1 Peter 2:7-8 To you therefore which believe he is precious: but to them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed… I. A GREAT OPPORTUNITY MISSED. Who are the builders? All the sons and daughters of men. But there are blind builders that reject the "chief cornerstone." They cannot perceive the glory of the largest and divinest truth. The causes of this blindness are manifold worldliness, prejudice, and intellectual pride. The immediate cause is ever a superficial spirituality, however it may be produced. II. TRUE GREATNESS IGNORED AND NEGLECTED. The neglect suffered by the prophet in his own age is proverbial. He lets in the glory from the eternal into this half-blind world until it becomes a pain, and he is accused of being the enemy of his generation. We pride ourselves that such a history is a thing of the past, that we enlightened ones honour our prophets. It is for a future generation to discover whether we have done so. "Demos" is emphatically the builder today. Is the democracy laying the foundations of its temple on the "cornerstone" of Divine and eternal truth? But there is ever great danger that "the spirit of the age" may ignore the divinest message that is delivered to it. III. THE CERTAIN SUPREMACY OF TRUTH. The divinest truth must ultimately become the "chief stone of the corner." False prejudices are powerful, and may seem for a time all supreme. Truth is God, and God is truth. The eternal energies have the world in their grip, and "He must reign forever and ever." IV. THE WORDS FIND THEIR IDEAL FULFILMENT IN JESUS CHRIST. Unspeakably magnificent was the opportunity lost by the Jewish nation. God guard us from similar blindness! May the Christ be apprehended by us in all the fulness of His glory, so that we may not be ashamed when He appears to reign. (John Thomas M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, |
    |