1 Pet.2.1-5 – “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,
you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
This month’s message focuses on the “living stones” of 1 Peter 2.5.
I have found that the Church moves with great difficulty “from” the realm of religion, routine, and ritual “into” the realm of the experiential and spiritual—that is, the realm of life in Christ Jesus. These realms are distinct from one another. If, while in the pursuit of life in Christ, I were to cease striving forward, or upward, I would immediately sense a backflow in my life; I would become more routine, more structured, more ritualistic, and ceremonial in worship—these are all elements religions are made of; and religion falls short of the upward call of God. It is a move backward from life to routine practices. Our focus cannot diminish, our faith cannot relax for a moment; you see faith is not a simple belief system, or having a positive mental attitude, but faith is actually an effort, a work, as noted in 1 Thes. 1.3,
“…remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,”
The “work” here means “to accomplish something, it is an action, it is an effort to gain something, to reach a goal. Faith strains forward as a runner in a race approaches the finish line and reaches forth with all his might, to reach the goal and gain the victory. Paul frequently uses verbs such as: striving, reaching, and pressing to describe the exercise of his faith. If one relaxes his foot on the gas pedal, the automobile immediately begins to slow down; friction never stops working, it always works against you, in the direction opposite of that intended; without the input of additional energy, work is not accomplished to continue to move forward. If one is rolling a large boulder up a hill and stops to rest, he immediately feels a back push because gravity never stops working; at best there is a standoff where you become firmly planted where you are.
Regardless how spiritual one may feel, having been born again, we all, spirit and soul, still abide in that same original body, which is unchanged, and is subject to exhaustion, sin, corruption, and death; it is and influenced by worldly circumstances and evil persuasions. This body remains an impediment to our spiritual growth; we can consider this body friction to moving forward, and as gravity to any upward or heavenly advancement. Therefore, it requires the work of faith to overcome its natural desires and weaknesses of these bodies.
Recall when Jesus instructed His disciples to watch and pray with Him as He went off into the garden of Gethsemane to pray. Mk. 14.37-38, “Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour? …The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” It is often at such critical times that call upon our faith to press on spiritually that we find ourselves asleep, daydreaming, detached from our spiritual environment, and distracted by things around us. An important part of learning in the school of the Spirit is discovering the “reality” of things of the Spirit and taking them soberly and somberly. When I find myself adrift in other thoughts, when I am in a position of prayer or worship, I know that I am not taking the situation seriously and soberly in faith. I am just religiously acting out the part. I must wake up, stay alert spiritually.
In the opening passage of 2 Peter 2.1-5, we find that Peter gathers together three Old Testament symbols related to sacrificial worship; he then applies them to the New Testament Church. These symbols are visible and tangible natural elements that prefigure the invisible and intangible spiritual elements of faith; they are the temple, the priests, and the sacrifices. These three elements: the temple, the priests, and the sacrifices, combine together spiritually to form that most perfect relationship between man and God—which is in the Church.
Believers are individually and collectively temples, as they are the habitation of God; the Holy Spirit dwells “in” them. This requires faith, extraordinary focus and faith to maintain control over your thoughts; one might not “feel” at any one time a temple of God, yet by faith he is a most holy dwelling place.
Believers are also individually and collectively priests, for we have been set apart and sanctified, and as priests we have direct access to the Father through Christ Jesus; He is our High Priest enabling our approach to the Father. How often we seem to wait and wait for God to come to us, even begging Him to come, when He has already sent His Spirit into us enabling us to draw near to Him.
One of the main functions of service for these spiritual priests is to offer themselves as sacrifices to God. This is the uniqueness of true Christianity compared to all religions on the earth, which are all ritualistic and routine in nature, having only shadows of spiritual reality. These are spiritual sacrifices, laying one’s self on the altar, certainly not as a sacrifice for sin; for there is not greater sacrifice for sin than the shedding of blood of the Lamb of God. But it is our faith in the “co-crucifixion” of our self with Christ: Gal. 2.20 – “I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live yet not I but it is Christ who lives in me.”
Let’s now re-read 2 Pet. 2.5 and focus more intently upon it, “you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
“Ye also, as lively stones, are built up”— Living stones! It is written that for the building of Solomon’s temple, that King Solomon had seventy thousand stone carriers, and eighty thousand who quarried the limestone blocks, besides three thousand three hundred foremen who supervised the people who labored in the work. (1 Ki. 5.15-16) The large stones were hewn and polished with precision so they were ready to be set into place, and the temple was erected in silence.
Jesus said to Peter, “I will build My Church.” (Mt. 16.16-18) That Church, in the mind of Christ, is the antitype of the ancient Solomon’s temple—the Church is a building not of wood and stone but a spiritual temple, of living stones, of sanctified souls, resting not upon large quarried stones, but upon that Rock which is Christ.
And so, do you see that Solomon’s temple in all its majesty and beauty is but a type, a foreshadow, of the spiritual temple now being erected by the Holy Spirit. Eph. 2.19-22
“Now, therefore, you … having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
There is nothing physical about this temple; nothing of the physical should demand our attention. It is independent of where we are or what we are wearing, or of our titles or status in the community. It is independent of icons and religious relics, of candles and incense. You enter this temple by faith, and in faith worship God who is in the midst. This is a spiritual temple, wherein each new believer is a priceless stone, carefully being cut, shaped, and polished by the working of the Holy Spirit and then carefully “set” into place in this spiritual temple. Each stone is prepared to divinely fit together into place with other living stones.
All is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, and Jesus Christ being the corner stone. The cornerstone is the most important stone because it is the central point from which all other stones are measured and set into place. Each stone is alive, not with a robust natural life filled with emotions, but each one sharing in the very life of God’s own eternal life. In the true setting of the Church, each one is born of the same seed, the spiritual seed of Christ. Each member of the Church is a true brother or sister in the family of God. It is all spiritual and has nothing to do with ancestors and genealogy.
The outward part of being “built up” includes things like Bible studies, teachings, prophecies, and counseling. The inward part of being built up is to discover the reality of our union with Christ, a real oneness in nature. When we truly love someone, we always want to be with them. To be united with Christ involves being one with Him in mind, heart, and will. We never want to be separated from Him or do things contrary to His will.
As living stones we are made alive to God by a spiritual life derived from God our Father. This fact is confirmed in Eph. 2.5-6,
”even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”
We must confirm this in our minds and in our hearts. We must become convinced that our old life with all its worldly attachments is passed away, put to death at the cross, and that we are now living as a new life as Christ is in us. We have not joined a church but have been born anew into the Body of Christ. This must be made our confession of faith.
A spiritual house.—This spiritual house is the abode of God; it is not “like” the abode of God, or representative of the abode of God, or fashioned after the abode of God, but is the dwelling place of God. It is a temple made up of an innumerable number of living stones, each one is incomplete and insufficient in itself, yet each one is necessary to complete the building. The work of building continues day by day as we grow into a “holy” house of God. Being “holy,” it is unique in all the earth; there is none other like it. It is set apart solely for God and receives no input from the ingenuity and talents of man.
So do you see that this is not now, nor ever will be, nor ever can be, a walk alone in the Kingdom, a walk with just me and Christ alone. There is life and spiritual energy flowing from the Head, Jesus Christ, into and throughout the Body fitly joined together. We must contemplate this thought as we gather together, many living stones, all uniquely cut and set into place, to form His dwelling place, and having spiritual fellowship with one another.
In this spiritual setting, we draw close to Him and He draws close to us. Spiritually, there are no fragrances of incense, no light from burning candles, no altars or visible icons, no marble structures; we come by faith only knowing Almighty God is in our midst. With spiritual eyes we see the heavens open before us. We certainly have not come to any temple upon the earth; even as it is written,
Heb. 12.22-24 “Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels in joyful assembly, to the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven. You have come to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”
This is our environment of worship and fellowship. Shall we be content with only knowing about these spiritual truths and feel good about it? Or to waste this time together, to daydream, or plan tomorrow’s activities. Once as a young man, my family drove through a snow storm to attend church so crowded we could only stand in the vestibule, barely hearing words being said, and we felt good about ourselves for fulfilling our obligation to attend church on Sunday. It is when obligations and duties are overshadowed by spiritual fellowship that the life of God is experienced.
It is here, in this environment, we have fellowship with one another as each member reaches out in his own way to support and build up the Body. We call this “ministry,” a word many take very narrowly as intended for a few, but is scripturally broad and inclusive, extending to each and every member of the Body. Biblically, the word ministry is derived from a Greek word meaning simply “to serve.” It is implied that “service” is under God’s authority and we but His faithful servants. The real content of ministry seems to suggest ministering spiritual things, not just practical things as doing some nice service for the poor or weak or downtrodden. Such spiritual service may involve preaching and teaching, prayers, counseling, emotional support, encouragement, and so on.
Any form of ministry is first of all directed towards the Church and the saints therein. Outside of evangelism, 99% of ministry is toward the edification of the Church. Secondly, 1 Peter 5.10 establishes the high objectives for ministry from God’s viewpoint; and that is to perfect, establish, strengthen and settle the saints individually and the Church collectively. These are the high objectives of ministry:
- To perfect is to bring into spiritual maturity, just as polishing the temple stones removes defects in them, so the believer may be made increasingly perfect.
- To establish means that nothing may overthrow one’s faith or hope or diminish his love for God and the brethren. Once the temple stone was set into place, it was fixed, cemented into place, nothing could move it.
- To strengthen is to help impart power to resist attack and to conquer your enemies. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
- To settle someone is to establish him upon a firm foundation, upon the doctrines of the apostles and prophets, upon the truth of the Gospel of Christ. Just as the temple stones were rightly fit upon massive foundation stones, each and every believer must be firmly placed upon a foundation of being in Christ and knowing Christ in him.
Ministries must rise up in the church, from any and all members, to function in these four areas of service, to the building up of the Church.
An holy priesthood.— May I reiterate, this temple is not firstly regarded for its capacity for worship as much as a place for Divine habitation—the presence of God. Worship only follows after we first soberly and solemnly acknowledge His presence. This is so important to understand; our worship does not usher in the presence of God, but rather the presence of God brings forth our worship. If we gather together without acknowledging the Divine presence of God, we are merely acting out religion.
The account of Isaiah (Is. 6) illustrates this very well. It seems that Isaiah was suddenly caught up into the heavenly temple of God and the presence of the Lord. He heard angels crying out, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.” He was overwhelmed and reduced in the presence of the glory of God. He could only humble himself and say, “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips…” But when he heard the voice of the Lord say, “Whom shall I send, who will go for us?” Isaiah said, “Here am I, send me.” A ministry was born.
Ministries are born out of the presence of God, worship is brought forth out of the presence of God, lives are changed out of the presence of God. Victories are won in the presence of God.
The saints are the priests of the New Covenant and function as ministries of the Lord sent to the Body of Christ. The old priesthood, like the old temple of the Old Covenant has had its day, and ceases to be; as it is written, Heb. 8.13,
“In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”
The hierarchy of the priestly order is no more as we are all one in Christ, every member functioning as an important member of the Body, as it is written, Eph. 4.15-16,
“…may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
These are the ministers, elders, pastors, teachers, evangelists, worship leaders, prayer warriors, counselors, exhorters, helps, and other ministries aiding and giving life to the Body. In a general sense, they are all priests as well. What is the function of a priest? What is the order of his duties? It is to offer up spiritual sacrifices.
To offer up spiritual sacrifices.— This priesthood is not in name only as in holding the title of Priest, or Reverend. It is not a figurative position, as being “like a priest.” A priest offers sacrifices. The sacrifices of this holy priesthood are, like everything else pertaining to the New Covenant, spiritual—not material, like offering up bulls, goats, lambs, grain and fruit or donating money. No, our priesthood is modeled after our High Priest, who is Christ. Heb. 4.14,
“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God,”
He offered Himself as a living sacrifice for the sins of man. We cannot do this in our flesh because the great sacrifice has already been offered and no other sacrifice is worthy. Heb. 10.12-14
”But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”
There is no more sacrifice for sin to be made. The title priest is never given to a minister of the Gospel, and neither should it be. The proper idea of priest is to offer sacrifices; but those ministers, pastors, teachers, elders, etc. of the New Testament have no sacrifices to offer, for the perfect offering has already been made by our Redeemer at the cross. To Him and Him alone is the title ”High Priest” given. But then the title “priest” is given to all believers in the Church who offer up spiritual sacrifices, offerings of the heart—which is the sacrifice of self, and of the will; and of prayer, praise and thanksgiving. These are sacrifices made not for any atonement for sin, but because they are simply the “nature of worship” to a loving God. Did you grasp that—the nature of worship? Worship is more than singing songs and hymns of praise. Worship is fellowship with God in song, and in prayer, and in thanksgiving, and in offering up the sacrifice of self and our wills.
Humility
Spiritual sacrifices are simply the “nature of worship.” The key that unlocks all worship is humility. There are some that, by their nature, are humble, showing lowliness, and meekness of character. Humility is acknowledging our weakness to achieve anything of spiritual value in our own strength; it is a sense of guilt in our flaws of character; and it is a lack of confidence in ourselves to make things right before God.
Jam. 4.6 – “Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
God resists the proud, the arrogant, those who boast in their own strength; those who think highly of themselves, and put confidence in their own wisdom, power, and holiness in their own sight. To these, their worship falls short, it misses the mark. They fail in communion with God. Listen to the Isaiah 57.15 prophecy of God,
“For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.’”
As it is written,” He gives grace to the humble.” The greatest gift of grace to us is in His Son Jesus Christ. The very Spirit of Christ indwelling the believer is exceedingly beyond all we could ask or think. By grace in Him we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. By grace in Him we draw close to God and He draws close to us—now, in this hour we have this Divine privilege. And, by grace in Him and Him alone we have inherited eternal life and the promise of the resurrection from the dead. Scriptures that speak of the value of our humility in character and of humility being the essence of the character of Christ, are too numerous to mention here. True spiritual humility is the key that unlocks worship and fellowship with God. As priests, we humbly offer up these spiritual sacrifices.
