Christ The Chief Cornerstone

Introduction: The Church as God's Temple and the Danger of Debasing Truth

0:02 Will you follow, please, as I read again this morning from Ephesians chapter 2, verses 19 through 22.

0:14 Ephesians 2, 19 through 22. So then, you are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom each several building or each part of the building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit. We must never, never underestimate the power of the human heart to take the most wonderful, the most glorious and holy things and to debase and prostitute and degrade them into something totally foreign to the intention of God in giving us those things. In the passage that I've just read in your hearing, we have what can only be called an amazing description of the church. That is, the people. The people of God.

1:35 A description which is filled with astounding concepts of spiritual reality. However, perhaps few words, institutions, have been more prostituted, degraded and debased by man than that of the church of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we must come to any passage which treats the subject of the church determined. That we must come to any passage which treats the subject of the church determined.

2:04 That we must come to any passage which treats the subject of the church determined. That we must come to any passage which treats the subject of the church determined. That we shall think of the church, the people of God, in thoughts that are framed not by tradition, by human nature, by human notion or opinion, but by the scriptures alone. Now this statement which I've read is obviously the last part of a very closely connected argument or development of thought by the Apostle Paul.

Context: The Unity of Jew and Gentile in Christ

2:32 Because it is our concern not to read, not to read into any portion of the scriptures something we want to read into it, no matter how noble it may be, or even scriptural it may be. We must take just a few moments again this morning to set before our minds the thread of thought which brings us to verse 19. That part in the entire fabric of the Apostle's argument or the Apostle's development of thought. This statement comes at the end of a paragraph, in which the Apostle is demonstrating something of the mighty power of God given to sinners or applied to sinners through the gospel.

3:17 In verses 1 to 10 we see the power of God in its individual effect upon dead sinners, quickening them to life, bringing them into the possession of salvation by faith. And in verses 11 through 22 our focus is not upon the power of the gospel, the gospel in individual salvation, but in terms of the corporate result of that salvation, the work of God through the gospel in constituting Jew and Gentile, one new man in Christ Jesus, making them his own sanctuary, his own temple, his own habitation, in the language of verse 22. Now, when the Apostle is summarizing his development of thought, concerning that which God in Christ through the cross and by means of preaching has done to bring Jew and Gentile together, his summary statement, beginning with verse 19, sets before us the negation of the past. Gentiles are no longer strangers, that is, mere visitors or sojourners, resident aliens, but they are fellow citizens of the house of God, I'm sorry, fellow citizens of the city of God, full members of the household of God, and living stones in the temple of God.

4:43 And the moment he mentions that third analogy, he then branches into this extensive description of that temple comprised of Jew and Gentile. Further on, we have the picture of the church as body in chapter 4, the picture of the church as bride in chapter 5, the picture of the church as fighting army in chapter 6, but here, because the purpose of the Apostle is to show the unity of Jew and Gentile in the new economy of God, the concept of a temple most powerfully sets forth that unity and therefore he uses it to that purpose. Now, in this extended description of the church comprised of Jew and Gentile, we have, from the pen of the Apostle, first of all, a description of the component parts of the temple, the foundation, the cornerstone, the superstructure, then something about the distinguishing characteristics of that temple, it is symmetrical, it is a living, it is a holy temple, a growing temple, and then he tells us something about its purpose, it is constructed to inhabit God or to be inhabited by God, and then he tells us something about its architect and builder. Well, that basically, and in summary form,

6:11 is the thread of the Apostle's thought. And never forget, the connection of thought in Scripture is as much under the inspiration of the Spirit as the words by which the individual thoughts are given to us. And therefore, it is carelessness in any approach to the Scripture simply to dip in the thought of the Apostle. To dip in to a phrase or to a sentence or to any part of the Word of God without due consideration of its connection, which is part and parcel of the Word of God given to us.

The Foundation of Apostles and Prophets (Review)

6:47 Well, last week we looked at the first component part, the foundation. Here in the text, it is called the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, and I sought to demonstrate that that foundation is nothing less than the revelation of God's mercy to the mind and will deposited in the Scriptures of the Old and the New Testaments which forms the foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ. If you were not here to hear the exposition, let me encourage you to get the tape on that exposition. I'm convinced few things are of greater practical importance or of more vital concern to us in this hour than a proper understanding of the place of the Apostles and Prophets as the unique vehicles through which the will of God has been conveyed with permanence to the Church. Few things are of greater importance, therefore we must be clear in our thinking at that point. Well, we move on this morning to the second component part in this spiritual temple. Look at the text.

The Identity of the Cornerstone: Christ Jesus Himself, Continually

7:54 Being built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the chief cornerstone. And as we attempt to think our way through this phrase, we shall do so along two lines. First of all, the identity of the cornerstone, who is called the cornerstone, and then secondly, the significance of this imagery of the cornerstone. First of all, then, the identity of the cornerstone.

8:31 And the text tells us that whatever the significance of this imagery is, there is absolutely no question as to who is the cornerstone. For the text says Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. And so, under the identity of the cornerstone, note with me that it is Christ Jesus. Not the Christ idea, not the notion of Jesus, but Christ, the anointed Messiah, who is to be identified as Jesus of Nazareth.

9:15 Now, the church has continually been plagued in recent generations with the foolish idea that whether there actually existed a personage, Jesus of Nazareth, who actually kicked up dust in his backyard as a little kid when he played with his brothers and sisters, who actually did what the scriptures say Jesus of Nazareth did, namely opening the eyes of the blind, raising the dead. They say now it's totally irrelevant as to whether or not an actual person actually existed in space and time. The important thing is that the Jesus idea that came out of the early religious community was so ennobling, so invigorating spiritually, so uplifting, that whether such a person ever existed or not is of really, really of no little, is not any real relevance to that question. We must preserve the Jesus notion. Some of you who followed the old fundamentalist liberal controversy back after the turn of this century will remember something about Pearl Buck, who was a Presbyterian missionary. And this controversy came into sharp focus in the life and ministry of Gresham Machen, and this is what Miss Buck said.

10:35 Even though it is proved in some future time that there never lived an actual Christ and that what we think of as Christ should someday be found as the essence of men's dreams of simplest and beautiful goodness, would I be willing to have that personification of dreams pass out of men's minds? Others live it also, many who've never heard of the name of Christ, but to know the meaning of Christ's life, to know how he lived and died is an inestimable support and help. You see what she's saying? Whether there's an actual person, Jesus of Nazareth, who is anointed of God to be the Christ of Old Testament prophecy is irrelevant. It's the idea we must preserve. Well, is the church built upon a noble idea? Upon a lofty religious concept?

11:30 Or is it, according to the apostle, built upon the chief cornerstone, Christ Jesus himself? Well, the only way to answer that is to ask the man who wrote Jesus Christ himself, chief cornerstone, what did he mean when he said Christ Jesus? And to the mind of the apostle Paul, the words Christ Jesus meant nothing less than the anointed Messiah of God. Christ, as you've been often told in this place, referring to his official position.

12:07 When we say President Ford, President refers to the official position of a man named Gerald Ford. And when Paul said Christ Jesus himself, the chief cornerstone, he's referring to that unique position of Jesus of Nazareth who was the anointed Messiah, the fulfillment of every Old Testament, prophecy and type and shadow, God's only prophet, priest and king, and he is to be identified as Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus being the name of personal identity, that person of pre-incarnate existence. The apostle clearly teaches this concerning his Jesus in Colossians chapter 1. The person of virgin conception, miraculous power, shameful death, triumphant resurrection. Whenever the apostle Paul uses those two words, Christ Jesus, he is pushing into them all that the scriptures teach us concerning the historic Christ, who leaps from the pages of the gospel records as no religious phantom, as no concoction of all of the religious aspirations and yearnings of good men. No, no.

13:35 He comes to us in the pages of scripture as the pre-incarnate second person of the Godhead, the eternal word, who was enfleshed in the womb of the virgin, who lived, who died, who rose again, and who ascended back into the presence of his Father. That's the cornerstone. The identity of the cornerstone, is this Jesus, whom God has constituted his Christ. Notice how the apostle Peter emphasizes this in a parallel passage in Acts chapter 4. In Acts chapter 4, one of the pivotal texts in the Old Testament dealing with the cornerstone, as we shall see, is Psalm 118. And Peter is preaching in the face of the enemies of Christ. And he says, this, verse 10 of Acts 4, be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, and they well knew who he meant. This was the person whom they had seen, upon whom some of these very people had spat, when he hung upon the cross. And he says,

15:01 in the name of this Jesus, who is God Christ, the one whom ye crucified, but whom God raised up, even in him doth this man stand here before you hold. He is the stone which was set at naught of you the builders, which was made the head of the corner, and in none other is there salvation. For neither is there any other name under heaven that is given among men, whereby we must be saved. And in what is salvation found?

15:39 Not in a Jesus notion, not in a Jesus ideal, but in Jesus who is the Christ according to the apostolic witness, the very one whom they crucified, the very one whom God raised up. He has been constituted the head of the corner. And so the identity of the cornerstone is Christ Jesus. But secondly, it is Christ Jesus himself.

16:07 Look at the text. Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone. You see, the relationship to Christ, to his people is such, so intimate, so real that some things have passed on to his people that are attributed to him. You remember the Lord said to his own, He that heareth you heareth me.

16:37 Because they bore peculiar authority as his commissioned representatives, our Lord said, when people listen to your mouth, they listen to me. Well, it's obvious what the meaning is. It doesn't mean that Christ has actually stepped out of heaven and has somehow replaced their personality, and it is the actual mouth of the... No, no, no.

16:56 By the transfer of authority, hearing his commissioned one is to hear him. You remember what he said to Saul of Tarsus. Why persecutest thou me? The relationship of Christ to his people is so intimate that to touch his people is to touch him.

17:12 But what we have in this text is not just a beautiful expression of that intimacy. The apostle Paul is careful to underscore that the identity of the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. Not Christ delegating this position to another, Peter, Paul, or any other apostle. Not Christ communicating this position to his people.

17:37 It is Christ himself, the living, reigning, exalted Lord who in the person of his spirit is the chief cornerstone of his church. The great test of any professed manifestation of the church of Christ is this. What think ye of Christ? Who is he? And what place do you give to Christ in the church? The identity of the cornerstone, then, according to this language, is Christ Jesus. Secondly, it is Christ Jesus himself. Thirdly, it is Christ Jesus continually.

18:19 And the construction in the original is abnormal. If I were to give a literal rendering, this is what it would be. Being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, being continually being chief cornerstone himself. Christ Jesus.

18:40 And the to-be-birth is put right at the front. Ever being, continually being, always being chief cornerstone. Never think of chief cornerstone without thinking of Christ who is that cornerstone. The apostle Paul wrote this epistle some thirty years after Jesus Christ went back into the presence of the Father and sent forth the Spirit. And he says right now, he is chief cornerstone. And he will ever be chief cornerstone. And even when the church passes into its glorified state, Jesus Christ will still occupy that place. Now having identified who the cornerstone is, now come with me in the second place to consider what is the heart of our study today. The significance

The Significance of the Cornerstone Imagery: Strong Support and Regulative Influence

19:33 of this imagery of the cornerstone. The apostle Paul obviously did not mean, that Jesus Christ had become a block of stone. So when our friends of that religion which claims to be the true apostolic religion say, when Jesus said, this is my body, he meant this is my body. And therefore it must mean that somehow he actually became the bread and the wine actually became his real blood.

20:03 We say, no, here we have wonderful analogies, figures, extended metaphors. Paul is not asserting that the glorified Lord was petrified and became a hunk of stone. He is setting forth a wonderful reality under the figure of a cornerstone. Now the purpose of the figure is to express a reality. But the message is found not in getting tied up with all kinds of inconsequential details about the figure, but seeing the substantial reality which it is setting before us. And now it's been difficult to arrive with any degree of precision as to the precise intent of the Apostle and of the Holy Spirit in setting forth Christ Jesus as the cornerstone. And the problem is basically this. We're not quite sure how they constructed buildings in those days.

21:05 Foundations are essentially the same in every work of construction. But cornerstones to us now has a connotation that's very different from what it was then in most respects. And it's at this point that we must be thrown back upon parallel passages, allowing Scripture to be its own interpreter. Sometimes the historical situation will throw tremendous light upon the text.

21:33 Sometimes it sheds very little light, and most of our light will come by comparing Scripture with Scripture. And if we compare the key texts in the Old and the New Testament which speak of the cornerstone, I believe we'll arrive at a conviction that the imagery involves at least four fundamental and glorious things concerning Jesus Christ in relationship to His Church, particularly as cornerstone. And because Peter in 1 Peter 2, 6-8 mixes together several of the Old Testament passages, I believe there is warrant to bring them all together. I'm fully aware that the word in the original here is found only in 1 Peter 2, 6. The word used in Psalm 118, quoted by our Lord, in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, quoted again in Acts chapter 4, is a different collection of words. But because Peter mixes them all together under the one figure of a living temple, I believe we have apostolic warrant for taking them as a general class of text and saying whatever text speak of the head of the corner or the cornerstone are text which can shed light upon Ephesians chapter 2. So for some of you that are aware of the principles of exegesis, I give that to you as the rationale for what I'm doing this morning.

23:00 Alright, what then is the significance of this imagery? Significance number one. Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone sets before us the fact that Jesus Christ holds the position of strong and sure support in His church. He holds the position of strong and sure support in His church. Turn please to Isaiah chapter 28. Isaiah chapter 28.

23:38 And those of you at the rear of the auditorium, can you hear me clearly, distinctly? I don't want to listen to the folk down here, but I do want you to be able to hear. Alright? Isaiah chapter 28.

23:51 Verse 16.

23:54 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone of sure foundation. He that believeth shall not be in haste. Now notice how these concepts are drawn into the closest proximity in the text. I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone. The image being the whole foundation is constituted of one stone. A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, which though a cornerstone still becomes the sure foundation. You see the emphasis of the prophet? Whatever the significance of the cornerstone may be, certainly it involves this much. The cornerstone

24:53 is the position of strong and sure support. Peter picks up that thread of thought, and in 1 Peter chapter 2, reflects it in these words. 1 Peter chapter 2.

25:09 Verse 4. Unto whom coming, that is Christ, a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but with God's elect precious, ye also as living stones are built up a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ, because it is contained in Scripture, behold I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect and precious. You see what Peter does? He says there is but one real stone in this foundation, and once you come into contact with him, you become part of the superstructure. He's picked up the precise imagery of this passage in Isaiah, indicating that as far as the foundation is concerned, in the reality, now whatever was true in the figure, however much weight the cornerstone bore in a foundation in old buildings, the important thing is to grasp what God says about that concept, not to take a wooden interpretation of the concept and push it back upon what Scripture says about Christ, but to alter the imagery to fit the full vigorous language of the Scripture. And the Scripture says that that one who is cornerstone is himself, in a sense, the whole supportive foundation. And so the imagery

26:34 Christ the chief cornerstone sets before us this amazing truth that Jesus Christ holds the position of a strong and a sure support for his church. Yes, the doctrine of apostles and prophets is foundation. It is regulative. It is normative.

26:55 It must be maintained, but what does the teaching of apostles and prophets continually do? It continually points us to Christ as the sure foundation of his church. That very teaching continually points us to Christ as the only foundation. 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 10, it points us to Christ as the builder of his church, as the support, the life, the head of his church.

27:24 That's why the church is indestructible, not any given expression of the visible church. Churches, in terms of denominations and individual congregations, may come and go, but the true church composed of the elect of God of every nation, it can no more perish from the earth than Jesus Christ can cease to be. Continually being, and as long as Christ has been, he shall be foundation and cornerstone of his church. What a basis of hope that the purposes of God for the church will triumph. What a sure foundation of believing in earnest prayer, and what a constant prob to the whole manner in which we carry out our life as the people of God. He is cornerstone. He holds the place of strength and support. But secondly, the imagery also involves this fact, that Jesus Christ holds the position of regulative influence.

28:35 Now the word used here in Ephesians 2, repeated only in 1 Peter 2, 6, literally means at the tip of the corner. It's speaking of the stone, which is so cut and then set at the corner that it determines the whole direction and angle of the walls out of which it comes. Now we have no modern parallel in the way we build. This building has been made, obviously, of concrete blocks. And when I did construction work to put myself through college, working in the summers, I remember very vividly the first thing we would do after we laid a slab, and the slab had set, and the blocks were deposited, the first thing we would do when we were about to build a foundation was to lay up a corner. And my boss would bring his large right-angled frame, and he'd bring his level and he very, very carefully laid up the angles of the corner. Why? Because that corner then set the angle of the walls that came out from it, and eventually in that sense, the whole shape of that foundation, and as a consequence, the shape of the building. You see,

29:49 that's the unique position that Jesus Christ holds in his church. Jesus Christ himself, the chief cornerstone, signifies that he holds the position of regulative influence. The walls take their angle and their line from Jesus Christ himself, and from Jesus Christ alone. You see, apostles and prophets have power to bind our consciences because Christ gave them peculiar authority.

30:24 He laid his hand upon the Old Testament prophets by continually saying what is written must be fulfilled. I came not to destroy but to fulfill. And he laid his other hand upon the apostles and said, when the Spirit is come, he'll guide you into all the truth and teach them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you. So it's not as though Christ has relinquished that regulative influence.

30:48 No, no. He exerts it by means of the doctrine of apostles and prophets, but it's Christ himself who is the cornerstone, who sets the angles of his church, who determines its dimensions. Therefore no human being has a right to intrude upon this place of regulative influence. No so-called vicar of Christ, no council of bishops, no ecclesiastical conclaves, no learned theologians, and religious leaders.

31:22 The text says Jesus Christ himself is chief cornerstone. What he is as set before us in the scriptures is regulative of every single dimension of the life and existence of the church. But then thirdly, the imagery not only involves the concept that Jesus Christ is a strong and sure support, that Jesus Christ holds the position of regulative influence, but thirdly, it sets before us the great truth that Jesus Christ holds the place of cohesive influence.

The Significance of the Cornerstone Imagery: Cohesive Influence and Supreme Honor

32:01 At what point are two walls joined here in this building? At what point are two walls joined? Why you say at the corners, precisely?

32:12 And I believe it is right to assume that the apostle has not forgotten the basic thrust of his teaching in this chapter, the amazing fact that Jew and Gentile who for centuries were at odds with one another in the middle wall of partition existed. All of that is broken down in Jesus Christ. And at what point do Jew and Gentile meet in forming the one spiritual temple? They meet in the cornerstone.

32:41 They meet in Christ himself. Now I'm fully aware, if you start pressing the imagery, it breaks down. You don't have a Jew wall and a Gentile wall. All the blocks are mixed together. I'm fully aware of that. But still, that concept could not have been totally removed from the apostles' thinking. That at the corner the two walls are joined and it is in Jesus Christ coming to him in the language of Peter to whom coming this living stone we are constituted the living temple of the Lord himself. But then finally, and I believe supremely above all else, and this will take us into another key Old Testament passage, the imagery of Christ Jesus being the chief cornerstone sets before us the fact that Jesus Christ holds in his church the place of supreme

33:38 honor. Turn to Psalm 119 for a moment, if you will, please. Psalm 118, I'm sorry, Psalm 118 and verses 22 and 23.

33:57 We don't have time to go into the background of this psalm which has peculiar fulfillment in the nation of Israel and perhaps also in one of its kings. But since our Lord himself applies it directly to himself in the gospel records and it's found in all three of the synoptics, Matthew, Mark and Luke, found again in Acts 4 applied by apostolic authority directly to Christ, it is right for us to see that its ultimate fulfillment is in our wonderful Lord. The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. Now get the picture. Here are the stonemasons. The stone has been quarried and basically shaped into usable blocks for the construction of the building.

34:53 And they go over to the pile of stones and they say, which one shall we select for the corner? And as they're going through the stones they look at one and say, not only is that not fit to be made the corner, that's not even fit for the building and they cast it aside.

35:11 And lo and behold, they come back a day later and someone has taken that very stone and set it in the place of supreme prominence and honor. Now Jesus said that's exactly what happened to him. When Jesus came, as it were, out of the many, stones of Israel's prophets and leaders. His own generation said, as it were, he's not even fit to be in the building.

35:45 And they're casting him aside, was the cross. And what has God done? He says, the very stone which you've rejected as being unworthy even to be incorporated into the building, fit for nothing but to be cast out and utterly rejected, what has the true builder done? The Lord's doing has been to constitute that very stone, the head of the corner. And when he raised him to his own right hand, he said to the entire universe, this is my beloved son. This is the one who is worthy of supreme honor. He is the cornerstone. And in this spiritual temple there is no one else who holds the place of supreme honor. In the

36:35 language of this same apostle in Colossians 1.18, in all things, he holds the place of preeminence. And it is Christ, Jesus Christ, the Christ of biblical revelation, who holds that place of supreme honor. It is Christ Jesus himself, Christ Jesus continually and perpetually, and he shares that position with none other. Now what does this say to us? Because of the pressure of time I cannot draw out all of the applications that are warranted from the text. This text is a veritable tree, laden with the fruits of practical application. But let me draw out several this morning. First

Application: Correctives to Crippling Errors

37:23 of all, this text gives to us a helpful corrective to several crippling errors. You see, error is to be feared because it cripples us in our spiritual lives. Error cripples the church. Error is to the church what undesirable viruses and bacteria are to the body.

37:48 They cause it to be infected so that it cannot function as it ought. And in this text setting Christ before us as the chief cornerstone, there is a helpful corrective to several very crippling and debilitating errors. Number one is this. The word of the apostles and prophets must never be handled, must never be understood, must never be considered in such a way as to obscure the glory of Christ, the chief cornerstone.

38:25 Now you see, there are many groups that claim to be not only an expression of the church but the true church. They say all of the churches have been wrong until our leader brought us out of the woods. And for some that leader is Judge Rutherford. For others that leader is Joseph Smith.

38:41 For others that leader is someone else. But now ask yourself this question. Ask yourself this question. If that is a true church, what place does it give to the one who should be in the place of supreme honor?

38:55 The place of regulative influence? The place of cohesive influence? The place of strong and sure support? Does it obscure the glory of his person as he is revealed?

39:07 Does it tell us he is but a man? He is but a created being? He is but of one of the many by whom God has revealed himself to men? Listen, no matter what wild claims are made to being the true church, you can always tell the church which the Lord himself has planted because Christ will be its chief cornerstone.

39:31 And no one will handle the scriptures in such a way as to degrade the glory of the God-man Christ Jesus. The word of apostles and prophets rightly understood will always lead us to the feet of Christ, same with Thomas Ha-Koriosmu Kai-Ha-Pherosmu My Lord and my God.

39:58 Don't be deceived by people who play some kind of deceptive satanic gymnastics with the words of the Bible, who come spouting the language of the Bible, who handle word of apostle and prophet in such a way as to obscure the glory of the God-man Christ Jesus.

40:22 Beware of a so-called theology that speaks of the goodness of the man Jesus, the nobility of the man Jesus. All handling the right of that doctrine of apostles and prophets will be consistent with this great and glorious position Christ's Jesus Himself chief cornerstone.

40:49 But on the other hand, on the other hand, we must never have a professed adherence to Christ, which makes us degrade the authority of apostles and prophets. Some people claim to be so enamored with Christ, they say, that's what's wrong with you orthodox people. You're just all taken up in bibliolatry. You worship the words of the Bible.

41:14 I can't be bothered with any doctrine of inerrancy. I have found Christ, and my heart is inflamed with Christ. So what if the Bible is full of errors? So what if apostles and prophets were mistaken about a lot of things? The important thing is Christ is precious. Ah, listen, listen. Paul, by the inspiration of the Spirit, brings together the foundation of the church, constituted of the doctrine of apostles and prophets, and says, there is no inconsistency between that and the fact that Christ Jesus is chief cornerstone in that foundation. So we have on the one hand people who claim, oh yes, the Bible's the word of God.

41:59 The words of apostles and prophets are true. Then when they handle them, they obscure the glory of the cornerstone. There are others who say, oh yes, I'm all for the glory of the cornerstone. But then they despise apostles and prophets who've been constituted the foundation.

42:15 Do you see how this simple little text can keep us from errors on the right hand and on the left? Claim no allegiance to Christ that does not express itself in the most careful adherence to the word of apostles and prophets.

42:35 Jesus said, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. And where are they found? In the words of apostles and prophets. For it was the Spirit of Christ in the prophets that did speak through them according to Peter.

Application: A Sobering Warning to Unbelievers

42:50 And it was the Spirit of the exalted Christ that spoke through the apostolic writers and those whose writings they approved. Oh, what a helpful corrective to the crippling errors on the one hand of a handling of the Scripture that obscures the glory of Christ and a professed allegiance to Christ that obscures a reverence for and submission to the word of God. But not only does the text hold for us a helpful corrective to these errors, it sets before us a sobering warning. You say, warning? How in the world could anyone but someone that's a bit twisted in his temperament find a warning in that wonderful concept? My friend, you turn to 1 Peter 2 and I'll show you how Peter did. 1 Peter chapter 2, speaking of the spiritual temple of God and believers being built up into that temple. Peter quotes then in verse 6 it is contained in Scripture Behold, I lay in Zion a cheap cornerstone, elect, precious he that believeth on him shall not be put to shame for you therefore that believe is the preciousness

44:15 but for such as disbelieve the stone which the builders rejected the same was made the head of the corner and now he incorporates into the thread of his thought a word that is taken from Isaiah chapter 8 a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense for they stumble at the word being disobedient you see what he's saying? Here's that tribe, that precious cornerstone those who believe are said to come to that stone that is by the motions of faith they enter into union with Jesus Christ and they're built up into that spiritual temple but he says that stone is to others not the point of their incorporation into the temple but he comes something over which they stumble when the gospel comes saying Christ is the cornerstone of the living temple the church there's no way of admission into the presence and favor of God but through faith in Christ you must stand in your native nakedness acknowledging you have nothing to commend you to God and cast yourself upon your son and then say ah that's too humbling to my pride that's too shriveling and withering to my intellect

45:44 to think that all of my dealings with God are dependent upon the person and work of one who lived two thousand years ago I cannot stomach that God says that's right and those that believe they stumble over that very stone and to use the language of scripture again that very stone will one day grind you to powder you say that's sadistic no that's the language of the bible on whomsoever that stone shall fall it shall grind him to powder my friend you may sit here this morning you say well isn't that lovely it's obvious the preacher believes it and he's excited about it and thrilled by it and I look around and I see people here that have a look of warm glow upon their face that's fine that's good if that's their bag fine my friend listen God does not establish Christ the head of the corner and then put him there just for you to say that's nice for those who have it as their bag to become part of it that same God comes to every one of his rational creatures demanding that you have dealings with his son faith in Christ is your duty

47:09 almighty God commands you to repent and to believe the gospel and to cast yourself upon his son and if you will not then the scripture says he will be to you the stone of stumbling the rock of offense for they stumble at that word being disobedient but my friend all of your unbelief and all of the unbelief of the so called wise ones of the earth will never cause God to rescind his action in making Christ the head of the corner oh come to him to whom coming cast yourself upon him in so doing God will graciously incorporate you into that living temple and in the virtue of union with Christ you will know all of the blessings now and in the world to come that are the portion of those who thus trust him God has made him the head of the corner my friend and the building that he is building in which he himself will be found for all eternity for remember that's the picture of the saints in the glorified state one of the pictures is no need of an external temple God himself is with them his people form his temple if you are to be one of his own to know the consummate joys of redemption in its full reaches in the world to come you must get related to that corner stone

48:38 there's no way to get related to that cornerstone but to take to heart the word of the apostles and prophets the word which indicts you as a sinner the word which then graciously informs you of God's one way of dealing with guilty sinners through the mediation of his son the word which then invites you to come to his son the word which promises him that comes I will in no wise cast out oh my friend are you vitally joined to the chief cornerstone I didn't ask you if you belong to this church or another church what is your relationship to the cornerstone are you joined to him I don't ask if you got your name on a church roll are you joined to Christ in the bonds of faith and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit for those of us who by his grace can say yes may the Lord write upon our hearts this great truth what Jesus Christ is to the church universal he is to be to the church visible the church organized and acting as his visible representation upon earth and all may we ever remember that Christ is cornerstone don't you ever talk about pastor so and so's church it's an insult to the son of God it is Christ's church

50:07 he is cornerstone all that he says must be regulative and when it seems as though we are battered on the left and the right and will be swallowed up he is support and sure foundation and we wonder how in the world can a motley group like us from so many backgrounds ethnically and nationally and temperamentally how in the world can we ever exist together he is the cohesive element in vital union with him we shall know the bond of love and unity and the intimacy of true Christian affection and above all we must as a church be a place where Christ is extolled where Christ is worshipped where Christ is preached and where he in all things has the preeminence let us pray our father how we thank you that you have constituted your son even Jesus of Nazareth who was anointed to be the Christ we thank you that you have constituted him the chief cornerstone we would worship and adore and magnify him this morning we would render unto him the worship and the adoration

51:35 which he so richly deserves and oh how we pray that you deliver people from the delusions of empty religion that profess adherence to the doctrine of apostles and prophets but who have never been led to throw themselves upon Christ as true God and true man and the only savior of sinners oh father may this word opened up and applied this morning become effectual not only to the edification of your people but to the gathering in of some of those other sheep for whom the savior shed his blood hear our prayer seal the word to our hearts and we would be bold to pray that upon our lives for the remainder of this day there may rest the benediction of your own presence the Holy Spirit bringing to remembrance the word we've heard this morning enabling us to assimilate it and by your grace to have our lives framed by it hear our prayer and dismiss us from this place with your blessing we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen