Living Out Your Salvation: Action Motivated by Sacrifice - 1 Peter 2:4-6

0:48And coming to him as a living stone, which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture: Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, and he who believes in him will not be disappointed. Well, one of the most exciting parts of a construction project is laying the foundation. In fact, I would say there are five. If you are involved in the construction industry at all and you are regularly seeing homes built or buildings go up, you know, there are probably four major milestones within a project. First is getting the permit. That's a major milestone. The second is laying that foundation because then you start seeing the building tape take shape. And then the third is the walls going up. And the fourth is that certificate of occupancy. And what Peter is telling us here is that God is active in the universe right now, constructing a building that He is going to reside in. You want to know what's going on in the world? This is it. God is constructing a building, a temple, a house where He Himself is going to abide. The permit, if you will, was secured at the resurrection. God accepted Christ's sacrifice. God will dwell among men. Sin will not have the final voice. Death will not be the final end to man. And Christ, exalted and resurrected from the grave, is a promise and a guarantee. The only human in history that has come forth from the grave saying, the permit is settled. God will make his habitation among men.

3:14But then there is this exciting phase of the construction project where the foundation is laid. Then you can really start getting your mind around what the building is going to look like to some degree. You remember when we started this shelter over here? Do you remember it was difficult getting the permit? Once we got the permit, it was exciting. Then we cleared the site. But then once we laid that foundation, you could see the pattern of the building. And you could walk on it and you could get a feel. Well, then the next exciting phase, if you'll remember, it sat just a bare foundation for a while. Then we started going up with the walls. And that was really exciting, seeing the building take shape and the drywall and the exterior. And you could see the building taking place. Well, that's what's going on right now. The foundation has been laid. Jesus Christ, he is resurrected from the grave. The house and pattern by which God is going to reside is going to take on the personality and character of Jesus Christ.

4:28And now the walls are going. Up. And that is what God is doing in the world right now. He is calling men and women from all nations to himself, and they are becoming part of this building which he himself will finish. And one day there will be that certificate of occupancy where he comes and he eternally takes up his place of residence. Though he is present spiritually, there will be a more vivid and physical dimension to this in the future. So the walls are in the process of going up right now. And what I want to do this morning is I want to look at this passage and I want us to look at the resurrected Christ. He is referred to as the living stone. And then I want us to look at those who come to him. They are referred to as the living stones. And I want to do this so that you will know how to respond to God in your life and what he is doing. So we're going to look at, very simple. We're going to look at the living stone, and then we're going to look at the living stones. So first, the living stone. Look at verse 4. And coming to him as a living stone, which has been rejected by men. The first thing you need to know about the living stone is that he was rejected by men. The meaning of rejected means declared useless. When they built buildings, They would take a stone and they would, the builders would look at it and decide if this was going to be part of the structure or not. And they looked at Christ. They looked at Jesus and they declared him to be useless. A stone, just this one's no good. We'll throw it away. Now, why did they reject Christ? It's a good question. We spent some time in Mark. And I'm going to go back and look at a few passages. And Peter, you remember, this is sort of Peter's memoirs. And these are the events that impacted Peter's life as recorded in the Gospel of Mark. Well, as you start working your way through Mark, it's very simple. In verse 122, Jesus came into the synagogues and he started preaching, and people were amazed because he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. So there was this jealousy that right off the bat began to creep into the hearts of the nation, the national leaders.

7:08You see, they had a hard time with a man coming on the scene that would take some of their glory away. They didn't want him because he, well, he took all their light. And I think that that's a problem with fallen man: we do not like to give glory to others. So we'll give a little bit. But we want to receive some of that ourselves. And that's the reason at the very beginning, revealed to Mark as to why mankind rejected Christ.

7:43Second thing that happened, as you work through the Gospel of Mark, is Jesus made these astounding claims to deity. In Mark 2, 7, he claims to forgive sins. Or he is able, he sets forth himself as one to forgive sins. And the Pharisees, they ask him, the scribes, they ask him, who does this guy think he is? Who can forgive sins but God alone? And then in chapter 2 and verse 28, he declares himself to be Lord over the Sabbath. I mean, who does this guy think he is? God?

8:25Yes. Yes. And he came and he said, yes, I am God, and I have absolute claim over your life. You see, mankind doesn't really want that, do we? They didn't then. They didn't want a king. They didn't want somebody with an absolute claim upon their lives, and so they rejected him. But then another reason that he was rejected in his day is that he had a mission to sinners, a mission to sinners. Now, this is problematic because the religious elite thought they were good enough on their own and they didn't need a Savior and that by their own merits they would be good enough to commend themselves to God. And Jesus said, basically, he said, no.

9:18And so the religious elite saw no need for this kind of savior or this kind of king. But it's important, even in our day and age, you think, okay, yeah, it's great that he came to save sinners, but you know what he did? He called sinners to repentance. You see, nobody really likes to be called a sinner, do we? But that's exactly what he came to do. Your problem is your sin, is what he came to say. And you need to turn away from that sin, and you need to put your faith and trust in me, the one who can forgive your sin. Boy, that didn't fly very well in his day, and it certainly doesn't fly today because we want to excuse sin. We want to go away feeling good about ourselves, excuse sin, argue it away. And Jesus stands in complete contradiction to that and says, you are a sinner. And that's your problem. You're dead. You're separated from God. And you need God in your life. And your sin is the problem. Well, he goes on in Mark chapter 2 and. Verse 22 makes it clear that what he has to bring cannot fit in their wineskins. In other words, the order that he is bringing cannot fit within their existing system.

10:44You see, and that's the problem. God comes, Christ comes, and he's not going to fit into your former way of life. He's going to completely revolutionize it, he's going to change it, he's going to destroy it and build it back. See, we don't want a God like that. We don't want somebody in our life like that. And that's why they rejected him then. And that's why many reject him now. And by the end of Mark chapter 2, very early in the Gospel of Mark, they're ready to kill him. They're ready to kill him. The rest of the book is about how they actually kill him, how they actually get there.

11:27But the final straw comes in Mark chapter 11 as he goes into the temple and he makes it clear that he has nothing to do with phony religion. And he comes in and he sees through their charade. He calls their religion a sham and he goes in and he cleans house. And then that settled it for the religious elite. They wanted him dead. That was the reason Jesus was rejected. In his day. And that rejection was announced in Mark chapter 12. He tells a parable. He's talking to the scribes, and he tells this parable of this vineyard owner. He built this vineyard, and then he went and sent people to receive produce from it.

12:20But the vine growers didn't want to give him the produce. And then he sent his son. And they said this in verse 7. And those vine growers said to one another, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours. And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. It was described there, announced, this is what's going to happen. And then the rejection was emphatically carried out. He's told them it was going to happen, and then that rejection was punctuated by the crucifixion. Their rejection of him was brutal, to underscore it. It was mocking. There was pain. There was agony. All of that was put upon him as if to punctuate, we reject you with an exclamation point. In fact, they broke their own law. They circumvented justice and said, This guy doesn't even deserve a fair trial. This guy is so awful that we will even collaborate with. With our sworn enemies, the Roman government, to put him to death. That's how much they punctuated their rejection.

13:39But look back. Although he was rejected by men, he was chosen by God. And coming to him as a living stone, which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God. The word for choice is elect. That is, Christ is his preferred one, his selected one, his choice one. The word for precious, he is his precious one. That is, he is unequaled in value, he is costly. This one Jesus is of supreme worth, choice and precious in the sight of God. And this was attested by Christ's resurrection.

14:26Man put his exclamation point, and God put his exclamation point. And Peter, as he is speaking to the crowd at Pentecost, says these words, Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God, it was not David who ascended into heaven, but it was he himself, or God himself says, The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my feet, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus. Whom you crucified.

15:03Paul to the Ephesian church says, This, I pray, I pray for you guys. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is a surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of his might, which he brought about in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion. And every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. God elevated, resurrected, ascended, and sat Christ at his right hand. And Paul in Philippians 2:9 says, For this reason, God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name. So at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. God's exclamation point. Man rejected him. God chose him.

16:22It's an exhortation to us, right? Let us not be ones who reject him for the similar reasons that Jesus was. Rejected in his generation. Let us be those who embrace him and come to him, as this passage calls us to do. You see, he was rejected by man, but he is God's choice for humanity, not just in a political sense, but in a conformity sense. In other words, he is the pattern. It's not just that Christ is going to be the political head, he is going to be the pattern through which everybody is going to be shaped and molded into it. It's his character, his nature, his disposition that is going to set the tone and structure for humanity. So he was rejected by men.

17:15He was chosen by God. That's the living stone. Now let's shift gears and look at the living stones. Living stones. Look at verse 5. Verse 4. I mean, look back at verse 4. And coming to him. Who are the living stones? They are the ones who are coming to Jesus. And they are. It's in the present. They are coming. They don't just come one time, but their characteristic and disposition is that they come and they continually come to Jesus. And in coming to Jesus, look at verse 5. You also, as living stones, they receive life from him. He is the living stone, and those who come to him take in his life. They He becomes the source of life.

18:05And so they are living stones. They receive life from Him. They're the ones coming to Jesus. Next, you'll notice they are being built up. What happens to them? What happens to the ones who come to Jesus? And I want you to see this and understand what is happening to you who have come to Jesus and are coming to Jesus and those of you who will come to Jesus. What is going to happen? The answer is given to us in this passage. What does Christ do with those who come to him?

18:40Well, they are being built up. That's the verb there. They are being built up. First, they are being built up into a spiritual house. Look at verse 5. You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house. Literally, a house of the Spirit. A place where God's Spirit dwells. There's rich imagery here. It goes back into the Old Testament times. You know, in the Old Testament, the temple was a physical building and it was made out of physical stones. And God's presence was manifested there in a unique and visible way. Well, Peter describes those who are coming to Christ as living stones, who both individually and corporately are being built into a spiritual building where God's presence. Is manifested in a very special way. Just like in the Old Testament, so in the New, God is building a temple, building a building where His presence will be manifested, where He will dwell by His Spirit, a spiritual house. But next notes that they are being built up for a holy priesthood. As living stones, you are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood. You see, in the Old Testament, the temple was not complete without a priesthood to minister in it. So, in order for the temple to be what God intended it to be, there had to be a body of priests. And these body of priests had to carry out the holy and sacred duties. And the same is true in the New Testament.

20:19God is currently building a house, and you are referred to as the house itself, and you are referred to as the priesthood within that house, serving in those sacred duties that God's presence demands. We need to make some observations. This word priesthood brought back some very clear visual pictures in the mind of the original readers. And we need to transport ourselves back a little bit and understand priesthood, not thinking about a priesthood from our perspective, but from their perspective. And it had clear reference to. To the Old Testament priesthood, the Levitical priesthood. And there are three observations as we anchor our understanding of this priesthood in the Old Testament. There are three observations that I want you to be aware of, or I want to make to help get your mind around what the Old Testament priesthood was like. First of all, God chose them. The priesthood in the Old Testament God chose in Exodus 28, God says, Bring near to yourself Aaron, your brother, and his sons with him from among the sons of Israel to minister as priests to me. So God's the one who called this cast of priests. They couldn't just, nobody could just waltz right into God's presence. They had to be called to be ministers. And what's interesting is, God chose the tribe of Levi for this cast of priests. And that's an incredible thing when you think about what they were like. In fact, in Genesis 49, 5 through 7, they are cursed. Levi is cursed. Listen to what Jacob says. Simeon and Levi are brothers. And speaking of Levi, he says, Their swords are implements of violence. Let my soul not enter into their council. Let not my glory be united with their assembly, because in their anger they slew. Men, and in their self-will they lamed oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath is cruel.

22:40So God curses them. And yet these are the ones that God calls to be his priests. Isn't it incredible? There's a picture of grace right there in the Old Testament that God chooses ministers who are undeserving. And he does the same today. He does the same today. Second observation I want to make is that God purified them. Not only did he choose the Levitical priesthood, but he purified them. And he purified them so that they could stand in his presence. He is a holy God. This is a very violent people, a very depraved people, but yet God purifies them. Leviticus 8:6, Moses had Aaron and his sons come near, and he washed them with water. And then there is this string of sacrifices that are made to purify this priesthood and to inaugurate their ministry. First is the sin offering. In Leviticus 8:14, then he brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. Next, Moses slaughtered it. And he took the blood and with his finger put some of it around the horns of the altar and purified the altar. Then he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it to make an atonement for it. And then he goes on in verse 18: he brings in the burnt offering. Then he presented the ram of the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. Moses slaughtered it and sprinkled the blood around the altar. And Moses offered up the whole ram in smoke on the altar, and it was a burnt offering, an offering by fire to the Lord. And then he goes on in verse 22, and he presents another ram, a ram for the ordination, an inauguration, ordination for the priesthood. Verse 22 of Leviticus 8: Then he presented the second ram, the ram of ordination. And Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. Moses slaughtered it and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. And he did the same for his sons.

25:16He set them apart. He purified them so that they would hear the word of God, so that they would carry out those holy duties and that they would go where he leads. God does the same today. He purifies those he calls to be his ministers. He calls his people and he purifies them. Titus 2:14, speaking to Christ, he gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds.

25:53And the writer of Hebrews exhorts us, because we have such a great high priest and such a great sacrifice made for us, therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, verse 22, let us draw near with a sincere heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. In other words, the writer of Hebrews is saying, come to him, draw near to him. The very thing that Peter is saying, you who are drawing near, coming to him, are the blessed ones. Perfect sacrifice. And on that, we could come. So God called them. God purified them. The third observation I want to make about the Old Testament priesthood is that God equipped them for ministry. He equipped them for ministry. And he equipped them in several ways. Number one, by clothing them. He put the right clothes on them. Exodus 28, 2, he says to Moses, you shall make holy garments for Aaron and your brother, for glory and for beauty. And Leviticus 8, 7, he gives you a little more. Detail. He put the tunic on him and girded him with the sash and clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him. And he girded him with the artistic band of the ephod with which was tied to him. And then he placed the breastplate on him and the breastplates, and on in the breastplate he put the urim and the thumium. And he placed the turban on his head, and on the turban at its front, he placed the golden plate, the holy crown, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. You see, these special garments symbolized the righteousness of this priesthood. It symbolized the virtue and the godliness of this priesthood.

27:39And that's exactly what Christ does with his people. He clothes them in his righteousness. In fact, this is prophesied as Isaiah 61:10. Looks, he says, I will rejoice greatly in the Lord. My soul will exult in my God, for he has clothed me with garments of salvation and has wrapped me with the robe of righteousness as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland and as a bride adorns herself with jewels. You see, as with the priests of old, God wants his people to be distinct, to be those who bear the marks of virtue and godliness of Christ.

28:23And he does this so that everybody will know that God's people uniquely belong. To him. That's why he's doing this. So he equips them by clothing them, but he also equipped them by anointing them. In Leviticus 8, 10, Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it and consecrated them. He sprinkled it on the altar seven times and anointed the altar and all its utensils and the basin and its stand to consecrate them. And then he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him. You see, those who draw near to God are anointed by him for their sacred duties. In Acts 1:8, Jesus says, You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, and Samaria, to the remotest part of the earth. You will be equipped with everything you need to fulfill that special mission of witness that God has called you and purposed you to do. Just like he did them, so he does us. So he equipped this priesthood by clothing them, by anointing them, but by also by gifting them. And just as God gifted those he called into the Old Testament priestly service, so he gifts those he calls today. And I won't go into all the details of how he equipped those he called into the Old Testament priestly services, but it's sufficient to say that he equipped him. People today in the same fashion. Ephesians 4:8 says, When he ascended on high, he led captive a host of captives and he gave gifts to men. God has equipped you for the purpose of building up the body. Some were apostles, some were prophets, some were evangelists, some pastors, some teachers, but all of them for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ. Finish this structure, these living stones going up. So, to summarize the three observations we can make about the Old Testament priest is that God called them, God purified them, and God equipped them. This was the Old Testament priestly service, priestly ministry.

30:47So, not only did God are they being built up into a spiritual house, not only are they being built up to a holy priesthood, but what is a priesthood too? They offer up sacrifices. Look at verse 5. You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood. Look, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Sacrifices. And again, we can anchor our understanding in the Old Testament. I want to briefly mention seven of them. There are seven sacrifices that I think come out of the Old Testament that are a picture of what the New Testament ministry. The New Testament believer is to be involved in.

31:35First, there is the sacrifice of witness. The sacrifice of witness. Leviticus 6 and 7, there is this whole string of sacrifices that the Levitical priesthood would go through. There was a sin offering, the guilt offering, and the burnt offering. Now, sin has been atoned for, so we don't make new sacrifices of this nature. But what all of those sacrifices did, over and over and over, they spoke to one thing. They pointed to one thing, that the innocent must die for the guilty in order for God to dwell among his people. And over and over, day after day, these sin sacrifices and guilt sacrifices and burnt sacrifices all pointed to Christ. They were witnessing to the coming Lamb, the perfect Lamb that could and would take away sin from the world. And so we as New Testament believers, we don't perform those sacrifices, but we do have the sacrifice of witness to point back to what Christ has done.

32:42Second thing, we have the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Leviticus 6 and 7, they go on to talk about the tribute offering and the peace offering. That is, they were to lead the people in giving thanks, lead the people in fellowship, lead the people in sharing. Hebrews 13, 15 says, though through him, then let us continue to offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of lips that give thanks to his name. Second thing we are to do is to give a sacrifice of thanksgiving, the fruit of our lips giving praise to his name. The third comes right after in Hebrews 13, 16. And do not neglect doing good and sharing. For such sacrifices, God is pleased. The sacrifice of doing good and the sacrifice of sharing. These are also number three and number four. And number five, then there is the sacrifice of time and scripture memorization that comes out because a priest is to have true instruction. The Old Testament priesthood, Deuteronomy 33, 10 says this, you shall teach your ordinances to Jacob and your laws to Israel. In other words, the priesthood was responsible for teaching the oracles of God to the people. And Malachi 2, 6 says this, true instruction, speaking about a noble priesthood. True instruction was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction. From his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. That is, true instruction, honest, reliable instruction needs to be on the lips of God's people because you're going to be called to give counsel and advice and direction on life issues to people. You need to know his word. You need to sacrifice the time and energy to become acquainted with it so that your counsel will be true and reliable.

34:59Sixth, there's a sacrifice of prayer. A sacrifice of prayer. In the Old Testament, the priests had the responsibility of interceding and praying. In fact, there's a really graphic picture of it in Exodus 28:29. Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel in the breastplate of judgment over his heart when he enters the holy place for a rememorial before the Lord continually. Aaron, as he went in, he is constantly to have the names of Israel, the sons of Israel, engraved upon it. It's a picture of intercession, of going through, having people upon your hearts and their well-being and their spiritual well-being upon your mind and in your heart and on your lips. And you need to sacrifice some time to do that and some thought to think about somebody else. It's a sacrifice. In fact, Mark 11:17, when Jesus came in, To the temple, and he cleaned the house. He says, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. That's what God is doing with you. If you are coming to Him, He is fashioning you into a stone that goes upon the foundation that will be praying for the nations. There's a seventh sacrifice, and that's the sacrifice of earthly inheritance. One of the interesting things about the tribe of Levi is that they were not given a tribal allotment.

36:32Deuteronomy 10:8 says, The Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant, to stand before the Lord, to serve him, and to bless his name until this day. Therefore, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance with his brothers. The Lord is his inheritance. You see, we are to live as people of Christ loosely to the things of this world. Our inheritance isn't in this world. 1 Corinthians 6, 19 says, Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own, for you have been bought with the price. Therefore, glorify God in your bodies. You're not your own. You're not your own. Look back at 1 Peter 2, verse 5. This verse, there's three. Descriptions. The sacrifices are spiritual ones. They are to be acceptable or pleasant ones through Jesus Christ. Spiritual sacrifices, pleasant to God through Jesus Christ. Look, we have an altar on where we are to make spiritual sacrifices. The primary sacrifice has already been made. The atoning sacrifice of Jesus' death, His shed blood, that opened heaven door, that took care of sin.

38:08Now we have an altar that we can continually make the sacrifices of our own lives, spiritual sacrifices that will be pleasing to Him through our Lord Jesus Christ. So the living stones, they're the ones coming to Jesus, they're the ones being built up, and they are the ones given the promise. Look at this incredible promise in verse 6. They are given a glorious promise. For this is contained in Scripture: Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, and he who believes in him will not be disappointed. He uses the imagery of cornerstone. The living stone of verse 4 is now the cornerstone of verse 6. And you know what the cornerstone did is that they would choose the cornerstone, and it was to be a perfect stone. And it would be set down, and that's what would set all the lines of symmetry for the building. From that cornerstone, all the angles, all the lines, it was kind of like a builder's plumb line. And it established the precise orientation of the building, the precise alignment and the shape of the entire structure. And Jesus is that cornerstone. So when God is building a, taking a people for himself and building a temple, it is going to have the distinct characteristics of his Son, Jesus Christ. Because he is setting all the lines, all the angles, the orientation. And the placing of all the other stones would come upon this cornerstone. So in line with him, that is how the living stones, or how the stones would be placed upon the building. He is the living stone. We are living stones being placed.

39:54And what this imagery tells us is that God is active in building a temple where he intends to dwell. And it's a spiritual house. And the main cornerstone is the perfect and flawless Jesus. And only Christ can set the proper lines and the proper angles and give the precise orientation and the alignment and the shape of God's house. And then here's the promise. Look at verse 6. And he who believes in him will not be disappointed. Word for disappointed can carry the idea of being deceived.

40:30And then something you thought was true, it turned out to be false. You ever had that happen to you? It's kind of deceitful, right? This car is going to drive for miles and miles and miles. You drive around the corner and the wheels fall off, right? You've been deceived, right? There's a certain letdown with that disappointment. But it can also involve placing your hope in someone and have that person let you down. You know what I'm talking about? Have you ever put your hope and confidence in a person, and then all of a sudden they let you down?

41:01Well, what he's saying, whoever believes, the one who believes, will not. And it's a double negative. And a double negative in Greek is emphatic. They certainly will not be disappointed. Those who believe in him certainly will not be disappointed. Never. What a promise. What a promise. Those who come to him will never, ever be let down, deceived in any way. So, as you summarize what Peter is saying through all this, be a believer. Be a believer. What does a believer do? A believer comes to him.

41:47Verse 4, and coming to him. Verse 6, the one believing in him, both presence, both present verses, present verbs. And Mark's gospel. We spent a lot of time working through it. You remember, there were three pictures, and I have reiterated these to you. We've reviewed them several times. But when Peter talked about faith and what believing is, it was a picture of somebody coming to him. You remember in chapter 2, there was the paralytic. He couldn't come to Jesus on his own. In chapter 5, there was the woman with the blood issue. She was in a perpetual state of uncleanness. And then in chapter 10, there was blind Bartimaeus. You remember him? He couldn't see. All of these were the people that God showcased their faith, that Christ stopped and showcased their faith.

42:43And these three, the paralytic, the perpetual unclean woman, and the blind man, all graphically portrayed the state of fallen man. We're spiritually blind, perpetually unclean, and paralyzed to do anything about it. So the believing ones are the ones who come to him. Every one of these, the paralytic, the woman, and blind Bartimaeus, they came to him and they kept coming to him and they wouldn't stop. When they saw the roadblocks, they kept coming to him. And when it got difficult, they still kept coming to him, and not one of them left disappointed.

43:22And the same offer is extended here to you today. He's saying, come to me. With whatever is going on in your life, I am the one who can meet that need and you will not be disappointed. So, what does Jesus want you to come for? He wants you to come bearing your needs to him. First need you have is sin. You need forgiveness, you need reconciliation. Come to him with that need. You will not be disappointed. Do you have addiction problems of any kind? Come to him. Keep coming to him. You will certainly not be disappointed. Do you have a debilitating guilt and shame or regret or regrets?

44:13Come to him and keep coming to him. You will not be disappointed. Maybe you have withholding problems that you can't really give to God what you know he deserves. And there's something about your right hand that keeps your left hand from giving. Bring that to him. What about your spiritual laziness problems? You don't get out of bed early enough. There's things that you know that God has called you to do, but you haven't. Come to him with that. Come to him with that. You will not be disappointed. Or if you have humility problems, Lord, I'm not as humble. Come to him with that. What if your ministry is mediocre and lukewarm? God, I have this problem. I'm mediocre in my ministry. Come to Him. With that. You will not be disappointed. What if you have forgetfulness problems? Do you forget the things that you should remember? And do you remember the things that you should forget? Come to Him with that. Do you feel your proneness to wander away from God? Come to Him with that. You will not be disappointed. You're starting to get the picture. Do you have anxiety problems? Do you find it very difficult to trust God with your future? Say, God, here's a mess.

45:25Come to Him with it. He'll deal with it. And you will not be disappointed. Do you have hypocrisy problems? Do you wear a mask half the time? Is your religion a sham? Come to Him with it. Or maybe you have unforgiveness problems. Do you hold on to things? Come to Him. Are you concerned about your own spiritual blindness? Lord, I know I have spiritual faults. Help me with them, my hidden faults. Maybe you have a self-centered focus problem. Maybe you have an inability to admit when you're wrong. Maybe you have an inability to truly love one another. Maybe you're so self-focused that you can hardly think outside yourself. Come to Him with that.

46:09Or maybe you have envy problems. Maybe you cannot rejoice in the successes of others. Come to Him with that. Maybe you lack confidence in God's provision for your life. Come to Him with that. Do you need a clean heart? Come to Him with that. You starting to get the picture? What if you? Say, I don't know if I can come to him. Come to him with that. You get the picture? Come to him. Come to him. You will not be disappointed. Whatever the situation, whatever degree, come to him. He is the solution.

46:50And though he was rejected by man, he was chosen by God. The rejected one, he became the resurrected one. And the dead one became the living stone. And those who come to him become living stones and truly can live. So come to him today and keep coming to him. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the word. We thank you for this exhortation and this incredible promise that no matter who we are, no matter what the issue is, that we can come to you and we can keep coming to you. Father, in that you promise we will not be disappointed. Father, we thank you for the testimony of the paralytic. We thank you for the testimony of the perpetually unclean woman. And we thank you for the testimony of blind Bartimaeus. Father, we can sum up our needs under those. And so, Father, we thank you for their testimony of faith. Help our unbelief, we ask. In Jesus' name, amen.