In this enlightening episode, Pastor Skip Heitzig invites listeners to delve into the metaphor of living stones as outlined in 1 Peter 2. Through engaging storytelling and insightful biblical teaching, Skip elucidates how believers are part of God’s grand building project, a spiritual house built on the cornerstone of Christ. This episode highlights the extraordinary privilege and responsibility that comes with being chosen as a royal priesthood, a holy nation intentionally set apart for God’s purposes. Tune in to explore the foundations of your faith and how each believer contributes to the divine architecture of God’s kingdom.
Welcome to Connect with Skip Heitzig Weekend Edition. Thanks for joining us today. Here at Connect with Skip, we love to help you know God’s Word better and apply it to your life through clear, practical Bible teaching and real encouragement. And if you’d like to keep growing in your walk with Jesus, sign up for Pastor Skip’s free weekly devotional. You’ll receive biblical insight, teaching highlights, and exclusive resource offers designed to help you stay strong in your faith, all delivered right to your inbox. Signing up is quick and easy, and you’ll be glad you did. Go to connectwithskip.com and join the list today. That’s connectwithskip.com. Now let’s dive into today’s teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.
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So there was this newlywed son-in-law who wanted to prove to his father-in-law, who was a building contractor, that he was not a klutz. And the way he was gonna prove it is this newlywed and his wife bought an old house. They were gonna renovate it. He was gonna do all the work himself. He would begin by painting two rooms in the house. He began Friday night, worked all day Saturday into Sunday morning. When his father-in-law came for dinner Sunday evening, he found his son-in-law collapsed on the floor in a pool of sweat, wearing a ski jacket. and an overcoat. And the father-in-law said, are you okay? The son-in-law looked up and he said, I was trying to show you that I was competent by painting two rooms, painting my house. And the father-in-law said, okay, so why are you dressed that way? And the son-in-law looked back up at his father-in-law and he said, because the instructions on the can said for best results, use two coats. So do you think he impressed his father-in-law very much? Probably not. What he should have done is looked at that series that began in 1979 and continues to thrive called This Old House. It’s a home improvement program. They take and they renovate homes. It’s in season 33 now, and it gives ways to improve your old house. I want to talk to you today about this old house, the church of Jesus Christ that’s 2,000 years old. It’s the building project by which God is always interested, always building. still not finished, adding stone by stone as the years go on. My dad was a builder. He loved to take a piece of land, get blueprints for it, lay a foundation, build apartments or homes and sell them and start again. It’s what he loved to do. He loved projects. My heavenly dad also likes building projects and you and I happen to be it. So in 1 Peter 2, verse 4, Peter writes, “‘Coming to him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious.'” You also, as living stones are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is also contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame.” Therefore to you who believe, he is precious. But to those who are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumbled, being disobedient to the word to which they were also appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who once were not a people, but now are the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. You recall that our Lord Jesus spoke about heaven as being his Father’s house. Remember he said, in my Father’s house there are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. He was speaking of a literal place called heaven to which one day you and I will all go. go to enjoy. But until then, Peter would tell us of the intermediate reality of God’s building program here on the earth, building up his church. So, since he uses this analogy, we want to look at this building as we believe Peter does in four parts. The basis, or the foundation, which is Christ. The building, which is us. The blueprints, and then finally the builders of this. We begin with the basis, the foundation. Verse 4, look at it again, this time a little slower, coming to him as to a living stone. Now immediately we understand that Peter is drawing an analogy of a construction zone. of a building, but not a building like you and I know it, but a stone structure. It sort of surprises people whenever I take them on tours to Israel. When I take them over there, you can’t find two by four wood construction anywhere. Everything’s made out of stone, stone block or hewn stone. And that’s because stone is the most abundant natural resource in that land. They don’t have a lot of wood to use. They have lots of stone. It’s everywhere. And so the buildings, especially the building of the temple, which Peter has in mind, was the material used for the building. But look what it says. He calls it a living stone. Coming to him, personal pronoun, as to a living stone. Now, if ever there was a paradox, it’s the term living stone. It’s an oxymoron. Living stone? We talk about something being as dead as stone. Stone dead. Inanimate. But he speaks of this stone as living stone. It’s a contradiction in terms, sort of like government organization. Couldn’t resist. Airplane food, short pants, those are oxymorons. Those are contradictory terms. Years ago, and I’m going to date myself by this, there was a fad going around in America called pet rocks. And I had one. It was on my desk. It was this little pet rock. It was in a little wire cage and it was advertised as the best pet because you don’t have to feed it. You don’t have to clean up after it. You don’t have to groom it. They just paint a little smile on it and they put it in a little cage and it’s your pet rock. But it was still a rock. It had no life in it whatsoever. BUT WHAT PETER IS TALKING ABOUT IS A LIVING STONE, HAVING ALL THE STRENGTH AND SOLIDARITY OF A STONE OF ROCK, BUT IT’S ALIVE. WHY IS IT ALIVE? BECAUSE THE ROCK IS JESUS CHRIST, AND HE DIED AND WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD. AND IN REVELATION 1, THE LORD JESUS SAID, I AM HE WHO WAS DEAD AND AM ALIVE FOREVERMORE. SO PETER, KNOWING THAT, CALLS JESUS THE LIVING STONE. You’re probably also familiar that Paul uses this term sort of, but in a different way, speaking of Jesus. In 1 Corinthians, he said that rock that was in the wilderness that followed them around and quenched their thirst, that rock was Christ. Also, something else that’s just sort of interesting to note about Peter’s writing is When Peter wanted to talk about the kind of hope that we have, back in chapter 1, verse 3, he called our hope, what kind of hope? A living hope. When he wanted to speak about the Word of God, back in chapter 1, he called it the living Word of God. And now he speaks about a living stone. Now keep in mind that Peter had in his mind the temple in Jerusalem, I believe. The temple in Jerusalem with its priesthood and its massive structures. In fact, Peter was among the group of apostles that one day when they left the temple precincts, was just sort of blown away by the enormity of the stone structure. They get out of the temple and the apostles say to Jesus, Master, behold the stones and these massive structures. That’s when Jesus said, not one stone will be left upon another. All will be thrown down. So that’s what he has in mind is this temple coming to him as to a living stone. But he further describes Jesus Christ in verse six and in verse seven as the cornerstone. What kind of living stone is he? Well, he’s the cornerstone. And if you know anything about ancient buildings, the cornerstone was the most important part of the entire structure. The cornerstone set the angles for the rest of the building. Let me explain. The cornerstone was at the foundation, at the base. Cornerstones were typically the largest and heaviest stones because they did form the footing for the building. So they didn’t lay cement slabs. They actually cut out hewn, massive stones.
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You’re listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig, Weekend Edition. Every day, the generosity of friends like you helps make clear, practical Bible teaching available to families who are searching for hope, healing, and God’s truth. And this month, we want to thank you with a powerful resource focused on restoring God’s design for family. When you give, you’ll receive Reconnecting with Family, Pastor Skip’s new book drawn from more than 30 years of biblical teaching and pastoral wisdom. It speaks honestly to the real challenges families face—financial stress, emotional distance, discouragement, and temptation—while pointing you back to God’s timeless plan for healthy, God-honoring relationships. We’ll send Reconnecting with Family as our thanks when you give $50 or more to support the ministry of Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com slash offer. Now let’s return to today’s teaching.
SPEAKER 01 :
And if I could take you to Jerusalem, I could actually point out to you, still in existence, the cornerstone from the temple complex at the southeast corner of Jerusalem. They have the cornerstone, which get this, measures 39 feet, four inches long, seven feet, 10 inches wide, and 43 inches tall. They say that one stone weighs 80 tons, 80 tons, eight zero. And that’s not even the biggest stone. If you went down a little bit further on what’s called the master course of stones, they have a stone they could show you that’s 41 feet long. It is 15 feet wide and 11 and a half feet tall, weighing upwards of 600 tons. Massive. So the cornerstone was that foundation stone laid at the corner that not only provided foundation, but provided symmetry, measurement for the rest of the structure. It was the cornerstone that maintained the symmetry for the rest of the building and set the direction for all sides. If the angle of the cornerstone, any of the sides were off, the building would be off. The building could kind of go in one direction if it wasn’t lined up right and skew up And the stones, because they wouldn’t be laid right, the cornerstone wasn’t cut just perfectly, the building could collapse outward or inward. So think of the cornerstone as the reference point for the whole building. I read this week about an artist. He’s a landscape artist. He paints landscapes with oils. And he said that by his easel or on his easel, he always keeps three stones. for reference, an emerald, a sapphire, and a ruby, simply to bring him back to what true blue, true green, true red is. He said when you’re involved in painting oil landscapes like he does, after a while you start losing color perception and you need to go back in reference to the standard. Well, that’s what the cornerstone was like. It provided an orientation. It unified the structure. It brought foundation for the entire building. So Peter describes Jesus Christ as the living cornerstone, the foundation on which everything is laid. And I hope Jesus Christ is the foundation of your faith. I hope that you are not building on just the sayings of Jesus or the example of Jesus. Oh, isn’t Jesus just a fine example? And he said so many cool, wonderful things. I hope you’re not building on just those things or on the traditions of people who follow Jesus, but on Jesus himself, the chief cornerstone. Notice he says, coming to him. That’s when it all begins for you and I. We come to him. We speak about coming to Christ or coming to faith in Christ. A term Jesus even used, come unto me, he said, all you who labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. So here’s God. He’s got his building program going. You and I enter into that building program when you come to Christ. That’s the basis. That’s the foundation, Christ. Second notice, the building program. That’s us, verse 5. You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. This is profound. It’s one thing to come to a living stone. It’s quite another thing to become a living stone. That’s his whole point. When you come, you become. When you come to Jesus Christ, you become like Jesus Christ. Did you know that? That’s the whole point that Peter is making. When you come to him, what happens is you start following him and you become more and more like him. You know the very term Christian, what it means in its origin, right? It actually means a miniature Christ, a little Christ. So how are we doing with keeping up with that title? That’s kind of a tall order. But the point is, this stone is alive. And when you come to him, you’re not a dead, unanimated rock anymore. You are alive yourself. You share his life and you share his strength because you’re a living stone. Great story about the ancient king of Sparta in ancient Greece. He used to brag about the mighty walls of Sparta, how strong they were, how massive they were. One day a king came to visit Sparta. He said, I’ve heard about the mighty walls of Sparta, but I see no walls. Where are they? And then the king of Sparta pointed to his well-disciplined troops, his men, and he said, there they are. These men are the mighty walls of Sparta. Even so, Jesus Christ would point to you and I saying, these are the stones of the building that I am building. They are the living stones. It simply means we share his life. We share his strength. The life and strength that exists in Christ exists in us. Christianity is the only belief system, or if you prefer, the only religion where the life of the one we worship becomes our life. Do you ever hear of anyone being in Buddha, in Confucius, in Muhammad? Yet repeatedly the New Testament says you and I are in Christ. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, we will appear with him in glory. Or as Peter writes in his second letter, if by God’s grace we ever get to it, in 2 Peter chapter 1, He says, he has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue, whereby are given to us, he continues, great and precious promises. Here it is, listen, that by these we may be partakers of the divine nature. We come to him and we become like him, sharing the nature, the life, and the strength that is in Jesus himself. Look back at verse five, he continues. As living stones are being built up a spiritual house. Now think of everything we’ve heard just so far. We’re built upon the foundation, Jesus Christ. He sets the angles, he gives the direction. And he’s all about building people up. You know, God isn’t all about property and all about temples. I hope you know that. Well, is this the right temple? Is this the right place we can put God in? God doesn’t care. Stephen said to the Sanhedrin, and Paul said to the men and women of Athens, for the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands. But he does build up people. And the point that Peter is making is this is a spiritual house. And verse 9, you’re a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people. Verse 10, who once were not a people, but now you are the people of God. God is far more concerned with building up people than us building properties. That’s why in Hebrews chapter 3 verse 6, Christ as a son over his own house, whose house we are. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 9, you are God’s building. So God builds up his kingdom by using people and he’s not done yet. If you ever want to go to an interesting house, go to San Jose, California, and check out the Winchester Mystery House, it’s called. The story is, is that Sarah Winchester, who was the heiress of the Winchester Rifle Group, in the late 1800s, she inherited $20 million. That’s an enormous amount at any time, but back then it was huge. So she took her money and went west to San Jose, California, and And she was very superstitious, and a medium told her that if she continued building a house, that she would never die. She’d have eternal life. For the next 38 years, 24-7, she hired something like 36 different building crews to build a house that eventually took up six acres, just the house. It had six kitchens inside of it, 40 stairways, many that led to nowhere, because just keep building, and rooms are added and hallways are added. 10,000 windows, 160 rooms, and the house was never finished. So think of this house, the spiritual house that God is building, though with a different motivation than Sarah Winchester. as not being done yet. Every time a person comes to Christ, another stone is added. God adds another hallway, another staircase, another room. His building program continues. It’s a spiritual house. And notice it has a holy priesthood. See the analogy? offering up spiritual sacrifices. Okay, so the analogy is that of the temple that was in Jerusalem that Peter had seen with his other buddies and with his Lord. And now he says we’re a spiritual house, we’re a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices. I want you to understand the point he is making. He’s saying we don’t go to the temple, we are the temple. We don’t come through a priest You are those priests. And it’s a spiritual house. And we have access like a priest, but also a responsibility to be holy like those priests.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember your generosity helps share God’s word with families around the world, offering truth, hope, and encouragement where it’s needed most. And this month, we’d love to thank you for your gift of $50 or more by sending you Reconnecting with Family, Pastor Skip’s new book focused on restoring God’s design for family and relationships. It’s filled with biblical insight and practical encouragement to help families grow stronger, even in challenging seasons. Give today at connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888. We’ll see you next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God’s Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig Weekend Edition.
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