Participants: Tom Shepherd & Deyvy Rodriguez
Series Code: PBOTB
Program Code: PBOTB00007B
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00:01 Welcome back. Dr. Shepherd, um, a question,
00:04 why don't some people like religion? 00:08 Uh, you know, it's a really big question. 00:09 People have all kinds of reasons why they don't like religion. 00:13 Um, usually, there's a story there. 00:16 And I think when in life we find somebody 00:19 who doesn't like religion, doesn't like the church, 00:22 the first thing, the best thing to do 00:25 to begin with is to listen. 00:27 And the easiest way to listen is to, say, "Oh, why is that?" 00:35 And they'll tell you 'cause, yeah, particularly if they, 00:40 you know, come at you with something 00:42 that's because they've been hurt some place in their life. 00:43 So there really is a story behind the reason 00:46 why they don't like religion-- 00:47 There's almost always some story-- 00:49 Almost always some kind of history-- 00:51 But here's one of the reasons why, "one of the stories." 00:56 And that is because the church and its truth. 00:59 You know, we make lots of mistakes in the church 01:01 but the truth-- the church in its truth 01:04 stands for something that's right and holy. 01:07 And that is an offense to the world. 01:10 And it's just like a bird under the saddle. 01:14 It just bothers them that there's somebody who says, 01:18 "No, that's wrong. 01:20 You should not to do that." 01:21 See in a postmodern world, 01:23 most people want to say that 01:25 there's no subtle truth at all, you see. 01:28 And for you to say, "Uh, you know, actually there is." 01:31 And to describe it and everything that, 01:33 that kind of gets them a bit on edge. 01:35 Now I don't think we're supposed to go out 01:37 and to hit people over the head 01:39 and to try to force them to things 01:42 but we should understand. 01:44 We should understand the offense that is the cross. 01:48 The cross is opposed to the world. 01:52 It stands for death to self. 01:54 It stands for dedication to God. 01:56 And that's why some people don't like 02:00 religion or the church. 02:02 Dr. Shepherd, the passage we've read makes a division 02:05 between people and what is this all about? 02:08 Okay, so let's look back at the passage again, 02:10 so we can get that clearly in mind. 02:13 We finished by reading the passage from Isaiah, 02:18 those passages from Isaiah 02:19 where the people of Israel were going one way 02:21 and God was really going a different way. 02:24 And he says, look, I've laid down my truth 02:27 as this cornerstone and everything will be measured 02:31 by this stone that I've laid down. 02:34 Now Peter comes and he says, 02:36 "Uh, let me tell you who that stone is. 02:38 It's Jesus." 02:40 It's Jesus who is a living stone 02:43 because God raised Him from the dead. 02:45 That was the great seal of God upon the ministry of Jesus. 02:51 He raised Him from the dead. 02:53 And so what he had said was true. 02:55 And the world must, you know, take that into account. 02:59 So he has this, he says, "I've laid a stone in Zion, 03:03 a cornerstone"-- I'm looking at verse 6, 03:06 "chosen and precious, and whoever believes in Him 03:09 will not be put to shame." 03:12 Now you need to understand that the ancient world 03:16 in which Peter lived was a honor and shame culture, 03:24 honor and shame, what did that mean? 03:27 Well, there were certain values that they had 03:31 and what you would do in your life, 03:35 your practices, your business, 03:38 the way you related to other people, 03:40 you did things to bring honor to your name and your family. 03:46 And then there were shameful things 03:49 and those were the things that you avoided, you see. 03:53 You avoided shame and you chased after honor, okay. 03:57 So one would bring you up higher, 04:00 the other would take you lower. 04:02 Now in such a society in which Peter lived, 04:06 the deepest shame that could be brought upon 04:09 you was crucifixion really. 04:12 Typically, the Romans would crucify people naked 04:16 to shame them in public. 04:17 It was done in public. 04:19 They were exposed to the elements 04:21 and the Romans were intimidating the population saying, 04:24 "Look, if you do whatever this person did, 04:27 that's what's gonna happen to you. 04:28 So you do the shameful acts, 04:29 we will shame you, give you the ultimate shame." 04:32 Now the pagan culture was going one way 04:34 and Christian values went in an opposite direction 04:38 and a different direction. 04:39 So the pagans would try to shame the Christians. 04:43 We'll see that as we continue to read through this book 04:46 they were shaming-- trying to shame these people 04:49 and the natural tendency of our life is 04:55 to listen to the people around us. 04:57 We're much more impacted by those around us 05:00 than we like to admit. 05:02 And so Peter is trying to build these people up 05:06 with all this rich deep theology. 05:08 He's trying to build them up, 05:10 so that they get the right perspective on this. 05:12 So they don't go honoring 05:14 the things that God says are shameful and, 05:19 you know, going the wrong direction. 05:21 So he says whoever trusts in Him 05:24 will not be put to shame. 05:27 So if you trust in Jesus, the crucified Messiah, 05:31 you will not be put to shame. 05:33 And we'll see as we go through this book how the life of Jesus, 05:37 the experience of Jesus becomes the life 05:39 and experience of the Christian where they follow in His steps. 05:42 They follow in His pattern and the glory that He receives 05:45 is what they will receive in the end, okay. 05:49 Let's go back to verse 8. 05:51 Does this verse teach that 05:52 God has destined some people to reject Christ? All right. 05:57 So we have the division of people 06:00 that we've talked about. 06:01 We have those who do not believe and we have those who believe. 06:05 And when we get down to verse-- 06:09 well, let's start verse 7. 06:10 It says, "So the honor is for you who believe, 06:13 but for those who do not believe, 06:16 the stone that the builders rejected 06:17 has become the cornerstone." 06:19 Verse 8, "And a stone of stumbling 06:21 and a rock of offense. 06:23 They stumble because they disobey the word." 06:27 My Bible says next, "As they were destined to do." 06:33 What does yours say in verse 8? 06:34 Read verse 8 in New King James. 06:36 "And a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." Keep going. 06:41 "They stumble, being disobedient to the word, 06:44 to which they also were appointed." Okay. 06:48 So here you have a description of the builders. 06:52 Now builders are honorable people. 06:55 Builders are the people who are making the building. 06:58 And you expect them to understand everything 07:00 about the building and what are they doing? 07:04 They're rejecting the cornerstone. 07:07 There's this old story that 07:08 when they were building Solomon's temple 07:10 that they needed the cornerstone 07:14 and there was this one stone that they rejected, 07:17 they keep rejecting it and this was in the way. 07:20 And then they find out that that's the stone 07:23 that's supposed to be the cornerstone. 07:24 That's the one that's supposed to be bear the most weight, 07:27 you know, it sets the whole thing all up. 07:30 So it was interesting because the rejection of the stone 07:34 and then that becomes the chosen stone. 07:36 So what is negated becomes that which is positive. 07:40 So that which is shameful becomes that which is honored. 07:44 That which is rejected 07:45 becomes that which is accepted, all right. 07:47 So but it was the builders who didn't accept it. 07:51 And, Dr. Shepherd, it almost sounds like 07:52 they're deliberately rejecting it 07:54 because as builders you know what you're doing. 07:57 Yeah. Isn't that right? 07:58 You should know what you're doing, yes. 08:00 Here it says, they stumble over, why did they stumble? 08:03 It says because they disobey the word 08:09 and then it says as they were destined to do. 08:11 Now this gets many people, 08:14 you know, really tied up in knots 08:15 because it sounds like predestination. 08:18 Like some people were just, 08:20 you know, God just said, you know, they're gonna be lost 08:24 and I'll just do that. 08:27 I'll just destine them for destruction. 08:31 And that seems so odd and so unlike God, 08:35 how could he do that? 08:37 Well, what you have to understand is going on here 08:39 is a play on words, okay. 08:42 And a play on words, the Greek word is "Tithemi" 08:45 and the word means to place or put. 08:49 Mm-hmm. Okay. 08:50 And this verb is used several times 08:54 in this passage, all right. 08:56 So the first place where we notice 08:59 this is in verse 6. 09:06 "Behold, I am laying in Zion, a stone, 09:12 a cornerstone, chosen and precious." Okay. 09:15 So he is placing a stone, all right. 09:21 God is placing a stone. 09:23 Now in verse 8, it says, 09:26 "They stumbled because they disobeyed the word, 09:29 as they were placed to do." Okay. 09:37 So here's the interesting play on this whole concept. 09:44 God has not destined anybody for destruction or salvation, 09:49 did not destine them for that. 09:51 He has laid the cornerstone. 09:54 The question is what will you do with the cornerstone? 09:58 What He has destined is what will happen 10:04 according to whatever you do in relationship to that stone 10:06 'cause He's got the plumb line, right? 10:08 And He's placed the stone. 10:10 So if you build on the stone, that's good, you'll be fine. 10:14 If you reject the stone, it's you who will be rejected 10:18 not because God predestined that you would be rejected 10:21 but because God predestined this stone would be the cornerstone. 10:25 There's only one cornerstone. 10:27 There's only one way to heaven and that's through Jesus Christ. 10:30 So God has placed that here 10:32 and your reaction to the stone 10:34 in believing or disbelieving 10:37 is what predetermines your outcome. 10:39 So if I'm lost is because I made that decision to be lost? 10:43 Yes. It's not God's fault-- 10:45 It's not God's fault. My fault-- 10:46 Yeah, so using the term destined here 10:48 might not be the best choice of terms. 10:51 As long as--it's okay as long as you understand 10:54 that the destiny is not that you are destined 10:58 whatever you want to do. 11:00 You're destined to be lost or you're destined to be safe 11:02 but rather that God has presettled 11:06 what will happen to those who accept 11:08 or those who reject, okay. 11:10 Now we turn to the good news which is down in verses 9 and 10 11:14 and we should read those verses one more time. 11:16 "But you are a chosen generation, 11:18 a royal priesthood, a holy nation, 11:21 his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of Him 11:25 who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light, 11:29 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, 11:34 who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy." 11:39 Do these verses 9 through 10 11:41 teach that priesthood of all believers? 11:45 No, the terminology the priesthood of all believers, 11:48 you see, a concept from the Protestant Reformation 11:52 and it was a rejection of some things 11:57 that were taught by our catholic friends. 12:00 And Luther was a real strong emphasis 12:03 on this the priesthood of all believers. 12:05 You can say the priesthood of all believers is taught here, 12:08 if you think in terms of all believers together 12:12 as a community 'cause this is not talking about 12:14 individual priests or individual people all just by themselves. 12:18 This is a community together. 12:20 It's very communal kind of a concept of people together. 12:23 But sort of an individual, you know, 12:25 off on your own personal decisions-- 12:28 no, not so much that. 12:30 He really links together here wonderful ideas 12:34 from the Exodus story and God's chosen people at that time 12:39 and the beautiful story of Hosea 12:41 when these people are brought back to God. 12:44 Remember the story of Hosea where he marries-- 12:48 he's told by God to marry this prostitute. 12:50 She goes off and does terrible things 12:52 but then he goes to the slave market 12:55 and there is Gomer, his wife, and he buys her back. 12:59 He redeems her. 13:00 It's an illustration of God redeeming the world, 13:03 bringing it back to himself and he says, 13:06 "You were those people, you had gone astray." 13:09 He says but God has brought you into his marvelous light. 13:14 You know, listen, friends, 13:16 God has given marvelous light to the world. 13:19 He sent it to you. He sent it to me. 13:21 It's here in His word. 13:23 It's meant to draw us back to Him. 13:25 We need to value this wonderful and marvelous word 13:29 as we continue to study 13:30 this beautiful Book of 1 and 2 Peter. 13:33 Thank you for being with us again. |
Revised 2014-12-17