Don't Lose Heart in the Quarry!

An Exhortation to "Living Stones"

by Matthew Chapman

 

 

  Throughout the New Testament we can find many different names ascribed to Christians. The Lord Jesus refers to us as the light of the world, the salt of the earth, wheat, sons of the kingdom, and sheep, to name a few. In other places, designations such as aliens, believers, children of light, disciples, priests, saints, vessels of honor, and witnesses, are used. But the Apostle Peter refers to us in a way that not only draws clear attention to God's eternal purpose for His people, but, if understood in that context, serves as a powerful and encouraging reminder that we can draw from for help in the struggles we face each day.

And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  (1 Peter 2:4-5)

  The Lord, through Peter, is telling us here that those of us who are born of His Spirit are the "living stones"-the building material-whom He is using to construct a "spiritual house." Is this something you have an abiding and increasing revelation of? Do you go through life each day with a vibrant heart-awareness of this reality? Living our lives in Jesus while walking on the earth will sure work better if we do. Paul said he ran his race through this life "with aim," and he encourages us to also "run in such a way that [we] may win" (1 Cor. 9:24-27). In other words, Paul had a specific heart-focus that he maintained regardless of where he happened to be or what circumstances he found himself in, and the Lord, through him, exhorts us to do the same. How can we do this if we have no understanding of what the Lord is ultimately desiring to accomplish in our lives?

  When I was 19 and a brand new Christian, I worked for a man in East Texas who owned a cattle company. Now working for this man was definitely no picnic, and by this time I clearly understood from the scriptures that I was to work for him "heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men" (Col. 3:22-25). We would typically start our day at the working pens, sorting out the cattle that had been shipped in the night before from the auction where he had purchased them the previous day. He would stand at the end of the not-too-long alley with a group of cattle, some papers in his left hand, and a whip in his right. I was standing down from him, manning four different gates to four different pens. He would cull one out and send it running down the alley and bark out the number of the pen he wanted that one to go into. "Four!" "One!" "Three!" "One!" "Four!" "Two!"

  Needless to say, I was running frantically trying to stay ahead of both the cattle and this man's explosive temper. But he always sent more my way than was humanly possible to properly handle, and inevitably one would slip into a pen it wasn't supposed to go into or I would get the pen number mixed up and let one into the wrong pen. He would then get red in the face and yell and curse at me, and often use the opportunity to throw in choice comments about the Bible I carried in my hip pocket. We would then have to stop and cull out the one I messed up on and get it into the right pen. Then this process would start all over.

  You can imagine how frustrating going through this routine was, day after day. The most frustrating part of it was that he would never communicate "his will," or, to put it another way, he would never give me any overview of what he was wanting to accomplish. Had I known, for example, that he was wanting all the Brahman-cross calves in Pen One, the bred heifers in Pen Two, the pairs in Pen Three, and the bulls and steers in Pen Four, I could have much better cooperated with what was going on. But in my vulnerable ignorance, I ran around energetically trying to do the very best job possible-and thus fulfill a good portion of God's will for my life at that time (re: the Lord's commandments from that Col. 3:22-25 passage)-and yet I spent a lot of time feeling distraught and defeated.

  Let me ask you, is this the way you feel as you go through life? Are you expending a great deal of energy endeavoring to do God's will, and yet often feel unsure of His "game plan"? Does this uncertainty leave you feeling guilty and even condemned because you are never quite sure if you are truly doing the right thing or not? Well, saints, we can be thankful our Lord is not like that hard-hearted cattleman. He wants us to understand His will (i.e., possess some degree of His overview for our lives; Eph. 5:15-17, John 15:15) and run our race well in the practical situations of daily life. I'm not saying that He will explain to us every minute detail about what He wants and why, no more than it would be appropriate for us to do so with our children. We must still walk by faith, having total trust in Him, rather than sitting dead still when He is leading and refusing to move until our little pea-brain understands everything first. But if we are continuing in active faith and yet "lacking wisdom," He will encourage our faith by speaking to us what we need at the time (James 1:2-8), and He will never allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to bear (1 Cor. 10:13).

  Yet here is where an interesting dynamic comes into play. Though the Lord Himself does not relate as "that hard-hearted cattleman" toward His children, there are nevertheless seasons in life, both short-term and long-term, when He allows "that hard-hearted cattleman" into our lives. Why? Because we need him! Referring back to my story, I did not realize it until a good while later, but the time that the Lord had me working for that cattle company was part of some very necessary "quarry time" that His "living stone" named Matthew Chapman desperately needed!

  "Now what in the world does he mean by that?" you may be wondering. That is a good question, and one I hope to answer in this article. To do so, I would like to first give some overview, and then I will follow with some practical encouragement we "living stones" need today.

 

"...For The Joy Set Before Him..."

  If we are going to "run in such a way that we may win," we must go to the ultimate question, for without at least some revelation of its answer we will be short-sighted in our "aim" while journeying through "the race" of this life. Why did the Lord create the heavens and the earth and man and all that He did, knowing:

1. Adam and Eve would fall into sin, resulting in spiritual death and separation from Him, and that this would be passed down to all their descendants after them,
2. The demonic realm would use their fall in order to seize and infest His creation, and continually manipulate the masses of humanity into further corruption and rebellion toward Him (Eph. 2:1-2), and
3. That out of the billions of people who would pass through the spectrum of time, only a tiny percentage would humbly appreciate and actually receive by faith the sacrifice of the Lamb of God for their sin, whereas the vast majority would reject Him?

  If the Lord, who is the Beginning and the End, foreknew these things, then why did He bother with creation only to incur so much hostility and pain from sinful man as a result (cf. Ezk. 6:9)? Another way of asking this question comes in considering these verses of scripture:

  What does it mean for someone to "resolutely set [their] face" to do something? It means that they are fully intent on what they have set out to do and will not allow themselves to be deterred. Jesus had so resolutely set His face to go to Jerusalem that He walked on ahead of His disciples in such a way that it made them "amazed" and even "fearful." Now remember that by the time this event took place, these men had lived with Jesus for several years. To say the least, they had become accustomed to unusual and atypical things happening as they walked with the Lord. Yet there was something about the manner in which He did this that they had never seen in Him before. What was Jesus so focused on? What was it that so filled His heart, causing His demeanor to be so markedly different, that the impression it made on the disciples warranted special mention in the scriptures?

...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.   (Hebrews 12:2)

  The Lamb of God had "the joy set before Him." This joy made the brutality of the cross, the horror and shame of bearing the sin of the world, along with its resulting separation from the Father, and yes, even the trouble and pain of creation, all worthwhile. What was the joy He was looking to? Or, more accurately, who was the joy He was looking to? The Lord Jesus "resolutely set His face" to lay hold of His bride! The Apostle Paul makes this clear:

The reason why the Lord Jesus came to the earth and did all that He did, despite the fact that billions would reject Him, was so that He might become "the way" for His bride to come into being (John 14:6)! The above scripture states clearly that He did this "for her," and thus He did it for all the individual saints who compose "her" (cf. Titus 2:14 -15). Incorporating the saints from throughout the ages into the bride of Christ, the wife of the Lamb, is God's ultimate purpose for man (Heb. 11:39-12:3). His purpose includes us as individuals, but is of a much greater scope than merely us as individuals. And everything in the outworking of God's eternal purpose on the earth is ultimately moving together toward her preparation, completion, and union, with the Lord Jesus.  The Apostle John underscores this:

And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude and as the sound of many waters and as the sound of many peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come , and His bride (literally, wife) has made herself ready." And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And he said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" And he said to me, "These are the true words of God."

(Revelation 19:6-9)

  How full and rich is this passage! What stands out the most is the emphasis at the end, "These are the true words of God." So powerful and overwhelming was the awe of this declaration that John responded by "falling down at [the angel's] feet to worship him" and the angel had to stop him from doing so and direct him to "worship God." (19:10). Saints, we have the entirety of the scriptures which we know to be "the true words of God," even down to the verb tenses (cf. Matt. 22:23, 31-32)! Yet, if we understand and embrace God's eternal purpose in bringing forth a bride for His Son, is it any surprise that the declaration of the blessedness of those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb is uniquely underlined as "these are the true words of God"?

  She was "the joy set before Him"! To have her was His motivation for enduring the cross (Heb. 12:2-3, Eph. 5:25-27)! It was "for her" that He laid down His life! He wanted one who would not only be an eager recipient of His indescribable love, but one who would also aspire to know the depths of who He is (John 17:3, Phil. 3:7-11). "We love, because He first loved us" we are told in 1 John 4:19. Our freely and passionately loving Him with all of our being, in response to the great love He has first bestowed upon us, brings tremendous blessing and joy to His heart. It completes the circuit of love He set in motion from before the foundation of the world-a never-ending cycle of abundant life and love in Him (Eph. 1:18 , Rev. 13:8). Our God, who Himself is Love (1 John 4:8), and in Whom there is no selfishness, desired one who would treasure Him as much as He already treasured her. The Lord Jesus said:

It is widely assumed that Jesus was referring to Himself as "the treasure" in this parable and that He was once again addressing what our attitude is to be toward Him in giving up everything to follow Him. While it certainly is true that He is the greatest Treasure and we must absolutely give up everything to be His disciple and follow Him (Luke 14:25-35, et al.), I do not think this is what He was trying to communicate through this particular parable. Remember, "it is the glory of God to conceal a matter" and it is our glory to "search out the matter" (Prov. 25:2). The deeper nuggets of truth, particularly in Jesus' parables, are usually not the more obvious things that we all usually focus on. Earlier in the same chapter, in His own interpretation of the parable of the wheat and the tares, the Lord Jesus tells us that "the field is the world" and He Himself is the "man" (Matt. 13:24, 36-38). The treasure He was speaking of here is what was "hidden" (concealed, not obvious) in the world, and it was of such value and joy to "the Man" (Jesus) that He gave up everything to purchase it!

  Are we not told in Philippians (and so many other passages like it) that "although He existed in the form of God... He emptied Himself and became obedient to death on the cross" in order to become "the Way" for us?! Remember Ephesians 5:25? "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church (His wife) and gave Himself up for her"! Jesus saw "the treasure" of this beautiful, loving corresponder hidden within "the field" of this world, and "for joy over" her He bought the entire "field" (Heb. 12:2!)! In other words, He paid the price for the sins of all with His own life and blood (Rom. 5:18, 1 Tim. 4:10), just so that, out of the masses-the billions we referred to earlier who will pass through time-He could lay hold of this treasure who treasures Him as well! She alone is all that comes out of this creation and continues on with Him for eternity (Rev. 21:1-8). She is foremost on His mind.

  

Back to the "Living Stones"

  In Revelation 21:1-3, the bride is also referred to as "the holy city," "New Jerusalem," "the tabernacle of God," and the place where "He Himself shall dwell." As we mentioned earlier, Peter also referred to her in yet another way:

And Paul describes her similarly in his letter to the Ephesians:

  So we see that this bride of Christ, who is also a city, is also "a spiritual house" and a "holy temple in the Lord." The writer of Hebrews concurs:

  I belabor this point to emphasize that those who are the Lord's people are the very building material He utilizes to make His house, His temple, His city! God is taking "living stones" from throughout the ages and is building them together into an eternal spiritual entity-the wife of the Lamb-who will fully correspond to the Lord Jesus in all things (Eph. 5:22-24). He is fitting together and constructing all the overcoming saints from throughout time (Rev. 21:1-7) into a spiritual "woman" who, as the "weaker vessel" in the relationship, will lovingly surround, embrace, and follow Him. We form the house/temple in which He Himself dwells!

Do you (in the Greek, you is plural, referring to all the saints-1:1-2) not know that you (plural) are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you (plural)? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you (plural) are.   (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)

  Realizing now just who the house/temple is allows us to understand why Jesus acted in a way that we would tend to consider as out-of-character, extreme, and perhaps to some even mean:

  The Lord Jesus literally did these things at the temple in Jerusalem during His days upon the earth. But was He only consumed with zeal for the physical house/temple of the Lord, or was He looking beyond that to something even greater? It is obvious that, as with so many of the things He did, there was also a deeper aspect to His actions and words. Did He not do these things as a witness to the Jewish people of His day while simultaneously acting prophetically for those who would believe in Him? Consider what took place just a short time later.

 

  "These great buildings"?! "Buildings"?! He didn't even refer to the complex as "the temple of God"! Then He said it would all be destroyed, and walked off to the Mount of Olives. If His zeal was purely for the physical temple then within a very few hours He went from being very fervent to having an indifferent attitude toward "these great buildings" and their "wonderful stones." Or did He? Again, for whom did our Lord lay down His life? He laid it down "for her"-for the bride, the spiritual temple/house! He is zealous to see His house completed, with all the "wonderful stones" who compose her in their proper places, and for her to be "holy and blameless" (Eph. 5:27). Thus He is intent upon sanctifying her for Himself, and will zealously drive out all ungodliness from her midst (Eph. 5:26-27, 1 Thes. 4:1-8).

 

Welcome to the Quarry

  The physical temple was in fact a representation, a type, of something greater the Lord would ultimately bring about (Heb. 8:1-5, 9:1-10:1, 11:39-12:24, 13:12-14). Even the way in which the temple was originally built in the days of Solomon has great relevance to us "living stones" today:

  All the stones which composed the temple were "prepared (literally finished in the Hebrew) at the quarry." This preparation was two-fold: The raw material rough stones had to be transformed by craftsmen using iron tools into a quality worthy of the house of God, and the stones had to be able to fit together with the other stones that were also being incorporated into the temple. After this work was accomplished in the quarry, each stone was then transferred to Mount Zion and simply put in its proper place in the house. Because this was the Lord's way, there was not any hammering and chopping and chiseling on the stones when they reached the temple site.

  Does this not sound familiar? Saints, we are currently in "the quarry"! The "quarry" is our time upon this earth, and the "iron tools" which the Lord uses to "prepare" us to be His bride/temple are the trials, hardships, relationships, situations, circumstances, weaknesses, and limitations of this life. Have you noticed the Lord using these very things to expose and chisel off your rough edges, which are the areas of our lives where we still walk according to the flesh rather than according to the Spirit, in order to bring forth the beauty and fragrance of Christ?

  Now here is where we are finished with the overview and it gets real practical. What do we do when the "iron tools" strike our flesh each day? Do we grumble and complain? Do we strike back? Do we run to fleshly comforts and repel or avoid the trial? Or do we embrace it in faith, knowing it is something our Sovereign Lord has allowed into our life for our sanctification in order that we may be prepared for the Bridegroom? We get to choose each moment.

  Remember the story I told at the beginning of this article about the season during my first year in the Lord that I worked for "that hard-hearted cattleman," and how I later realized this was part of some very necessary "quarry time" I needed? How could this be? Because in and of myself, "that is, in my flesh" (Rom. 7:18), I was just like "that hard-hearted cattleman"! If someone had the nerve to mess with me, and then get mad and red in the face and yell at me, I would not hesitate to go toe-to-toe with them and persist until I gave them a verbal whipping. I even had a certain enjoyment of such encounters and prided myself in winning. And my precious Lord knew that if I was "to run in such a way that I might win" this area of my life would have to die so I could walk in His. And what better context to accomplish this than for Him to have me serve a guy who was just like me in the flesh, and to do so "heartily as unto the Lord rather than men"! Of necessity I had to continually humble myself before the Lord, which allowed for a steady flow of grace, which enabled me in time to forge out a new capacity of walking according to the Spirit rather than according to the flesh in this area. Thank you, Lord, for the quarry! Now of course I am not recommending you or your children to go find a job with a godless cattleman. I am a firm believer in sheltering my children. But, given the baggage (actually the freight!) I brought into my relationship with the Lord when I was saved, this was His perfect place for me at that time.

  So how does the quarry show up in the more normal contexts of life for most of us? Consider our relationships. There are people who rub us the wrong way whom the Lord has intentionally allowed into our lives in order that we may learn to love as He loves. When someone has hurt you, or lied to you, or has been insensitive to you in a way that was wounding, or borrowed something and returned it broken without offering to pay for it or have it fixed, what do you do? Do you embrace the pain, allow it to have a work in your heart whether the offending party gets straightened out or not, and come through it according to the Spirit and loving? Or do you retaliate in some way-attack, slander them to others, refuse to forgive, judge, reject, withdraw, etc.? Instead of getting lost in the pain or the offense we can remember the fact that we are "living stones" and the Lord has deemed it necessary that we walk through this trial because there is "preparation" we still need. Knowing this can be a real help in our embracing the situation, and allowing the "iron tool" to have its work, regardless of what the specifics happen to be.

  What about the temptations to sin which come our way? What about the trials that come? How do we deal with limitations in life which require us to wait and be patient? What about suffering loss or pain that comes to our life that is not our fault? What about when we reap what we sow? Do we allow our hearts to be trained by the Lord's discipline in the quarry, or do we lose heart? There are as many possibilities of quarry time as there are people on the earth and minutes in the day.

  And remember, this is not just about us as individuals. This has much to do with the body of Christ and our learning to fit together in the Spirit with other believers where we live. Are you affording your brothers and sisters in Christ the patience they need as they are growing in the Lord, which, by the way, is the same patience you need them to afford to you as you are growing in the Lord? Do you help your brethren get up when they have stumbled, or do you close your heart toward them? Do you receive confrontations from those who care enough about your life to speak the truth in love, or are you defensive and immediately seek to justify yourself? When you are with two or more saints, do you make a place for the Lord in your midst, or do you just engage in shallow relating? We could go on and on.

  Saints, for however long the Lord has us abide on the earth we will be in the quarry, and the quarry can be a very messy place. But at the same time, it is also a wonderful place for our growth and maturity and preparation for our glorious Bridegroom if we submit to it. Let us run with the aim of doing whatever it takes to make ourselves ready for our Lord Jesus! And when the "iron tools" come, let us take heart and encourage one another to take full advantage of the opportunity to be beautifully fashioned for Him!

For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you. But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed, therefore I spoke," we also believe, therefore also we speak; knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

 

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