Stones: November 2019
Table of Contents
Stones
Stone is the oldest and most enduring thing on the earth, and it is the foundation of everything else. In Daniel, where Christ is spoken of as a stone cut out without hands, He is called the Ancient of Days, and there is no doubt that those are the chief features of stone — age and stability. They also have passive strength and weight, while some have value, such as quartz or diamond. But the type is presented in various ways; not only is He proclaimed as the Rock of Ages for a security for those in the tempests which Isaiah predicts (Isa. 32:2), but also the Rock on which the church shall be built (Matt. 16:18), a rock of habitation (Psa. 71:3 JND), the rock of my heart (Psa. 73:26 JND), “the rock that followed them” (1 Cor. 10:4), and other such names of dignity, but also in the humblest aspects of a stone rejected by men, yet chosen of God and made by Him a foundation stone (everything beginning in and resting on Christ), and the head stone of the corner (everything ending and culminating in Him), and also a living stone, a tried stone (tried by death), and an elect stone (elect in resurrection) — a precious stone. He is also a stone of stumbling on which whosoever shall fall shall be broken, and a rock of offense which will grind him to powder (Matt. 21:44).
J. C. Bayley (adapted)
The Four Writings of God
Would you like Him to come close enough to write upon you? That would be a moment of supreme blessing for your soul. And where would He write? On your heart. And what would He write? What you are to do? What you are to bring to Him? Would He write condemnation? Would He write claims or curses? No, He would write Christ. And what would you find that writing to be? It would be as the apostle Paul puts it in this chapter — the ministration of glory, the ministration of righteousness, the ministration of life. God is writing Christ now on the fleshy tables of the heart in contrast with His writing the law on the tables of stone.
The Writing on the Stone
Look at the first place where you get God writing — the writing on the tables of stone. This writing has its own deep significance. In Exodus 19 where the Lord speaks to the people of Israel of His claims upon them, before ever they hear what those claims are, they make answer, “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” Had there been a bit of sense of what we are in ourselves, they would have said, “We would like to hear first what God does command.” But they say, as it were, “Whatever He commands we are quite able to do.” This is the natural self-sufficiency of the heart of man; we like to feel we can be something, do something.
In Exodus 20 we have the law — the Lord asserting His own claims, and the responsibility of man as a creature to meet those claims to God, on the one hand, and to his neighbor, on the other. The law was the perfection of love towards God and towards your neighbor. But the moment you bring in law, you put people far from God. “When the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off” (Ex. 20:18). The law was never meant to bring people to God. It is the “ministration of death,” for it was written in stone, not in “fleshy tables of the heart” (2 Cor. 3:3).
What, then, is the value of the law? Romans 3:19 answers us: “That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” What is the object of God? To stop my mouth and make me know that I am guilty. The test comes in and reveals what the state of man is. No sooner is the law given than it is broken. Before Moses came down from the Mount, Aaron had made the golden calf; the first commandment was broken. What then can I get from the tables of stone? Nothing but condemnation.
The law comes in to teach us that we have no strength to do the thing we ought to do, and therefore to strip us of self-righteousness. But “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Rom. 5:20). That is glorious. When the law had come and stirred up the evil in man’s heart to convict him that he was nothing but a guilty sinner, then grace comes, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He meets in grace and blesses the very sinner, whom the law has convicted of his guilt.
The Writing on the Wall
In Daniel 5 we have a very solemn scene of daring impiety and foolishness. Belshazzar drinks with his lords around him, out of the vessels that had been brought out of the house of God. Here we have a careless, godless, unconverted man. But God has a message for him. “In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another” (Dan. 5:5-6). That hand-writing was a testimony from God, and this careless man was troubled. Surely God has a reckoning day for each one of us, as He did with Belshazzar.
Daniel says to Belshazzar, “Thou hast lifted up thyself against the God of heaven ... and hast praised the gods of silver ... and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified” (Dan. 5:23). This was the writing on the wall: “God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it” (Dan. 5:26). Belshazzar disregarded the writing on the wall. He contented himself with making Daniel a great man, and went on with his feast. We know the result — that very night he was slain. The enemy entered under those very gates that seemed to defy the foe, after first diverting the course of the river, as history tells us, and Belshazzar met his doom.
The Writing on the Ground
There is another place where the finger of God writes, and this we have recorded in John 8. They bring to Jesus a poor guilty woman that He may condemn her, and what does He do? “Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground” (John 8:6). Then He says, The one that is sinless is the only one that can cast the stone at her. This worked on their consciences; they all went out, and the sinless One who alone could cast the stone, and the guilty convicted sinner are left together.
The writing on the ground has to me this significance here, as though Jesus would show that when law could only condemn the guilty sinner, grace in His own Person comes in, and as the Psalmist says, “Thou has brought me into the dust of death” (Psa. 22:15). In order to meet and bless the guilty condemned sinner, He Himself must go into the dust of death, the sinner’s place.
When the writing on the tables of stone could only condemn, and when the writing on the wall could only ring out the sentence of judgment, then this blessed One Himself comes down into the very dust of death, not to condemn, but to seek and to save.
All the claims of God, and the judgment of God, have been met there by Him; the One who was upon the cross for our sins is now alive in glory, and the Holy Spirit comes down and gives us what we have in the fourth writing.
The Writing on the Heart
The Holy Spirit says, I will write Christ on your heart. He will not write now what God claims from us, or the sentence of judgment upon us because we have not met those claims. He is not now even writing what Christ can do or will do, but now He speaks to us of what Christ has done, and if we receive Him, He writes Christ in our heart. It is all Christ; He has borne sins, has taken the curse of the law, has taken the judgment of God. Christ has gone into the dust of death, and now the Holy Spirit seeks to write Christ on our heart. God’s thoughts are all about Christ, and He is looking for hearts on which He may write Christ. May the Holy Spirit write Christ on our heart today, if He never has before, and the effect of His writing in the fleshy tables of our heart will be that Christ will be seen in us.
A. Marshall (adapted)
The Stone of Israel
Genesis 49:24
The Holy Spirit in the Book of Genesis gives us God’s first communication to men, and right from the beginning the Spirit of God has delighted to unfold the glories of the Son of God. The prophetic word abounds with clear and unmistakable reference to Him, and if His glory and greatness dawns upon our souls, we will be steadied and tranquilized in the midst of the mightiest upheaval that could overtake us while we wait for His glorious appearing.
God’s rest in the Garden of Eden did not long remain unbroken. For a brief space only, man answered to the intentions of his Maker; then sin came in, blighting that fair world of which Paradise was the center. Man was turned out of his inheritance, and outside Eden the world-system sprang into existence. Cain was the founder of it, and his posterity endeavored to garnish it and establish it in perpetuity; the flood swept it away. At the building of Babel we see the revival of the world-system, but men were building without a foundation and in defiance of God. Jehovah looked upon their work and confounded it, and instead of accomplishing their cherished desire, they only manifested their folly and perversity. But although men have persisted in their course of independence of God, the end of their works is at hand, for all the glory of man shall perish, and the glory of the Lord shall fill the whole earth.
The Stone Foretold
Christ is the true foundation, the living Stone; He will also be the top-stone of the moral universe which is destined to replace the great world-system which began with Cain and Babel. Genesis 49 is a remarkable prophecy in this connection. Although the eyes of the patriarch Israel were dim from age so that he could not see, his spiritual vision was wonderfully keen when he gathered his sons about him to tell them what should befall them in the last days, for in the blessing of Joseph he clearly outlined the sufferings of Christ and the glory to follow, and parenthetically in this blessing there is the remarkable allusion to Christ: “From thence is the Shepherd, THE STONE OF ISRAEL” (Gen. 49:24). Thus, “beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27).
The Stone of Israel is introduced in the blessing of Joseph. This typical man was rejected, hated and cast out by his brethren. His pathway was a downward one until he was cast into a dungeon in Egypt like a common felon, but from that condition of degradation he was suddenly raised to a position of eminence and glory next to the king on the throne. Let us consider Him whose sufferings and glory are faintly prefigured in Egypt’s great deliverer.
Long centuries intervene; then Isaiah comes forward to confirm the word of Jacob: “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation” (Isa. 28:16). Jacob gave no details, but Isaiah tells us that the Stone of Israel was the foundation upon which all God’s purposes would rest.
The Stone Rejected
When the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, and He appeared in the midst of Israel, for the leaders of that nation were the builders to whom He was first presented. He was the great test for them, set in their midst according to the word of the aged Simeon when Jesus was brought as a babe into the house of God: “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel” (Luke 2:34).
We cannot fail to see how the Lord Jesus took up the Old Testament prophecies in their proper order, applying them to Himself during His sojourn on earth. He could use the language of prophet or psalmist in its true connection, bringing conviction to the hearts of His hearers. Yet His life did not evoke a favorable response on the part of men; it only brought out their hatred. He was rejected at every turn and brought at last to Pilate’s judgment bar as a malefactor, amid the universal cry, “Away with this Man ... crucify Him, crucify Him” (Luke 23:18-21).
The Stone of Israel was utterly rejected by the builders. In their final act they stumbled and fell over the Stone and were broken to pieces. Israel’s present condition is conclusive evidence of the terrible fall they sustained in thrusting from them their only hope. In this way Simeon’s word was amply verified, “This Child is set for the fall ... of many in Israel.” The latter part of his prophecy will be fulfilled at Christ’s coming again, when, after terrible soul exercise and self-judgment, they will exclaim, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation” (Isa. 25:9).
The Stone Exalted
We pass now from the short-lived triumph of the enemy to the triumphs of Christ. The cross was the crowning act of man’s wickedness; God’s triumph is demonstrated in resurrection. The Stone that the builders rejected has become the Head of the corner (Acts 4:11). He is the One upon whom every purpose of God hangs, and therefore the present period of grace is being used of God to call man’s attention to His beloved Son in glory. The Holy Spirit has come to earth to gather out of the world a company which shall be associated with Him forever. This company is spoken of in Scripture as a spiritual house; those who form it are living stones, having come to Christ as the Living Stone (1 Peter 2:4-5).
Though men pay little heed to this work, it goes on steadily and without interruption. Just as all the stones for Solomon’s temple were prepared beforehand, and not so much as the sound of a hammer was heard in the rearing of it, so the Spirit of God is silently working, and the building is being prepared through which, in the day of glory, will shine the light and perfection of God.
The Stone Victorious
The great world-system begun in Cain and revived at Babel has been perpetuated in Babylon and the kingdoms that followed. Under the protection of these kingdoms the world-system has flourished, but since it has been raised in independence of God, it must be utterly destroyed to make way for that which cannot be shaken and which is pleasurable to Him.
Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream a stone cut out of the mountain without hands, which smote the image, breaking it to pieces, and carrying it away like the chaff of the summer threshing floor. Afterward the stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. In this symbolic language we see Christ coming out of heaven to put forth the power vested in Him as the Son of Man. He will claim the earth for Jehovah, until His glory pervades the wide creation. “The God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever” (Dan. 2:44).
The Second Man, the Lord out of heaven, has covered the whole extent of territory between the two extremes in the universe of God: “Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things” (Eph. 4:9-10). In this way He has established His right to fill everything for God. What a day of rejoicing and gladness it will be when the glory and power of Christ are supreme and when the earth is in complete subjection to Him!
Like Unto a Stone Most Precious
If there is the glory of the terrestrial, there is also the glory of the celestial, but whether in heaven or on earth, all glory radiates from the Son of the Father’s love. In all things He must have the preeminence. Heaven and earth have never been in accord since sin came into this world, but they will be united again; the moral distance will in that coming day exist no longer. One word therefore remains to be added — the church is destined for glory. The structure now being raised, the vessel being formed, is for the perfect shining out of Christ in the ages to come. Her light will not be her own. It will simply be the perfection of that which is stated of individuals in 2 Corinthians 4:6 JND: “Because it is the God who spoke that out of darkness light should shine who has shone in our hearts for the shining forth of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
Here we have a final view of “the Stone,” and there is no diminution in the glory of it. “He carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal” (Rev. 21:10-11).
In eternity the church will transmit those glorious rays, but then, as now, she will ever be dependent on Him, and yet made competent by Him in every sense for reflecting the light of this Stone most precious.
It will be the work of God Himself to write the image of Christ on each of the redeemed. Therefore we read, “The foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones” (vs. 19). No one stone could describe Him, nor can one saint ever express Him fully, but when this happy consummation is reached, each shall bear His blest image.
May each saint of God, redeemed for such a destiny, be enrapt with this glorious Person while we wait His speedy return and meditate on the depth, meaning and import of these words: “From thence is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel.”
J. T. Mawson (adapted)
Jehovah-Jesus, the Stumbling Stone and the Rock
The Stumbling Stone
Of all the Old Testament prophets, perhaps Isaiah is the most noted for his many and detailed announcements regarding the coming of Messiah. Repeatedly he identifies this Messiah with Jehovah. Witness the following from Isaiah 8:13-15 and note the identity of this One with Jesus as recorded by Peter in his first epistle, 1 Peter 2:7-8.
“Sanctify the Lord [Jehovah] of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. And He shall be for ... a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel. .... And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken.”
“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.”
How patent is the conclusion from the above comparison that Jesus is Jehovah!
The Rock
Another of the majestic titles of Jehovah in the Old Testament is “the Rock.” The same is applied unreservedly to Christ in the New Testament.
“I will publish the name of the Lord [Jehovah]: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment” (Deut. 32:3-4).
“And did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4).
Thus we see again that Jesus is Jehovah.
C. H. Brown
Israel — A Burdensome Stone
In Zechariah’s prophecy concerning Israel, we read these solemn words: “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of bewilderment unto all the peoples round about. ... And it shall come to pass in that day that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone unto all peoples: all that burden themselves with it shall certainly be wounded” (Zech. 12:2-3 JND). No doubt this refers to a future day, when Israel, having come through the Great Tribulation, will once again be taken up and defended by the Lord. Although it is not specifically stated here, it would seem that, prophetically, the armies of the Roman beast, including the Antichrist, will have by this time been disposed of by the Lord. After that, there will evidently be a siege of Jerusalem by the nations that are left, with a view to destroying her. However, the emphasis here is not so much on who the nations may be that are involved in this siege, but rather on the fact that the Lord will make Jerusalem a “cup of bewilderment” and a “burdensome stone” to them. If indeed all this occurs after the “overflowing scourge” of the King of the North and the resultant devastation to the land of Israel, then it is indeed easy to understand the bewilderment of the surrounding nations when Israel then becomes a burdensome stone, far too heavy for them.
The First Attack Against Jerusalem
The first attack against Jerusalem (by the King of the North, probably a confederation of Arab nations, backed by Russia) is all too successful and is allowed of God, as Israel experiences terrible devastation towards the end of the tribulation. The destruction and bloodshed will be worse than anything they have ever experienced before, as God deals with them for having rejected and crucified their Messiah. Another effect of this invasion will be to purge the land of apostate Jews, who have followed the Antichrist. Abandoned by the Roman beast, who breaks his covenant with them (Isa. 28:18), they will not be able to withstand the assault against them. But then, when all this has humbled them and turned them to repentance, the Lord comes to their rescue. He first of all destroys the Western confederacy (the armies of the Roman beast), and then He destroys the armies of the King of the North. But not all of them will be killed; some will escape, to be destroyed by Israel itself later.
Another Attack
When the Lord has established His kingdom and brought in the millennium, Russia will come down with her hordes to attack and will in turn be destroyed by the Lord. But after this, remnants of some of the nations that aligned themselves with Russia will be destroyed by the armies of Israel, as we read in Zechariah: “In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left” (Zech. 12:6). This is when Jerusalem becomes a “burdensome stone,” when all who oppose her “shall be cut in pieces.” With the Lord on her side, none will be able to handle Israel, as “the Stone of Israel” (Gen. 49:24) fights for her.
The Times of the Gentiles
However, we can also see that throughout the times of the Gentiles, the nation of Israel, and especially the city of Jerusalem, has been a burdensome stone for those who became involved with her. The city has been captured and recaptured more than forty times. In chronological order, Jerusalem was a burdensome stone to the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Roman Catholic crusaders (1099-1247 A.D.), the Muslims, and, in modern history, to the British, the U.S. and other Western nations. Since the inception of the United Nations in 1945, 55% of the resolutions that have come before the general assembly involved Israel, and in more recent years, the percentage has been even higher.
Today the city of Jerusalem continues to be the object of competing claims, as both Jews and Muslims refuse to give any concessions on their assertion that the city is rightfully theirs. Beginning as far back as 1949, attempts to “internationalize” the city have also failed, as Israel rejects this and declares that Jerusalem is its capital. Yet almost seventy years later, only nine nations in the U.N. voted with the U.S. when President Donald Trump announced in 2017 that “it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.” An article in Time magazine several years ago made this perceptive comment: “Of all the conflicts between Jews and Arabs, the conflict over Jerusalem is the most complex. The Israelis are willing to bargain on many things, but they will not bargain on Jerusalem.”
The Times of the Gentiles Fulfilled
Only when the Lord gives it to them will Israel really have the city, however, for our Lord Jesus clearly prophesied that “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Luke 21:24). Until that time, Israel may make great strides domestically and militarily, but they are going back to their land largely in unbelief. According to prophecy, they must go back to be there at the time of the tribulation, but they are not going back with the Lord’s approval. Because of an erroneous grasp of prophecy and a lack of understanding of the heavenly calling of the church, many dear believers today are strongly supportive of Israel. But in most cases the Jews are going back to their land without faith, only to be seduced by the Antichrist and then to fall under God’s judgment.
Yet how blessed it is to contemplate God’s thoughts concerning them, for eventually His words will come to pass: “In a little wrath I hid My face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer” (Isa. 54:8). The judgment will be appalling — worse than the world has ever seen before, but then the result will be untold blessing. Our hearts too wait for that day, not only for peace in this world, but because our blessed Lord and Master will be vindicated where He was once cast out, and He will be honored and glorified.
W. J. Prost
The Stone Rolled Away — The Risen One
Deep and varied as are the necessities of the soul, they are all met by the death and resurrection of Christ. If it is a question of sin that affects the soul, the resurrection is the glorious proof of the complete putting away of it. He “was delivered for our offences”; He took upon Him our iniquities and went down into the grave. But God “raised Him from the dead,” and by so doing expressed His full approval of the work of redemption. Resurrection, therefore, meets the need of the soul as to the question of sin.
When we proceed further and enter upon the difficult path of Christian testimony, we find that Jesus risen is the remedy for all the ills of life. This is exemplified for us in John 20. Mary goes to the sepulcher early in the morning. And, as we learn from Mark’s Gospel, her heart was not only sad at the loss of her gracious Friend, but also tried by the difficulty of removing the stone from the mouth of the cave. The resurrection at once removed her burden. She found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher, and she found also her beloved Lord. Such mighty things could resurrection accomplish on behalf of a needy mortal!
Resurrection
It is the same with us now. Have our hearts been broken and bereaved by the stern, rude hand of death? What is the remedy? Resurrection. Yes; resurrection, that great restorer, remedies all ills. If the heart is bowed down with sorrow by the ravages of death, resurrection heals and binds it up by securing the reunion with all who have gone before; “even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him” (1 Thess. 4:14). It is commonly thought that time fills up all the blanks which death has made in the affections, but the spiritual mind could never regard time as a substitute for resurrection and its immortal joys. This world may perhaps find in passing circumstances something to fill up the void which death makes, but not so the Christian; to him resurrection is the grand object. It is the only instrument by which all his losses can be retrieved and all his evils remedied.
So also in the matter of pressure from present circumstances; the only relief is in resurrection. We may, like Mary, feel disposed to cry out, “Who shall roll us away the stone?” The risen Jesus! We may have many a burden to carry, no doubt, but our burdens shall not sink us into the dust, because our hearts are buoyed up by the blessed truth that our Head is risen from the dead and that our place is there with Him. Faith leads the soul upward into the holy serenity of the divine presence; it enables us to cast our burden on the Lord and to rest assured that He will sustain us.
The Stone Rolled Away
How often have we shrunk from the thought of some trial which appeared in the distance like a dark cloud; yet, when we approached it, we found “the stone taken away from the sepulcher.” The risen Jesus had rolled it away and filled up the scene with the light of His own gracious countenance. Mary had come to the sepulcher expecting to find a great stone between her and the Object of her affections, but instead of that she found Jesus risen between her and the dreaded difficulty. She had come to anoint a dead body, but arrived to be blessed and made happy by a risen Savior. Such is God’s way; such the power and value of resurrection.
When John, in the island of Patmos, had fallen to the dust as one dead (Rev. 1:17), what was it that raised him up? Resurrection, the living Jesus: “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore.” Communion with Him who had wrested life from the very grasp of death removed his fears and infused divine strength into his soul.
The Grave Clothes
In the case of Peter and John too we find another instance of the power of resurrection. In them it is not so much a question of burden, as of difficulty. Their minds were evidently puzzled by all that met their view at the sepulcher. To see grave clothes so carefully arranged in the very tomb was unaccountable. But they were puzzled only because “as yet they knew not the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.” Nothing but resurrection could solve their difficulty. Had they known that, they would have been at no loss to account for the arrangement of the grave clothes; they would have known that the Destroyer of death had been there doing His mighty work and had left behind Him the traces of His triumph.
However, Peter and John did not know this, and therefore they went away to their own home. The strength of Mary’s affection made her linger still; she would rather weep near the spot where her Lord was laid than go anywhere else. But resurrection settled everything. It filled up the blank in Mary’s broken heart, and it solved the difficulty in the minds of Peter and John. Jesus risen is the sovereign remedy for all evils, and nothing is needed but faith to use Him.
The Closed Doors
In chapter 20:19 we have a fresh illustration of the principle on which we are dwelling. “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.” Here the closed door evidenced the fear of the disciples. And what could remedy their fear? Nothing but communion with their risen Lord. He appeared among them; He pronounced His benediction upon them: “Peace be unto you.” Who could harm them while they had in their midst the mighty Vanquisher of death and hell?
The peace that flows from fellowship with the risen Son of God cannot be ruffled by the changes and storms of this world; it is the peace of the inner sanctuary, the peace of God which passes all understanding. Why are we so much troubled at times by the condition of things around us? Surely because we are not walking with our eye steadily fixed on Him who was dead but who is alive forevermore. The politics and the commerce of earth would find their proper place in our hearts if we could remember that we “are dead” and our “life is hid with Christ in God.”
Our Commonwealth
But “our commonwealth has its existence in the heavens” (Phil. 3:20 JND). If we see ourselves only as earthly men, we shall be occupied with earthly things; but if we see ourselves as heavenly men, we shall as a consequence be occupied about heavenly things. “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above” (Col. 3:1). This is simple. “Things... above” are those which we are commanded to seek, and that because we are risen with Christ. Abraham was a pilgrim on earth because he sought a heavenly country; the believer is a pilgrim because he has gotten a heavenly country. The Christian should regard himself as one who has come from heaven to go through the scenes and engagements of earth. This would impart a high and heavenly tone to his character and walk here.
It may be remarked in conclusion that the Lord Jesus remedied the fear of His poor disciples by coming into their midst and associating Himself with them in all their circumstances. It was not so much a question of actual deliverance from the matter that caused the fear, but rather raising their souls above it by fellowship with Himself. They forgot the Jews, they forgot their fear, they forgot everything, because their souls were occupied with their risen Lord.
Fellowship in Trials
The Lord’s way is often to leave His people in trial and to be with them in it. Paul might desire to get rid of the thorn, but the answer was, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” It is a far richer mercy to have the grace and presence of Jesus in the trial than to be delivered from it. May it be our heart’s desire to find ourselves in company with the risen Lord as we pass through this trying scene, and whether it be the furnace of affliction or the storm of persecution, we shall have peace; whether it be the bereavement of the heart, the burden of the shoulder, the difficulty of the mind, the fear or unbelief of the heart — all will be remedied by fellowship with Him who was raised from the dead.
C. H. Mackintosh (adapted)
The Building of Living Stones
God tells us in 1 Peter 2:4-9 of a building that is built with living stones.
“To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as lively [living] stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded. 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 offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
There never has been a building constructed in this world, other than that mentioned here, which was built with “living stones.” This building is built of living stones to show what is going on within. It is to “show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Normally when you build a building, it is for the sake of privacy, but here is one that is to show forth the praises of Him who hath called you. It is only by using living stones that this can be done.
As man builds into this building, he makes mistakes and there has been some dead material built into it. But, irrespective of that, God owns that building and He has taken up His abode there through the Spirit.
There is one thing that I would like you to notice, whether we look at it as the body of Christ, the assembly, or as the building; I would like to emphasize the One who is there. When it is a question of looking at it as the body, the Lord Jesus has said, “There am I in the midst.” This is said of the body, as the assembly. When it is a question of looking at it as the building, then it is spoken of as the habitation of God through the Spirit. There is a difference between the two. That is, the Lord being in the midst and the Holy Spirit being in the building. The reason I feel pressed to mention these things is that I believe it is often lost sight of.
J. L. Erisman
The House of God
In Old Testament times, the house of God was a literal building made of stones and timber, and overlaid with gold (1 Kings 5-6). But today in Christianity, “the house of God, which is the church of the living God” (1 Tim. 3:15) is a “spiritual house” composed of believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, who are viewed as “living stones” in its construction (1 Cor. 3:9; Eph. 2:20-21; Heb. 3:6; 1 Peter 2:5).
Christians often (mistakenly) refer to their church-building or assembly hall as God’s house. A case in point comes to mind of a brother who was unhappy about the children who were running and playing in the hall after one of the Bible meetings. He remarked, “The children shouldn’t be running around in here; this is the house of God!” But this remark is really thinking of God’s house along the lines of what it was in the Old Testament, in Judaism. As I have mentioned, the house of God in this Christian dispensation is not a physical building made with men’s hands, but a spiritual building. Out of this misunderstanding comes the idea that at certain prescribed times Christians go to God’s house to worship — that is, 10 o’clock on Sunday morning. The truth is that we “are” the house of God (Heb. 3:6) and are “in” the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15) at all times — 24 hours a day, seven days week — not just when we are assembled with other Christians. (Nor should we confuse “the house of God” with the “Father’s house” – John 14:2-3. God’s house is something on earth, whereas the Father’s house is something in heaven.)
God’s Testimony
The church, viewed as the house of God, is God’s vessel of testimony on earth. It is to show forth the true character of God before the world. The Apostle Peter indicates this in his first epistle. After stating that believers are God’s “spiritual house,” he goes on to say that as such, we are responsible to “set forth the excellencies of Him” who has called us “out of darkness to His wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:5-9 JND). Thus, just as we can learn certain things about the occupant of a house by looking at the house, so men should be able to look at God’s house and see God’s character. If the garden is unkempt, there is trash around, the house needs paint, etc., it gives us insight as to the kind of person that lives there. Conversely, we can look at a well-kept home (from what meets our eye) and conclude that the owner is probably an orderly person. Thus, God intends that His character should be seen in the order of His house. Since we are God’s house, the world should be able to look at our conduct and ways and know the true character of God.
Outward and Inward
This line of truth is a much-neglected side of things. Many Christians have the idea that God is not concerned about what they are outwardly; to them what is on the inside is the only thing that matters. First Samuel 16:7 is sometimes used to support this — “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” But this very verse only enforces the point that we need to pay attention to our outward testimony. Since men cannot see what is in our hearts — only God can see that — they have to look on what is outward. Certainly the most important thing is to have a relationship with God inwardly by faith, but it is not the only thing that Christians need to be concerned about. We have a responsibility regarding how we appear before the world, because our personal testimony reflects on God.
The two main characteristics of God which Christians, as the house of God, are to manifest before the world are:
• God the Savior — As such, God’s disposition in grace toward all men is to sound out from His house to the world through “the glorious gospel of the blessed God” (1 Tim. 1:11; 2:3-6). Thus, the favor of God in seeking the good and blessing of men should be manifested before the world through those who compose the house.
• God the Creator — As such, God’s moral standards and moral order in the roles of men and women, which He established from the beginning of the creation, are to be demonstrated by those who comprise the house (1 Tim. 2:8-15, etc.).
The House of God
The house of God today in Christianity is viewed in Scripture in two ways.
The first aspect views the house as consisting of true believers only (Matt. 16:18; 1 Cor. 3:9; Eph. 2:20-21; 1 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 3:6; 1 Peter 2:5). Since the gospel is still going forth and gathering in the material (“living stones”), this aspect of the house is seen as being under construction and will not be complete until the last believer is saved and put into the structure (Eph. 2:20-21). At that point the Lord will come and take the church home to heaven at the Rapture. Christ is the Master Builder (Matt. 16:18) and “the Corner-stone” of the house (Eph. 2:20); He is also “Son over His (God’s) house” (Heb. 3:6).
The second aspect views the house as having a mixture of real believers and merely professing believers in it (1 Cor. 3:9-17; Eph. 2:22; 2 Tim. 2:20; 1 Peter 4:17). Men are seen as having a part in the work of constructing the house, but sadly, not all are good builders; some are building with good material and some with bad material (1 Cor. 3:9-17). With God having committed this responsibility to men in the time of the Lord’s absence (Matt. 24:45), many of the builders have shown a disregard for the order of His house and have introduced an order of their own making. Consequently, all kinds of things have been brought into the house that really have no place there, and much disorder and ruin have been the result. The house of God, in this aspect, is now like “a great house,” full of confusion (2 Tim. 2:20). In fact, today there is so much disorder in God’s house that there is very little left that is according to the pattern of His house in His Word. God is not indifferent to it; He judges those in His house in a governmental way today (1 Cor. 3:17; 11:30-32; 1 Peter 4:17).
In this second aspect, the house is viewed as “the habitation of God” on earth. That is, He is dwelling in it through the presence of “the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22). Since the Holy Spirit is in the house (1 Cor. 3:16), those in it who are merely professing Christians are “partakers of the Holy Spirit” in an outward way, without actually being indwelt by the Spirit (Heb. 6:4). This second aspect embraces the whole Christian profession on earth. Thus, no local assembly is ever called the house of God in Scripture.
The House in the Old Testament
The house of God in the Old Testament had two buildings adjoining each other — the house of the Lord (1 Kings 5-6) and King Solomon’s own residence (1 Kings 7). These two buildings are a type of the two aspects of the house of God today. The house of the Lord (the temple) was open to all who came to God to worship Him — even having a court for Gentiles. However, not all of those who went into the temple precincts necessarily had real faith. It is a picture of the second aspect of the house of God today where there is a mixture of real believers and mere professors. Solomon’s own house was a series of inter-connected rooms that were closed to all but himself and his family. Gentiles who visited the land, and others in Israel, did not have access there. It is a type of the first aspect of the house which is composed of true believers only. (See Synopsis of the Books of the Bible, by J. N. Darby on 1 Kings 5-7.)
Outstanding Differences
Some outstanding differences between these two aspects are:
• In the first aspect, the house of God is viewed from the side of God’s sovereignty (Eph. 2:20-21); in the second aspect, it is viewed from the side of man’s responsibility (1 Peter 4:17).
• In the first aspect, people become part of the house by believing the gospel; in the second aspect, people come into the house by making a profession of faith in Christ (2 Tim. 2:19), or by being baptized (which is the formal means of entering it).
• In the first aspect, believers “are” the house (Heb. 3:6; 1 Peter 2:5); in the second aspect, believers (and falsely professing believers) are “in” the house (2 Tim. 2:20).
• In the first aspect of the house, the Spirit of God dwells “in” believers (John 14:17; Acts 2:4); in the second aspect, the Spirit of God dwells both “in” and “with” [or among] believers (John 14:17; Acts 2:2; 1 Cor. 3:16-17).
• The first aspect is sometimes called “the house of reality”; whereas the second aspect is sometimes called “the house of profession.”
B. Anstey
The Stone Ebenezer
It is important for us to consider how prayer is used in times of difficulty, and we see it strikingly set forth in the case of Samuel. He is himself the gift of prayer, as his name declares (heard of God), and in his service toward Israel he uses prayer above any of his predecessors. In fact, he introduces and proves to us the power of prayer.
In 1 Samuel 7 we find an instance of deliverance and succor accorded in answer to prayer, and the spirit of true dependence in a moment of greatest difficulty. “Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel; and the Lord heard him. And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering [Christ, the ground of our acceptance] the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel. ... Then Samuel took a stone, and set it up between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us” (1 Sam. 7:9-12).
When we have received mercy of the Lord, it is most important that we should own it. We may pray and receive, but the moment which perpetuates the mercy is not the mercy itself, but the Ebenezer — the acknowledgment of the heart, of how God has helped and succored us. The mercy conferred was great — a day ever to be remembered by Israel — but it is not the thing done, or even the marvelous way in which the thing was done, that is the monument of it; it is the testimony of the heart to the unfailing help of God — the Ebenezer: “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” I know and own Him as my helper hitherto; the mercy may remain or it may pass away; the Ebenezer ever remains. Here Samuel sets up a stone, as a solid and permanent monument to the Lord’s deliverance. I have not only received, but I know the One from whom I have received. I have a fixed judgment about Him and my heart records it. This is the real strength of the heart. It is distinct and positive to me that it is His hand that has wrought.
Dependence and Confidence
I believe that souls lose immensely by not being able to record more distinctly that hitherto He has helped them. It is the experimental knowledge of God which is acquired by true dependence on Him. When we have true confidence in Him because of what He is and what He has been to us, we are enabled to go forward in spite of all difficulties, and then we have no self-confidence. Our tendency is to not have full confidence in Him, and though we have prayed, we perhaps have few Ebenezers — few monuments — fixed judgments in our hearts of the power and succor of Christ—and then we seek for confidence in ourselves, which easy circumstances tend to feed. One prays largely and fully in proportion as one has confidence in God, and if I really know Him as my helper, if I have a sure Ebenezer, I can easily and simply look to Him. The great principle of prayer is that I know the One whom I am addressing, and I am reckoning on His help.
Philadelphia
In the church of Philadelphia (Rev. 3) there is both the sense of the need of help and the knowledge of the gain of it, whereas the state in Laodicea is a “need of nothing”—no sense of the use of help, for there is no sense of needing it. We ought to regard prayer as the prelude to blessing, and thus be able to raise our Ebenezers. I know what God is and how He has helped me hitherto, and I am expecting and reckoning on His help. We have not merely to own our weakness and need (that is the first thing), but we have to expect help and succor.
Prayer is a mighty engine through which the resources of God are made available to us. It is as the needy one, not as the self-satisfied and self-confident one, that I avail myself of it. As I exercise my heart in my Ebenezers as touching what He has been to me, the more am I encouraged to go on in faith and to “continue in prayer with thanksgiving.”
Christian Truth, Vol. 2 (adapted)
The Stone of Bethel
“And this stone, said Jacob, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house” (Gen. 28:22). At first glance, what a crude and poverty-stricken thought this appears! Certainly David’s idea of what was suitable for the house of God was a great advance upon it; the contribution towards its construction which he “prepared in his trouble,” amounted to 5,000 tons of gold and 50,000 tons of silver, besides brass, iron, timber, stone, etc. “without weight” (1 Chron. 22:14). And as Jacob’s single stone is, compared with the splendor, magnificence and solemn grandeur of Solomon’s temple, so also is that temple itself, or the highest of human conceptions, to what is ultimately disclosed as the true and eternal house of God.
Yet for all this Jacob’s thought is correct, for was not this stone — which had been his pillow of rest, and was now his pillar of witness — Christ Himself? And whether the possessor’s thought of Him is meager or otherwise, yet possessing Him, he has all “the fullness of Him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:23). And every disciple has this, whether he knows it or not; but eyes anointed by the Spirit are required to perceive it.
Stone Cut Out Without Hands
Daniel speaks of the stone cut out without hands, which falls on the feet of the image, destroying and replacing it. The “man of the earth” beginning with the golden head, the Babylonish rule, and deteriorating downwards through the silver chest and two-armed Medo-Persian dynasty, thence through the brass stage of the Greek rule, reaches the iron or Roman age, which, dividing into two legs, finally arrives at its present condition, subdivided into ten toes (kingdoms). The stone falls on the feet (that is, the Ancient of Days descends in judgment at this final stage) and “fills the whole earth.”
The Sacred Stone of Islam
The Caaba, or sacred stone of Islam, is black, for legend says that though it came from heaven, clear as crystal, the lips of sinners have so often pressed against it that it has thus become changed. How different is that conception of a stone from what the Holy Word discloses — the nature of One who could touch the leper without defilement. The Caaba touching a sinner contracts his pollution, but the Living Stone, touching a sinner, is not defiled.
And not only this, but when we believe on Him, He so conveys His own nature and characteristics that the Holy Spirit can say that “As He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). Therefore we are called Living Stones, and dispensationally all that is true of Christ is true of us. Hence, when the ark passed through Jordan, twelve stones, representing the people of God, are placed in the bed of the river, and twelve taken out of Jordan and placed in the Promised Land. We are thus seen as raised up together and made to sit “together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6). The term “living stone” is a very peculiar one, for nothing is so “dead as a stone”: it gives us the idea of the immutability of the stone combined with the vitality and energy of the higher natures. Elijah carried forward the idea when he built an altar of twelve stones on Carmel, and the special interest there is that, though the tribes were divided and that there were no longer twelve, yet he still represents them — as God sees them and as faith apprehends them — “complete in Him.”
J. C. Bayley (adapted)
Precious Stones - The New Jerusalem
In that day when the church is manifested in millennial glory with Christ, the world will know this wondrous fact, that “the glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given them” (John 17:22). It is the glory which God gave His Son, as man; not the incommunicable glory, which belongs to the Lord Jesus, in the Godhead — this never can be given. But the glory which the Son of Man has acquired, on the ground of redemption, He can and does share with His blood-bought bride. But He says more. “Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24). We shall see that glory, and more than that, we shall also appear with Him in glory. You and I, as sinners, are unfit for that glory, but then in Romans 5:1-2 we get, “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” We are now made perfectly fit for it, through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ; then we shall possess and enjoy it.
“Her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal” (Rev. 21:11). The jasper stone is used in Scripture for that which is expressive of the glory of God (Rev. 4:3) which can be seen by the creature. “The building of the wall of it was of jasper” (vs. 18). Her wall (vs. 18) and first foundation (vs. 19) are jasper. The glory of God is the foundation and protection as well as the light and beauty of the heavenly city, for the church is glorified, with Christ, in the glory of God. She belongs to God. The Christian is born of God and has the divine nature imparted to him, through the new birth. Only what is the fruit of grace is visible in this chapter; all is “clear as crystal.”
The Gates
The city is divinely secure also, for it “had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. ... And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (vss. 12-14). Another has said, “It has twelve gates. Angels are become the willing doorkeepers of the great city, the fruit of Christ’s redemption-work in glory. This marked the possession too, by man, thus brought, in the assembly, to glory, of the highest place in the creation and providential order of God, of which angels had been previously the administrators. The twelve gates are full human perfectness of governmental administrative power. The gate was the place of judgment. ... There were twelve foundations, but these were the twelve apostles of the Lamb. They were, in their work, the foundation of the heavenly city. Thus, the creative and providential display of power, the governmental administrative power, and the church once founded at Jerusalem are all brought together in the heavenly city, the organized seat of heavenly power. It is not presented as the bride, though it is the bride, the Lamb’s wife. It is not in the Pauline character of nearness of blessing to Christ. It is the church as founded at Jerusalem under the twelve — the organized seat of heavenly power, the new and now heavenly capital of God’s government.”
The Angels
The place which angels hold here is interesting. They are now, and have ever been, the servants of the saints, as we read, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Heb. 1:14), and when the church is seen in effulgent glory, they will be delighted to be the doorkeepers of the heavenly city. God, too, does not then forget His earthly people (Israel), nor the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The world is not to forget that the twelve apostles who served the Lord and suffered in the earthly Jerusalem are they who, by their ministry, founded the heavenly Jerusalem, and thus it is only seemly that the names of the apostles should be found in the twelve foundations of the city. In Ephesians we are told that we “are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord” (Eph. 2:20-21), which has its full answer in the new Jerusalem.
The city is alike vast and perfect, measured and owned of God. “He measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal” (vs. 16). It was a cube. Now a cube is the most perfect figure, being equal on every side — the expression of perfection. I do not say it is divine perfection, but it is divinely-given perfection, and therefore it is spoken of as a cube. The Spirit of God delights to show the absolute perfection of the place in glory which the saints have before God on the ground of divine righteousness.
The Wall of Jasper
“The building of the wall of it was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass” (Rev. 21:18-21).
Again to quote the words of another, “The city was formed in its nature, in divine righteousness and holiness — gold transparent as glass. That which was now, by the Word, wrought in and applied to men below was the very nature of the whole place (compare Eph. 4:24). The precious stones, or varied display of God’s nature, who is light, in connection with the creature (seen in creation, Ezek. 28:13; in grace, in the high priest’s breastplate, Ex. 28:15-21), now shone in permanent glory and adorned the foundations of the city. The gates had the moral beauty which attracted — Christ in the assembly, and in a glorious way. That on which men walked, instead of bringing danger of defilement, was itself righteous and holy; the streets, all that men came in contact with, were righteousness and holiness — gold transparent as glass.” Gold all through Scripture is divine righteousness. White linen is practical human righteousness. When the bride puts on the white raiment (Rev. 19:8), it is her practical righteousness. If you were to put a little bit of white linen into the fire, it would soon be destroyed, but put a bit of gold in, and it stands the test. That is the whole point. Gold is divine righteousness, and you and I stand before God on the ground of divine righteousness, in Christ.
The Precious Stones
As we have seen, we have these precious stones in Scripture three times. In the Garden of Eden they are seen in connection with creation; then in Exodus 28, where they are seen in the breastplate of the high priest, it is evidently a question of grace for a failing people. But when we see these same stones in the foundation of the heavenly city, the thought suggested is permanent glory. Those stones of varied hue bring out the varied qualities of God, made known through His people. There will be different rays of His glory reflected through them, illustrated by these different precious stones, which are the emblems employed to set forth the luster of God’s saints in heavenly glory, and the way in which He displays the varied beauty which He sees in them. It would be an immense pity if all the saints were like a cartload of bricks — all the same shape and color. Just as there are not two leaves of the forest alike, so there are not two saints of God alike. All are alike in being saved by grace, but all are different in the expression of that grace.
W. T. P. Wolston (adapted)
Five Smooth Stones
“David ... chose him five smooth stones out of the brook” (1 Sam. 17:40).
He walks toward the mighty foe;
There is a pause;
He must bend down, position low,
The stones to choose.
The flowing stream made smooth by time
Those five choice stones;
The Word of God, read and made mine;
Ready to use.
It takes but one, with careful aim—
A verse applied;
To fell the giant, victory gain
O’er many a sin.
On bended knee, our “stream” His Word,
We gather “stones”;
With prayerful use, our strength the Lord,
The victory win.
cph