Jesus Christ is the living stone and sure foundation upon which the church is built, as revealed by God to Peter. The sermon explores the significance of Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi and contrasts the church's foundation in Christ with human interpretations, emphasizing that believers are living stones built into a spiritual house. The core lesson highlights that the church, comprised of a chosen generation, royal priesthood, holy nation, and peculiar people, exists to show forth God's praises and live out His will through faith and submission to His Word. The message concludes by urging believers to live as a unified body, separated from the world, and to anticipate Christ's return, thereby purifying themselves and effectively witnessing to His marvelous light.
Restored with Diffio
Audio restored with Diffio. Diffio processed the original archive recording to reduce noise and produce a cleaner listening version; the original stays available.
Speech quality score (model-estimated, SCOREQ): before 2.20 → restored 4.49
at verse thirteen. Matthew sixteen in verse thirteen. When Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? And they said, Some say that there are John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremiah, so one of the prophets. He saith unto them, but whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell or Hades shall not prevail against it, And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loose in heaven. And then in First Peter chapter two. First Peter chapter two. And we'll begin our reading at the first verse. First Peter two and verse one. Wherefore laying aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby, if thou be yet tasted at the Lord is gracious, to whom coming as unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious, ye also as living stones, as it should be, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious. He that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious, or he is the preciousness, but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and of a rock of offense even to them which stumble at the word being disobedient, where unto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, 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.
About four years ago, together with some others, we had the privilege of being in Israel. And we stood at the headwaters of the Jordan River and at this place that is called in Scripture, Caesarea Philippi, but is now today called Banyards, B-A-M-Y-O-S. And at that but we observed that there was a huge rock from which the water, one of the three sources of the Jordan River, flowed and later became, as we know, the Sea of Galilee and continued on down until it ended up in the Dead Sea.
Three sources of the Jordan River, and I could just imagine the Lord Jesus as he stood somewhere in that vicinity. And with that huge rock from which the water at one time proceeded, it doesn't now, because it had an earthquake some years ago, it comes out of the ground near there. But that's where it came from originally. And our Lord Jesus saying, as an illustration upon this rock, of course he was referring to himself, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Some years ago, I guess, thirty-five years ago, as a boy, I remember reading, a little booklet written by Milton Lundberg.
He had something to do with the Hebrew mission in Chicago years ago, and he wrote a little booklet entitled Treasures of the Jordan River. And in that booklet he likened the life of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Jordan River. He mentioned among other things that the Jordan River has three sources, and they come together to form that river, and the The first part of that river is largely unknown to people. They don't notice that particularly where the water came from. They notice the Jordan River as it comes into being, but the sources from which it came, they're scarcely aware of. I thought it was interesting, as he points out, that there were three sources of that river that points out or suggest to us the Lord Jesus Christ, a member of the Triune God and manifesting God in his own person when he came to this world.
And the first part of his life, largely unseen. And then the Jordan River broadens and it becomes the Sea of Galilee. And that has to do with the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. As he lived here among men, many of his miracles worked. And messages took place around the Sea of Galilee. And that would suggest to us his public life. And then it goes on from there and he shows how that River Jordan, which by name means the descender, the descender, what a picture it is of our Lord Jesus Christ. who came down from heaven and went all the way down, down, down until from the lowest place on the earth's surface the Dead Sea that river ended in one way and yet we know that that water that descended in there had only one way of getting out and that was by evaporation which would suggest to us the resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ leaving beyond the Dead Sea with all of its vast treasure which would suggest to us the vast treasure that the Lord Jesus Christ has left in his death.
And I was thinking of that in connection with what the Apostle Paul has to say in Ephesians chapter four when he says, Who is he that descended but he that ascended up far with all things? The descender is the ascender. And having ascended, the scripture says in that same chapter of Ephesians that he gave gifts to men. And these gifts had to do with the building of his church. I was thinking of that in connection with what we have here and Peter's confession of our Lord Jesus Christ at one of these three sources of the Jordan River. Now, it's interesting, I think, to observe this, that there are only two mentions by our Lord Jesus Christ of the church recorded in Scripture.
Now, there are truths that are connected with the church. that are suggested, but there are only two mentions, as far as I'm aware of, that the Lord Jesus specifically mentioned it, and they're both found in the Gospel of Matthew. And both of them have connected with them the Apostle Peter. In this first instance, here in Matthew chapter sixteen, the Lord Jesus asked the disciples, first of all, whom do men say that I design a man ask? And some said, Elias, Jeremiah. And others one of the prophets. And then he said, but who do you say? And then Peter makes his noble confession of our Lord Jesus Christ. He says, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And to this the Lord Jesus responds, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jodoth, for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. The only other mention that the Lord makes of the church is in Matthew chapter eighteen. And it has to do with the subject of forgiveness. And what a tremendous part that has to play in the church. Because the Lord Jesus Christ's prayer concerning his church was that they may be won. That the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The unity of the church is tremendously important for the work of the church in this world, the purpose that the Lord Jesus Christ has for us. And, of course, being human beings, we have problems that arise from time to time among us.
And we have the problem of forgiveness. And the Lord wants us to exercise this. We're told in Ephesians chapter four that we're to be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven us. So that's the measure of our forgiveness. It not only does the other good, but the Seventeen Psalm says it does us good. It says, he that... Showeth mercy. That's not the exact quotation. Doeth good to his own soul. But that's the sense of it anyway. So we do ourselves a favor by exercising the grace of forgiveness.
And you remember in Matthew chapter eighteen, where this subject is mentioned, the apostle Peter raises this question. The Lord said, first of all, if you have a problem, you know, you first of all go to your brother. You don't broadcast it. on the public streets you go to him you tell him to fall between thee and him alone if that doesn't work the second course of action is he says you take two or three others with you as witnesses for in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established that was the principle of the law so you go to him with these witnesses and he says if you won't hear them then you call for the church and it's to be dealt with in that way and it says if he neglects to hear the church They used to be to thee as a heathen man and a publicist.
So there are three courses of action. Well, then later on in connection with this subject of forgiveness, Peter asked this question. He says, Lord, how long shall I forgive my brother until seven times? He thought that was being very liberal. And the Lord says, no, I said to thee until seventy times seven. Now he did not say seventy times seven. He said until seventy times seven. And you know when you read the scriptures you're impressed with this that the number seventy times seven had a real significance to Israel.
Because when you turn to the book of Daniel you read the Lord saying through his servant Daniel that there was going to be a period of Seventy times seven in relation to Israel's history. And we know from the Scripture that those sixty-nine of those sevens have already been fulfilled. There only waits the last week, the seventieth week, of Daniel to be fulfilled. Now the Lord said to these here, and this is particularly the Jewish gospel as we know it's often been called that, he said until seventy times seven. You know in the Old Testament you often hear this question raised. How long, oh Lord?
How long is it going to be? When are you going to set things straight? The Lord says, wait, seventy times seven. That points on to the day when the Lord Jesus Christ is going to come and he's going to be the judge and he's going to set things straight. In the meanwhile, the scriptural injunction to us is this. Vengeance is mine. I will repair, say of the Lord. the Lord says you're to forgive until seventy times seven not four hundred and ninety times but until the fulfillment of that day when the Lord Jesus Christ comes to set up his earthly kingdom in the meanwhile it is our privilege and our responsibility to forgive even in the measure says the Apostle as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you so these are the two mentions and both of them in connection with the Apostle Peter.
This makes it all the more strange that when we come to the Acts of the Apostles and also come to his epistles, in neither case do you ever read of Peter specifically mentioning the church? That's very odd, isn't it? Here is the only one, I mean, well, the Lord spoke to all of the Apostles, of course, but here is the one that's prominently in the picture, both in Matthew sixteen and eighteen, and yet neither of his messages In the Acts or in his epistles, does he make any reference, whatever, to the Church. That is using that word at least. Church truth, Peter recognized, was peculiarly committed to the Apostle Paul. Paul claims this, both in Colossus and in all two in Ephesians, that the mystery of the Church had been committed to him.
He said, We're of I, Paul. He doesn't say we. as though other apostles were particularly included in that, I, Paul, am made menaced in a distinctive sense. This truth was committed to him by the risen, glorified Christ. But nevertheless, I'm sure that when the Apostle Peter wrote his epistle, he remembered that scene, that incident which we read about in Matthew sixteen, that incident at Thessaly of Philippi, When the Lord Jesus raised the question, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And Peter answered, and the Lord Jesus responded to his answer, and he said, Thou art Peter.
And the word there, as we know is the word Petros, which means a boulder or stone, you know, a small stone or something you can move anyway. But the word that the Lord Jesus said upon this rock, the word there is Petra, which means a foundation stone, a massive boulder, something that you cannot move, and any movable. foundation and we have no doubt of course what this had reference to because the scripture tells us in no unmistakable language if we turn to first corinthians chapter three and verse eleven you read these words other foundation can no man lay then that is laid which is Jesus Christ Jesus Christ He is the foundation.
Now, Peter, when he refers to the Lord Jesus Christ as the foundation stone here in First Peter chapter two, he refers us back to the Old Testament passage in Isaiah chapter twenty-eight and verse sixteen, where you read something like this, where the Lord says, Behold, I lay, thus left the Lord, that's the way it reads, Behold, I lay in Zion, for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation, and he that believeth shall not make haste. Peter, in quoting that, says he that believeth shall not be confounded.
You won't make any mistake. You'll never be ashamed if you build on that foundation. Three things it says in Isaiah chapter twenty-eight concerning the foundation for faith. First of all, of course, it says that God lays the foundation, and secondly, it says that the foundation that he lays is a tried stone. And that speaks to us of our Lord Jesus Christ in his perfect life. He was in all points tested as we are, sin upon. He was tried, and he was not found walking. He was a precious cornerstone. That speaks of him in his death. Peter refers to the fact that we are not redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.
It refers to the price of our redemption. And then it says, He's the sure foundation. That speaks to us, of Him in His present life. The risen, glorified Christ at God's right hand. The foundation of God's standard is sure. It's the sure foundation. Why, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His. Our foundation is a living, glorified Savior. at God's right hand. On Christ's salvation rest secure. The rock of ages must endure, nor can that fate be overthrown, which rests upon that living stone. In him it is ordained to raise a temple to Jehovah's praise, composed of all the saints who own no Savior but the living stone.
View the vast building, see it rise, the work our grace, the plan our lives. Oh, wondrous fabric, power unknown. that rests upon God's living soul. That's what Peter refers to here in his epistle. And I'm sure, too, that Peter must have thought back to that incident that is recorded in John chapter six. The Lord said, do you remember when a number of the others were, his disciples were forsaking him and turning back? He turned to the twelve and he said, Will you also go away? And Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go?
Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. To whom shall we go? And here he says, To whom? Coming. To whom shall we go? To whom coming. As unto a living soul, disallowed indeed of men. but chosen of God and precious ye all for us living stone are built up a spiritual house. When we went on this trip to Israel, one of the stops that we made was in Rome. And we went in the largest religious edifice in the world. That's what it is. St. Peter's Church in Rome. You ever seen St.
Patrick's Church in Cathedral in New York? Well, it would just fit in a little corner of it. A huge edifice. And right in the center of it, the central altar, and it's a huge thing going way up into the sky, written out in Latin, up in the dome, you know, in circular form, are recorded these words. Thou art Peter. And upon this rock, I will build my church. Well, I'm glad Peter knew better than that. To whom coming? I don't draw a living stone. And he says, ye also, which is another way of saying, me too, because he was building on that foundation.
Ye also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house. Now, I want you to notice, while Peter doesn't specifically mention the church, he describes it. In fact, he gives a very, very interesting description of the church. And this is what he says in verse nine. Ye are. an elect race. That's what it really says. Ye are a chosen generation. Ye are a royal priesthood, a kingly priesthood. Ye are a holy nation. Ye are a peculiar people.
That doesn't mean odd. We may be odd, but that isn't what it means. A people for his possession. That's what we are. Who does the church belong to? my church. I will build my church. It's his. Every member belongs to him. Every member has been bought and paid for by his own precious blood. That's what Paul says, rather than Acts chapter twenty and verse twenty eight. The church which he had purchased with his own blood. What a wonderful thing to know that we belong to him. There perhaps is no more complete description in the New Testament of the church than Peter gives here in those four expressions in verse nine.
He begins this chapter, chapter two, with this statement, wherefore, and I suppose it's in view of what we are and the purpose that God has for us. We're to put away malice and guile. Why? Because we're an elect race. He says, as newborn babes, we're to desire the sincere milk of the Word. We're to be marked by an appetite for the Word of God, because that's the way we're going to grow. And that's the way we're going to be useful for the Lord in his church. And I suppose that if we were at the level at each of us, the greatest single sin of what a Christian is responsible is neglect of the Word of God. We need to feed on the precious Word of God.
It's only as equipped by the Word that you and I are going to be enabled to live a life of faithfulness to the Lord. The Lord Jesus was marked by this. It is written. It is written. Man shall not live, he said, by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. And the only way that we can enjoy victory over the devil, our arch-enemy, in this world is by the word of God. Submit yourself. You know, we forget that part. It says submit yourself to the Lord. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. We just quote the first part. Resist the devil, he will flee from you. Well, the devil is not the least bit intimidated by you and me.
And the only way that you and I can get the victory is by submitting ourselves to the word and will of God in our life. You know, this is beautifully illustrated for us in the Old Testament. God gave Moses three signs. When Moses was being sent as a representative of Israel, he says, well, Lord, how are they going to receive me? Well, he says, I'll give you three signs. And one of the signs that he gave him was this. He said, Moses, now he says, what have you got in your hand? He says, it's the rock. He says, throw it on the ground. And he threw it on the ground and became a serpent. And the scripture says, Moses, Moses fled from before this serpent. And then the Lord said, Moses, I want you to catch it by the tail. And Moses might have said, Lord, just wait just a minute. You know, it so happens that the business end of that serpent is right on my heels.
And I don't have, I'm not one to get bit today by that poisonous reptile. Roy says, reach out your hand and catch it by the tail. I heard a story one time about a hired hand on the farm, and this farmer's favorite dog came at him one day, and the fellow took a pitchfork to the farmer's dog, and the farmer was very upset about it because he tore his dog up pretty badly. And he said, when he came at you, he said, why didn't you come at him with the other end? He said, well, he didn't come at me with the other end. Well, here was this snake. And it was right on the heels of Moses. The Lord says, reach out your hand and catch it by the tail.
And Moses discovered that when he acted upon what God's word said, something else happened. When he turned around and acted on what God had told him to do, the snake turned around. For the scripture says, resist the devil, submit yourself to God, do what he tells you, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. And when we take our stand on what God's word says, we have the victory. The Bible says, in Ephesians chapter six, there is one way that we can get the victory over our enemies. It says, above all. taking the shield of faith, what is that? Acting on what God's word says, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
There is nothing that the devil can do against that person who will say in their heart, I believe God. I'm going to believe my belief and I'm going to doubt my doubt. I'm going to believe what God says. Let God be true in every man a liar. That's the way of it. Above all, taking the shield of faith. Now the church, of course, is a building, but not a physical building. Peter defines it as a spiritual house. You're being built up a spiritual house, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. The foundation we've looked at is our Lord Jesus Christ.
To the unbeliever, it says, it's the stone which the builders disallowed. In verse eight it says, a stone of stumbling. What did they stumble over? They stumbled over his humanity. They couldn't believe that God was manifest in flesh. He's a rock of offense. What did they stumble over? They stumbled over his deity. It was very offensive to them. That's why they crucified the Lord Jesus Christ. Thou being man makest thyself God. That was their offense. He was a rock of offense. The rock in Bible always speaks of the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. But when they look at his humanity, he was despised and rejected of men.
That's what it was to the unbeliever. But ah, what does he mean to the believer? Ah, it says unto you which believe he is precious, or he is the preciousness. Everything that is true of Christ has been made good to us in our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the preciousness. He is our everything. You notice the church exists for a two-fold purpose, Godward and manner. First of all, it says, Ye are a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, that ye should offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
By him, the Scripture says in Hebrews thirteen, therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. We offer our praise to him. That's a spiritual sacrifice. I'll tell you another thing that's a spiritual sacrifice. When we offer ourselves, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your body, the living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed. And then there's another spiritual sacrifice. We may think of it as a material sacrifice, but it's a spiritual sacrifice.
And I think we do well. When we remember our Lord Jesus Christ and His death that we put on the Lord's table, we put on that table when we remember Him, we put the bread and the wine, but we also put something else. We put the offering, the material, physical offering. It says in Hebrews Thirteen, but it is to do good and to communicate or share what you have, forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. And a material sacrifice is a spiritual sacrifice if offered as unto the Lord. And I think we do well to consider these. Our praise, our persons, and our perks, all spiritual sacrifices.
And then it says... You are an elect race, a royal priesthood, that you should show forth the excellencies of heaven who have called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. By the church is being made known not only to principalities and powers, but to the world about us, the manifold wisdom of God. It says, ye, and it's not speaking of the individual, it's speaking of the church collectively. Ye are an epistle, not epistles, it's in the singular, ye are an epistle of Christ. known and read of all men. You know, God by the Holy Spirit has taken up his residence in our life.
It is our privilege to be his vehicle of illumination to the world about us. And so the church is not an end, but it's a means to an end. Ye are an elect race. It lists all of these things. Notice here what it says in verse four. Ye are a chosen generation, an elect race, a royal priest, and an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should or that ye may. Ye are that ye may. We're what we are in order that we might do something, that we might show forth the praises of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.
An elect race. a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people for his possession. The church then exists for a purpose. He are that he may. Everything in God's creation has a purpose. You know, God is a God of abundance, but God is not a God of weight. Give us us richly, the Bible says, all things to enjoy. Whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely. of every tree thou mayest freely eat. Whenever we look in the Scripture, we're impressed with the fact that God is a God of tremendous abundance, but God is not a God of waste.
Many things that we consider to be a waste, like for instance we've been reading about those floods today, and I suppose we look at them, we can't see any good in them at all. We had a fellow with us not so long ago, and he was from the state of Colorado, his name, I can't recall, Brother Baird would probably know him, but he works for the government, and he was down there, and flying into some of these hurricanes down there. They make studies of that type of thing. And one of the things that he told me I thought was interesting was that much of the rainfall in your South American countries and much on the east coast of the United States is directly attributable to hurricanes. They might not even hit the land. But you know they have far-reaching tentacles if you want to put it that way, and they dump a tremendous amount of rainfall.
over vast areas of this country. And he was telling me over in Japan, they wanted to go over there and make some studies there, and the Japanese could keep your hands off. He said, we need those typhoons around here because they depend almost entirely on the typhoons for the rainfall that they have in Japan. So things that we think about enemies, they have a purpose. God has a purpose for everything. Some years ago, I was reading in National Geographic about earthquakes. said if we didn't have earthquakes life as we know it in the world today cannot continue earthquakes and recension you know they got some years ago some of these government men and they said well all fires are no good and then they started putting out all these fires the first thing you know the insects were running away with the plates the Japanese beetles and all the rest of it and they were devouring a lot of the trees they found that the fires kept the insects down and so they now they're letting a lot of these fires go but You know, and destroying some of the undergrowth because they found it results in healthier growth.
You see, God knows what he's about. We may think it's a waste, but God has his purposes in everything. You know, we learned in school, one of the things that we learned in school is matter is neither created or destroyed. You know, God is, he's talking about recycling things, God recycles everything. Nothing is wasted. Absolutely nothing in God's economy. There's no way. You know, it takes on different forms. Man makes something. You can't even get rid of the pot bottles he makes. You know, they're all over the place. And anything that man has to do with, somebody was talking to me the other day about these, you know, they've got all of this stuff that you put your garbage in. You know, these plastic bags and the farmers, they put them over the strawberries and they plow it up and it shows up everywhere.
They can't get rid of the junk. That's what man does. But God has a purpose. God had a purpose for Israel. He said, I will bless thee. And he says, oh, make me a blessing. God has a purpose for the church. Israel has been a suicide nationally, but God has a purpose for the church. We exist. The church exists in order to reach others. Isn't that true? We used to hear years ago evangelize or fossilize. You know, we have to reach out to the world about us. You are. That you may. And I think all the time... We as Christians, we have to examine our local gatherings of God's people and we say, well, are we just sitting here just enjoying fellowship?
That's good. But are we recognizing that God has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light that we may show forth His excellency in the lives that we live and by the words that we convey? And I suppose it could be true, as was said of Israel in the old God had to write over them, Ikeba, The glory is departed. To be effective, we need to show forth the praises of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. I was thinking some time ago of the prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ in John chapter seventeen when he prayed for his church and for its future in the world.
And I think in it he suggests several things which are important. if we're going to be effective for the Lord in our day and generation. First of all, he prayed for their preservation. He said, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me. And he began by saying, Holy Father, intimating that just as God himself is holy, as the Lord says, Elder, be ye holy, for I am holy. He not only prayed for our preservation, he prayed that we might be separated, insulated from the present world about us. He pray not that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. He says, I pray not that thou shouldest take them out rather, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Our life is to be separated from the evil that is around us. And as our Savior said concerning his own, they are not of the world. We're in the world, even as I am not of the world. And then he prayed in John chapter seventeen, in verse seventeen, that same chapter, for our sanctification, set apart for God. How are we to be set apart through the Word of God? And if our lives are going to be effective, you and I have to spend time with the book. Sanctify them through thy truth. Where with all shall a young man cleanse his way? Psalm hundred and nineteen verse nine. Where with all shall a young man cleanse his way by taking thee thereto according to thy word. That's the means that God uses. And the Lord prays to this end.
And then he prayed for their unification, that they all may be one, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And this brings it down to our individual responsibility. And if there's that in our lives that would divide us from the people of God, we need to get before God. And we need to get with our brethren and straighten it out in his presence that we may be one, that the world may believe. That was the strength of the all early church. It says they contained it with one accord. There's nothing like the unity of the churches. that impresses the world. The Lord Jesus didn't say that the world would be convinced by the preaching of the gospel. He said they would be convinced by the unity of the church that they may be one, he says, that the world may believe that thou ascending.
What a tremendous testimony the unity of believers is. And then, of course, the Lord Jesus prayed for the translation of the church. And it's that hope that should keep us. The Bible says it's that hope that purifies. Father, he said, I will that they all to whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, but they may behold my glory. John and commenting on that says in his epistle, Do you remember beloved? He says, Now are we the children of God? And it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man that has this hope in him, hope in Christ, purifies himself, even as he is pure.
You know, if you and I recognize that any day, perhaps the day, the Lord Jesus Christ may come. If we're like those Thessalonian believers, it says, they turn to God for miles to serve the living and true God and to wait for His Son from heaven. I love that little chorus, Mr. Gizros, number four hundred and twenty-one in our book. He is coming. That's the chorus. Yes, he's coming. Christ, a prophet, priest, and king. While we watch for his appearing, let us pray and serve and sing. How important that is. And the church is to fulfill its purpose as it recognizes what we are.
Ye are that ye may. Ye are an elect race. It said of the Lord Jesus that he is elect and it said of his own that we are elect precious. Believers are called elect. And all that is true of Christ. Verse seven, unto you which believe he is the preciousness is true of us. We are His kin. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ has started an entirely new humanity. You hear of the feline race and the canine race and the human race. Oh, the Lord Jesus has started an entirely new race of men. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Then we're a royal priesthood equipped for being his instruments, access into his presence, preached by birthright, royal because we can come from the presence of God to bless the people.
And we're holy priesthood. Holy priesthood. That we can go into the presence of God on behalf of men. And then it says there's a holy nation composed of all believers, holy, separated under God. The Lord Jesus could say, My kingdom is not of this world. He has a kingdom. And all who have trusted him as Savior are a part of the kingdom of the Son of His love. That's what the scripture says in Colossians. And then we're a people for the Lord's own possession. Paul says he has presented us. We'd like to present us as a chaste virgin to Christ. He's jealous of our love. How wonderful it is to recognize that we belong to him.
Ye are that ye may. May God help us to appreciate what we are in order that we may show forth the praises of him who is called out of darkness. into his marvelous life. Shall we pray? Our Father, we're thankful for thy precious word. We're thankful for the place of favor which thou has brought us into and into our Lord Jesus Christ. Once we're in the darkness and distance and degradation of sin, but now by grace we're made nigh. We thank that thou hast broken down the middle wall of partition that existed between Jew and Gentile, and thou hast made of twain one new man so making peace.
And we're thankful that we're in that body, the church, composed of Jew and Gentile alike, where all distinctions have been removed, whether it's neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female, but we're all one in Christ Jesus. Help us to recognize and appreciate what we are. that we may show forth the praises of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has called us out of darkness, into his marvelous light. These favors we ask in him, in his name and for his sake. Amen. Shall we sing in closing a couple of verses of the hymn? I quoted this hymn, but I think it's a lovely hymn that speaks of our Lord Jesus Christ as the great foundation of faith.
Let's sing the first, second, and fourth, and fifth verses. We'll skip the third. In him it is ordained to raise a temple to Jehovah's Praise, composed of all his saints who own no Savior but the living stone. A very familiar tune. On Christ's salvation rest assured, Baroque of ages must endure, Nor can that face the open throne.
which rests upon a living stone. No other hope shall interbeam. To him we look and him we leave. Other foundations we dissolve, And build up pride, the gift is so.
Year thou that building seek rise, The work thou break, the plan thou wise, O wondrous fabric, our unknown, and rested on the living stone. But most adored his precious name, his glory and his great brokley.
For of the what condemned are done, he gave himself the living stone.