Christ is presented as the Cornerstone and the Nail, foundational titles with profound implications for believers. As the Cornerstone, he is the sure foundation for Israel, the church, and individual faith, holding together the spiritual building of believers and ultimately serving as the capstone of glory. As the Nail, Christ is the ultimate burden-bearer, having carried the weight of our sins on the cross and now bearing our present cares and sorrows. The sermon concludes by urging listeners to personally embrace Christ as their cornerstone for eternity and their nail for all life's burdens, acknowledging his worthiness to receive all glory.
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Poor precious title of the Lord Jesus Christ. A prophecy by Zechariah foretells the coming of Christ, covering both his first advent and his second advent. These are the words saying, Out of him, that is out of the tribe of Judah, came forth the cornerstone, out of him the nail. Out of him the battle-bow, out of him the absolute ruler or monarch. The first two titles, the cornerstone and the nail, in greater part were fulfilled at the first coming of Christ to the earth.
The latter two, the battle-bow and the absolute ruler, will be definitely fulfilled at his second coming to the world. These are, among many other great titles belonging to our Savior, four precious ones with tremendous meaning. For every title that is given to the Christ the Son of God, in the Word of God, every name carries with it a depth of meaning describing his character, his person, and his work. Let us consider the first title before us, where we find he is called the Cornerstone.
In this title we have Christ revealed in three particular ways. First of all, he came to be the Cornerstone for the Nation of Israel. At his first advent, he presented himself as the sure foundation the foundation stone to build the nation of Israel. The promised glory of a messianic kingdom was and is yet dependent upon him, Israel's true Messiah. This every pious Israelite knows, and yet when he came to the earth, they unfortunately rejected their cornerstone.
The prophet Isaiah was written in chapter twenty-eight and verse sixteen, foretelling of his coming. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not be ashamed. It is a terrible fact and sad that Israel as a nation rejected him, for which they have suffered much shame and divine judgment from Jehovah their God for many centuries.
Nevertheless, the day is coming when Christ their Messiah will return to the earth, and the believing godly Jewish remnant will acknowledge their tragic mistake in repentance and faith. Then in the language of Psalm one hundred and eighteen and verse twenty-two, they will confess the stone which the builders rejected has become the headstone of the corner. Did not our Savior bid a very careful farewell to Jerusalem just before his crucifixion, saying, Behold, your house is left unto you desolate, and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Luke chapter thirteen and verse thirty-four. Then shall the nation of Israel learn, prove, and begin rejoicing that Christ is their precious cornerstone. But let us now consider a second aspect of Christ as the cornerstone. And this in relation to his church. He is not only the cornerstone for Israel, but he is also the cornerstone for the church. We well remember the great confession of Peter. When he confessed of Christ, saying, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, and the Savior's declaration, followed, saying, Upon this rock I will build my church.
Matthew chapter sixteen, verses sixteen and eighteen. First we must and we do confess. Christ is the foundation stone, upon which his church is built. of which the beloved Apostle Peter later wrote to say, that he is a living stone, rejected or disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious, as recorded in First Peter chapter two and verse four. And then second, Christ is the cornerstone of the church, holding it together.
For it is built upon the foundation of the apostles, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, according to Ephesians two and verse twenty. There is no other person capable of holding the church, this spiritual house, this holy temple that groweth unto the Lord together, but Christ himself. He is the binding stone. that holds every believer that is in the body of Christ, which is his church. Then third, Christ will also be the topstone of glory to the church.
For Peter has written again of him, the same is made the head or the topstone of the corner, in First Peter chapter two and verse seven. To briefly summarize this portion, Christ is the foundation stone of the church. It is built upon him, the rock, alone. And in its superstructure, as the building grows, he is the cornerstone, holding the individual stones together in one body, as it groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.
Ephesians two and twenty-one. Then when the last stone will be placed in the body and in that spiritual building, the last believer will be added to the church. We verily believe Christ will become the capstone, the topstone of glory, as he descends to claim his bride and comes to claim the church for himself, to make it a glory of church. without spot or wrinkle and blemish or any such thing. In the third aspect, in relation to Christ being a present cornerstone, he is also the foundation stone upon which every individual person must build their hopes for eternity.
Paul, when writing to his converts in the city of Corinth, In First Corinthians chapter three and verse eleven, writing to them in regard to the ministry of the gospel which he had preached to them, he declared, For other foundation can no man lay, then that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. For when Paul came to the city of Corinth, and to every other place, with the gospel of God's grace, He preached that Christ alone was the foundation stone upon which any and every man, woman, boy and girl must build for their hopes in eternity.
This is an individual responsibility for every person to build their hopes for eternity upon him alone. One of the few precious titles possessed by Christ the Messiah, Jesus the Son of God, is this one. He is the cornerstone. The cornerstone for Israel, the cornerstone for the church, and greatly important for you and for me as individuals, he must be the cornerstone for us.
We raise the question, What does Christ mean to you, my friend? Can you personally confess and say the words that follow? Thank God I have made Christ himself, the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me my cornerstone. Can you confess? I am building my confidence, my hopes for eternity, as well as for time, upon him he is my cornerstone. The poet has well written the words, My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest rain, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all of the ground is sinking sand. May it please the Lord that everyone listening to the message will be able to say, Christ is my cornerstone. As an individual person, I build my hopes upon him alone, his death, His life and His death for me, for eternity. Well, did the poet express the truth by saying, On a life I did not live, on a death I did not die, another's life, another's death, I stake my whole eternity.
Then shall we go further and consider the second precious title of our Lord Jesus Christ. found in the scripture of Zechariah, chapter ten in verse four, upon which we are meditating. Let us consider the title that is now given to him, not only as the cornerstone, but as the nail. This is one of the most unique titles and most interesting one that has ever been given to the Son of God in the Bible. And yet this can be one of the strangest, yet one of the most blessed titles of our Lord with great significance and blessing to our hearts.
The nail. What an unusual title. Given only to the Son of God, who was born of the tribe of Judah, and in the house of Bethlehem, and the house of David. In Old Testament times, A nail was used as a tent pin, driven into the ground to hold up a tent, and even the tabernacle in the wilderness of old, as we find in Exodus twenty-seven and verse nineteen, was held up by tent pegs. The original Hebrew word is translated two ways in our English language, either as a tent peg or as a nail.
The nail was also used as a strong pin to be embedded into the wall of any Oriental building securely in order that it could be used to hang upon it certain vessels. Ezekiel in chapter fifteen in verse three refers to this fact. And as we think of this latter explanation, using a nail to be embedded in the wall of a building that it might hold upon it certain vessels that are placed there. It certainly suggests why Christ is called the nail.
In our own common use of a nail, we use it to bear burdens, to hold things. We may place many things ourselves upon a nail. We may be transferring our clothes even, to hang upon the provided nail, to hold up and be the burden-bearer for that which is placed upon it. Now there is one great significant reason for which Christ is called the nail. It is because he is the greatest burden-bearer that has ever been known. Let us first consider that as the nail he bore the burden of our sins when he was hanging upon the cross of Calvary.
Men nailed him to the tree of Calvary. They pierced his hands and his feet with cruel names, we well know. But they never realized that they were nailing the one who himself with a divine title in the Word of God is called the nail, in order to bear upon his own body their sins. Did not the beloved Apostle Peter write of him and say in First Peter chapter two and verse twenty-four that Christ himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree?
I Peter chapter two, and verse twenty-four. The burden which he bore was incalculably heavy, impossible for you and for me to be able to compute. Did not the beloved prophet Isaiah write in that great crucifixion chapter of the Old Testament, the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah? Did he not write in the sixth verse these remarkable words, "'Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all?' Isaiah fifty-three and verse six.
Right in the very center of the description of that great crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, which really begins in chapter fifty-two and verse thirteen, and goes right down into chapter fifty-three to the end. and in the very center of the graphic description of a crucified Savior, God has written through the prophet, Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Yes, it was the sin of the whole world that was placed upon that sinless substitute, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
John the Baptist has properly declared, of him, behold the Lamb of God, which takeeth away the sin of the world. John chapter one and verse twenty-nine. There was no other person who could, and who has borne this load of judgment, for you and for me, and he did not fail. Paul writing in second Corinthians five tells us One died for all. My beloved, have you ever acknowledged that all your sins were laid upon him, the Son of God, when he was hanging upon the tree of Calvary, making for you and for me an atoning sacrifice to save us from the penalty, the guilt and the judgment of our sin?
My beloved, this is one of the most unique and precious titles for Christ, the nail. And if you have ever acknowledged this, you will be able to know the joy of the words that we now quote written by a Christian poet. All thy sins were laid upon him. Jesus bore them on the tree. God who knew them. lay them on him, and believing thou art free. My beloved friend, we ask with all earnestness, Have you found the nail?
If you do not know the Savior as your sin-atoning sacrifice, then heed the words of the prophet Isaiah when he wrote to say, Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Isaiah fifty-five, verse six. Tis precious to find him as the nail. If never you have done so, find him this moment and take him as your Savior, acknowledging that All we like sheep have gone astray, and that includes me.
Yet Jehovah hath laid upon him. We have turned every one to his own way. Yet Jehovah hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all. My beloved, I can bury me on the authority of the word of God, declare. He bore all your sins. in judgment before the Holy God to set you free. Should you not receive Him and thank Him and accept Him as the nail into your soul today.
But then as the nail, He also carries the burdens of our cares. troubles and sorrows, trials and difficulties, they still fill the earth, they still cross the path of every believer in the Lord Jesus. But if we have found him as the nail who bore our sins, then can we not also prove that he is able to carry all our burdens? If we believe that he carried every weight the complete weight of our sins in judgment upon the cross?
Surely we are able to trust Him to carry all our cares. Listen to the words of the beloved Apostle Peter, as he has written in First Peter chapter five and verse seven, telling us that we should be casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you. What a privilege to cast upon him every burden of life. The psalmist has written in chapter fifty-five and verse twenty-two of the psalms, cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain you.
We raise the question to our beloved Christian friends, what are you doing with all your burdens? What am I doing with all my burdens? Are you trying to carry the burdens yourself? Am I seeking to carry my burden by myself? God forbid. Why should we not hang them upon the Lord? For he is still the nail. A sure nail wrote the prophet Ezekiel, as well as did Isaiah. You can trust him wholly to carry your burden, but as the poet is well written, they who trust him wholly will find him wholly true.
My beloved Christian friend, are you and am I still using him as the nail to cast upon him all my cares and all yours? But then as the nail, the day is coming when upon him will be hung, eternal glory. We read in Isaiah twenty-two, verse twenty-four, they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house. In biblical days, the treasures of the house of David were hung in splendor upon the nails that were embedded in the walls of the building.
They were the emblems of kingly glory and majesty. Today the very universe of God in all of its greatness and glory hangs upon the Son of God, according to Hebrews chapter one and verse three. Tomorrow, when Christ returns to the earth in power and in great glory, the government of the world will be hung upon him, for Isaiah is declared. The government shall be upon his shoulder. Isaiah chapter nine and verse six. And in the eternal ages to come, the glory of his universal reign, both in heaven and upon the earth, will be hung upon him, according to Philippians two, verse nine through eleven, as well as Ephesians one, verse ten.
For God has highly exalted him. and giving him a name that is above every name that is the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is born to the glory of God the Father? And even in the realm of the celestial, the terrestrial, and the earthly, and the internal region, that name will be above every name, and the glory of the universe, will be upon him and acknowledged by all. We say again what a glorious, what a unique and precious title is this, belonging to Christ, the nail.
Our sins were laid upon him. Our cares can be laid upon him now. Why can we then not hang even the glory of our own lives upon him today? For this blessed one, the nail, is worthy to have our love, the devotion of our talents, the gifts of our possessions, everything that belongs to us we could hang upon him and upon him alone. For there is a day coming, a great day when the redeemed universe will ascribe unto the nail eternal glory. Listen to the words of Revelation five eleven, that shall be sung in the coming day.
Worthy is the land that was slain. to receive power and riches and glory and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. Revelation chapter five and verse eleven. My beloved friend, why wait for that day? Even today you and I can fall in his feet with worshiping, grateful hearts and acknowledge he is my cornerstone. I'm building my hopes for eternity upon Christ alone. He is my foundation. We can say he is my nail. He bore my sins in his own body upon the tree.
He is my great burden-bearing now. He carries all my cares. He takes all my burdens. And I gladly lay them upon him. And that nail will never fail. That nail can hold them all. And he can take care of them. And also. I can lay down at his blessed feet my life, saying in the words of the poet, Take my life, let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee. For my sins, my cares, and my life, with its glory, my brief life, they can be all hung upon the nails.
My beloved, we ask you the question personally, lovingly. Do you say with heart believing and enjoying it through, Christ is my cornerstone. Christ is my nail. God grant that even today you can say, I have found the nail. May God by His Holy Spirit indelibly write the preciousness and the glorious character of these names upon our hearts and into our lives, for the honor and for the glory of our beloved Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and our happiness in him.
Shall we pray? Blessed Father, in the precious and worthy name of our Lord Jesus Christ, a name that is above every name, a name that is the name of Jesus, every knee, Someday in eternity will bow, whether in the realm of the celestial above, whether upon the earth in the terrestrial sphere, or even in the internal regions, the lust and the damned will have to confess Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. But how much better it is, Lord, than even today, the hearts and the souls and the lives of men, women, boys and girls will find the meaning of this blessed person who is the cornerstone upon which we must build for eternity, who is the nail upon whom was hung every sin that is ours with its weight.
He bore our sins in his own body on the tree. May the Holy Spirit open the eyes of some person today who has never seen Christ bearing their sins on the tree of Calvary. May they see it now. And hanging all their cares, when they know him as Savior, the burdens of life, they can trust and leave them with him. Help us all who are thine to do it. Then may we lay at his feet the glory of our lives. He is worthy to be crowned king of our lives even now. We ask it giving thee our thanks. for all that he is, in his own precious and worthy name.