The Believers (1)
Message Five
Living Stones and Sheep
THE EXTRACT OF THE OUTLINES
Scripture reading:
1 Pet. 2:4-5 Coming to Him, a living stone, rejected by men but with God chosen and precious, You yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house into a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
I. The believers are symbolized by living stones, who are transformed by Christ’s stone nature to become God’s spiritual house—1 Pet. 2:4-5: (Monday)
A. We, the believers in Christ, through regeneration and transformation, have become living stones, like Christ; the growth of this seed within us transforms us into living stones—1 Pet. 1:23-24, 2:4-5.
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B. Christ is the living stone, the foundation stone, the cornerstone, and the topstone in God’s building; the believers in Christ are transformed into living precious stones for the building of the church as God’s spiritual house—1 Cor. 3:11, Isa. 28:16, 1 Pet. 2:5-7. (Tuesday)
C. Christ as the stone has seven eyes, which signify the sevenfold intensified Spirit; we all need to be under the enlightening of the seven lamps, be searched by the seven eyes, and receive the life dispensing of the sevenfold intensified Spirit—Zech. 3:9, 4:2-14.
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D. Eventually, the corporate Christ will come as a stone to crush the aggregate of human government in order to bring in the kingdom of God; we should pray-read the word of the Lord to experience the sword as the slaying weapon—Dan. 2:34-35, Rev. 19:15a, Eph. 6:17-18. (Wednesday)
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II. The believers are symbolized by sheep, who are under the organic shepherding of Christ—John 10:11-16, Heb. 13:20: (Thursday)
A. The Lord Himself comes as the Shepherd to search for His sheep; the Lord brings His sheep back to their own land and upon the high mountains, that is, Christ as the Canaan good land and the resurrected and ascended Christ—Ezek. 34:11-14, Col. 1:12.
B. The Lord brings His sheep back to the streams and feeds His flock by the streams, signifying that He feeds the believers with His riches—Ezek. 34:13, 1 Cor. 12:13.
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C. The Lord brings His sheep back to the good and rich pasture and causes the sheep to lie down, indicating that He gives them inward rest—Ezek. 34:14-15, John 10:9. (Friday)
D. The Lord binds up the broken and strengthens the weak; the Lord executes righteous judgments so that we may have genuine oneness with the saints and become one flock—Ezek. 34:16, 17-22, Zech. 10:3.
E. Christ is the real David, set up as the Shepherd to feed us, to cause us to be filled and satisfied, and to cause us to obey Him as our King—Ezek. 34:23, Psa. 23.
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F. When we remain under the Lord’s kingship, we enjoy His secure and unchanging covenant of peace; the Lord breaks the yoke we bear and promises that we will dwell securely—Ezek. 37:24-28. (Saturday)
G. By experiencing the Lord’s shepherding, God’s recovered people have God’s presence and also enjoy His blessing; for us to receive the Lord’s blessing, we must practice the oneness and be in one accord—Ezek. 34:26, 30-31, Psa. 133.
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Coming to Him, a living stone, rejected by men but with God chosen and precious, you yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house…—1 Pet. 2:4-5.
For thus says the Lord Jehovah, I Myself, even I, will search for My sheep and seek them out—Ezek. 34:11.
I Myself will shepherd My flock, and I will cause them to lie down, declares the Lord Jehovah—Ezek. 34:15.
Word of Appetizer
This message brings us to know two other symbols of believers—living stones and sheep. Stones are hard, while sheep are weak; this speaks of the fact that as believers, we are strong on the one hand and weak on the other. Why does the Bible use these two symbols to symbolize believers?
Living stones are never isolated, but are for the corporate building up of a spiritual house; sheep are also always in a flock. Both the house and the flock signify the church, so the two symbols of living stones and sheep are highly significant in God’s economy. We can use petrified wood as an illustration of transformation: as water flows over and through the wood over a long period of time, on the one hand, the element of wood is carried away; on the other hand, the element of stone is brought in to replace the element of wood, and in this way, the wood becomes stone. We were originally clay, but through such a process of transformation, we become living stones for God’s building.
Spiritual Burden
Believers are symbolized by living stones, transformed by the stone nature of Christ to become God’s spiritual house; believers are also symbolized by sheep under the organic shepherding of Christ.
The way for us to become living stones is to come to Him and be examined by Him; when the Lord enlightens and judges us, He looks at us and infuses Himself into us, transforming us into His image; we all need to be under the enlightening of the seven lamps, under the searching of the seven eyes, and receive the dispensing of life by the sevenfold intensified Spirit.
The Lord Himself came as a Shepherd to search for His sheep and seek them out; when we experience the Lord’s shepherding and remain under His kingship, we enjoy His secure and unchanging covenant of peace, and under the showering rain, we become a source of blessing.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Believers are symbolized by living stones, transformed by the stone nature of Christ to become God’s spiritual house.
Christ is the living stone, the foundation stone, the cornerstone, and the topstone in God’s building; Christ as the stone has seven eyes, which signify the seven Spirits of God, that is, the sevenfold intensified Spirit.
Ultimately, the corporate Christ, that is, Christ with His overcoming bride, will come as a stone to smash the aggregate of human government to bring in the kingdom of God.
Believers are symbolized by sheep under the organic shepherding of Christ.
The Experience of Life
We, the believers in Christ, have become living stones, like Christ, through regeneration and transformation; we were originally made of clay, but at regeneration, we received the seed of the divine life, and as this seed grows within us, it transforms us into living stones. When Christ, the living stone of the grace of God, is constituted into our being through our subjective experience of Him, He becomes a pillow for our rest, making us pillars in God’s building.
The Lord binds up the injured and strengthens the weak; through His cherishing and nourishing, He makes every weak sheep a swift horse in battle. The One who nourishes and supplies us gives us an accurate sense regarding our relationship with others; when we have such a sense, we judge ourselves, with the result that we have true true oneness with the saints and become one flock.
Practice and Application
For us to be constituted with Christ and mingled with Him to become the corporate smiting stone, His corporate overcoming warriors, we need the smiting word to deal with the enemy; we should pray-read the word of the Lord to experience the sword as a smiting weapon.
Through the Lord’s shepherding, He brings us into the enjoyment of His blessing and makes us a source of blessing under the showering rain; in order to receive the Lord’s blessing, we must practice the oneness, and to practice the oneness is to be in one accord.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1: We, the believers in Christ, through regeneration and transformation, have become living stones (1 Pet. 2:4-5; John 1:42)
(Please illustrate how we, who were originally made of clay, can become living stones through the process of transformation.)
T2: Christ and His believers are stones for God’s building (John 1:42; Matt. 16:16-18)
(Please illustrate on what two things the Lord deeply impressed Peter so that he could see this revelation.)
Day 2
T1: Christ is the foundation stone, the cornerstone, and the topstone in God’s building (Isa. 28:16; Eph. 2:20; Zech. 4:7)
(Please illustrate what function Christ as a stone has in each of these three aspects for God’s building.)
T2: Christ as the stone has seven eyes, which signify the seven Spirits of God (Zech. 3:9; 4:10; Rev. 5:6)
(Please illustrate what the functions of the seven lamps and the seven eyes are, and how we should receive the dispense of life from the sevenfold intensified Spirit.)
Day 3
T1: Christ is the stone cut out without hands, who will crush human government to bring in the kingdom of God (Dan. 2:34-35)
(Please illustrate what three aspects there are concerning the Bible’s revelation of Christ as a stone.)
T2: We should pray-read the word of the Lord to experience the sword as a slaying weapon (Eph. 6:17-18)
(Please illustrate why we need to experience the killing power of the word to deal with the adversary within.)
Day 4
T1: The Lord Himself came as a shepherd to seek His sheep and search them out (Ezek. 34:11-12; Luke 15:3-7)
(Please illustrate how the Lord brings us out from the peoples and brings us to Himself.)
T2: The Lord brings His sheep back to their own land, upon the high mountains, and by the streams (Ezek. 34:13-14; Col. 1:12)
(Please illustrate what the land, the high mountains, and the streams respectively signify.)
Day 5
T1: The Lord feeds us in a good pasture and causes us to lie down (Ezek. 34:14-15; Psa. 23:2)
(Please illustrate what the pasture signifies and what lying down indicates.)
T2: Christ is the true David, set up as a shepherd to care for every aspect of our living (Ezek. 34:23; Psa. 23)
(Please illustrate that since the Lord cares for us as a shepherd, how we should simply trust in Him.)
Day 6
T1: We enjoy the Lord’s secure and unchanging covenant of peace, and are no longer troubled and disturbed spiritually (Ezek. 34:25-28)
(Please illustrate how, under the Lord’s shepherding, we experience the evil beasts being eliminated, the yoke being broken, and dwelling securely.)
T2: The Lord brings us to enjoy His blessing, and causes us to become a source of blessing under the showers of blessing (Ezek. 34:26-27; Gen. 12:2-3)
(Please illustrate what we must practice to receive the Lord’s blessing.)
