Living Stones

[0:00] A Pastor's Reflections Living Stones Exodus 28-29! 1 Peter 2-5 In his daily ministrations before the Lord, the high priest was not only to minister to the Lord on behalf of the people, but he was also in essence carrying the entirety of the people with him in all that he did in relation to the tabernacle.

[1:04] As the high priest entered the tabernacle, he would not enter alone, as the entire nation of Israel would be carried upon his heart in the breastplate of judgment. The twelve stones of the breastplate, each with the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel, would be always with him.

[1:22] And yet, as precious as each of those stones were, they were still just that, stones. They may have been beautiful, they may have been precious, and they may have been before the Lord, but they were still nothing more than cold, dead stones.

[1:42] Under the Old Covenant, the closest that the people could get to the presence of God was to be presented by cold, dead stones. Precious, but dead.

[1:55] The Old Covenant was never intended to be an end in itself, but to look forward to a future day of fulfillment. All that is seen in type in the Old Covenant is fulfilled in actuality in the New Covenant.

[2:11] 1 Peter 2.4 A high priest who stands before God and man becomes a high priest who is both God and man.

[2:30] Cold, dead stones become living stones. A heart of stone becomes a heart of flesh. Under the New Covenant, God's people are not just dead stones carried upon the heart of the high priest.

[2:46] They become living stones who partake in the living heart of the high priest. Jesus, our high priest, has not only carried us upon his heart, but has given us the very life of his heart.

[2:59] As living stones who partake of that life, we also now enter into the work of that life. 1 Peter 2.5 You also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood.

[3:16] Today, the Old Covenant has been fulfilled and the New Covenant is in full operation. As a living stone and a spiritual priest, are you allowing the life of Jesus, the high priest, to fulfill its priestly duty in and through you?

[3:33] Or are you still attempting to operate under the Old Covenant as a cold, hard stone? You are not dead, but alive. Live today in the living heart of the Spirit.

[3:47] Colossians 3.16-17 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom, teaching, and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

[4:03] And whatsoever you do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Father, thank you for sending your Son, the perfect high priest, to fulfill in himself all that was required of a priest under the Old Covenant.

[4:23] Thank you that the fulfilled Old Covenant now means a new life-giving covenant is available. Help us today to live as the living stones of the New Covenant, and not as the dead stones of the Old Covenant.

[4:37] Amen.