1 Peter 2:6-10 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. 7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, 8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. 9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light; 10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Sadly, we have yet another scandal in the Southern Baptist Convention. In our paper The Baptist and Reflector I saw the headlines,

MCLAURIN RESIGNS AS INTERIM PRESIDENT OF SBC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

I thought it might be good news, that Willie was being called as President of the SBC Executive Committee. Willie took over as Interim President when it was alleged that Ronnie Floyd was guilty of sexual abuse. To quote another article, “McLaurin … brought calm to a battered organization in the wake of former president Ronnie Floyd’s resignation and to the EC’s handling of sexual abuse claims related to SBC churches. ”

Sadly, that was not the case. Brother McLaurin submitted a resume that – Willie admits – “included schools I did not attend or complete the course of study”. McLaurin wrote, “To the Southern Baptists who have placed their confidence in me and have encouraged me to pursue the role of President & CEO of the SBC Executive Committee, including pastors, state partners, entity servants, colleagues, and SBC African American friends, I offer my deepest apologies. Please forgive me for the harm or hurt that this has caused”.

Though I do not endorse what Brother McLaurin did – it is a violation of God’s Word to lie and misrepresent – I personally am praying for our entire Convention. We are not recognizing elders who are Spirit Filled and God Led, but are approaching God’s Word in the power of the flesh. It does not matter how many degrees you have. The reported Prince of Preachers, C.H. Spurgeon had no seminary training whatsoever. He was God led.

Beloved, are we GOD led, or are we FLESH led?
What is our goal every Sunday at this Church?
What do we expect of ourselves as Christians when we walk out of here?
I don’t care what your resume says –
If you’re not walking in the Power of the Spirit,
If you’re not walking in the LIGHT of Christ,
You’re in the wrong place! Period.

Our Chief Focus Is Not Human Qualifications,
But CHRIST. Jesus is PRECIOUS.

1 Peter 2:6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I {this is God the Father speaking} lay in Sion {actually Zion, a reference to God’s Kingdom} a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

It is IMPORTANT to realize when reading the Bible you are reading the Word of God. It is also IMPORTANT to understand our Bible is translated from Hebrew, Chaldean, Aramaic and Koine Greek to English. It pays to look at the original text, because sometimes the translation may mask a Biblical truth.

Word Study: Take for instance the word “Wherefore”. We saw this word last week in

1 Peter 2:1 WHEREFORE laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings …

We saw that this was the Greek Conjunction oun, found499 times in the Greek New Testament. Oun can be translated “accordingly, consequently, or these things being so”. Now we come to “Wherefore” once more, but this time it is the Greek Conjunction dio. Dio is used only 53 times in the Greek New Testament – about 1/9th of the time that Oun is used. Dio appears to be more emphatic. For instance, it is found in:

Luke 1:35 {Gabriel told Mary} … The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you: therefore (dio | διό | conj) the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God.

Or when the Centurion sent friends to Jesus that our Lord heal his servant, his messengers told Jesus:

Luke 7:6-7 … Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 7 For (dio | διό | conj) that reason I did not consider myself worthy to come to you. But speak the word and let my servant be healed.

Or when the Apostle chastised the “Woke” unbelievers in Rome, saying:

Romans 1:23-24 {they} exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore (dio | διό | conj) God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that they dishonored their bodies among themselves.

Dio seems to be a STRONG form of the conjunction. When I see Dio pop up, it is God’s way of saying “What is to follow is VERY important”. What follows the Dio in this instance is a prophecy made some 700 years before Peter’s writings.

1 Peter 2:6 Wherefore (dio) also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

This is a quotation of …

Isaiah 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

Word Study: The “precious corner stone” is the main stone the building rests on. The word translated “precious” in 1 Peter 2:6 is the Greek entimos, which means “that which is held in highest honor, that which is prized or dear to another”. That which satisfies the Father is His Son.

The foundation Stone of the Church is Jesus Christ, not a Pope or a Preacher. It is God the Father that laid this Stone, not man, nor denomination. Jesus Christ is precious to the Father. The Father said,

Matthew 3:17 … This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Matthew 17:5 … This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

Jesus Christ is the only way to satisfy God. Faith in Him is the only thing that pleases God. Glorifying Him in your life and actions will always honor Him, and please the Father. Jesus is the “chief corner stone”. Any life that does not align with His is NOT precious. Any work that does not magnify Jesus is NOT precious. The Prophet Isaiah said that Jesus is BOTH:

a precious corner stone, a sure foundation

Jesus is not just the CORNER STONE that aligns the walls to true North, but Jesus is also the SURE FOUNDATION on which the walls stand. When we are here, we are here to magnify Jesus. He is PRECIOUS.

We are saved by coming to Jesus in faith, believing His BLOOD PRECIOUS:

1 Peter 1:18-19 … you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

God has made PRECIOUS PROMISES OF SALVATION to us because of Jesus:

2 Peter 1:3-4 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Our faith before God is PRECIOUS because of Jesus. Our God sends trials our way to prove our faith, to test if our faith is in Jesus:

1 Peter 1:7-8 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

Jesus is the FOUNDATION Stone. The Jews believed that the foundation of their faith was the keeping of the Law of God. Yet the Law was never given as a means of salvation. The Apostle tells us that the Law was given to convict us of our need for Christ. The Pharisee believes in approaching God without Christ. The Liberal believes in approaching God lawlessly.

Both are wrong.

Galatians 3:23-26 before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

God saved Israel apart from the Law and apart from Sinai. Israel was saved from Egypt by believing the call of God, and by following Him as Lord.

The Law was only given after Israel repeatedly refused to rely on God, instead wanting to rely on their own abilities and senses. After Israel failed test after test, God took them to Sinai. The Law was given to show Israel that their Foundation Stone cannot be Law, but must be Christ. If you have given your life to Jesus, and He to you, the Law of Moses is not what you follow. You follow Jesus. The Bible says:

1 Timothy 1:9 … the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;

The Law of God applies to those who are not saved by faith in the PRECIOUS CHRIST. If Christ is not to YOU PRECIOUS, then you are yet unsaved. He is PRECIOUS. He alone is received of the Father. To those who have found Jesus to be their “Foundation Stone”, you are born again, Spirit indwelt, and want to stand before God in Him Who saved you. He is your FOUNDATION for life.

If You Stick With Jesus, You Will Never Be Shamed

1 Peter 2:6 … he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

Word Study: If you believe on Jesus, if you have called upon Him as both Lord and Savior, repenting of your sins – you “SHALL NOT BE CONFOUNDED”. The word “CONFOUNDED” is the Greek kataischynō, which means “to be dishonored or disgraced, to be caused to blush with shame”. This statement Peter made was a common one among the Apostles. We read:

Romans 9:33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offense: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. (kataischynō)

Romans 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. (kataischynō)

The most dangerous thing a person will ever do is not sky diving, nor disarming bombs, nor swimming with the sharks. The most dangerous thing a person will ever do is stand before a Holy and Righteous God without Christ.

We know that Jesus is PRECIOUS and trustworthy because He was “TRIED”. He was TRIED by the devil in the wilderness (Mathew 4:1) before His earthly ministry began. Jesus was “TRIED” by the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians. Jesus was tried by hunger and suffering. Jesus was tried in Gethsemane, tried by the Jewish Court of the Sanhedrin, and tried by Pilate in the Governor’s Court. No matter what trial Jesus went through, He never failed. Jesus was without sin.

1 Peter 2:22 {Jesus} did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

Jesus is “Him Who knew NO SIN” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus is “our High Priest … Who was TEMPTED in all things as we are, YET WITHOUT SIN” (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus Christ “appeared in order to take away {our} sins; and in Him thee is NO SIN” (1 John 3:5).

Illustrate: I was reading an article the other day about the “Death Cap Mushroom”. Called “Amanita Phalloides”, this mushroom grows under oak trees. What makes it so dangerous is that it looks exactly a white mushroom you can buy in a store with one distinction: the gills of the supermarket mushroom are dark brown or black, whereas the gills of the Death Cap are white. You can eat a Death Cap, and be perfectly fine for 24-36 hours. Then the abdominal cramps, vomiting and diarrhea set in. Death comes due to organ damage and liver failure.

It looks good, but isn’t. It is deadly. In the same way, there are many paths that people try to take to God. They look good, and may seem, good for a time. But in time they prove to be deadly. The only place where there is LIFE is in JESUS. Our Lord Jesus said:

John 5:39-40 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

Choose carefully. Are you living your life to please YOURSELVES, or to please GOD? We read:

1 Peter 2:7-8 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, 8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

The thought that ALL PEOPLE WILL GO – be default – to Heaven, is devilish and foolish. Peter tells us that Jesus is a PRECIOUS Cornerstone, and a PRECIOUS Foundation offering PRECIOUS Promises to those who believe in Him. Jesus is the “stone which the builders disallowed”. The religious leaders of Israel and the architects of Rome and Roman Politicians minimized and mocked Christ. To them Jesus was “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word”. The Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, and Roman Rulers all lived by their human traditions. They rejected that which Christ promoted, preferring instead to follow their own false gods. What was the result?

Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD. The Roman Empire lasted a bit longer. It died in 476 AD.
When will your Church die?

The Church That Lives With And For Jesus
Will Continue Until The Rapture

1 Peter 2:9-10 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light; 10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

The Bible now uses a series of Adjectives to describe the Church of Christ, and the Christian in that Church. Because Christ is PRECIOUS, we are PRECIOUS. Because Jesus is “CHOSEN” of God, we are “CHOSEN” of God. Because Jesus is “ROYALTY”, for He is THE Son of God, we who have believed in Him are “ROYALTY”. Because our Jesus is set apart and “HOLY”, we who have received Him are set apart and “HOLY”. When our Lord Jesus walked the earth, He was considered “PECULIAR”. We likewise who believe in Him are “PECULIAR”.

If you will share Jesus’ Heaven one day, you will be bound to Him spiritually every day.

Christians are called to “shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light”. We are to live to please Him, not ourselves. We are to magnify Jesus in our lives. We are “now the people of God”, not the children of Adam nor the spawn of satan. We are to walk in the LIGHT with Christ, not in the DARKNESS with satan.

As believers, we live under the umbrella of Jesus’ MERCY. Let us live our lives pleasing to Him, doing what the Word of God says.

For Christ’s sake. For the sake of America. Amen and Amen.