Srimad-Bhagavatam, Thirty-Seven Degrees.
Seven, three, seven.
Quiet, Lord, my thro'ward heart, Make me
teachable and mild, Upright, simple, free from art,
Make me, as a little child, From distrust
and envy be, Pleased with all that pleases
thee.
Seven hundred and thirty-seven degrees.
Again this
evening, Peter, the second chapter, and we're going
through from verse four, right through to the
end of verse ten.
As we try to take all this stretch
in together this evening, it's one great mighty
paragraph.
Just seven verses, but it's quite a paragraph.
You know, in this great paragraph, Peter, by
the Spirit, is underlining two things.
He's underlining, first of all, that there is
a chosen foundation.
And he makes it very clear that the
chosen foundation for the Church is Christ.
You remember, as we went down the first
three verses last week, Peter was saying to
the saints, because just in the finishing verses
of chapter one, he was talking about them
being born again.
Well, to all these born-again ones, he
said last week, laying aside all malice and
all guile.
You know, he wants the saints to be
as gracious as their Master.
And then he had a special word for
the new-born babies.
He wanted them to desire the sincere milk
of the Word.
Just because they had tasted and seen that
the Lord was gracious.
You know, the word etzogi can be translated,
since.
Since ye have tasted that the Lord is
gracious.
You see, he wants the children of God
to have a desire for those gracious words
that fall from the Master's lips.
And he wants the children of God to
be as gracious as their most gracious Lord.
These are the things he was saying last
week.
And he ended with this note, talking about
the Lord, who is gracious.
And then he said this, this week, To
whom come ye?
Remember, he's talking about this gracious Lord.
And this is the one we came to.
He met us in grace, and he told
us, His word was good to us, And
we came to this
gracious Lord.
And Peter said, You see, this
gracious Lord is the living stone.
And he goes on talking about him being
chosen of God and precious.
And then he gets it up by Scripture,
he says, So
that you
can see that Peter is pointing up the
chosen foundation.
The gracious Lord is the chief cornerstone.
And there is no other.
You know, I'm perfectly sure that when Peter
turned this wonderful verse, this fourth verse, when
he said, As unto a living stone, I
think his hand may be trembled as he
scratched these words out.
Because his mind must have went right back
to that time, in the early days of
the Christian church, when he and John were
arrested in Jerusalem.
You remember, he was just coming to the
beautiful gate of the temple one day, and
the man lying at the beautiful gate asked
for alms.
And you remember how Peter spoke to him,
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
rise up and walk.
And the great and mighty and memorable miracle
took place.
And of course, it gathered a crowd.
The people saw the man walking and leaping
and jumping for joy.
And of course, when Peter got the crowd,
he began to preach to them.
And you know, he was arrested for that.
Let's go back and see him being arrested
just for the moment.
It's in the Acts of the Apostles, and
it's chapter four.
The Acts of the Apostles, and it's at
the fourth chapter.
And verse one says, And as they spake
unto the people, that is, as Peter and
John spake unto the people, the priests and
the captain of the temple and the Sadducees
came upon them, being grieved that they taught
the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection
from the dead.
You see, these Sadducees were a great and
mighty and powerful sect among the Jews.
The Pharisees were a great sect, but so
were also the Sadducees.
And one of the differences between the Sadducees
and the Pharisees lies just here.
That the Sadducees did not believe in the
resurrection, neither of saint or sinner.
They didn't believe in the resurrection.
And of course, when Peter and John stood
and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the
dead, it grieved them.
And of course, they laid hands on Peter,
it says, verse three, and they laid hands
on them and put them in hold until
the next day, for it was now even
time.
They kept them in prison all night.
Howbeit, many of them which heard the word
believed.
And the number of the men was about
five thousand.
Why, it was a good day's preaching.
I can remember standing at the beautiful gate
of the temple in Jerusalem, and looking down
the now rocked and rugged slopes of the
Valley of Jehoshaphat.
And I said to Mr. Prophet, who was
with me, I said, you know, there were
five thousand folks still here one day.
He said, this is what we're in.
This is the spot.
Yes, but Peter and John were addicted.
Sometimes, you know, when the Spirit of God
is working in a real mighty way, the
devil works too.
Don't think that just because God comes down
upon you with blessings that the devil runs
and hides.
Oh, you can look out for the storm
at any time.
So they were arrested, put in prison, kept
all night.
And then it says in verse 5, And
it came to pass on the morrow, that
their rulers and elders and scribes, and Annas
the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and
Alexander, and as many as were of the
kindred of the high priest, were gathered together
in Jerusalem.
That is what was called the Sanhedrin.
That's an old Hebrew word, and it can
be spelt with a name at the end
or a name at the end.
So don't be picking holes in it.
You can say Sanhedrin or Sanhedrin, whatever you
like.
It's just both ways.
But the old Jewish council, Dr. F.
G.
Mayer said, it was the most venerable council
on the face of God's earth.
It was a Jewish court, and these men
were going to stand before the Jewish court
on this morning.
And it says, verse 7, And when they
had set them in the midst, they asked,
By what power or by what name had
you done this?
They're thinking about the man that was sealed
at the temple.
And it's a very subtle question, you know.
I think it was one of the old
Jewish lawyers who asked the question, By what
name or by what power have you done
this miracle?
Because there is a law in Jewry, and
it's found in Deuteronomy chapter 13, that if
anyone works for medical in any other name
than the name of Jehovah, he can be
put to death.
And so somebody started the court proceedings with
a very subtle question.
By what name have you done this miracle?
Now, Peter knew what they were getting up.
He knew that his life was in danger
at that moment.
And it says here, verse 8, Then Peter,
filled with the Holy Ghost.
That's a great thing, you know.
If you're going to have to stand for
your faith, and if you're going to have
to give an answer for the reason that
is within you, see that you don't do
it in any shape of bitterness or strife
or bitterness.
You'd be better to take a breath and
ask the Holy Ghost to take care of
you.
So you would answer the way a Christian
would answer.
Sometimes, you know, you can let your blood
boil and then...
It's not Christian at all.
Might be the devil's talking to you.
Even Peter once.
You can talk out of your throat if
you don't watch.
But Peter was a great character.
He must have took a deep breath here.
And he was filled with the spirits, and
said unto them, Ye rulers of the people,
and elders of Israel.
You see, he's quite respectful to the court.
Because that's what we're taught to be.
And he says, Ye rulers of the people,
and elders of Israel, if we must day
be examined of the good deed done to
the infidel man by what means he is
made whole, be it known unto you all,
and to all the people of Israel, that
by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
Now, he didn't put a tooth in it,
did he?
There was no crooked fiddling around with the
answer.
It just came out plain and clear.
You can slay me if you like.
But by the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth.
There's no fiddling with the answer there.
And then he went a bit further.
He said, By the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, whom ye crucify.
And he was bound to know that this
bit would stick hard with the court.
Whom God raised from the dead.
My, I admire this character, you know.
This was a great man.
One day I'll meet him in heaven, and
I'll shake his hand, and I'll thank him
for the stand he took.
Just looked the court full in the face
and said, By the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, whom ye crucify, because it was
that very court that crucified him.
Whom God raised from the dead.
My, he's speaking out all right.
By him doth this man stand here before
you all.
And he begins to curse at you because
it's always best to get back to the
book.
This is the stone which was set at
lot of you builders.
Which has become the head of the corner.
Now the feet are talking.
He didn't say, Mind you, I'm the foundation.
Don't touch me.
Ah, what a bit of a...
He said, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
He's the foundation.
You builders, touch him at lot.
Let me tell you, he's become the head
of the corner.
He didn't like me, he must have gotten
excited at this head.
Neither is there salvation in any other.
For there's none other name.
That was good talk, wasn't it?
There's none other name given among men whereby
you must be saved.
You can't get saved through the name of
Moses.
He's the woman that you want.
You can't get saved through her name.
And you can't get saved through King William's
name.
The last Christian, all is he lost.
You can't get saved through that name either.
And you can't get saved through the name
of Protestant, nor Catholic, nor Baptist, nor Brethren,
nor Presbyterian.
You either get saved at the feet of
Christ or you'll perish.
There's no other way.
There's no other door.
There's no other land.
There's no other!
We'll come to that in a moment.
Now he was quite clear about what he
was about, you know, at all times.
Yes, he's underlining something for us back here
in 1 Peter 2.
He's underlining that the chosen foundation of the
Christian church is Christ himself, the chief cornerstone.
And don't you notice that in our paragraph
this evening, he not underlines the chosen foundation,
but he underlines the chosen generation.
You see, he's writing to these believers.
You know now they're believers.
You saw them being born again.
You know that they're redeemed with precious blood.
You know they've been regenerated.
You know that they were re-elect.
We've gone down the first chapter and we
can see this crowd.
Elect and sanctified and begotten of God are
people born again and redeemed, people who have
purified their souls, people who have an inheritance,
incorruptible and undefiled, reserved in heaven for them.
Now he's writing to them and he said
this to them in 2 Peter here.
He says, verse 9, But ye are a
chosen generation.
This is underlining that too.
You see, he's making it very clear that
Christ was the chosen foundation.
And he's making it very clear that born
again redeemed believers, Christians, they're the chosen generation
in this age.
You see what he said there in verse
4?
He said, Whom coming as unto a living
stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of
God and precious, ye also as lively stones
are built up a spiritual house.
When we talk about the spiritual house, what
are we talking about?
We're talking about the church and the believers.
They're the chosen generation and they're being built
on the foundation that was chosen, which was
our greatest Lord.
These are things he's underlining very clearly in
the paragraph of this evening.
This is pointing out a chosen foundation, Christ,
and a chosen generation, born again believers.
But let's begin and do it properly.
You can see that he's talking about our
greatest Lord in verse 3, and he says
to whom coming as unto a living stone.
Mind you, this is something that Paul was
dogmatic about.
Paul was very dogmatic about the foundation.
He had never any quibbles in his mind.
He never thought it was Peter, you know,
for the moment.
Let's have a look at what Paul said
for just a moment.
We're at 1 Corinthians and the chapter 3,
please.
1 Corinthians and we're at the 3rd chapter.
Just to save time, the way down the
chapter there at verse 11.
Paul writing said, For other a foundation can
no man lay than that is laid, which
is Jesus Christ.
He had no problems about the foundation at
all.
Oh, he didn't think that Peter was the
rock or anything like that, or the foundation.
And I can tell you that Peter didn't
think it either.
Peter knew who the foundation was, our greatest
Lord.
And Paul says, For other a foundation can
no man lay than that is laid, which
is, and he's being dogmatic now, which is
Jesus Christ.
Surely that's clear enough.
And I think that Peter's very specific about
this when he points to the chief cornerstone
here.
Yes, these two great apostles, one of them
the great apostle to the Jews, and the
other the great apostle to the Gentiles, one
is perfectly dogmatic that there is no other
foundation, and Peter is specific when he says
Christ is the chief cornerstone.
Now I want you to get this very
clear, that right down through this paragraph of
ours, he talks a lot about Christ as
the stone, as the foundation.
Watch what is said here.
Let's look at verse four.
To whom coming as unto a living stone,
disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God
and precious.
You see, we want to get what this
stone really means to God.
And it means this, that God has elected
Christ to be the stone.
See down in verse six, wherefore also it
is contained in the Scripture, behold, I lay
in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect.
You see, in verse four, he's chosen of
God.
In verse six, it is God that elects
him to be the chief cornerstone.
And in both verse four and verse six,
the word precious is there.
You see, God elects Christ.
God chose Christ to be the foundation upon
which the church would be built.
And Christ was doubly precious to God because
of this.
Twice we have this word precious.
You know, this is the precious foundation that
God laid for his church, for the church
of God.
Yes, I want you to get the hold
of that.
You know, there's something there that you need
to underline.
I remember having some talks with a very
brilliant doctor.
He was a Roman Catholic doctor.
And I think he was something of the
elation.
And I remember we were discussing this, this
foundation question, when I brought him to this
passage and took him through it very carefully,
and then I said to him, Doctor, tell
me this, quite merely, is Peter teaching here
that he is the foundation, or is he
teaching that Christ is the foundation?
Now, he was a very honest man.
He said, you know, from the way you
put it and the way you underline it
and the way you take it bit by
bit, well, Peter is teaching that Christ was
the foundation.
But is that so in Matthew 16?
That was his next question.
He was reading the paragraph.
But when you're friendly with a fellow, you're
allowed to read the paragraph.
I said, Doctor, we'll have a look at
it then.
Let's have a look at Matthew 16.
Now, we'll take it piecemeal and then we'll
get it all right.
Matthew 16, verse 13.
When Jesus came into the courts of Caesarea
Philippi, and what a lovely place that is,
right on the very edge of the Mediterranean.
I can remember sitting here with my feet
in the blue waters of the Mediterranean, and
the water would have burnt you.
It was so lovely.
We were away down one day at Caesarea
Philippi, and I gave some of them a
Bible reading, almost like what I'm going to
do now.
When Jesus came into the courts 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 thou art
John the Baptist.
Some, Elias.
And others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.
Verse 15.
He said unto them, But whom say ye
that I am?
And there wasn't one of them made and
answered at all, only Peter.
And Simon, Peter, answered and said, Thou art
the Christ, the Son of the living God.
That was a wonderful answer, you know.
You know quite well what Peter meant when
he said that, don't you?
You know so many times in the New
Testament Christ is called the Son.
Sometimes he's called the Son of Man.
Well, that just has something to do with
his humanity.
He was the Christ of the human race.
He was the Christ who knew everything about
poverty and about pain.
He knew everything about plunder and false witnesses,
evil speeches.
Yes, he was the Christ of the human
race.
Sometimes he's called the Son of David.
That doesn't refer to his humanity at all.
But the day he was born, he was
the Jew of the house of the lineage
of David.
Sometimes he's called the Son of Abraham.
And that has got nothing to do so
much with his humanity, or even his royalty.
That's got to do with his nationality, and
he was a Jew, remember.
And it was this little nation of Israel
that brought Christ to the world, as it
were.
And it's because this nation brought Christ to
the world that the old devil has been
determined for countless hundreds of years to blot
out the nation of Israel.
And he used Hitler, and Hitler was determined.
He had a wicked diabolical history in his
heart.
It was ingested into him by the devil.
And he thought he would blot Israel out,
but he failed.
And then Nazareth, big broad-shouldered Nazareth, thought
that he would blot them out.
And one day stood and said, we'll drive
them into the sea and exterminate them.
And in six days he was finished.
And he's finished now.
Oh yes, so many have been against the
little nation, you know.
And I believe it's the devil that's at
the back of it all the time, because
yes, they'll always be in trouble until he
rules on the throne of his father David.
Sometimes he's called the Son of Man, it's
got to do with his humanity.
Sometimes he's called the Son of David, it
has got to do with his loyalty.
Sometimes he's called the son of Abraham, it
has got to do with his nationality.
Sometimes he's called the carpenter's son.
That has got to do with his humility.
Stood at the carpenter's bench, you know.
Made chairs.
And I assure you, if he made a
chair, it was well made.
But Peter's not calling him the carpenter's son,
and he's not calling him the son of
Abraham, or the son of David, or the
son of man.
Peter's looking into his face and he's saying,
thou art the son of the living God.
That's got to do with his deity.
That's what that's got to do with.
You know, no wonder the Lord turned round
to him and said, flesh and blood hath
not revealed it.
He didn't learn nothing from it.
And you know, it's a good thing to
get along with God, because He tells you
little things at times.
Yes, this is the great answer.
Thou art the son of the living God.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed
art thou, Simon Bardona, 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.
Now, does scripture bear out that Peter was
the rock that the church was built on?
I ask you again, did he preach this
to the Sanhedrin?
Or did he point to Christ?
I ask you again, what did Paul think
was the foundation?
I ask you again to examine what he's
teaching in 1 Peter 2.
And you'll find that all these bear out
that Christ was the rock.
You see, what Christ was saying to Peter
is this.
Saying this is the great answer, this is
the wonderful confession.
And upon the rock of your confession of
me, I will build my church.
And that's what he said.
That's what the rock is.
It's the rock of Peter's confession.
And the church was built on the rock
that Christ was God and died for us.
That's the rock.
You know, I want you to get the
hold of this which is the mighty statement,
I will build my church upon this rock.
I will build my church.
You see, the church is built by Christ.
Let's get the hold of that.
I wish some of the modernistic evangelists would
learn this.
God made or not built into the church
by evangelistic trickery.
Oh, not at all.
Oh, this evangelistic trickery won't build a church,
I assure you of that.
It will make false professions and damn people.
Let us who preach the gospel get it
into our hearts that Christ must build the
church.
Oh, he just sent you out with a
message and you just stick to it and
leave the building to him.
I've seen a lot built in, you know,
in my lifetime.
But I never did any tricks to do
it.
I just trusted the builder.
Yes, the church is built by him.
I will build my church.
And those of you who argue with me
that the church was in the Old Testament,
have another look at the text.
I will build my church.
It's still future, you know, from that spot.
Oh, it was Israel, the nation that was
there.
The church was about to be built on
the foundation of the apostles and prophets and
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.
It is still future.
He says, I will build my church.
It's built by him.
Let me say this.
It is built on him.
On this rock, on the rock of thy
great confession.
On this rock, I will build my church.
There is no other foundation.
And Peter is saying that he is the
chief cornerstone and you can't have two of
them, you know.
Yet I want you to get this, that
the church is built by him.
And the church is built on him.
And I want you to get this quite
clear.
The church is built for him.
It's my church.
It doesn't belong to the Baptists, mind you.
Nor the Romans.
Nor the Brethren.
God forbid if it just happens to be
that it belongs to him.
It's my church.
And it's built by him.
And it's built on him.
And it's built for him.
Mine.
This is mine.
You know, he loved the church.
He gave himself for it.
That he might think divine cleansing.
That he might make it his very own.
It's called his blight.
Yes, it's his.
And it's for him and it's for him
alone.
You know, this is a great saying that
he said here.
He said, upon this rock, I will build
my church.
And the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it.
I want you to get the hold of
that because you must get that in its
right perspective.
I know that the gates of hell is
just a figure of speech that he's using.
In fact, I don't know whether there are
any gates on hell or not.
But I know that this is a figure
of speech.
And I know what he's saying.
You know, when we talk about hell, we
get a lot of things into our minds
at once.
It's the unseen place of the dead.
And you know, there's a world of...
Ah, but they won't keep Christ back from
building the church.
They will not prevail.
You know, when we talk about hell, sometimes
we think about darkness.
And there is a kingdom of darkness around
us.
Ah, well, the church is marching on.
And the gates of hell, of the kingdom
of darkness, will not prevail.
You know, we are marching on.
Don't think that we are hemmed in or
anything.
We are hemmed in.
And we are marching against the gates, as
it were.
And they'll not prevail, you know.
A world of perishing souls won't keep Christ
back from building the church.
And the kingdom of darkness won't keep Christ
back.
Sometimes we think of hell as made only
for the devil and his angels.
The devil, the devil, with all his diabolical
powers, with all the energy that he possesses
and all the activities he commands, will not
keep Christ back from building his church.
Sometimes we think of hell as the second
death.
Sometimes we think about eternal death.
Ah, the enemy of death will not keep
Christ back.
In spite of a perishing world, in spite
of the kingdom of darkness, in spite of
diabolical powers, in spite of every enemy, Christ
will build his church, and he's doing it.
I had the joy of kneeling with a
woman last night and saying a weeping way
to Christ.
Which, you know, it's built on him and
by him and for him.
And, you know, the gates of hell are
all the forces of the enemy, if you
like to put it like that.
They will not prevail.
It's a wonderful thing, you know, in this
dark, devilish, diabolical world of ours.
And I don't need to start to teach
you that evil men are getting worse and
worse.
I don't need to teach that these days,
not an ulster.
In spite of hell and darkness and diabolical
doings, man and woman are still in church.
Christ will build his church.
And, you know, when I got all this
over out of me, the old doctor said,
you know, you're harming me.
You're stopping the verse short.
Oh, doctor, I never did that in my
life.
I said, all right, go on to the
next verse.
And he's talking to Peter, and he said,
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 loosed in heaven.
I said, would you not like to put
another one to it when you're at it?
Let's put another one.
Have a look at John's Gospel for a
moment.
And read it, John's Gospel, chapter 20.
John's Gospel, chapter 20, verse 19.
Then the same day at evening, being the
first day of the week when the doors
were shut where the disciples were assembled for
fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood
in the midst and said unto them, Peace
be unto you.
And when he had so said, he showed
unto them his hands and his side.
Then were the disciples glad when they saw
the Lord.
Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be
unto you.
As my Father hath sent me, even so
send I you.
And when he had said this, he breathed
unto them and said unto them, Receive ye
the Holy Ghost.
Whosoever sins you remit, they are remitted unto
them.
And whosoever sins you retain, they are retained.
I said, we might as well put them
all together, don't we?
He said, well that's very fair of you,
because I'm sure I should have turned you
to that one anyway.
You know, I want to do this for
the class this evening, and I want to
do it very carefully.
You know, when he said, dear, I give
unto thee the keys of the kingdom of
heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind in earth
shall be bound, and whatsoever thou shalt loose,
it shall be loosed from heaven.
And then when he said to all his
disciples here, whosoever sins you remit, they are
remitted unto them, and whosoever sins you retain,
they are retained.
I said, tell me first of all what
you're thinking, Doctor.
Let me ask you this.
Do you think in your mind just now
that Peter was driven by the thought of
Paul, that he should be saved?
Do you think that means some of the
other and whosoever sins they retain should be...
Well, I said, you know, that's very simple
to prove that you're completely wrong.
Because you only want to watch Peter going
out preaching, and see if he ever used
this kind of authority and power.
And I shall let you see him preaching,
and I shall let you hear him preaching,
and I shall show you certain things that
he did.
And you'll find he had no such power
at all.
Now, watch me doing this very carefully.
Come to the Acts of the Apostles, and
we're at chapter eight.
The Acts of the Apostles, and we're at
the eighth chapter.
Now this is the place where Philip the
Evangelist went down to Samaria.
See, verse five, Then Philip went down to
the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto
them.
He knew what to preach for, right?
Verse twelve says, But when they believed, Philip
preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God
and the name of Jesus Christ, they were
baptized, both men and women.
Then another character is introduced, then Simon.
And if you've got the chapter, you'll see
who he is.
Verse nine, There was a certain man called
Simon, which before time in the theme said
they used sorcery and bewitched the people of
Samaria, giving out that himself was some great
one.
Now this man Simon the sorcerer, verse thirteen,
then Simon himself believed also.
And when he was baptized, he continued with
Philip and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs
which were done.
And when he was baptized, he continued with
Philip and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs
which were done.
And now when the apostles which were at
Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word
of God, they sent unto them Peter and
John.
These two apostles came down from Jerusalem.
They didn't visit the Samaritans because the Jews
didn't agree with the Samaritans, but now that
the grace of God had come among the
Samaritans, they thought they would send down Peter
and John.
Who, when they were come down, prayed for
them, for these believers here among the Samaritans,
prayed for them that they might receive the
Holy Ghost.
Now these Samaritans, although they were true believers,
had not yet received the Holy Ghost.
And it explains here, for as yet he
was fallen upon none of them, only they
were baptized in the name of the Lord
Jesus.
Then they laid their hands on them and
they received the Holy Ghost.
Now I want you to see who's laying
hands on.
It is two apostles.
It is Peter and John.
And I want you to make sure who
they're laying hands on.
They are Samaritans.
Because I hear people taking this up, you
know, and they talk about laying hands on
and giving people the Holy Ghost.
Only they are not apostles and the people
that they're touching are not Samaritans.
You see, the Jews had no dealings with
the Samaritans.
In fact, there were two temples in Jerusalem.
There was a temple up in Samaria and
I was in the ruins of that one
day.
And, of course, there was a great temple
down at Jerusalem itself.
And there was a great danger that if
the Samaritans, some of them, got saved, they
would start a research of the Lord.
And God was going to make sure that
this wouldn't happen.
And in a thought of a way, he
forced the Jewish apostles to go down to
touch the believing Samaritans.
And if you ever hear of a fellow
laying his hands on somebody, he will need
to be an apostle and they will need
to be a Samaritan without the Holy Ghost.
And don't be reading anything more into it
or you'll get into debauchery.
But that's not the point that I'm flashing
out.
I want you to get this.
It says, verse 18, And when Simon saw
that through laying on of the apostles' hands
the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them
money, saying, Give me also this power that
on whomsoever I lay hands he may receive
the Holy Ghost.
But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish
with thee.
Mind you, that was a big saying for
Peter, wasn't it?
Not so many books that I read about
talk like that, your money perish with you.
I'll just tell you that's what he said.
Thy money perish with thee.
Because thou hast thought that the gift of
God may be purchased with money.
Thou hast made a partner lot in this
matter.
This fellow was only a professor.
He wasn't a true believer at all.
Ah, but Peter caught him on.
Of course, when people begin to open their
mouths you can catch them on all right.
He just said too much.
Peter said, you're not a believer.
Oh, he'd lost Philip, I know that.
And he'd got baptized by a merchant too.
And the Pope would be baptized by a
merchant.
It broke me, you know.
But you've not broke God.
And certainly he didn't block Peter.
Peter said, I can tell you right now,
the way you're talking, you have made a
partner lot in this matter.
But Peter went on a bit further, you
know.
Peter said, thy money perish with thee because
thou hast thought that the gift of God
may be purchased with money.
Thou hast made a partner lot in this
matter.
For thy heart is not right in the
sight of God.
Repent therefore of this thy wickedness and pray
God if perhaps the thought of thine heart
may be forgiven thee.
If he had authority to forgive the man,
why didn't he do it?
Ah, but he didn't do it.
No, he just said, now look, away you
and get on your knees and get right
with God and pray God to forgive you.
If he had the power, why didn't he
forgive the man?
I can remember the old doctor looking at
this.
He says, you're puzzling me.
Oh, clear you up in a minute or
two.
Take your time.
Yes.
Peter had no authority.
Not whatsoever.
Only the authority that I will tell you
in a moment or two.
I said, what do you hear him preaching
in the house of Cornelius?
That's chapter 10, isn't it?
You remember he came into the house of
Cornelius to preach.
And you know he was a great preacher.
Here's what he preached.
Verse 38 at the same time.
He says, God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with
the Holy Ghost and with power.
He went about doing good and healing all
that were oppressed of the devil, for God
was with him.
And we are witnesses of all things which
he did both in the land of the
Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they slew and
hanged on a tree.
Then God raised up the third day and
showed him openly, not to all the people,
but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even
to us who did eat and drink with
him after he rose from the dead.
And he commanded us.
What's the word now?
He commanded us to preach unto the people
and to testify that it is he which
was ordained of God to be the judge
of quick and dead.
For him give all the prophets witness that
through his name whosoever believeth in him shall
receive remission of sins.
Tell me, was he preaching I can forgive
you?
Or was he preaching if you believe in
Christ you'll be forgiven?
I think you can see what the man
preached.
You see, when the Lord talks about giving
him the kings of the kingdom and when
the Lord talks about sending out his disciples
and saying whosoever sins he remit they are
remitted in heaven and whosoever sins he retain
they are retained.
He's not sending them out with a power
and an authority that they can do the
things.
Let me tell you, he sent them out
with a message.
He commanded them to preach just like with
a message man.
Now I'll tell you how it works.
There's a big man sitting over there I
led him to the Lord just the other
day blessed him and his face was shining
and he's gone on with the Lord.
And you know we sat together and I
just led him very carefully and let him
see the whole gospel story that's what I
was intended to do because that's what I
was sent to do.
And I pointed out to Jim Irvin how
that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners.
He's happened in all life.
And I pointed out very carefully that before
he could save sinners he must die for
sinners because sin has to be dealt with
in the sight of a holy God and
only the sacrifice of Christ could do that.
And I pointed out very carefully that he
must not only come to save and die
to save but he would need to rise
again because any sinner coming to trust him
will need a living saviour.
Now you can't go on with a text
or a church.
Man, I would be drunk tomorrow if I
had only a text.
But I happened to have a living saviour
you know.
Real living saviour.
And I pointed out you know that he
not only came to save and died to
save and lived to save but he promises
to save.
And he promises to save whosoever shall call
upon his name.
And you know we've gone together and I
can see the tears falling you know.
And I can feel this man's body trembling.
And then I can hear him lifting his
heart and saying Lord Jesus I'm coming for
you now.
Save me and teach me.
And I could put my arm round him
now and tell him that he was saved.
And all heaven would say amen to what
I was saying.
And I'll tell you this and
all heaven would say amen with me.
Oh it is not an authority the only
authority is the word of God and I
can sincerely say you're saved.
I can tell you you're saved.
And if you spit in Christ's face I
can tell you this you'll be damned.
And only in that sense is it used.
And that brings all scripture into harmony.
That Christ is the only foundation.
That only by faith are you saved.
Friend I hope you're getting this clear this
evening.
Now let's get back to Peter.
We're at 1 Peter chapter 2.
We're going very slowly this evening but I
can't help it.
Now I want you to see this stone.
What this stone was unto God.
And now Peter shows what this stone is
unto believers.
Do you see verse 4?
This stone is a living stone to believers.
And do you see verse 6?
This stone is the chief cornerstone is left
precious to believers.
This stone is something that gives them assurance.
Because Peter says he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded.
He didn't say he that resteth on me.
He's always pointing to Christ wherever you find
him.
That's the only message anyway.
You must point to Christ.
Yes you know, this stone to God is
chosen and is left in precious.
And this stone to believers is living and
sure and precious.
You know the builders of the Jewish nation
this old Sanhedrin that we were looking at
you see what this stone was unto the
builders?
It was disallowed.
Oh they couldn't entertain that this man standing
in a Nazarene garment that this could be
anybody.
They just disallowed him.
Peter looked into their eyes that day and
said this is the stone that was set
at nought and he built it.
This is my Lord at nought.
How blind they were.
And there's a lot of blind builders in
this world just at this moment.
Yes, I want you to get this.
You know this stone is very precious to
God.
This stone is precious to God because it's
on this foundation by faith in Christ that
both Jew and Gentile come into the church.
That's why he said I lay in Zion.
He scored the stone.
Because Jew and Gentile come into the church
on this foundation when they come and accept
Christ by faith.
But you know to the Jewish nation of
that day you see this here he says
unto you therefore which believe he is precious
but unto them which be disobedient the stone
which the builders disallowed disallowed the sailors near
the head of the corner and a stone
of stumbling and a rock of offense.
You know that's what it was to Israel
the nation.
Why they were offended in him and they
stumbled over Christ crucified.
And you see the stone.
How Peter so clearly so wonderfully so uniquely
pictures Christ here as the only foundation.
I don't know how men ever got it
wrong.
They only need to go to Peter himself
and ask the question are you the foundation?
And here's the answer.
It's right there.
Now he doesn't only talk here about a
chosen foundation he talks about a chosen generation.
See verse 9 he's talking to these believers
but ye are a chosen generation.
Let's go back to verse 5.
Ye also are lively stones.
You see he's the living stone, the foundation.
For all the other stones that are built
upon this living stone have to be living
stones too.
No dead ones built in here.
It'd be of life to be in this
building.
You see we're being built up a spiritual
house.
Ah that's what the church is tonight.
She's a spiritual house.
I want you to get this.
On holy priesthood.
And I want you to look at verse
9 quickly.
But ye are a chosen generation of royal
priesthood.
You see every living stone in the church
tonight and remember we are not talking about
male.
We are talking about male and female.
In the church there is neither male nor
female.
And every stone in the church is a
holy priesthood.
A royal priesthood.
Forget that.
You know when you say the word holy
you say a separated step apart priesthood.
When you say a royal priesthood you know
we are not only priests unto God we
are made kings and priests.
The world doesn't know that yet but Christ
has made us kings and priests.
Now the bit that I want you to
get is this.
That every stone built on the foundation is
a part of this royal and this holy
priesthood.
I want you to agree with me.
The issue here is that I am upsetting
God's order.
That is what you are doing.
Is only a part of the church a
priesthood?
Come on out into the open.
Are we only writing to males?
Or were there females here at this age?
I will tell you the whole church today
is a royal priesthood and a holy priesthood
and stop you interfering with it.
You have no right whatsoever to teach a
woman to pray.
This book teaches her how to pray.
It doesn't teach her not to pray.
It teaches her to have her head covered
when she prays.
Is that teaching her how to pray or
not to pray?
I get stuck talking to you sometimes.
But it is a royal priesthood this church.
And don't forget the church is a royal
priesthood.
Don't let anybody keep you back from praying.
So long as you are properly acquired, the
Bible is inviting you to pray.
And you know this, this wonderful chosen generation
is not only living strong in a spiritual
house and a holy priesthood and a royal
priesthood.
You know, let's get this to my...
We are a holy nation.
You know that is wonderful because we have
no country.
I know we have a whole lot of
talk about our land.
I can tell you, friends, that we are
strangers and pilgrims.
We will be starting next week.
Do you see verse 12?
See verse 11?
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and
pilgrims.
Because we are just a passing through this
world.
It is an old story, I know, but
it is a good one.
We are just a passing through.
Let me tell you, no matter what way
you feel, Ulster is not your home.
It is not your home.
You know, we are looking for a country
that has foundations to build on and never
is gone.
That's where we are looking, you know.
We are looking for a land that is
fair one day.
We are just strangers and pilgrims.
We are a whole nation, you know.
A nation set apart, no geographical location on
earth.
It is just a whole nation.
We are a peculiar people.
An old fellow said to me one day
about a brother.
He said, he is a peculiar person, isn't
he?
I said, he is indeed, man, he is.
I said, because he belongs to a peculiar
family.
He said, he is far more than that.
He was so jealous.
He didn't know what I was talking about.
Now, I want you to get this bit.
This is the bit we must get in
this evening.
Watch this.
You see, this chosen generation, this royal priesthood,
this holy nation, this peculiar people, they are
chosen for something.
Have a look again at verse 5.
He also asked lively stones that built up
a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer
up sacrifices acceptable to God, by Jesus Christ,
of course.
You know, that is what we are saved
for.
That is why we are a peculiar people.
That is why we are a spiritual house.
You know, we are to be offering up
sacrifices to God.
And there is a word that is in
the Scriptures continually.
Look, let me show you how this works,
because I think this is a very nice
thing.
Let's go to Hebrews, just back a page
or two.
In Hebrews 13, it says in verse 12,
O bear toward Jesus also that he might
sanctify the people with his own blood suffered
without the gate.
Let us go forth therefore unto him without
the camp bearing his reproach.
For here we have no continuing city, but
we seek one to come.
By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice
of praise to God continually, the fruit of
our lips giving thanks unto his name.
You know, I don't know why some people
turn up their nose at male-voiced festivals.
I just don't know.
Because I don't think they are getting it
properly, you know.
I think it's from the last three nights
of the male-voiced festivals.
And I turn around and I see over
one hundred men, which I think they are
old and young.
One of them was telling me that he
was 74, singing like a lark.
They are all behind me.
And you know, I tested the choir out
last night, turned around like a flash, and
said every man saved from one day to
five years old, stand up.
About eight or nine of them stood up.
Every man saved from one day to ten
years, on your feet.
Another bunch of them stand up.
Every man saved from one day to twenty
years.
Another bunch.
Every man saved from one day to forty
years.
Nearly all up.
One or two old boys sitting along.
I had to go on to the fifth
one.
I had a wee bald head at my
throat last.
Fifty years saved, you know, singing.
My dear friends, this is what the Lord
saved us for.
To make of that spirit your heart, to
offer this sacred sight of faith to God
continually.
Well, you can't sing, that's your trouble.
Why, when men get up to praise the
Lord, I don't know what's wrong with you.
They are so nodder and miserable.
Why, it's a good thing to give praise
unto the Lord.
Thank God for men that can praise the
Lord.
This is what he saved us for, so
that we can sing.
We've got to sing unto the Lord.
Let's go back to Peter there.
We've got to finish this now.
Look at this.
Verse nine.
But he our chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, a peculiar people, that he
should so force the praises of him who
has called you out of darkness into his
marvellous light.
You know, this word praises here is the
word virtues, if you've got a marginal reference.
Sometimes it's the word excellencies, that he should
so force the excellencies of him who has
called you out of darkness into marvellous light.
Do you know what the Lord has saved
us for?
He's saved us to sing and shine.
That's it in a nutshell.
Just to sing and shine.
May God keep this song in our hearts,
and may God keep our life shining, may
we be burning and shining light.
Now Peter goes on to a real practical
bit next week, and those of you who
were here last week know just exactly how
Peter can preach practical truth.
We're singing 805, please.
805.
Brightly beams our Father's mercy from his lighthouse
evermore, but to us he gives the keeping
of the lights along the shore.
805, please.
Dear Lord, part us in thy fear, and
with our blessing, take us home safely through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.