Little Stones and Growth – Part 2

(Eph. 4:7,13-16,  Matt. 28:18-20,  Rev. 21:10-14)

We are being built together by the Spirit operating among us.  His goal is a church without spot or wrinkle, and a weapon which the gates of hell cannot withstand.  These are two of the pictures we have of what God is doing in and through His people.  Are we with His purpose, His program?  When Jesus walked upon the earth, the Lord clarified His purpose and His nature.  Jesus did not raise up an earthly army.  He did not wage a holy war, a crusade.  He brought a revelation of God as Father to all who would come to Him.  This assembling of living stones has the same purpose.  From the time of Jesus’ years upon the earth, God has been in the business of pursuing and bringing home those that are lost and restoring them to His original intention.

We must say yes to Him and follow Him.  This is the way of disciples.  The 12 were close to Him, walking with Him every day for 3-1/2 years.  And they continued after that as He appeared over 40 days and then came to them by the Spirit.  As He said from then on He remains with disciples always, even to the end of the age.  And we will be with Him, and He with us, forever.  The Spirt comes to reveal Christ to us and in us.  As He leads us into all truth, the measure of Christ in us increases.  We are becoming those precious stones set in place in the wall of the city.  It is for us to cooperate with the work of His Spirit, maintaining a welcome place for Him.

Some years ago a man visited the fellowship I was with and taught over a weekend.  He had a real and practical grasp of the truth that we are seated with Christ above principalities and powers, the dark rulers of this present evil age.  That means all those forces are below us.  We are not under constant attack of the enemy.  And we do not overcome him with yelling and shouting.  Now there is a time for a shout, for loud praises, for our voices to be lifted like trumpets.  But overcoming can be quiet.  It comes from a place of rest in Him, the source of strength.  We overcome evil with good. 

After the teaching which had a strong basis in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, I had a picture in my spirit.  I saw us as living stones built on one another with self-giving love as the mortar.  The stones, that is us, were expanding.  They were growing so that the entire building was growing.  It is a living wall, of a living city, even a bride.  Recall Nebuchadnezzar’s dream as recorded by Daniel.  A stone is cut from the mountain, and after it destroys the kingdoms of the earth it becomes a great mountain, filling the earth.  So here we are, by the working of Spirit, becoming that mountain to fill the whole earth and bring the light of Christ to the nations.

In our own eyes, we may see ourselves as little.  It is wise not to be self-reliant and not to think of ourselves too highly.  But we are unwise if we diminish the work God has accomplished in us.  Jesus knew who He was as He walked the earth, the land called Israel.  He did have to flaunt it.  When He knew the miracles would draw crowds, He told the one restored to tell no one.  But He could not avoid the crowds.  People came out of their need.  For some, it appears that is all they wanted.  That is the danger of being satisfied with the gift and not seeing past the wonder to see the Giver.

The stone that Christ is was rejected by many but is the foundation of mankind.  He is creator and was manifest in the person of Jesus.  So the Spirit moved men to write, He has become the chief cornerstone.  Jesus Christ Himself grew into this so that we might see the potential for maturing in ourselves.  That same Spirit that raised Him from the dead so raises us.  It is the yeast of the kingdom that fills the whole lump.  But don’t think this is for you alone.  We should know by now we cannot fulfill His purpose by ourselves.  For He has created us in Christ as a many-membered body.

Little Stones and Growth

(Prov. 16:18,  Eph. 4:7,13-16,  Mat. 16:18,  Gal. 2:11,14,  2 Pet. 3:14-16, Rev. 21:10-14)

One of the problems among us as disciples is our innate desire to be somebody.  Pride goes before destruction and a cocky attitude before a failure.  I have paraphrased the reference in Proverbs.  The disciples and the women who traveled alongside them with Jesus had a first-hand, PhD level, course in humility.  Jesus’ strength of character is unmatched among humanity.  No one comes close.  The Roman soldier standing by as He yielded up His spirit, recognized Him as a true Son of God.  He bore the pain and humility of that most heinous torture as no one else.  Here He displayed the ultimate demonstration of what it means to be filled with the Spirit.

As I prayed, I thought again of Jesus’ definition of maturity, that we love our enemies and bless them that curse us.  Jesus confronted those who opposed Him in ways that were intended for their spiritual eyes to be opened.  At the end, He allowed them to destroy His body, knowing that He, that His Father, would raise Him up.  Yes, His person is a mystery yet we know it is true.  But I am thinking of true humility.

I think the essence of it is related to knowing our identity as our Father’s sons yet remaining totally submissive to Him.  Humility knows that we are not Him.  And we are not “better’ than anyone else.  We are all on the same plane when we consider the cross and what the Son of God did.  The gospels and the record of Acts provide the story of those early disciples learning the lessons, of growing into the stature the Lord intended.  Look at Peter’s life and progress.

It would take many words to trace Peter’s experiences with Jesus.  I think most of you reading this know something of those stories and we have many.  A Bible website I use indicates his name is mentioned 153 times.  He is an example for us all as we see his mistakes, his failures.  He followed Jesus.  He did not want to leave Him.  But Peter had to see all of the weakness that was in him, all of the words and intentions that could only be fulfilled when he received the fulness of the Spirit at Pentecost.  And Peter still had some imperfections after that.  See the words in Galatians.  They are very significant for our day, as they were at that beginning of the Lord building His church.  But that is another message.

I have heard perspectives on the meaning of Jesus’ words to Peter when he recognized Jesus for who He is.  The Greek word for rock does not imply a little stone   Further, while the revelation of Christ is foundational to spiritual life, Jesus did build His church upon Peter.  What?  No, I am not agreeing with false teachings of the Roman variety.  Jesus’ church does not need, or have, a single head leader.  Christ is the singular head of the body, the rest of us are His members as God has grafted us into Him.  How has Jesus built His church upon Peter?  Read the passage in Revelation and see that the foundation of the heavenly city includes Peter as a precious stone.

This is not a future reality but a present one.  Now it is true that we do not yet fully see this but the Lord is now seated in the heavens and Peter and the rest of the 12 are with Him.  And spiritually speaking we are seated with Him and them in the heavens.  The cloud of witnesses are not far off, nor is the Lord, by the Spirit.  He is here!  And we here are built together as precious stones fitted into the wall of this house the Lord is building to be a place He can reside.

At the time of his clear revelation of Jesus as the Christ, Peter was still immature for in the next few moments he heard Jesus say, “Get out of my way for I must fulfill the will of God.”  Read that full passage also.  But Peter was being prepared to fulfill a ministry which would end with his death being a witness of Christ.  In his life he was a witness of and to Christ in powerful ways as divine healing flowed as his shadow fell on people.  Yet he was able to be corrected by Paul and honor that other apostle.  They remain on equal footing for the foundation of the heavenly city has 12 stones, Christ Jesus being the chief cornerstone.  There is no other.

Teachers and Fathers

(John 1:12-13, 1 John  2:12-14, 1 Cor. 4:14-21)

After the revelation on Patmos, John more clearly expressed many aspects of our spiritual lives.  I have come to deeply appreciate how he describes our growth.  In John 1, we read that as we receive Him, Christ, we have the potential to become born-ones of God.  I used to think our reception of Him is the fact of a new birth.  Whoops!  I hear my analytical side getting in the way.  Scratch that last sentence.  Receiving Him is all important and spiritual life begins.  Like it happens with a seed hidden beneath the surface, a shoot, a sprout, erupts.  It is not by a formula we can analyze.  It is according to a working of His Spirit and the process begins.  He makes all things new.  Everyday. We cannot make any of it happen.  It is our part to be workable, malleable, good lumps of clay.  Let Him work you into shape. Then we are fit to cooperate with Him.  Receiving Him is the start and provides the ability to grow.

John continues to speak to us about growth in his first letter.  There, he refers to believers as children, young men, and fathers.  When we see a repetition in the words we read in the Bible, we should pay close attention.  We will simply because of that repetition itself.  John addresses each season of growth twice.  He leaves no one out.  See how he refers to the little children and fathers both as knowing God.  The difference is that fathers have a greater sense of the eternal.  Are we knowing Him who was from the beginning?  Moses was 80 years old when he met the One who called Himself I AM.  Our eternal destiny is the main thing.  That is what the Lord has in mind.  A vast family of sons who are full grown.  They know the patience of God and lack nothing.

A father gives life.  He imparts a seed that causes conception.  As we mature, we impart spiritual life to people.  Paul echoes that thought to the Corinthians.  He had a fatherly care for them.  His words to them were firm but not harsh.  They were an immature bunch.  He warned them he might have to be severe if they did not listen and respond.  He carefully addressed the issue of marriage with them recognizing their humanity.  We can have many teachers but we need true fathers.  Firm but gentle.  It can be our greatest challenge.  And it is the transforming work of the Lord by His Spirit.  Christ in us meets every challenge and His life overcomes.  The faith of the Son of God becoming our faith.  This is the way to overcoming.

The young men overcome the evil one.  The truth is that we have an enemy that is a person, a spiritual being.  He stirs up thoughts, uses other people, and wants to harm us.  We may find he has ground in us but the Lord is our freedom fighter.  His way is grace and the cross where He destroyed the fear of even death.  John writes that we turn from loving this world.  Jesus told us not to love our lives.  The young men are those who have eaten the Lord’s words and digested them.  The word of God has a home in them.  So they have overcome the evil one.  If he comes, they have the means to resist him and he will leave.  He goes to look for others to trouble. We begin as children.  We may see that some grow very quickly, seemingly much faster than others.  Growth is expected, it simply happens.  A child needs care, nourishment and the experiences of discovering and using its body.  First is the natural, then the spiritual.  Now we read in Rev. 12:3 that a child is born mature.  We understand this woman who gives birth is the church, the bride, the wife of the Lamb.  It indicates a working of God’s Spirit that gives birth to a nation of priests for God in a day.  While our response is to look for something to yet happen, may we see that we are members of that bride, so close in spirit to Christ that our lives of intercession bear such ones to the Lord.  While we may not have this experience we can grow into it.  It is part of the process.  Jesus’ words are spirit and they are life.  He will put His words in our mouths and we will impart life to others.  Stay rooted and grounded in Him and growth is certain.