Stones

 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 17
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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. 32:22And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. (Isaiah 32:2)), but also the Rock on which the church shall be built (Matt. 16:1818And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)), a rock of habitation (Psa. 71:33Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress. (Psalm 71:3) JND), the rock of my heart (Psa. 73:2626My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. (Psalm 73:26) JND), “the rock that followed them” (1 Cor. 10:44And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 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. 21:4444And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. (Matthew 21:44)).
J. C. Bayley (adapted)