Kuhle Sosha! Character of a Servant of God.
STABLE
Stability is another character trait that must be found in the life of every Christian worker. Stability in character can be understood as stability in one's emotions. Some people are solid and unshakable before the Lord, but others are loose and shaky. They have no conviction in anything, and they turn with every turn in the environment. Many people are unreliable by nature, not because they want to be unreliable, but because their character is unreliable. As soon as something touches them, they change. They are not stable in their character. God requires a stable character of His servants, one that is solid, reliable, and unshakable.
In the Bible we find a man who was easily shaken, who is known to us as Simon Peter. Let us read some verses. Matthew 16:13-16 says, "Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Who do men say that the Son of Man is? And they said, Some, John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He said to them, But you, who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the
living God." First John 5:1 says, "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten of God," and verse 13 says, "I have written these things to you that you may know that you have eternal life, to you who believe into the name of the Son of God." When Peter said "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," he must have at least touched the life of God. He had to have touched God's life in order to have known this. Read again Matthew 16:17: "And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in the heavens." Brothers and sisters, being with the Lord Jesus, following Him, and being beside Him do not guarantee one a knowledge of Him. One only knows Him through the revelation of the Father who is in the heavens. Our present attention is drawn to verse 18, which says, "And I also say to you that you are Peter [Petros], and upon this rock [petra] I will build My church." We must see that the church is something unshakable. The foundation of the church is unshakable, and the church itself is unshakable. This being the case, all the servants of the Lord should be unshakable as well. The Lord said, "Upon this rock I will build My church." The church is built upon this rock. We should pay attention to this rock. In verse 18 the Lord seemed to be making a hidden reference to the words in Matthew 7, in which He spoke of those who build their houses upon the sand, and when rain and water and wind come, the houses totter to the ground. Then He said that we should build our house upon the rock so that it will not fall when the rain and water and wind come. The Lord said that the church is built upon the rock, which means that the church will never fall. The rain may come, and the water and wind may do their
work, but the building will not fall. Even if the church is subject to the rain, water, and wind, it will never collapse, because it is firmly built upon the rock. It is stable, unshakable, and immovable. This is the underlying nature of the church. Paul told Timothy that the house of God, which is the church, is the pillar and base of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). The church is like a pillar; it can never be moved. A chair can be moved and shaken, but a house can never be moved from place to place. The underlying nature of the church is a building that is upon a rock. Such a rock is stable and unshakable. God's children are little stones (lithos) upon the unique rock. In writing the second chapter of his first Epistle, Peter said
that we are God's living stones, and that we are being built into a spiritual house (v. 5). Every brother and sister is a living stone that is built upon the rock.
The superstructure of the church is of the same substance as the foundation. The material for the superstructure is the same as the material for the
foundation. The church has no bricks; it only has stones. The tower of Babel was made of bricks, which
are manmade imitations of stones. But in the church there is no brick, no manmade stability. The
church is built upon the rock. Every one of us is a stone, and we are built together piece by piece into a
spiritual house. Our eyes have to be opened to the intrinsic nature of the church. The Lord's church is
something unshakable. In Matthew 16:18 the Lord continued, saying, "The gates of Hades shall not
prevail against it." This is something unshakable; this is what the church is all about. The foundation of
the church is a rock, something unshakable, and the church itself is made of stones which are also
unshakable. Can we then say that the ministers within the church are shakable? This is what we are
talking about here. We are not here to talk about the church. We are here to talk about the very person
of the ministers. The ministers must not be shaken, because they are the stones. The Lord said to Peter,
"You are Peter." This means, "You are a stone." "And upon this rock I will build My church, and the
gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." Peter represents all the ministers of the church. A minister
and servant of God must be a stone. Although the stone is not as big as the rock, it has the same nature
as the rock, and it is equally unshakable.
In verse 19 the Lord said, "I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you
bind on the earth shall have been bound in the heavens, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have
been loosed in the heavens." The Lord's promise to Peter was also a promise to the church. This
promise became the church's possession in Matthew 18. But the Lord first gave it to Peter. This shows
us clearly that the Lord considered Peter as one of the ministers. The Lord gave him the keys of the
kingdom of the heavens so that he could open the doors. On the day of Pentecost, Peter opened one
door, and at the house of Cornelius, he opened another door. He opened the door to the Jews, and he
opened the door to the Gentiles. This is what one stone has done. Before Simon became Peter (a stone),
he could not exercise the keys. Today not all who are called Peter are Peters, in the same way that not
all who are called by the name of Israel are men of strength. A man can be called Israel yet be a weak
person. Here was a person whose name was Peter. The Lord put the keys in his hand. But he could
exercise the keys only after he truly became a Peter, a stone. When that day came, whatever he bound
was bound, and whatever he loosed was loosed.
The effectiveness of a minister has much to do with the stability of his character. This is a basic
requirement. If a man is shaky before God, he cannot be a minister, and the church cannot follow him.
A fundamental problem with some brothers and sisters is the lack of a stable character. They are
constantly changing. They sway back and forth and are never steady and firm before the Lord. They
cannot serve the church, because they cannot stand firm and upright, and the gates of Hades easily
prevail over them.
Thank the Lord that Peter was chosen as a pattern. God is looking for a man whose nature is the same
as the nature of the foundation under him and the superstructure of the building around him. A minister
must be a stable stone. Thank God that Peter was chosen as a pattern, because his case shows us that
God can make anyone stable. Here was a man named Peter, yet he was not always a "Peter." His name
referred to a stone, but his character was like water. He was not reliable. He was one thing at one time
and another thing another time. One minute Peter was bold and the next minute he was very weak. This
was the kind of person he was. The Lord put such a person before us to show us how unstable a
person's nature can be before he is dealt with by the Lord. Before such a person becomes a stone, he
cannot use the keys and cannot be useful to God in any particular way. God can only use him after his
wobbly nature has been dealt with by the Lord. We thank the Lord that a man's character can change; it
is not unchangeable. Peter was a wavering person, yet he could be changed into a stable person. When
the light of the Lord burns our tongue, our talkativeness will disappear. When a lazy man is rebuked,
his laziness wilts away. The Lord cursed the fig tree, and the tree dried up. The Lord's rebuke brings in
His curse, and where His curse is, there is wilting and death. If we have never touched Him, we can go
on in our merry way. But as soon as we touch Him, our frivolity wilts away. As soon as God's light
touches us, either through a message or through a brother's direct rebuke, something in us wilts away.
The Lord's rebuke results in an immediate wilting away. Here we are talking about a reconstitution or a
remake of our character. Many people have a character that cannot listen to others. Or they may have a
character that is too cold, lazy, or weak. But as soon as God touches them, or a brother comes along and
points out their insensitivity in listening or their weakness, they will receive the light, and something in
them will wilt away. It is God's grace that Peter was chosen. Had it not been for Peter, all those who are
weak and unstable would have no hope. But the Lord chose one man and called him Peter, and after He
made him a "Peter," He gave him the keys to bring men into the church.
