1. 1 Peter 2: 4-10 (NKJV) 4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 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. 6 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.”

2. 1 Peter 2: 4-10 (NKJV) 7 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,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

3. 1 Peter 2: 4-10 (NKJV) 9 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; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

5. Spiritual Royalty Today caps off our 2013 Vacation Bible School This year’s theme is “Spiritual Royalty” taken from I Peter 2:4-10 This morning we want to focus our minds together upon a lesson built for our theme

6. Spiritual Royalty I Peter 2:4-10 teaches us that we are spiritual royalty We may not be much when it comes to this physical life However, Peter here indicates that if we belong to God, then we belong to royalty

7. Spiritual Royalty Listen to Peter’s description: – Spiritual house – Holy priesthood – Chosen generation – Royal priesthood – Holy nation – His own special people

8. Spiritual Royalty If you know anything about royalty, you know that there are some things that are expected of them God expects some things from us as well Peter outlines that here in our passage of scripture

9. Spiritual Royalty 1. Grow in the Lord (v. 5) – “…are being built up a spiritual house” – What Peter is saying is that we are being groomed for greatness – In Peter’s second epistle, he speaks of the proper materials to use in building ourselves (1:5-11)

10. Spiritual Royalty 1. Grow in the Lord (v. 5) – We are being built together into something holy (Eph. 2:19-22) – Peter had just stated that we should desire to grow (I Pet. 2:2) – “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (II Pet. 3:18)

11. Spiritual Royalty 2. Offer spiritual sacrifices (v. 5) – Peter here refers to us as not only living stones, but he also refers to the idea of making sacrifices – Paul said that we are to be living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1) – That means that we offer ourselves to the Lord constantly

12. Spiritual Royalty 2. Offer spiritual sacrifices (v. 5) – Offering up spiritual sacrifices is different from the OT idea of physical sacrifices – Those things dealt with beasts, flesh, blood, fat, & the temporary – God wishes us to offer up a different type of sacrifice, one that is spiritual in nature

13. Spiritual Royalty 2. Offer spiritual sacrifices (v. 5) – What exactly is a spiritual sacrifice? – Our faith in God is called a sacrifice (Phil. 2:17) – Loving God and others was considered “more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mk. 12:28-33)

14. Spiritual Royalty 2. Offer spiritual sacrifices (v. 5) – Our praise to God that we offer (songs, prayers, etc.) is also a part of that living sacrifice (Heb. 13:15) – Good works are a sacrifice to God (Heb. 13:16) – Contributions are a sacrifice (Phil. 4:15-18)

15. Spiritual Royalty 3. Proclaim Jesus (v. 9) – “…that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” – It’s only natural for us to want to proclaim the One by whose name we are called (Acts 4:12)

16. Spiritual Royalty 3. Proclaim Jesus (v. 9) – Christ is who died so that we might have eternal life (Jn. 3:16; Rom. 5:6-11) – Jesus Himself proclaimed that He was the way, the truth, and the life (Jn. 14:6) – Acts 5:42 – Jesus was preached everyday in the temple and in every house

17. Spiritual Royalty 3. Proclaim Jesus (v. 9) – Philip preached Jesus to those in Samaria and the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:5, 35) – Paul immediately began to preach Christ after his conversion (Acts 9:20) – Paul declared over and over that Christ is to be preached (I Cor. 1:23; Col. 1:28)