's not our children it's not our country it's not our politics that's what's so hard the greatest mission you've been given is the kingdom I love asking this question
[42:28] I've been asking it a ton Jesus says seek first the kingdom of God that's your number one mission anybody know what that means we don't know what it means because we don't understand the first testament because we don't understand the first testament we don't understand what he's saying you know he spent 40 days before he left the world so he died rose again the disciples all dispersed he gathered them back together and you know what he did for 40 days he had to reteach them everything that he taught them in three years he's like alright crash course refresher Acts 1-2 says he spent 40 days teaching them about the kingdom of God the thing they're supposed to be pursuing everything is subordinate everything is under the mission of the king and his kingdom that's why to do the work of the kingdom it's spiritual work it's not physical work it's manifested in our flesh but it doesn't begin in our flesh we must think of our work in forms of the way in which not the world accomplishes how does the world accomplish things it uses power intimidation and wealth well Jesus
[43:36] Paul tells us he goes alright so God's army if you were to assimilate it it's not even the C team guys we're not even in the pro level he's like he chose the weak the unwise the frail everything everything that the world would reject and that's what God chose to use to change the world so the next few weeks is how we then apply this that's the verses we just read we're going to refrain ourselves from the flesh and we're going to learn how to live within the culture manifesting the foundation of Christ as we receive mockery and eventually I think we might be going down the same road that first and second Peter were going down that we might even experience legitimate persecution we will not feel the pressures to get off of Christ but we will remain firm because we know in the end his promise this would happen he fulfilled his promises in the resurrection he will return and I will not feel ashamed for choosing to rely on Christ that means as individuals for those of you that are married and not married how you govern your life is always this question is this what Christ has for me is this based upon the truth of Christ and his mission or is this based upon me and my desires of what I want to see done for me so we don't really see we don't really train ourselves to see our life this way to see our careers this way to see our families this way we don't even train our children this way to think about Christ and his kingdom because it's so foreign to us that means we're not being controlled by the spirit of the truth that's in scripture we're being controlled by the world that's around us and logically think about that if your diet is the constant influx of lies that you can't even identify compared to a 45 minute sermon on Sunday what wins out what wins out right it's not even enough washing to remove all the lies so if he becomes the cornerstone of our salvation he also becomes the means of our transformation and that has to be this truth let's close our time this morning let's go back and look with me at 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 9 after he says alright here's the foundation of your hope you're not going to put to shame if you do this he gives you a whole new way of thinking about your life as it relates to him going forward so this is 1 Peter 2 9 but you are a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation a people of his own possession that you might proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light he is giving you every form of identity that you could ever possibly want it doesn't matter what nation you came from it doesn't matter what family you came from it doesn't matter what occupation you come from
[46:51] I do I do there are people here from other countries and we stand up and say proud to be American and they can't say that about their country right there might be one day we can't say we're proud to be an American I know I'm going to get sued for that one but Peter's like hey listen Israel has crumbled you are now a part of a Roman rule it is it is it's as unholy as any culture has ever been it's right on the border of Sodom and Gomorrah here he says listen God has now chose you to be his spiritual race and then he's given you a whole new career you're his representative to the world you literally carry the presence of God around to people watching how it touches them you're a royal priesthood a holy nation a people of his own possession he's completely changing your perspective giving you your new call in life which is to proclaim the excellencies of whom who called you but it's hard to do that if you're ashamed if you're afraid of being mocked for proclaiming
[48:01] Christ you won't proclaim Christ but if you're not afraid of being mocked you'll do it because you understand he took me out of darkness he can take you out of darkness I live in light you can live in light oh man and then verse 10 this is why we emphasize the mercy and grace of God once you were not a people but now you are God's people once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy see how he keeps motivating us he chose you he loves you he's transformed you his mercy is upon you build your life on that foundation even though you're mocked even though you're persecuted and at the end of your life you will not feel ashamed father I feel so convicted in my own heart in the ways in which I know that I often want to step off of the foundation of Christ and onto my own fleshly desires I'm so thankful for brothers and sisters who sing confront pray for me serve me lift me up encourage me
[49:04] Lord may this be true for all of us this morning as we feel the weight of the world not only of the flesh of how they mock us but also the spiritual warfare that we face may we be people of the word may we know the word may we pursue it consume it that we may no longer be ignorant the more of you we know the more joy we can have in resting in your sufficiency Lord may we be renewing our hearts and our minds and trusting in you may we celebrate as David did this is the day that the Lord has made for my salvation and from this day forward I will rejoice that the world around me may also hear of his excellencies of how they too can come from darkness to light Lord may that all be true for us this week in Christ's name amen we'll be if u