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1 Peter 2:4-6 - Living Temple and Spiritual Sacrifices.

1 Peter 2:4-6 (NIV) As you come to him, the 
living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and 
precious to him-- you also, like living stones, are 
being built into a spiritual house to be a holy 
priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to 
God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it 
says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and 
precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him 
will never be put to shame."  

1 Peter 2:4-6 (NLT) You are coming to 
Christ, who is the living cornerstone of Gods 
temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen 
by God for great honor. And you are living 
stones that God is building into his spiritual 
temple. Whats more, you are his holy priests. 
Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer 
spiritual sacrifices that please God. As the 
Scriptures say, I am placing a cornerstone in 
Jerusalem, chosen for great honor, and anyone who 
trusts in him will never be disgraced.  

1 Peter 2:4-6 (AMP) Come to Him [then, to 
that] Living Stone which men tried and threw away, 
but which is chosen [and] precious in God's 
sight. [Come] and, like living stones, be 
yourselves built [into] a spiritual house, for a holy 
(dedicated, consecrated) priesthood, to offer up [those] 
spiritual sacrifices [that are] acceptable and 
pleasing to God through Jesus Christ. For thus it 
stands in Scripture: Behold, I am laying in Zion a 
chosen (honored), precious chief Cornerstone, and 
he who believes in Him [who adheres to, trusts 
in, and relies on Him] shall never be 
disappointed or put to shame.  

INTRODUCTION

The Jewish temple was built of hewn stones 
quarried out of the mountains; and every stone was 
fitted for its place in the temple, hewed, 
polished, and tested before it was brought to 
Jerusalem. And when all were brought to the ground, the 
building went together without the sound of ax or 
hammer. This building represents God's spiritual 
temple, which is composed of material gathered out 
of every nation, and tongue, and people, of all 
grades, high and low, rich and poor, learned and 
unlearned. These are not dead substances to be fitted 
by hammer and chisel. They are living stones, 
quarried out from the world by the truth; and the 
great Master Builder, the Lord of the temple, is 
now hewing and polishing them, and fitting them 
for their respective places in the spiritual 
temple. When completed, this temple will be perfect 
in all its parts, the admiration of angels and 
of men; for its Builder and Maker is God. 
9T180 

COMMENTARY PEARL

Foundation Of Faith
   What's your favorite toy of all time? 
According to a global survey, LEGO building bricks top 
the list. LEGOs placed first for boys and were 
in the top three for girls, easily making them 
the overall winner. After being founded as a 
wooden toy manufacturer in 1932, LEGO began making 
its current design of plastic bricks in 1958. 
More than 400 billion LEGOs have been created 
since that time. Nineteen billion are molded each 
year, which means 36,000 blocks are produced every 
minute. In September 2012 a group in the Czech 
Republic celebrated LEGO's eightieth anniversary by 
building the world's tallest LEGO tower. The 
tradition of creating massive LEGO structures began 
with a fifty-foot tower built in London in 1988. 
Since then the record has been broken by teams in 
Canada, Austria, Germany, Brazil, France, the United 
States, Japan, Denmark, and South Korea - to name 
just a few. From September 5 to 9, volunteers in 
Prague constructed a tower that measured nearly 107 
feet tall! In all, about 500,000 LEGOs were used 
in the massive structure. 
   How was the tallest LEGO tower built? 
Brick by brick. The same thing is true about your 
life with Christ. When you accept Jesus as your 
Savior, it's like laying the cornerstone of your 
faith. The Bible calls Jesus the cornerstone and 
says anyone who trusts in the cornerstone will 
never be put to shame (1 Peter 2:6). 
   The most important stone in any building 
is the cornerstone. It's the first stone that's 
put down and is perfectly level and square. 
Every stone in the building must line up with the 
cornerstone. As you put together what you believe, make 
sure every "stone" lines up with the cornerstone 
of Christ. Test every idea you hear against 
Jesus' standards. Look to him as you decide what's 
right and wrong. Learn to follow his commands. 
Seek his will in every decision you make. 
   When the people around you know you're a 
Christian, they'll watch you to see what it means to 
follow Jesus. Build a towering life that honors 
God. Stand tall for Jesus. By starting your life 
on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ, you 
won't crack and crumble under the pressures of the 
world. [Case For Christ For Kids by Les Strobel re 
vs. 6] 

COMMENTARY

You Have Direct Access to God
   In the Old Testament, priests did two 
things: 
   1. They had the right, privilege, and 
responsibility to go directly to God. They could pray and 
talk to God, worship, and fellowship with God. 
Everybody else had to go through a priest. 
   2. The priest had the privilege and 
responsibility of representing God to the people and 
ministering to the needs of other people (serving). 
   Those are the very two things that are 
true of you when you become a believer. 
   The Bible says that when Jesus died on 
the cross, there was a veil in the temple that 
separated the Holy of Holies, where Gods Spirit 
was, from where man was. Only priests could go 
behind that veil once a year. When Jesus died on 
the cross, God ripped that veil - about 70 feet 
- from top to bottom, symbolizing that there 
no longer was a barrier. 
   You now have direct access to God. You 
dont have to pray through anybody else. You 
dont have to confess through anybody else. You 
dont have to fellowship with God through anybody 
else. Read your Bible, talk with the Lord, and 
fellowship directly with him. 
   You have also been gifted for ministry to 
serve other people. Every Christian is a minister 
- not a pastor, but a minister. Anytime you 
use your talents and gifts to help others, you 
are ministering. 
   The Bible says, For God saved us and 
called us to live a holy life. He did this, not 
because we deserved it, but because that was his 
plan from before the beginning of time - to show 
us his grace through Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 
1:9 NLT). 
   One of the reasons God saved you is so 
you could serve him and others. 
   How do you know what your ministry is? 
Look at your talents, gifts, and abilities. When 
you use those talents and gifts to help other 
people, thats called ministry - nothing fancy or 
scary about it. Its just helping others. 
   Can you serve God in a sales office? Yes, 
you can. Can you serve God as an accountant? Of 
course. Driving a truck? Absolutely. Anytime 
youre helping other people in Gods name, 
youre ministering. [Daily Devotional by Rick 
Warren: https://pastorrick.com/devotional/ re vs. 
5] 

Divine Stonework
   There wasn't a man in Maryland who could 
build a stone wall like my father. Daddy was able 
to combine his building skills with his 
artistic talent to design walls that resembled 
something out of a Robert Frost poem. His walls were 
weathered sentries, balanced and sturdy. When my 
father would build a wall, he wouldn't rush. He 
would unload a big pile of boulders then sort 
through them, putting aside the ones for the wall. 
Daddy would pick up a rock, brush off the dirt, 
turn it over in his hands, and line it up, this 
way and that, placing it just right in the wall. 
Then Daddy would cement it in with the trowel. 
   Picture the saints who, through the ages, 
saw persecution and pestilence, holocaust and 
heartache - they realized they were living stones 
being troweled into the kingdom building. They 
understood that suffering was, at times, sickening, but 
life was worth living if it meant more time 
granted for the world to hear the good news. 
   Like these saints, we experience the 
biting reality of suffering; but we also remember 
the enormously high price Jesus placed on a soul 
- suffering is bad, but a soul lost is worse 
(Matthew 16:26). We realize God is permitting 
something he hates (pain and persecution) so that 
something he prizes (more souls salvaged) could be 
achieved. 
   I am happy, dear Lord, to be a living 
stone that you have troweled into your kingdom 
building. I pray that many more living stones will be 
added today to your wall of salvation." [Joni 
Eareckson Tada Daily Devotional: 
http://www.joniandfriends.org/daily-devotional re vss. 4-6] 

EXAMPLES OF SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES

Ps 50:14 " Sacrifice thank offerings to 
God, fulfill your vows to the Most High,  

Ps 50:23 " He who sacrifices thank 
offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I 
may show him the salvation of God."  

Ps 141:2 " May my prayer be set before you 
like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be 
like the evening sacrifice.  

Hos 14:2 " Take words with you and return 
to the Lord. Say to him: "Forgive all our sins 
and receive us graciously, that we may offer the 
fruit of our lips.  

Mal 1:11 " My name will be great among the 
nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. 
In every place incense and pure offerings will 
be brought to my name, because my name will be 
great among the nations," says the Lord Almighty. 
 

Jn 4:22-24 " You Samaritans worship what 
you do not know; we worship what we do know, for 
salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming 
and has now come when the true worshipers will 
worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are 
the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God 
is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in 
spirit and in truth."  

Ro 12:1 " Therefore, I urge you, brothers, 
in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as 
living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this 
is your spiritual act of worship.  

Php 2:17 " But even if I am being poured 
out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and 
service coming from your faith, I am glad and 
rejoice with all of you.  

Php 4:18 " I have received full payment 
and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I 
have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you 
sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable 
sacrifice, pleasing to God.  

Heb 13:15 " Through Jesus, therefore, let 
us continually offer to God a sacrifice of 
praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name.  

Heb 13:16 " And do not forget to do good 
and to share with others, for with such 
sacrifices God is pleased. 

CLOSING THOUGHT

Gods people failed often to rebuild 
Gods temple after the captivity and since today 
we are his temple how are we succeeding in 
allowing him to rebuild his temple, your body, mind 
and personality, that sin has defaced and 
marred. 

CROSS REFERENCES FOR FURTHER STUDY

Ephesians 2:20-22 (NLT) Together, we are his 
house, built on the foundation of the apostles and 
the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ 
Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together 
in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 
Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of 
this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit. 

YOUR COMMENTS

If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or 
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either 
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in 
hearing from you.  Thanks in advance and let's keep 
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred 
Gibbs  

LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT

Most Important Decision in Life: 
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0 

A Man without Equal by Bill Bright: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVa7UoruIo 

Seeking God Made Real: 
http://vimeo.com/31489782 

Prayer Made Real: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE 

Importance of Choice: 
http://creationhealth.com/CREATION-Health/Choice [click on video]  

Medical Seminar on Healthful Living by David 
DeRose, MD, MPH: 
https://www.smartlifestyletv.com/lifestart 

LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES 

Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies: 
http://www.liftingupjesus.net/ 

Amazing Facts Bible Studies: 
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx  

Hope Awakens Bible Study Guides: 
https://www.hopeawakens.study/lesson-header;id=2 

Glow Tract Video Bible Studies: 
http://www.bibleresearch.info/ 

LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS

Islam and Christianity in Prophecy, The 
Third and Final Conflict by Tim Roosenberg: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHSJB-fuHLU&list=PLWhQIHGTHlkaGg5Cwe3NDzWtFX8vNSpsE 

Unlocking Bible Prophecies by Cami Oetman of 
Adventist World Radio: https://www.awr.org/bible 

Revelation Now by Pastor Doug Batchelor: 
https://www.revelationnow.com/ 

Hope Awakens by John Bradshaw of IIW: 
https://itiswritten.tv/programs/hope-awakens 

Prophecies Decoded by Pastor Ron Clouzet: 
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657