LIVING STONES
V. E. Wraighte
1 Peter 2: 1–5; 1 Kings 5: 17; 1 Samuel 17: 40
The apostle Peter in writing to these saints of the dispersion says, “If indeed ye have tasted that the Lord is good”. What it would have meant to those saints to read this letter. We sang on Lord’s day, ‘We own no other Lord’, He is to command our full allegiance, and no other. For the Christian there is no other. There are
“lords many” 1 Corinthians 8: 5), but for the believer there is no other lord. Peter is writing about something he had proved for himself—tasting that the Lord is good. Have we tasted the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ? What does He mean to us? I believe that the Spirit of God would freshly bring home to our souls that, as we have been hearing, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed (see 1 Corinthians 15: 51). These bodies of ours, these bodies of humiliation, are to be changed into conformity to His body of glory, the One whom we own as Lord, that blessed Person.
But then Peter goes on to allude to the Lord Jesus in this figure of “a living stone”—“To whom coming ... a living stone, cast away indeed as worthless by men, but with God chosen, precious ...”. Think of it; that One who did the will of God here; as far as men are concerned, they have cast Him away; and not just cast Him away, but the word says, “as worthless”.
Then we have “but with God chosen, precious”. Is that so with us? I am sure it is, that with us He is chosen and precious. But what one particularly had in mind is the touch as to the saints being living stones. The first scripture would give us ample proof that we can refer to the saints as living stones in this wonderful structure that is being built at the present moment—a structure that is going to bear the glory of God, a wonderful structure that God is building.
The question, I believe, is as to whether we are really in the hand of the One who is forming and fashioning these stones that are to be in the structure in reality, in life. The apostle goes on to speak of the living stones as “being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ”. It is by that glorious Person.
In 1 Kings “the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, hewn stones”. I believe that we are to look upon every one that is the subject of the work of God—those who have received the Holy Spirit—as great stones. The smaller we are in our own eyes and in our own estimation, the greater we are morally and spiritually. Young ones, young believers, are to be looked upon as great stones in the wonderful, spiritual edifice that is being raised at the present moment.
Then there are costly stones. How it touches our hearts as we think of what is precious, what is costly, what it has cost our Saviour. It cost Him not only His going into death, but His precious blood being shed, that such as we should be secured—costly stones, precious stones.
I believe that in a practical way it would help us as to how we hold ourselves. Do we hold ourselves in relation to the One who has given His all? It is not only a question of what we may do with our hands, or where our feet may take us, but of our bodies. They are temple of the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 6: 19). They have cost our Lord so much; they belong to Him. How do we adorn them; how do we hold them? Have we laid down our bodies upon the altar, that we may be wholly available as costly stones in this spiritual house that is to bear the glory of God?
Then it says, “hewn stones”. Maybe we can go back and see the way that we have been touched by a special word, perhaps a word in the glad tidings, but I think we can see too the sovereign operations of God in new birth, all connected with what is hewn. There is the work that goes in to making the stone what it is. We have oft referred to the
much suffering that there is among the beloved saints; but think of the hand of God behind it all in view of the preparation of the stones which are being fitted into this wonderful, spiritual structure that is to bear the glory of God. May we find our part as under the hand of the One who is using in love the skill that belongs to Him, in fitting these stones to have their part in this wonderful structure, this spiritual house, the assembly.
In 1 Samuel 17 David goes down into the valley to the watercourse. I wonder whether we really know what it is to go down into the valley, to the brook. Think of the death of Christ and all that it means. Think of these five smooth stones in the watercourse—more were there, but David takes five out of the brook and puts them into his shepherd’s bag; but only one is used for the slaying of the Philistine. I believe that there is a certain testing time connected with this, as to whether the Spirit’s work by way of formation is going on that there might on the one hand be reduction, but on the other hand this smoothing process, in view of stones being available in the hand of the true David. It was just one that David took out of the shepherd’s bag that met the requirement in this conflict.
But then there was a period of waiting, and Scripture tells us later that there were four relatives of Goliath that were slain by the hand of David and his servants (2 Samuel 21). I believe that is very significant; we should know what it is in our exercises to be near to the death of Christ and subject to the operations of the power of the Spirit in the smoothing and manipulating of the stones in view of being serviceable to our David, that we might be available to Him. Yet the waiting time often tests us. Matters arise and
there are to be, as in the shepherd’s bag, stones available for His use at any given moment.
Well, it was just this in mind, dear brethren, that we might be encouraged, as under the hand of our Lord, to be available as stones in this spiritual house, and then, too, available for Him at any given moment for His use. May we thus be encouraged and helped, for His name’s sake.
Word in meeting for ministry, Helston
10 June 1980