m 1 Cor. hi. 1—4. " Heb. v. 12, 14. ° Heb. vi. 4— G.
1 Pet. ii. 4, 5. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disal- lowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious, ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priest- hood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
AS in the natural life, so in the spiritual, a state of maturity is attained by a slow and gradual progres- sion ; but every one should be aspiring after a further growth in grace, in order that he may reach the full measure of the stature of Christ. For this end the Apostle exhorts those who had tasted that the Lord is gracious, to covet the sincere milk of the word ; and to come continually to Christ, in order to their more abundant edification in faith and love. His allusions to the material temple are worthy of our attentive consideration : he compares Christ to the foundation-stone, and believers to the other stones built upon it ; thereby shewing, that the temple had a typical reference to them,
I. In its foundation —
Christ is here represented as the foundation-stone on which all are built —
[When personally considered, Christ is represented as the temple itself, in which dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead a : but, as considered in relation to his people, he is the foundation- stone, that supports the whole edifice b. The quality ascribed to this stone is indeed singular ; but it is perfectly suited to him of whom it is spoken. Christ is called " a living " stone, not merely as being of distinguished excellence (as he is also the " living bread," and " living water ") but as having life in him- self, and being the author of life to all who depend upon him : a quickening energy proceeds from him, which pervades and animates every part of this spiritual fabric0.]
In this situation He is precious to all who know him —
[He has indeed in all ages been " disallowed of men," who, blinded by Satan and their own lusts, neither " saw any beauty in him for which he was to be desired," " nor would come to him that they might have life." The very persons appointed to build the temple have been the first to reject himd: they could not endure that so much honour should be put upon him ; or that they should be constrained to acknowledge him as the one source of all their stability. But he was " chosen of God " from all eternity, as the only Being capable of sup- porting the weight of this vast edifice ; and, so perfectly is he suited to his place, that " he is precious" to God, and precious to all who are built upon him. If all the angels in heaven were ordered to fill his place but for a moment, the whole building would fall to ruins: but in him there is a suitableness and sufficiency, that at once delights the heart of Gode, and inspires his people with implicit confidence.]
Nor is the foundation only of the temple typical ; there is a typical reference also,
II. In its superstructure —
Believers are the stones of which the temple is composed —
[Every man, in his natural state, is as the stones in a quarry, ignorant of the end to which he is destined, and incapable of doing any thing towards the accomplishment of it. But the great Master-builder, by the instrumentality of those
a John ii. 19 — 21. b Isai. xxviii. 16. 1 Cor. iii. 11.
c John v. 21, 2G. d Acts iv. 11. e Isai. xlii. 1.