The matter of the building of the church was revealed by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 16 after Peter recognized that the Lord Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God (v. 16). The Lord said to him, “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (v. 18). After the matter of building was first revealed by the Lord Jesus, it was mentioned again by Peter in his preaching to the leaders of the Jews. He stood before them and told them that Jesus Christ was not only the Savior but also the stone for God’s building (Acts 4:11-12).
In the Bible Christ is revealed as at least nine kinds of stones. He is the eternal rock (Isa. 26:4; Matt. 16:18), the foundation stone (Isa. 28:16; 1 Cor. 3:11), the living stone (1 Pet. 2:4), the cornerstone (v. 6; Acts 4:11; Eph. 2:20; Psa. 118:22; Isa. 28:16), the precious stone (v. 16; 1 Pet. 2:4, 6-7), the topstone (Zech. 4:7), the cleft rock (Exo. 17:6; 1 Cor. 10:4), the crushing stone (Dan. 2:34-35; Matt. 21:44b), and the stone of stumbling (Isa. 8:14; Rom. 9:33).
In ancient times the Jews built their dwellings with three main kinds of stones: a foundation stone, a cornerstone, and a topstone. They had flat roofs rather than sloping roofs. Godly people used the flat roofs for prayer. For example, Acts 10:9b says, “Peter went up on the housetop to pray.” The Jewish method of construction was to make the foundation with a large rock, then to set up the cornerstone as a support, the equivalent of today’s column, and to finish by placing the topstone as the roof. We should recognize that today the topstone has not yet been placed on God’s building. One day Christ will be placed on God’s building as the topstone. According to Zechariah 4:7, at that time all the people of God will shout, “Grace, grace to it.”
As the cleft rock, Christ is not for building but for flowing out the living water. He is the rock that was smitten and cleft on the cross to flow out His eternal life as our living water (John 19:34). In contrast, Christ is the foundation stone, the cornerstone, and the topstone, not to be our supply but to be the very material for God’s building. We may therefore call Him the Stone-Jesus. This title is altogether scriptural. If we believe in the Lord Jesus, we need to see that He is the Stone-Jesus. He is not muddy but solid and strong. He is the rock.
In Daniel 2:34-35 Christ is revealed as the crushing stone, who comes to destroy the totality of human government, represented by the human image (vv. 31-33). In Matthew 21:44, concerning this stone the Lord Jesus told the people, “On whomever it falls, it shall crush him to powder and scatter him like chaff.” Christ is the crushing stone, not toward the believers but toward the unbelieving Gentiles. Christ is also revealed as a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense toward the unbelieving Jews (Isa. 8:14; Rom. 9:33; 1 Pet. 2:8).
There are three basic categories of people on the earth—the Jews, the Gentiles, and the believers in Christ. Christ is related to each of these categories of people as different kinds of stones. To the believers Christ is the eternal rock, the foundation stone, the living stone, the cornerstone, the precious stone, the topstone, and the cleft rock. These are items of Christ as a stone in a positive sense. In a negative sense, Christ will be a crushing stone to the unbelieving Gentiles and a stone of stumbling to the unbelieving Jews. Thus, Christ is related to every kind of person on the earth. No one can say that Christ has nothing to do with him or her.
In Acts 4 the apostle Peter stood before the Jewish leaders and testified that the Christ whom he was preaching was the Stone-Savior, good not only for saving but also for building (vv. 11-12). Christ is the material for God’s building. Today this Christ is working Himself into us. The One who is the foundation stone, the cornerstone, and the topstone is now being wrought into us. By our natural birth we are not stone but clay (Gen. 2:7). In order for clay to become stone, the stone element must come into it. This will cause the clay to be transformed into stone. Transformation requires another element to be added to the original element. Petrified wood becomes stone not by the wood being changed in itself but by the element of certain minerals being wrought into the wood. In like manner, we who are clay do not need to change our “clay” nature; rather, we need to have Christ’s stone nature added into us.
One way to have Christ’s element added into us is to call on the name of the Lord. We should not despise calling on the name of the Lord Jesus; it is not a small thing. If you play with calling on the name of the Lord, you may be caught. I know of a young man who was mocking our practice of calling on the name of the Lord, jokingly repeating, “O Lord Jesus, O Lord Jesus.” The next morning something happened to this young man. He could not smoke cigarettes anymore, and something within him urged him to go to the people whom he had been mocking. He was unconsciously caught by calling on the name of the Lord, for when he called, Jesus came into him. One person may open the door to the Lord by calling in a proper way, and another may open the door by calling in a mocking way, but regardless of the way, as long as the door is open, the Lord will come in.
Calling on the name of the Lord is not something that is done in vain, for Jesus is real and present. If a person is real, living, and near to us, whenever we call that person’s name, that person will come to us. Jesus is real and living; He is present and available. Therefore, when we call His name, He will come to us and will enter into us. Hymns, #208 says, “O Jesus, Jesus, dearest Lord! / Forgive me if I say, / For very love, Thy sacred name / A thousand times a day.” The words of this hymn should not be an exaggeration to us. A sister may be bored while washing the dishes at home. The best way for her to make her task a pleasant experience is for her to call on the name of the Lord while she is working. Whenever we call on the Lord’s name, we taste Him, for He is living, real, present, and available.
It is Satan’s subtlety to allow people to believe in Jesus and pray to Jesus but in a dumb way. Although we may believe in Jesus and receive Him as our Savior, if we do not call on His name, it will be difficult for us to enjoy Him. Today the Lord Jesus is working Himself into our being for God’s building. One way for Him to work Himself into us is by our calling on His name. We may not be convinced of this, but if we will simply call on the name of the Lord Jesus for three minutes, we will never be the same. We can read the whole Bible and still remain the same, but if we call, “O Lord Jesus!” for three minutes, we can never be the same because Jesus will work Himself into us.
Once the divine element, which is Jesus Himself, enters into us, this element is not silent. On the contrary, this element is aggressive and active, working, moving, and stirring in us to trouble us. If we call on the Lord one evening, the next morning something within us will begin rebuking, bothering, directing, and checking us, all the time saying no. We may be thinking of going to the theater, but something within will say no. If we are planning to play basketball, something within may say no. Perhaps when we are planning to buy a particular pair of shoes, something within will say no. Surely, we have all had this kind of troubling. This is Jesus troubling us and stirring within us. I like this kind of stirring and troubling.
Every kind of cooking is a kind of “troubling.” Cooking beef by placing it in a hot oven “troubles” the beef. Today we are under the “cooking” of the Lord by His stirring within to trouble us. Day by day He is troubling us. Even today I had a brief time with the Lord that was not very pleasant. I was thinking of saying something to please myself, but the troubling Jesus within said no. Those who were with me did not hear Him, but I heard Him clearly. He is working within us, and His working is metabolically transforming us. Thus, we will never be the same. We are all pieces of natural wood, but the heavenly flow is daily flowing through us with the heavenly element. Eventually, we will all be “petrified” to become precious stones. This is the way the Lord is building His church today.