A STONE OF STUMBLING - Christ is a “stone of stumbling” to all who reject Him - Those who put their trust in the crucified, risen Christ are eternally secure and will never be put to shame for having done so. But those who reject Christ keep forever stumbling over Him. They hear Him preached over the radio, they see Him offered as the One who died for their sins, they are constantly confronted with His claims and they are embarrassed. They keep forever stumbling over Him. Trust Him now as your personal Savior, for “whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.” Some thirty years after the death and resurrection of Christ, St. Peter wrote to the believers of the Jewish dispersion: “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, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient…” It is true that Israel’s builders, 1900 years ago, “disallowed” Christ as the cornerstone for their building, and that when He became the “Head of the corner.” It was for them an occasion for stumbling and embarrassment. But Christ is a “stone of stumbling” to all who reject Him. In Peter’s day and in Paul’s, those who looked upon Christ as their Cornerstone were never given cause to be ashamed.

.......................................................................................................................................

A Stone Of Stumbling

Christ is a “stone of stumbling” to all who reject Him

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

Some thirty years after the death and resurrection of Christ, St. Peter wrote to the believers of the Jewish dispersion:

“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,

“And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient…” (I Peter 2:7,8).

It is true that Israel’s builders, 1900 years ago, “disallowed” Christ as the cornerstone for their building, and that when He became the “Head of the corner,” according to Psalm 118:22, it was for them an occasion for stumbling and embarrassment.

But Christ is a “stone of stumbling” to all who reject Him.

In Romans 9:33 St. Paul quotes from several Old Testament passages:

“As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence; and whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.”

In Peter’s day and in Paul’s, those who looked upon Christ as their Cornerstone were never given cause to be ashamed.

It was those who disallowed and refused Him who kept stumbling over Him and were constantly embarrassed by Him.

So today, those who put their trust in the crucified, risen Christ are eternally secure and will never be put to shame for having done so.

But those who reject Christ keep forever stumbling over Him.

They hear Him preached over the radio, they see Him offered as the One who died for their sins, they are constantly confronted with His claims and they are embarrassed.

They keep forever stumbling over Him.

Moral: trust Him now as your personal Savior, for “whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.”

The Berean Bible Society was founded over seventy-five years ago for the sole purpose of helping believers understand and enjoy the Word of God. Our Organization holds without apology to all the fundamentals of the Christian faith and is evangelical, that is, we believe that salvation is by grace through faith alone on the basis of the shed blood of Christ.

We also emphasize the importance of proclaiming the whole counsel of God in light of the Pauline revelation. Insofar as Paul is the apostle of the Gentiles, it is our firm conviction that in his epistles alone we have the doctrine, position, walk, and destiny for the Church, the Body of Christ, during the dispensation of Grace.

When did the Berean Bible Society actually have its beginning? Interestingly, it began in a two-room school house in Preakness (now Wayne), New Jersey. Here a group of believers began to see the importance of understanding the “the mystery” revealed to Paul, and the urgency of proclaiming the unadulterated “gospel of the grace of God”. It was Pastor C. R. Stam’s first pastorate: the Preakness Community Church.

https://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/a-stone-of-stumbling/