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1 Peter 2:4-6 - Living Stones of God's Temple.

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.  

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

Living Stones
   I have a friend who lost his job, a 
fortune, his wife, and his home. But he tenaciously 
held to his faith in Christ - the only thing he 
had left. Like Job in the Old Testament, he 
would not abandon God, no matter what happened. 
And yet like Job, he couldn't help but wonder 
why.  
   One day he stopped to watch some men 
doing stonework on a huge church. One of them was 
chiseling a triangular piece of stone. 
   "What are you going to do with that?" 
asked my friend. 
   The workman said, "See that little 
opening away up there near the spire? Well, I'm 
shaping this down here so it will fit in up there." 
   Tears filled my friend's eyes as he 
walked away, for it seemed that God had spoken 
through the workman to explain the ordeal through 
which he was passing. "I'm shaping you down here 
so you'll fit in up there." [Hope for Each Day 
by Billy Graham] 

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] 

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. [source unknown] 

LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS PASSAGE

1 Peter 2:4-6 - Every Christian is a 
Minister. 

http://www.abible.com/devotions/2021/20210630-0918.html 

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

http://www.abible.com/devotions/2021/20210320-1024.html 

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 

Steps to Peace by Billy Graham: 
https://stepstopeace.org/ 

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

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

Parable of the Sower - Open Heart Surgery by 
Ralph Ringer: https://vimeo.com/666314378 

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  

Voice of Prophecy Discover Bible Study 
Guides: 
https://www.voiceofprophecy.com/study/discover 

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

LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS

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

Panorama of Prophecy with Pastor Doug 
Batchelor: https://www.panoramaofprophecy.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  

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