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.
