Please turn back in your Bibles to where we read in Deuteronomy
chapter 32. In the hymn that Brother Jim wrote, there was a reference to the
rock. And then in the one that Richard
just sang, there's a reference to the rock of salvation. And
here in our text this morning, there is a reference to the rock. And in these verses, the Rock
is set forth as our God. I often notice how professing religions
in our day, they all seek to make God a kind of generic God. One size fits all. Though we talk differently, we're
all really talking about the same God. But the true people
of God, they do not feel that way at all. As a matter of fact,
they delight that our God is not like their God. We praise
Him, we trust Him, and we worship Him as He is. And when the Apostle Paul describes
God in the book of Hebrews, I believe it is, He describes God, and
especially God as He's manifested in the flesh, the Lord Jesus
Christ. He describes Him as the God with
whom we have to do. There is but one God. And all will face that one and
the same God. But most don't know anything
about Him. Some will meet Him in judgment,
and some will meet Him in grace. But He'll always be the same. And so when he describes himself
by Moses, this chapter makes up part of what is called the
Song of Moses. But when he describes himself
in Moses, he is the rock. His work is perfect, for all
his ways are judgment, a God of truth and without iniquity,
just and right is He. And this nation which Moses has
been called to lead, they are in so many ways failures, natural
idolaters. In verse 18, he says, "...of
the rock, that begat thee, thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten
God that formed thee." You've forgotten the rock. The rock that formed you. And then he says, but you're
not only this way, but virtually all nations, all people are this
way. But that doesn't change the fact
that he is the rock of his people. And when you look down in verse
28, he says, "...for they are a nation void of counsel, neither
is there any understanding in them." Then he says this, Oh,
that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would
consider their latter end. How should one chase a thousand,
and two put ten thousand to flight, except their rock had sold them? and the Lord had shut them up."
In other words, the enemies that came against Israel, though they
were fewer and naturally weaker, they were able to bring these
people into bondage. And so God says here, how could
they have done it had I not been the first cause of it? And would
that they understood that it was I and not them, and would
that you understood that it was I and not them." But look at what it says in verse
31, "'For their rock is not as our rock, even our enemies themselves,
being judges. If you notice here, their rock
is spelled with a lowercase r. But our rock is spelled with
a capital letter. Our rock is God, the true and
living God. And their rock is just a false
god. And this is the truth of it.
Their rock is not like our rock. We're not talking about the same
God. We're not talking about the same
Jesus. And the proof of that, the evidence
of that is when they hear us talk about our rock, they themselves
make this judgment, your God is not our God. Our God wouldn't
do that. Or our Savior is not like that. We're talking about different
gods. And it is only in the Bible where
we can ever find out, and that only by God declaring it, just
exactly who and how the Rock is. is immovable, unchangeable, sturdy,
lasting, enduring. And it's by this very name that
God describes Himself. He is the rock of His people. and essential to knowing Him,
and since He has described Himself in this manner, we find out that
He is declaring Himself to be the universal Sovereign. He is the Sovereign God. And when you turn over, if you
would, to Psalm 135, he says in Psalm 135 verse 5 and 6, "'For
I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord," or our God,
"'is above all gods.'" Small letter, capital letter
again. And whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that He did He in heaven and in earth, in the seas, and all
deep places. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
That's exactly what He's done. And this means that He is the
Supreme One. And every superlative title that
men have, in reality, they all must be and can be only ascribed
to Him. He's supreme in power. He's supreme in dominion. He's the sovereign ruler of this
universe. He is superior to the highest
authorities. In other words, He rules and
He reigns. And just like in the past week
when we hear of some amazing event that appears outwardly
to be the work of man, the work of the devil, whatever it is,
that we may not understand it, that we may not be able to explain
it to others, we know this, it is the Lord. Let him do what
seemeth him good." We know this. It is God, and He is working
all things after the counsel of His own will. And this simply means that God
does whatever He will. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. He does whatever He will, to
whom He will, whenever He will, and how He will. And as we see every day, there
is nobody that can stop Him. His purpose has carried on in
every minute detail in this world since the creation of this world
which He Himself created. He created the world and He rules
the world. And if there are a million worlds,
He rules all of them too. And He brings men and women at
whatever time He will, either in time or after time, to acknowledge
what old Nebuchadnezzar, who thought himself the sovereign,
had to acknowledge when God got through with him. He says, "...and all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing, and he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, doest
thou." And oftentimes when things happen
that men find outside of what they want their God to be responsible
for, they try in so many ways to take from Him the things that
He has already ascribed to Himself. They do so by saying things like
this, well, you know the word sovereign is not really in the
Bible. No. And neither is the word trinity. And a host of other words that
over time have become part of the Scriptures only because that's
what we read in the Scriptures. You see, the truth is, God's
right to be God, God's absolute sovereignty is everywhere in
the Scriptures. Everywhere. We read that it is
a central theme to the praise of His people. And so when we
see them all gathered together there in the vision that was
given John in Revelation 19, John says he saw this multitude,
these voices of thundering. What were they saying? They were
saying, Hallelujah. A lot of folks on earth say,
Hallelujah. Sing, Hallelujah. But these are
singing, they are praising God in this particular character. They said, Hallelujah! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. He's in charge. He's in total
control of every being and every event. and everything that happens
in heaven and in earth. He's the Lord God Omnipotent. That means all-powerful. And He, in that divine omnipotence,
He reigns. And Paul, writing to Timothy,
he says, everybody's going to find that out. He says, "...which
in His times He shall show." He's going to make it manifest. He's going to cause people to
understand this. "...He shall show who is the
blessed and only potentate, the King of kings and the Lord of
lords." What does that mean, potentate? Well, that word is
described by a number of things, but it's described and defined
as a person or being who possesses great power or sway, a sovereign king. But he is the king of kings. And if God is not in absolute
control, if He is not in charge totally, then whatever else He
might be, it doesn't really matter. His threats might as well fall
on deaf ears. His promises are virtually worthless. Because the threats that He has
made and the promises that He has made, they are so intricate,
they involve every aspect of every person and everything that
happens. You see, this is essential if
He's God, if He's the Rock. He works everything. And so,
David says in Psalm 115, the heathens say in various times
and generations and under various circumstances, looking at the
people of God, they say, where is now their God? If this has
happened, if that's happened, since what's happening doesn't
fit in our view of God. And this is what they say, He
controls all things. Where is now their God? And David
singles Him out again. He says, Our God. Not your God. But our God is
in the heavens, and He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased."
I sat there this morning thinking about this, and I'm so glad that's
true. Are you glad that's true? If
we ever are brought to a sense of our finite beings, and our
weaknesses, and our ignorance, and a whole lot of other things
about us, we might be able to rejoice that God is in a total
control. He's ruling. And he tells us
in the book of Proverbs, this is a verse that the Lord made
a blessing to my heart a long time ago. He says in Proverbs
21, the king's heart, that's the highest earthly sovereign.
It would be like the president or the prime minister, whatever
it is. But he says, the king's heart
is in the hand of the Lord. Not in His hand, it's in the
hand of the Lord. And as the rivers of water, He
turns it with us soever He will. We're in always a great state
of frustration about leaders. But the heart of the King is
in the Lord's hand. And just like He courses the
rivers of water throughout this land, so He turns the king's
heart, whithersoever He will. And this fact, this Bible truth,
is one reason that the notion that men have, which they call
free will, is such a bunch of baloney. Such utter ignorance
and blindness. And they say sometimes on the
one hand, I call it talking out of both sides of the mouth, they
say, well, I believe that God is in control of all things.
But in the matter of salvation, I believe that man still has
a free will. Does it not ever enter into the
human mind how contradictory, totally contradictory that is? You see, in reality, there can
only be one free will. You and I, we talk about free
will often times. I hope we don't much. But we can't even will to lose
five pounds. And yet in the matter of salvation,
we are just so blinded. People are just so proud and
arrogant and naturally rebellious to this Sovereign. We say our
will is free. If it were, As it's attached
to our fallen humanity, I expect we'd all be a lot richer than
we are. I'd just will me a million dollars
right now. No? The reason that I don't have
it is because God didn't give it to me. He was the one that
Scripture says, He's the one that can make rich or make poor. He's the one that's in charge. And when we follow after such
notions as this, in defiance to what God says about Himself,
we're just following the course of the devil himself. Somebody
said, well, you know so-and-so over there. I've seen them with
what they wear and all that stuff they have and how they take drugs. Oh, they're just devil-possessed. All sinners, apart from God's
grace, are devil-possessed. And they act out, just like he
did, this rebellion against the authority of God. Just like in
Isaiah 14, where he tells us how Satan was. He said, I'll
be like the Most High. I'll be in charge. I'll be like
the Most High." And he exerted that influence over a third,
one third of the whole angelic host. And he led them in a rebellion
against God. He said, I'll be like the Most
High. I'll ascend up. I'll take over the throne. You
know what God said? Oh no you won't. He said, you'll
be cast down. You'll be lower than the very
lowest. You'll be cast into the lowest
hell. You'll be reserved to chains
of darkness. Because I'm the Sovereign. I'm
the Sovereign. And man defies God all the time. And the psalmist writes, he says,
"...these things thou hast done, and I kept silence. Thou thoughtest
that I was altogether such a one as thyself. But I'll reprove
thee, and set thee in order before your own eyes." We're going to
find this out. And if God was not this absolute
sovereign, there's no way He could maintain His throne. There's
no way He could carry out this eternal purpose. There's no way
He could save His people. There's no way that He could
glorify Himself. But when man came into existence,
When this earth was created, that's the first time that this
world, as we know it, found out that God's in charge. Psalm 33
says, "...for He spake, and it was done. He commanded, and it
stood fast." In other words, that which was not came into
existence because God spoke it into existence. Let them praise the name of the
Lord, for He commanded and they were created. He hath also established
them forever and ever. He hath made a decree which shall
not pass. And He made it by Himself, and
He made it for Himself. Proverbs 16, the Lord hath made
all things for Himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of
evil. In Revelation we read, Thou art
worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou
hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and
were created. It's everywhere. But to God preached in our day,
He is really a pathetic, pitiful, weak, failing, helpless, no God. No God. And I rejoice to say,
just like Moses was led by the Spirit of God to write in Deuteronomy,
that our God, our rock, is not like their rock. They talk about how they can
let their God do or not do. How they can let God save them
or not. how they can, by something they
say or something they do, determine whether or not he's a success
or a failure. I can tell you this, if God depends
on anything in me or by me to determine whether or not he's
a success or a failure, he'll surely be a failure. Absolutely. And He controls all things and
all people so that we read nothing in all of the Holy Scriptures
about things like fate, chance, mother nature, luck. Luck? Where did luck come from? Oh, we're so lucky. This happened
to me, I guess I'm just lucky. No. All things are of God. Everything. He changeth the times
and the seasons. He removes kings and sets up
kings. He gives wisdom unto the wise
and knowledge to them that know understanding. Whatever we have,
God gave it. Even this. He says, "...surely
the wrath of man shall praise thee, and the remainder of wrath
shalt thou restrain." You say, preacher, tell me how in the
world that such acts as the last days there in France, you tell
me how that that will praise God. I can't. But I know this, it will. It will. Because surely, the
wrath of man shall praise the Lord. It will in some way work
to the praise of God. How do you know that? Because
he didn't restrain it. That which will not praise work
ultimately and finally to the praise and glory of God, he'll
restrain. This glorious truth not only exalts Him and not only
humbles us. A right view of who God is will
humble us. But it not only humbles us, it's
the only thing that can give us hope. It's the only thing
that can give us hope. He is, as this sovereign God,
our only hope and our only salvation. As a matter of fact, that's what
He's called, the rock of our salvation. Just take your concordance
or take your Bible program on your computer, and look up that
phrase in the Scriptures, rock of salvation. See how many times
it says it. He's not just salvation, He's
the rock of our salvation. He's what secures it. He's what
is the foundation of it. He's what assures that we're
saved. And all who are saved, are saved because of two things.
Number one is the fact that He's able to. He's able to. And number two, because He does
save them. In other words, if I trace back
my salvation as one of His people, If I go back to the very fountainhead,
as they say, or the spring that's the original source of it, that's what I'm going to find.
A God who does what He will and who willed to save this sinner. And that's where His glory is
most. That's where His glory as our sovereign is most of all.
It's in salvation. Isn't it amazing how men and
women will allow, as they seem to think, God to be sovereign
in so many things in this world except the very thing that's
most important to Him and us? That's the most important thing.
He's hung all His glory and all His honor, all the glory and
honor of the whole Godhead on the salvation of His people. If He doesn't save His people,
if He's in some way not able to, if their will is stronger
than His, whatever, then He's no God at all. No God at all. But if you look back in Psalm
135, and notice what it says in verse 4. He says, 4. That's how that verse
begins. And that's the reason why the
Lord is to be praised. It begins, "'Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord! Praise Him, you servants of the
Lord! Praise Him, you that stand in
the house of the Lord, and in the courts of the house of our
God! Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good! Sing praises unto
His name, for it is pleasant! For the Lord hath chosen Jacob
unto Himself, and Israel, for his peculiar or particular treasure."
Now I used to wonder why that so many times in this book
those two names are used and you can know almost at a glance
that he's not talking about the individuals themselves. Jacob and Israel. I'll say this, there are not
two names in this book, if taken for their literal meaning, are
as different and as opposed to each other as these two names. You see, Jacob means conniver,
scoundrel, supplanter. And Israel means prince of God. Boy, that's supposed, isn't it?
Scoundrel, conniver, prince of God. Why does he use those two
names? Why does he bring us back to
these two names? Did you know both names are the
names of the same man? Jacob is Israel, and Israel is
Jacob. And God shows us in this man
what we are by nature, and what we are in ourselves, and what
we are by His grace, what we are in Christ. He said, I've chosen Jacob. That's
election, is it not? Why would God choose a scoundrel
like Jacob? Why would He choose a people
who are by nature of this character, just like others by nature? Because He would. Don't you ever look at yourself.
profess to be a child of God and imagine that at some point
before you were born, at some point after you were born, at
some point in your life that God could ever look at you in
favor apart from Christ. You haven't made that much progress. You won't ever make that much
progress. But He chose us because He would. That's a very humbling thing. He never looked on us and saw
something that we would do. He chose us just like He chose
Jacob. And He made us in Christ because
He would. Israel, the children of God. And there is no power outside
of us other than Him and no power in us that could ever save us. We're not deserving as well as
not being able. As a matter of fact, we're ill-deserving. But He does what He would. And
when you read Romans chapter 9, you might as well turn over
to Romans chapter 9 Be reminded of exactly what he says in Romans
chapter 9 in reference to this very same man in verse 13. He says, "...and as it is written,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." Esau was his brother. They had the same parents. They
lived in the same environment. They were the same by nature,
fallen children of Adam. There was reason in themselves
for God to hate both of them. But here's where we meet Him
as He is. Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. And so it comes a natural response
from a sinner. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I'll have mercy, and I'll have compassion
on whom I'll have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. He had mercy on Jacob because
he would have mercy. He was gracious to Jacob, just
like we read him saying to Moses in Exodus 33 and 34, he was gracious
to Israel as a nation because he would, and in so doing, he
pictured how he's gracious to his people. First of all, Because
He would. And at the same time, because
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so when all the psalmists
are speaking, and they're talking about God, not only God as He
is in God the Father, but God as He would be in the coming
Messiah, They said, he's the rock of our salvation. He's the
rock of our salvation. He's that rock of ages that old
top lady wrote about. Rock of ages, cleft for me, cut,
broken for me, let me hide myself in thee. Be my salvation. You see, when we come to the
message of the gospel, It isn't as a matter of accepting Jesus
as our personal Savior. The command of the gospel is
to believe on the, what's that first title and name? Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is first of all Lord. We do not make Him Lord. We do
not make Him Lord, our Lord, at some later date in our life,
in a greater dedication to Him. We bow and we believe on Him
as our Lord. Why? Because He said, all power
is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. He said in John 17, You've raised me up, you've given
me power over all things that I might give eternal life to
as many as you've given me." He's the rock. And all through
the Scriptures, either described as a stone or a rock, You hear
the Lord Jesus Christ spoken of as the basis, the foundation,
the whole of our salvation. In other words, He's that cornerstone
that so many stumble at, but He's become that foundation that
supports everything. What holds up that building that
is called His church, His people? Christ Himself, His blood shed,
His righteousness as God is pleased to impute it to each and every
one of His people. That's the whole, the foundation,
that's the rock of our salvation. The Father loved the Son and
He had given all things into His hands. And what is the first
act and order of His sovereign rule as King of kings and Lord
of lords? It's to assure the salvation
of those given to Him by the Father. Paul says, "...in whom also we
have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him
who works all things after the counsel of His own will." But not only is that all our
salvation, that's all our comfort. Have you ever been out in the
water? I can remember this when I was
a young person growing up, being out in the water, You get a little
too far that the buoyancy kind of lifts you up and sort of moves
you out into deeper water and you lose that feeling of your
foot on a solid ground. But oh, how good it feels when
your feet begin to touch the bottom. And that's the way it
is in every experience of life for the Lord's people. He's our
comfort. He is our consolation and the
knowledge that He rules all things, and all events, and all persecutions,
and all trials, and all afflictions. As a matter of fact, the fact
that He works all things after the counsel of His own will,
and all things together for good to them that love Him. to them
that are the called according to His purpose. That's our comfort. Because we get rocked right down
to where every false footing He shakes and He tumbles us until
we're sitting on nothing but the rock. The rock Christ Jesus. Our God. Our rock is not like their rock. And I'm so glad He's not. I think
I feel that every day. I hear somebody say something
and talk about their God, talk about this, that, and the other,
and I'm thinking to myself, oh, I'm so glad our God's not like
that. Our rock's not like that. Their
rock isn't a rock at all. It's just weak, shifting, sinking
sand. but not our rock. I've seen the
Lord's people, by one thing or another, shaken until they seemed
that they had nothing else to hold on to. The only place left
was to lay down on the rock. Like one old man said, I've trembled
on the rock, but I've never felt the rock tremble unto me. No. This is what God would have
us to remember. This is what God would have proclaimed. He said, say and design. Say and design. Thy God reigns. Keep saying to me, Our God reigns. Keep reminding me how He is. that He reigns. That's our God. And any other just isn't God. Just isn't. We sing that hymn, On Christ, the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand. Moses' song was, our rock is
not like their rock. As they themselves judge and
say. But this is the God of the Bible.
And I'm so glad he's that way. As a matter of fact, I'd sure
be glad if our God was their God. But I wouldn't want him to change
to be so. He's the rock. Father, this day
we're thankful for your great and glorious being. We thank
you that you made us to be your people and yourself to be our
God. We sing. We praise you. We tell all men that our God
is in the heavens, and He's doing and has done whatsoever pleases
Him. We're thankful as you did Israel
to be an example of us, that it pleased you to make us your
people. We thank you. We pray that you
might be to each one of your people this rock, that we might
rest, and that we might rejoice. For we pray in Christ's name,
Amen.