第三週■週二

w03d02-ch

晨興餧養

彼前二4 ～ 5『你們來到祂這爲人所棄絕，卻爲神所揀選所寶貴的活石跟前，也就像活石，被建造成爲屬靈的殿，成爲聖別的祭司體系，藉着耶穌基督獻上神所悅納的屬靈祭物。』

活石不僅有生命，也能在生命裏長大。這活石就是爲着神的建造的基督。〔在彼前二章四至五節，〕彼得將他的隱喻，由植物生命的種子（一23 ～ 24）轉換爲礦物的石頭。種子是爲着生命的栽種；石頭是爲着建造。（二5。）…爲着作我們的生命，基督是種子；爲着神的建造，祂是石頭。我們接受祂作生命的種子後，就需要長大，好經歷祂作活在我們裏面的石頭。這樣，祂也要把我們作成因祂石頭性情而變化的活石，在祂這根基和房角石（賽二八16）上，與別人同被建造，成爲屬靈的殿。（聖經恢復本，彼前二4 註2。）

信息選讀

我們這些在基督裏的信徒，藉着重生和變化，成了活石，像基督一樣。我們原是用泥土造的，（羅九21，）但在重生時，得着了神聖生命的種子，這種子在我們裏面長大，就把我們變化爲活石。彼得在悔改信主時，主給他取了一個新名，就是彼得—石頭；（約一42；）當他得着關於基督的啓示之後，主進一步啓示祂也是磐石—石頭。（太十六16 ～18。）…基督和祂的信徒都是爲着神的建造的石頭。

憑着我們天然的出生，我們是泥土，不是石頭。…人是用地上的塵土造的。〔創二7。〕羅馬九章啓示，我們是土造的器皿。那麼，我們如何能成爲石頭？我們乃是藉着變化的過程而成爲石頭。

彼得首次遇見主耶穌時，主將他的名字從西門改爲彼得。約翰一章四十二節…說，『耶穌看着他說，你是約翰的兒子西門，你要稱爲磯法。（磯法繙出來，就是彼得。）』彼得的意思是『石頭』。…主稱彼得爲石頭，那就是說，他必會成爲石頭。無論主對我們說甚麼，都必成就。祂若說，『你是金子，』你就會成爲金子。主知道祂將西門的名字改爲彼得（卽石頭），他就會成爲石頭。

在約翰一章四十二節，主告訴彼得他是石頭。後來在該撒利亞腓立比，主問：『你們說我是誰？』彼得從父得着啓示，回答說，『你是基督，是活神的兒子。』對此主耶穌回答說，『我還告訴你，你是彼得，我要把我的召會建造在這磐石上…。』（太十六18。）這裏主指明祂是召會在其上建造的磐石，而彼得是石頭。

毫無疑問，這兩件事，記載在約翰一章的一件，和記載在馬太十六章的另一件，深深印在彼得裏面。他絕不能忘記那些事。彼得必是從這些經歷，得着活石爲着建造屬靈的殿（就是召會）的觀念。彼得寫彼得前書這一段，是照着這些事給他的印象而寫的。

彼前二章五節說，我們像活石，被建造成爲屬靈的殿。然而，我們都是泥土，我們如何能被建造？要被建造成爲屬靈的殿，我們需要成爲石頭。但我們如何能真正成爲活石？我們乃是藉着來到基督這活石跟前，（4，）而成爲活石。…我們可用木化石作變化的例證。…水長期流過並流經木頭。藉着這水流，木頭的本質就變成石頭。一面，木頭的元素被帶走；另一面，石頭的元素被帶進來頂替木頭的元素。這樣，木頭就成爲石頭。（彼得前書生命讀經，一八○至一八一頁。）

參讀：彼得前書生命讀經，第十八篇。

WEEK 3 — DAY 2

Morning Nourishment

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.

A living stone is one that not only possesses life but also grows in life. This is Christ for God’s building. [In 1 Peter 2:4-5] Peter changed his metaphor from a seed, which is of the vegetable life (1:23-24), to a stone, which is of the minerals. The seed is for life-planting; the stone is for building (2:5)…As life to us, Christ is the seed; for God’s building, He is the stone. After receiving Him as the seed of life, we need to grow that we may experience Him as the stone living in us. Thus He will make us also living stones, transformed with His stone nature, that we may be built together with others as a spiritual house upon Him as both the foundation and the cornerstone (Isa. 28:16). (1 Pet. 2:4, footnote 1)

Today’s Reading

We, the believers in Christ, are living stones, like Christ, through regeneration and transformation. We were created of clay (Rom. 9:21). But at regeneration we received the seed of the divine life, which by its growing in us, transforms us into living stones. At Peter’s conversion the Lord gave him a new name, Peter—a stone (John 1:42). When Peter received the revelation concerning Christ, the Lord revealed further that He also was the rock—a stone (Matt. 16:16-18)…Both Christ and His believers are stones for God’s building.

By our natural birth we are clay, not stones…Man was made from the dust of the ground [Gen. 2:7]. Romans 9 reveals that we are vessels of clay. How, then, can we become stones? We become stones through the process of transformation.

When Peter first met the Lord Jesus, the Lord changed his name from Simon to Peter…John 1:42 says, “Looking at him, Jesus said, You are Simon, the son of John; you shall be called Cephas (which is interpreted, Peter).”Peter means “a stone.”…When the Lord called him Peter, a stone, that meant that he would certainly become a stone. Whatever the Lord says to us will be fulfilled. If He says, “You are gold,” then you will be golden. The Lord knew that when He changed Simon’s name to Peter, a stone, he would become a stone.

In John 1:42 Peter was told that he was a stone. Then sometime later, in Caesarea Philippi, in answer to the Lord’s question, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter, receiving the revelation from the Father, said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” To this the Lord Jesus replied, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18). Here the Lord indicated that He is the rock upon which the church is built and that Peter is a stone.

No doubt, these two incidents, the one recorded in John 1 and the other in Matthew 16, were deeply impressed into Peter’s being. He could never forget those events. It must have been from these experiences that Peter obtained the concept of living stones for the building of the spiritual house, which is the church. When Peter wrote this portion of 1 Peter, he wrote it according to the impression these events made upon him.

First Peter 2:5 says that we, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house. However, we all are clay. How can we be built up? In order to be built up as a spiritual house, we need to become stones. But how can we actually become living stones? We become living stones by coming to Christ as the living stone (v. 4). We may use petrified wood as an illustration of transformation… Over a long period of time, water has been flowing over wood and through it. By means of this flow of water, the substance of the wood is changed into stone. 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. In this way the wood becomes stone. (Life-study of 1 Peter, pp. 151-152)

Further Reading: Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 18