“Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken“.—Isaiah 62:10-12 Lift up a standard for the people. Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the ages.

When preparing the land for agriculture farmers would remove the large stones from the earth rendering the paths both uncomfortable and dangerous. In our text, however, this is not the preparation of a field for planting but the construction of a highway for a prepared people. The subject of the “Gathering out the Stones” began to be impressed upon me following a period of intense temperatures in my life , regarding His will, ways and workings. Throughout Isaiah, this is the "highway of holiness" (Isa. 35:8-10) which is to bring man from Adam to Christ experientially. These stones are the sons of God who has gotten comfortable living in past experiences and not a resurrection as from the dead (Adam), but the result of a stirring (re-gathering), put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. This is a stirring of the sons of God to come out of their spiritual stupor. The main thrust of the message here is that as sons we are called to be a corporate dwelling of Christ in the Spirit. It's true that each of us is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). But there is more in Christ to be known and enjoyed than any son can know in isolation. WE are not called to be the chosen frozen, we four and no more. That is why there is a cry to gather out the stones once more. So the resurrection life of Christ can flow to those part that needs it. We are being fitted together, Paul says, for a temple and for a dwelling of God by his Spirit. There is a presence and power and manifestation of the Christ meant to be known in this gathering that we do not know at any other time in isolation.

The purpose of this highway is not for sons to traffic on (having itching ears, wanting to hear a new thing), it was prepared so we can reach humanity so they too can experience Christ. Every son is a living stone in Christ. But in Him we are alive and are being built to a spiritual house." You also, are like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2:5) The master builder and architect Himself, Jesus Christ the cornerstone, giving plumb and stability to this house. With all our different shapes, personalities, and ways of doing things, together we are a beautiful spiritual house with one function and purpose. He sees us individually and yet collectively as one, and with divine wisdom places each of us right where we need to be to give the best support to the house. We remain uniquely individual, but our individualism surrenders itself to the building. We are built to be a "holy priesthood offering to God spiritual sacrifices." To be holy is to be sanctified, set apart for father's exclusive use. We are not just a bunch of priest, but a "priesthood." One of us alone cannot fulfill this function. Many living stones, but one house! In Christ we together so that we accomplish the purpose for which He has created us.

What is the purpose and function for which we have been created? The function of the church is to declare Christ in our lives. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)We have been called out of darkness. We don't have to grope and guess any more. We know where we're going and where we are called to. We have been called into light to declare the deeds of the one who called us. We're to witness by our life and the mighty works of God done in us.. That is a call to responsibility, not to comfort. We are called to declare his deeds. The Greek word literally means, to speak and show forth his deeds( works done in us). Our witness is more than our presence; we're also to proclaim what he has done in us. We're to tell people what has happened in us. We are not call to organize picket lines, or boycott businesses or governments. We are call to proclaim the deeds of the one who called us from darkness into light. Our primary function is to declare the good news of the Christ. The father knows exactly what "stone" He wants and where He needs it. We are those stones, planned for a specific spot for which he is preparing us. Because of His grace, we will be fulfilling a precise role in His house.

Israel was born as a nation while in Egypt. There they learned the rigors of forced servitude. They felt human emotions common to those under stern taskmasters. Entering Canaan, the Jews found new experiences awaiting them. Now the commandment of the Lord was to drive out the inhabitants of the land and possess the land. The standard to which all men must gather is Christ. This will not be instantaneously attained, but learned over the course of our journey on life’s road. Righteousness will not only be taught as a set of principles to be followed and obeyed, it will also be demonstrated in Christ. As we proclaim these new experiences in Christ we build up the members of the body of Christ. The whole Body of Christ will grow up together into Him. It is the will of the father that the whole body should attain spiritual maturity. Under the inspiration of God, the apostle Paul stated the goal of the body: "Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." (Eph. 4:13)

When these things have fully come to pass and the sons have re-gathered to their purpose, the people of God will find the reality of their reward in them. It will be not merely a reward of position but, more importantly, a reward of a work well done. It will be then, as that highway opens, that the lessons which we have learned from gathering out the stones is applied to all human beings as they climb upward to that perfection once lost in Adam. What a glorious future, then, is reserve for the re-gathered people of God and what untold blessings it will hold, not only for them, but for the entire human race. Can we ever look at stone structure the same way again? I will not. I pray that each time we see any form of stone structure we will be reminded that we "like them are living stones, being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."

Namaste,

Winston & Sarah