David Holwick F
First Baptist Church
West Lafayette, Ohio
February 5, 1989
1 Peter 2:4-12
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I. Much confusion about what "church" is.
A. Building
B. Organization
C. Meetings
II. Patriarchs wandered, found God where he revealed himself.
A. Places were sanctified.
1) Jacob put up a stone to mark place.
2) Buildings followed.
B. Importance given to buildings.
1) Stability of church locations
a) Archaeology
b) West Lafayette. Church has been here since 1840.
2) Money spent on churches.
a) Always a big part of budget.
C. Buildings came to represent presence of God. Dependence on them.
1) Mistaken idea.
a) Jeremiah predicts overthrow of Shiloh sanctuary.
b) Jesus predicts overthrow of Jerusalem temple.
D. Buildings do not sanctify a place or people.
1) Only God can sanctify.
III. God has a problem with church buildings.
A. Temple - I don't need a building. Isaiah 66:1
B. New Jerusalem - no temple, just God and his people. Rev 21:22
IV. People are the Church building in God's eyes.
A. Baptist tradition - a redeemed people for God's service.
1) Function together, not as random individuals.
2) We should be more concerned about saved souls than
nice sanctuary (but we aren't).
B. How we are like a building.
1) Peter - living stones being built into God's house.
a) "Living" means eternal life by means of new birth.
2) Not done yet.
a) Cracks under plywood here.
b) Cracks in us.
1> Sometimes well-hidden.
2> Sometimes not.
c) Ever wonder - has God really done anything with me?
1> There should be progress.
3) Our purpose is to give sacrifices.
a) Sacrifices in OT:
1> Animals
b) Sacrifices in NT:
1> Total commitment Rom 12:1
2> Praise Heb 13:15
3> Meeting others' needs Heb 13:16
c) Emphasis is on spirituality.
1> (Don't just go through motions)
V. Foundation of Church building - Jesus Christ.
A. He is cornerstone. (Holds arch up) 2:6
1) In OT, applies to Messiah.
2) He is focus of belief.
B. He is "precious". 2:6
1) Literally, to be honored.
C. Relationship with Church depends on your relationship with Jesus.
1) People do not come to Christ by joining a church.
2) - People join the church by coming to Christ first.
3) Once saved, fellowship with others.
a) Scattered bricks do not make a church.
VI. Jesus as a Hard Rock.
A. Stumbling on path during night at summer camp.
B. Some will stumble over Jesus.
1) Reason for stumbling is disobedience.
a) Not intellectual doubts.
b) People stumble because they won't believe, not because
they can't. 2) Foreordained.
a) Not the stumbling.
b) The stumbling due to disobedience.
VII. The uniqueness of Christians. (Jewish promises)
A. Royal priesthood of believers.
1) Direct access to God.
a) Human intermediaries not needed.
b) Churches that interpose humans between us and God are against
this basic NT teaching.
B. Peculiar people.
1) In more ways than one.
a) Teenage impression of believers. Nerds.
2) Peculiar here means of special importance.
a) Chosen by God to be his own.
VIII. Purpose of Church.
A. To declare God's praises. 2:9
1) Israel was supposed to.
2) Church now has this role.
a) Visitor remembered revival - got up from old pew.
b) Are you witnessing?
B. Flee sin. 2:11
1) Salvation is deliverance from the power of the lower nature,
not from its presence.
C. Live good lives. 2:12
1) This is what impresses non-believers.
2) - Or what turns them off.
IX. The destiny of the church.
A. This church will one day be destroyed.
1) Just like one by Howard Brown's sawmill.
2) Just like church in Afghanistan (Christie Wilson).
a) Afghan government tore it down.
b) Wilson told them: We will go underground.
1> Government brought in bulldozers.
2> "Underground" church can't be bulldozed.
B. The real Church is eternal, can't be destroyed.
1) Work for eternity.
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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