THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE

THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE

Shelby G. Floyd

September 1, 2009

This morning I am speaking to you about the Lord Jesus Christ. I am thankful that the Lord has allowed me to live to present this lesson because I think that it is very important.

A few years ago there was a commercial on television about the General Motors trucks. In the commercial Bob Dylan sang the song Like a Rock. A General Motors truck is tough. It is something that will last a long time. It is strong and it was compared to a rock. A few years ago we took a trip out West, I had never been out there, and I really enjoyed it. We flew to Las Vegas, rented a van and drove all the way to Los Angles. Then we went up to the town San Luis Obispo, where my neighbor grew up. Then we went over to San Francisco. Somehow in my mind I always had the idea that the prison Alcatraz was way out in the ocean—25, 30 or 40 miles. We went down to Pier 39, and Alcatraz is right there and you can see it and it looks like you can swim out there, but I do not think anyone has ever swam from it. What do they call Alcatraz? They call it the Rock. Some of you young people I know will know about this person, Dwayne Johnson, he was a professional wrestler, and now he is a celebrity. They call him the Rock. Sometimes when young people get ready to get married and they think I need to buy her a diamond, what do they call that diamond? The rock!

This week my daughter sent me an e-mail and it had about 8 or 9 wonderful pictures on it. I thought the timing of those pictures would go great with my lesson, but I am only using one of them today. It is about a teenager and we hear so many bad things about teenagers, but we hardly hear anything or say anything about the good ones that are doing good things. Ray Sorenson is a teenager out in rural Iowa, and he repainted this rock into a patriotic symbol. It is really wonderful. This rock had been used for graffiti and all kinds of symbols and bad language. This shows how you can change the world as we talked about in our class this morning by doing what we can. He did well by painting that rock. It is now a national symbol. There is an insurance company by the name of Prudential. It has an advertisement in which they encourage people when they are young to get “a piece of the Rock.” They would show a graphic of the Rock of Gibraltar. We have all heard about that since the time we went to grade school. It even has an airfield there for people to land a plane on it. It is an international symbol of stability, strength, and something that will last forever.

Today, I am going to talk about a different kind of rock, a rock that was put into a building. Sometimes we call it a foundation stone, sometimes it is a cornerstone, and sometimes it is a capstone. In Ephesians 2:19-20 the apostle Paul declares: “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” So the topic today is “the Chief Cornerstone.”

First, let’s look at the cornerstone. There was an ancient practice of placing a cornerstone in a building. In ancient times the cornerstone, or the capstone, was the last known stone to be placed in a building. It became a symbol of completing the building. Often, this stone was of a different material than the rest of the building to set it apart. Some historians have said that the cornerstone was a large rock, perhaps 20 feet by 7 feet. That was the ancient practice. First, they laid the foundation under the earth. Secondly, they laid the cornerstone at the top of the building to finish off the building. In the case of the pyramid, as you will notice on a dollar bill, our forefathers had the capstone separated a little bit from the rest of the pyramid. The idea there was that when they started our country out small, as we talked about this morning in the Bible class it was still an unfinished work, and it is still uncompleted after 200 years. So that was the ancient practice of laying a cornerstone. In modern times you can go downtown to our buildings and the cornerstone is laid down at eye level. It usually has the construction firm name, the architect, and the date it was completed. A passerby can read and know a little about this building because there is the commemorative plaque, which we call the cornerstone. George Washington helped to lay the cornerstone of the Capitol Building, September 18, 1793. George Washington was a Mason and he and his fellow Masons, most of our founding fathers were Masons, helped to lay the cornerstone of many of our public buildings in Washington D.C., and many other places. Actually, the Masons go back to the Middle Ages. That is the reason they have the square and the plum line and all, it goes back to when those people had skills. They passed on their trade secrets to each other, and today that still goes on in many of our industries. You become an apprentice, and you learn the trade, and pass it onto others when they come along. I want to tell you that George Washington, when he laid that cornerstone on the Capitol Building in 1793, he put a secret capsule in there and it has a map in it where we can go find the national treasure—I am just kidding! I think there will be a National Treasure III! That is kind of a brief history of the cornerstone and what they mean. What was the purpose of the cornerstone? It was to unify the building together. It was to beautify the building and make it special. It was to give direction and to tell something about the building.

The Rejected Cornerstone

In next place, I want to discuss that the builders rejected the cornerstone. It seems that the idea of the rejected cornerstone is based upon a legend that was handed down from the building of Solomon’s temple. It is believed that Solomon’s temple was built on the very ground that David purchased from Aruna to offer up a sacrifice to the Lord when the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem. Remember when they tried to bring it the first time they did not do it in the right way. They put it on an ox cart, it started to fall off, and a man touched it and the Lord took his life. I used to think that did not sound right. The man was trying to do a good thing, and was trying to keep the Ark from falling off the cart, and the Lord put him to death. I thought about that more, and they were doing it in the wrong way. It was to be put on poles and carried. Your arms are natural shock absorbers. Have you ever tried to move something that was very fragile, and if you put it in a wheelbarrow or cart or something and you hit a rock, and boom you lost it? But, if you get two or four people to carry something, your arms can act like natural shock absorbers. David was angry with the Lord. Finally, he came to his senses. He was King, and he admitted that it was his fault, and he was responsible for doing it the right way. We ought to do things the right way first, and then we don’t have to worry about what will happen. So when they brought the Ark the second time, they went back and studied God’s word. They found out how they were supposed to do it. They brought it to Jerusalem. That is where David bought the ox, and the yoke, and all the wood, and he built an altar there in Jerusalem and offered a sacrifice up to the Lord. The Lord was pleased with what he did on this occasion.

David was a man of blood. He was a mighty warrior; he fought and drove the enemies of God’s people out of Palestine. Later, as he became an old man, he decided he wanted to build a permanent house for the Lord. He said: “Lord here I live in a beautiful, luxurious house of cedar, and you live in a tent, and he wanted to build Him a house.” The Lord said: “No, I will not allow you to build this house because you are a man of blood.” But he said: “Your son who comes after you he will build this house.” So David did everything he could to prepare materials, wood, stone, all of the items that would be needed to build a beautiful house for the Lord, a temple. So Solomon comes along, and he was rich beyond description. He had so much gold flowing in and he had trade with people down in Ethiopia, Africa, and up at Phoenicia and they all paid tribute to him. So he started to build this building. By the way no saw or hammer could be used on this building, and no chisel. All of the materials were pre-cut and measured, and then brought to Jerusalem, like a prefabricated house and put into place and the building was erected. According to the story, a great large stone was sent to Jerusalem by the stone masons out at the quarry. The workers and the builders could not find where the stone was to go. They moved it over to the side, and the workers kept stumbling over it, and had to go around it and finally someone suggested this must be the wrong stone. We cannot find out where it goes. So they moved the stone over to the edge of the mountain, pushed it over the mountain, and it was lost and they forgot about it. Finally, they got the building completed, and the builders sent word to the stone quarry that they were ready for the cornerstone. The masons sent back word that they had already sent the cornerstone to them. Then they remembered the big stone that they did not know where it went, and which they pushed it over the side into the Kidron Valley. So they went down there and they searched and finally found that large stone and recovered it, brought it back and it fit perfectly into place. That is the story that has been handed down to us about the rejected cornerstone.

Have you ever tried to put something together and you are looking at all of the instructions and there is a piece missing. We have had chipmunks at our house for over 30 years, and they drive you crazy. Everywhere you go there is a chipmunk. The other day there was one that ran out into my office. My son Damon has had a lot of trouble with squirrels and raccoons. So Damon bought one of these traps that you put food in and they go in and the door falls down. He brought that up to my house and said: “I just bought this collapsible type trap and you can put it together.” My wife always wants to help me out. She opened up the box and brought it in. I am reading the instructions and trying to figure out where this thing goes and that thing goes. Finally I got it all together and there was a piece missing. The trap door at the back where you let them out so you will not be bitten by them had a rod that was supposed to go through there. I haven’t seen it. Everything that was in the box is there. So finally she came in with a smile and said: “That piece that you were looking for, well it was lying out there on a chair.” So I put it in there and it worked just fine.

A lot of times we will reject something because we cannot figure out how it goes. Then later on we find that if we had just read the plans a little bit more closely we would have noticed that we needed that piece. That is kind of the way they were with the cornerstone. The Bible anticipated the rejection of the cornerstone by those builders, and made application of it to a different kind of a cornerstone. Look at Isaiah 8:13-14: “The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary; but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.” He is talking about a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel that would be Judea in the South and the Kingdom of Israel in the north—the Twelve tribes.

The Stumbling Stone—the Rock of Offense

Have you ever stumbled over a rock? A few years ago I was playing golf with my two sons-in-law. We were playing out on the Westside of Indianapolis at Eagle Creek. They call it the “Death March of Baton” in golf. Greg hit a ball and it went down into a steep ravine. I thought I would be a good father-in-law. I was carrying my clubs. I walked down in there to help him out a little bit. This was about a 45⁰ or even steeper ravine. So I had my bag on my shoulder, and all of sudden my feet went out from under me and there was a rock protruding out of the ground like a round loaf of bread and it hit me right in the back. I was hurting, and I was in pain. I stumbled and I fell on that rock. I was not going to let on like I was hurting. I said: “I will go ahead and hit mine.” I hit that thing and it shot up over the green, and they were both up there and called back and said: “That was a great shot.” When I got up there they told me the truth. It would have gone 30 or 40 feet over the green and they slapped it down on the green for me. So the point I am making is that I stumbled and fell on that rock and it took me three or four months to get over that. I believe that a broken bone would have healed faster than the bruise that I got from stumbling on that stone. So Isaiah the Prophet prophesied that Israel was going to fall and stumble on the stumbling stone—the rock of offense. In Psalms 118:22, David by the Spirit says “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” The stone—the stone that the builders rejected and kicked over into the Kidron Valley applies to a person. Israel will reject Him, He is going to be a stone of stumbling, but ultimately He will become the Chief cornerstone.

Christ Is the Chief Cornerstone

Having pointed out the rejected stone based on Isaiah 8:13-14 and Psalms 118:22-23, let’s find out who that stumbling stone is that they would reject, and who the builders are who would not put it into their building. We will find out who that is in a parable—the parable of Vine Dressers, as recorded in Matthew 21:33-46 and also Luke 20:9-19. This is in the last part of Christ’s life on this earth and He sees what is going to happen to Him. He gives this parable to those who hate Him, to those who want to kill Him. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. When the harvest time approached he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. “They will respect my son,” he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.” So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time. Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” I believe this refers to the western nations that have done so much good for mankind. It was given to the Gentiles and many of the Gentile nations are still bringing forth the spiritual fruit that God wants us to bare. So Jesus made that application there. In Matthew 21:42-43 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.”

The word “chief” in the original language means something that is first, supreme, greatest or chief. “Cornerstone” comes from a word that is made up of two words, a stone or a rock that is laid at an angle. So that is where we get the idea of a cornerstone—the angle of the building where the cornerstone is placed—angle and stone. So Jesus is to be placed in the right angle as “The Chief Cornerstone,” but Jesus said you are getting ready to kill me. He implied that they had not read Psalms 118:22-23, because they were getting ready to fulfill their own scriptures, they are going to reject, they are going to hang him on the cross, but He is going to become “The Chief Cornerstone!”

The Chief Cornerstone Is Laid In Zion

Now let’s talk about where The Chief Cornerstone will be laid. According to Isaiah 28:16 it will be laid in Zion: “So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.’” One of the greatest proofs of the inspiration of the Bible and I believe the Bible is inspired verbally, every thought and every word was given by the Spirit of the God according to 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Today almost every nation hates the Jews, except where Christianity has been accepted. They want to wipe them off the face of the map. It has always been that way. The Jews are still here after all of these years. What is the greatest proof of the inspiration of the Bible? The Jews! I believe that. They are called Zionists. Many nations hate the Jews and they want to wipe them off the face of the map. What do we mean when we say Zion? Zion was a section of the City of Jerusalem. Zion also sometimes is referred to include the entire City of David, which was his home and capitol of Israel. Zion sometimes is referred to the entire country of Judea. In the New Testament Zion refers to the Heavenly Jerusalem where we all want to go after this life is over. Sometimes the word Zion is used to refer to the redeemed people of God. Let’s look at Isaiah and see what he had to say, “I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed”(Isaiah 28:16). If you will analyze that verse there are several things said about The Cornerstone that will be laid in Zion. 1. It will be a tested stone. All of us are going to be tested in this life. We are going to be scrutinized, examined, and the Lord is going to see what we are made out of through trials and tribulations. The Bible says “With much tribulation we enter into the Kingdom of God” (Acts 14:17). So the stone will be a tested stone.

Christ will be tested, measured, and examined, shaped perfectly just like the Chief Cornerstone that they rejected out of the temple of Solomon. 2. It will be a precious cornerstone of great value and priceless. 3. It will be a sure foundation cornerstone, solid and unshakeable. 4. It will be a cornerstone of strength, confidence and trust. 5. Finally, those who would trust in this Cornerstone would never be dismayed. They would never be ashamed. They would never have anything to worry about as far as putting their trust in this Chief Cornerstone. Who is the Chief Cornerstone that would be laid in Zion? I affirm to you that Jesus Christ is the Chief Cornerstone that was laid in Zion. The apostle Peter referred to Christ as the stone, which the builders rejected. It has become the head of the corner, the Chief Cornerstone. Peter’s statement is an exact quotation from Psalms 118:22.

Christ Is the Chief Cornerstone Laid In Zion

In Acts of Apostles we have the history of the establishment, the growth and development of the New Testament Church, the Kingdom of God. It started with 3,000 conversions. Peter said, “Let all of the house of Israel know assuredly that this same Jesus, who you crucified God has made both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). The Bible says, “They were cut to their hearts, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren what shall we do” (Acts 2:37). The answer was “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and your children and all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God shall call. With many other words did he testify and exhort them saying save yourselves from this crooked generation” (Acts 2:38-39). Not all Jews rejected the Chief Cornerstone. The Bible declares: “And they who gladly heard His word were baptized, and the same day were added unto them 3,000 souls” (Acts 2:41). So the church started off with a nucleus of 3,000 people and it grew and developed and became 5,000 and 10,000. Finally, they stopped counting and spoke in numbers of multitudes. The church was spreading rapidly. We read about the spread of the church among the Jewish people in Acts chapters 2-12 and then Acts 13 through the end of the book we read about Paul and Barnabas and Paul and Silas taking the Kingdom of God and the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth (Acts 1:8). It has reached the entire world and is still spreading rapidly to this day. In Acts 4, the Jewish people who still hated and had rejected the Chief Cornerstone, were trying to put a stop to this movement. They told Peter, Andrew, James, John and all of the Apostles, we are warning you we want you to stop preaching in this Man’s name. You are trying to bring this Man’s blood upon us. The blood of Christ was upon them, they asked for it. They said: “Let His blood be upon us and our children.” They tried to stop this movement and intimidate and stop the preaching of the gospel. In Acts 4, Peter is bold, he is courageous, he stands firm like a man. “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: ‘Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the capstone. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved’" (Acts 4:10-12).

I close the lesson today with one final point, which I will abbreviate, because it can become a sermon in itself. I do want to briefly point out that we are the Church today, Christian people like you; we are being built into this spiritual building. We are part of the building. It is a living building. It is not a building like the Pyramids, the Sears Tower, or the Twin Towers in New York. They were a symbol of strength, height and glory, but where are they now? They are in Hades. We are the living stones in the spiritual building, and God is the builder and we work with Him. We are being built into this spiritual building. Paul declares that when we build this building like the Heartland congregation, Christ is the foundation? We need to remember this: the foundation stone and the cornerstone is not any of us, it is Jesus Christ. He always occupies the Chief and Supreme position in all figures of speech, every parable, and every symbol—it is always Christ. Paul pointed out to the Church at Corinth, that they were not building the right kind of building. They were trying to build on themselves, their glory, and selfish ambitions. Paul wrote a letter to them and declared in 1 Corinthians 3:10-11: “By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder.” (In the original language the word expert builder is translated from architektos—architect, SGF). Paul says, “I am a wise architect and I am designing this Church according to the plan, according to God’s blueprint, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

Let us be careful at the Heartland church as to what kind of materials we are putting into the Heartland congregation. If we put wood, hay and stubble into it the fire is going to test it, and it is not going to stand. If we put gold, silver and precious stones in it then it will stand long after we are gone. Jesus Christ is the sure foundation stone. On one occasion, Peter made the good confession when he affirmed who he believed Christ was: “Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:16-18). The word rock refers to a great ledge of rock like Gibraltar. So the Church is built on the Chief Cornerstone of Jesus Christ. We close with the passage referred to at the beginning of this lesson. Paul is pointing out that even though we are Jews and Gentiles, we are all one in this Body of Christ. “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” ( Ephesians 2:19-20). Gentiles were looked upon as foreigners. Paul says to the Gentiles that you are no longer aliens and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God household, built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets and Jesus Christ himself being the Chief Cornerstone.

Today, I want you to remember that Jesus Christ is the Chief Cornerstone. We have to build our life on Him. When the winds come, the rains descend and the floods come up, is our house going to stand? If our house is founded on Jesus Christ—the Rock, the Chief Cornerstone, and the Capstone, it is going to stand? Jesus said if you build your house on the sand, and reject the Chief Cornerstone, if you reject Christ like when they hanged Him on the Cross, then your house is going to fall and great will be the fall. We build on a relationship when we come to Christ—when we come to Him in faith and repent of our sins, make the good confession and we are baptized into a relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The strength of the Church is measured as to how well we build on the Chief Cornerstone, Jesus Christ. May the Heartland Church always be a church that will reflect on the glory, praise and majesty of our Savior Jesus Christ and God our Father.*