Turn back to Psalm 95. Psalm 95. I wonder if you notice that there is, as there are in
most all the Psalms, these instructions. invitations and exhortations
to sing praise to God. As a matter of fact, that's what
a psalm is. It's a song or a hymn of praise
to God. He says, O come, let us sing
unto the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to
the rock of our salvation. We have many other hymns in which
we sing to the rock of our salvation. We sing about Jesus Christ, the
solid rock. We sing as we did about Jesus
being a rock in a weary land. We sing as we did in that hymn, Come Thou Fount, raising this one, our Ebenezer. And Ebenezer simply meant the
rock or stone of help pointing to Christ. And in the Bible,
the Lord Jesus is very often likened to a stone or a rock." David made this statement not
long before he died. He said, the Lord lives, and
blessed be my rock, and exalted be God the rock of my salvation." Hold your place, but turn with
me in the New Testament to 1 Corinthians and the tenth chapter. 1 Corinthians
chapter ten. And listen to the Apostle Paul. as he writes to these Corinthian
believers and says, Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye
should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the
cloud, and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized
unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And did all eat the
same spiritual meat? And did all drink the same spiritual
drink? For they drank of that spiritual
rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. You see, God confronts men and
women in the gospel with Jesus Christ as He is the Rock. And there's just something about
that picture and that type and that foreshadowing of Jesus Christ
as the Rock that assures us of His absolute sovereignty, of
His might and of His strength, of His authority, and most of
all, of His claims as God our Savior. In Deuteronomy it says,
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 also in another place here
in Psalm, Psalm 62, he says, In God is my salvation and my
glory. The rock of my strength and my
refuge is in God. And so he is as this rock. He is God immovable as far as
His authority, as far as His rule and reign, and He is unchangeable
in His character and His attributes, almighty in His power, and sovereign
in His grace and mercy. He is the solid rock. And it is because He is the solid
rock that He is the saving rock. And by that it simply means He
is the firm, the eternal, the just basis and assurance for
all salvation. He is to be praised. He is to be glorified and trusted
in as the rock of our salvation. If you remember when Moses was
requesting that God show him his glory, it all took place
like this. He said, I beseech thee, show
me thy glory. And he said, I will make all
my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name
of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will
be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy." Here
he says, I will display my great glory as God. I will display
my great glory in grace. It is that I will have mercy
on whom I will, and will be gracious to whom I will." But he doesn't
stop there. He says, And thou canst not see
my face, for there shall no man see me and live. And the Lord
said, Behold, there is a place by me, And thou shalt stand upon
a rock. How will you know the grace of
God to you? How will you behold the glory
of my goodness and mercy? It will be in this rock, in the
safety of this rock, Christ Jesus. And it shall come to pass while
my glory passes by, that I will put thee in a cliff of the rock,
and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by." If we ever
know anything about the mercy and grace of God in salvation,
It will be in this one, unchanging, unalterable One, Jesus Christ. I remember reading a long time
ago about a creek somewhere in Canada. And that creek is called
Divide Creek. And the reason that it is called
that is because at a certain point in the middle of this creek
is a great big rock. In other words, the waters that
flow down that creek, at some point they come to this big rock,
and when they come to this rock, some of the water goes one way,
And some goes the other way. That which goes to the right
of that rock flows down, all the way down through the various
tributaries and rivers, all the way down and finally finds its
way to the Pacific Ocean. But all the waters that go to
the left of that rock They flow down various tributaries and
rivers until they find their way into the Atlantic Ocean. And the difference in which way
either waters wind up is determined by the rock. And that's the way it is in salvation. Everything is dependent upon
the Lord Jesus Christ, and Christ is that rock as God, the God
with whom we have to do. And I don't know of any way of
saying it any other way more plainly than to say that He is
the difference between heaven and hell? He is the absolute
difference between life and death? He is the difference between
blessing and cursing? He is the difference between
the favor of God and the wrath of God? He is that rock. And the Bible sets forth by His
very lips that great distinction and difference. Listen to it. It says in Luke's Gospel that
He beheld some and said, What is this then that is written?"
He was responding to their response concerning him. They rejected
him. He said, what is it then that
is written? Here it is. The stone or the
rock which the builders rejected the same is become the head of
the corner. Now listen to this. Whosoever
shall fall upon that stone shall be broken. They'll be broken
of their own will and way. They'll be conformed to that
rock. But he says, on whomsoever it
shall fall. Whoever the rock or the stone
falls on, it will grind him to power. Isn't that something? Those who fall upon the rock,
they're broken, conformed to the rock, but they're saved. For those on whom that rock falls
in wrath and judgment, he says, it grinds them to powder. That's always the difference. He says, he that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, But the wrath of God abideth on him."
It wasn't whether they did this or didn't do that. It wasn't
whether they were Baptists or Methodists or whatever it was
that men make in distinction. Here is the difference. It is faith in Jesus Christ and
Him crucified as that which is taught in the Scriptures. He says this in Mark's Gospel. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. That's the difference. It has
to do with Christ. Paul, in writing there in I Corinthians,
he begins that epistle with this very distinction. He says, but
we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews, a stumbling block,
a stumbling stone, a rock upon which they trip over. and unto the Greeks or unto the
Gentiles foolishness. But it doesn't matter whether
he's foolishness to them or whether they just simply stumble over
him for religious and historical reasons. They're both in the
same boat. He says, but unto them which
are called. whether they're Jew or whether
they're Gentile, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God. It always boils down to this,
that question that Christ asked when He said, What think ye of
Christ? Well, He is the one and the only
rock of salvation. Now, he's not a pebble, and he's
not a piece of plaster that resembles a rock. He's not a formed fashion
of resin that resembles a rock. He is the rock. Now, let me show you something
that God's people say concerning the rock. Hold your place and
turn back over to Deuteronomy 32. Deuteronomy chapter 32, while all the world, especially
the religious world, in an effort to get along with everybody,
in an effort to make their God, their rock appealing to everybody. They know nothing about any distinction. But now you listen here in Deuteronomy
32. That's what the Lord's people say. Look
at verse 31. For their rock is not as our
rock. Now, if you notice, that first
rock is in what? It's in small letters, isn't
it? But not that second rock. He says, For their rock is not
as our rock. even our enemies themselves being
judges." What does that mean? It means if you don't believe
it, just ask them. Let them describe their rock. Let them talk about their rock. Let them say, when we talk about
our rock, that they're glad that their rock is not like our rock. He's not like them. He's not
like them. He says, "...there is none holy
as the Lord, for there is none beside thee, neither is there
any rock like our God." Well, what was Paul talking about?
What was he actually making reference to when he talked about that
rock following those Old Testament Israelites. And then he said,
and that rock was Christ. Well, he's making reference to
something that we read about in Exodus 17. Turn over to Exodus chapter 17. And here in Exodus chapter 17, although the Lord Jesus Christ
is set forth as a rock in His mightiness and in His power,
He's set forth as a rock, as a foundation and a cornerstone. He's pictured here in this rock
as the source. of all blessings. Now listen to what takes place.
Exodus 17, And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed
from the wilderness of sin after their journeys according to the
commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim, and there
was no water for the people to drink. Wherefore the people did
chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why
chide ye with me? wherefore do you tempt the Lord? And the people thirsted there
for water. And the people murmured against
Moses and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us
up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle with
thirst? And Moses cried unto the Lord,
saying, Why, what shall I do unto this people? They be almost
ready. to stone me.' And the Lord said
unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of
the elders of Israel, and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the
river, take in thine hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before
thee there upon the rock in And thou shalt smite the rock, and
there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight
of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the
place Massah and Meribah, because of the children, the chiding
of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord,
saying, Is the Lord among us? or not. They said, is the Lord among
us or not? Where were they at? They were in that desert place
that had a particular name. It was called the Wilderness
of Sin. That's where we are. We're in
the wilderness of sin. Ever since our father Adam, who
represented his whole race, ever since he fell in disobedience
against God in that garden, and death passed upon all men because
sin entered in. That's where we've all lived
from that day forward in this wilderness of sin. There is no good. There is nothing
but rebellion against God. There is nothing but filth and
unholiness and vileness on every hand. And the reason it is all
around us is because it is all in us all sin and all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God." And there was nothing but death
there. Why? Because there was no water there.
Wherever you don't have any water, you don't have any life. And that's the state of every
man outside of Christ, dead in trespasses and sin. And it probably was a place,
if you rambled that desert place, probably you could find a whole
lot of various wells that had been dug, but they were all dry. It says there was no water. I'm sure they tried to dig. I'm
sure they tried to search. I'm sure they looked at the old
maps if they had any. I'm sure that they questioned
each other. They looked to those who were
the smartest among them. There was still no water. And where there's no water, there's
nothing but death. And that's the way it is in this
world. There are a lot of people who gather in various places
this morning. They'll go to these wells, but
there's no water. There's no water. Why? Because they are the consequence
of man's efforts. Men dig wells in search of water
And that is human effort that is pictured. As a matter of fact,
God says this. He says they have hewn themselves
out cisterns, broken cisterns, which hold no water. They have nothing for the soul.
They have nothing to deal with the matter of sin. They have
nothing that satisfies for eternity. They have nothing that will put
the conscience to rest. They're just empty wells. Not only empty wells, poisoned
wells. So, these Israelites were in
a situation physically and also spiritually on top of it, but
the picture is here physically. They were in this picture physically
that every one of us in Adam and in ourselves as sinners in
this world are spiritually. But when you read this, it's
pretty amazing. Now, I just imagine that this
was also a rocky place, wouldn't you say? And yet, God says to
Moses, He says, you go down there to that place called Horeb, and
you stand before the rock. What rock was that? I couldn't say for sure, but
I'd say this on Moses, that the presence of God would be such
in that place and with that rock that it would be unmistakable
that this was the rock that God was talking about. There may
have been some historical significance with it. But we know this by
virtue of what is said here when God says, I will stand before
thee at that rock, that this was the one God appointed rock
in which He would bless and provide for those people. Now, what should Moses do? Should
he say, now, I've got word that there's a rock? And you go this
direction, and you go that direction, and you go another direction,
and this group go another direction, and you go another direction,
and we'll see if anybody can find this rock or find the best
rock. And whoever has the best rock,
come back and tell us." No. He said, there's one rock. Because one thing I'm sure about
in this book, it is that God has set forth one salvation,
therefore one Savior, one Mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus, one name given under heaven whereby we must
be saved, one way, one life, one truth, and that's Christ. the true Christ. And so he gathered all those
people there before the rock. The rock that Paul says represented
Christ. The rock that picture, and for
anyone who was enabled of God to see it by faith, this was
what represented the coming Christ. So what does he command Moses
to do? He said, you go and you stand
before that rock in the presence of all the people, that one particular
rock, and that rod that you have with you, that rod that I had
given you when you were sent down into Egypt to deliver those
people, that rock which heretofore you have used to represent the
judgment of God." That's what he did in Egypt.
He held out the rod and the lice and the plagues and the river
turning to blood and all these things He held out the rod and
cast it. The rod turns into a serpent
that swallows up all other serpents. He said, you go down there and
you take that rod and you strike the rock. Now, that's not an idle picture
because that is exactly, that is exactly how God describes
what He has done to His own Son, our Savior, in order to save
us. He didn't say you go down there
and you take other rock, colored rocks, and adorn that rock or
you chisel it into a nice shape and form and statue. No, He said
you go to that rock as it is. and you strike it. And when he struck that rock, the picture is that water so gushed out of that rock as
to provide water enough for all of that multitude of people and
all of their livestock so as to sustain their life in that
desert place. And that is nothing but a picture
of Jesus Christ as the source, the fountain, if you will, opened
for salvation. the source of every spiritual
blessing that is the gift of God's grace. But it is all through
His being stricken. Turn over to Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah 53, as Isaiah is led by the Spirit of God,
not just to describe the Christ, but the crucified Christ. Look down in verse 4. Isaiah says, Surely He hath borne
our griefs. There is a reason He is suffering. There's a reason He appears to
be rejected of God. There's a reason why He is stricken. Surely He hath borne or carried
our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem Him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. Men saw Christ hanged on that
cross, dying the death of the cross, and their automatic thought
was, what awful thing did this man do to die such a death as
that? Look down just a little bit farther
in verse 10. He says, Yet it pleased the Lord
to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand. He shall see of the travail of
his soul, and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities." Who was Moses? What do we associate
with Moses? We associate the law with Moses. The law came by Moses. was given by Moses, through Moses. Well, what do we do? What can
the law say to you or me or any other son of Adam? Well, because we violated it
in Adam, the essence of it, because we violate it every day in ourselves,
It can only say one thing to us. Die. You must die. The wages of sin, which is against
God, is death. So if one stands in our place,
if we are blessed with salvation Through something he is and does,
what has to happen to him? Moses has to strike him. The law has to deal a death blow
to him because the soul that sinneth shall surely die. He said, you go down there. Strike
the rock. Strike the rock of salvation. This is a rock that pictures
Christ. But it must picture Christ crucified
as the source of all spiritual blessings, as the one who has
made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. into one in whom we have eternal
life and every aspect of salvation strike the rock. And there was no water without
the rock being smitten. And the Lord Jesus Christ stricken, smitten, and afflicted
at the hand of God's justice bore in himself the just consequence
and penalty of all the sins of all his people for all time. He died. Something else happens a little
later on. They come down to this same situation
because the picture is here that Christ
saves from sin. But these people were just like
us, just believing on Christ. We don't stop sinning. Turn over to the book of Numbers. And this almost sounds like a
broken record. This almost sounds like an echo,
the same thing reverberating, the same situation, the same
sinful people. But look here in Numbers chapter
20 at verse 1. It says, Then came the children
of Israel. even the whole congregation into
the desert of Zin in the first month. And the people abode in
Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was
buried there. And there was no water for the
congregation. No water. And they gathered themselves
together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people chode with
Moses and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our
brethren died before the Lord? And why have ye brought up the
congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and
our cattle should die here? And wherefore have ye made us
to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? It
is no place of seed or of figs or of vines or of pomegranates,
neither is there any water to drink. And Moses and Aaron went from
the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces, and the
glory of the Lord appeared unto them. And the Lord spake unto
Moses, saying, Take the rod, Same rock. Take the rock. Why? Because God hasn't changed
a bit. And gather thou the assembly
together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak unto the rock
before their eyes, and it shall give forth his water. And thou shalt bring forth to
them water out of the rock, so thou shalt give the congregation
and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before
the Lord as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered
the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them,
Hear now, you rebels." It doesn't sound like Preacher
Moses has got too good an attitude in this sermon. Here now, you
rebels, must we fetch you water out of
this rock?" Well, the truth of the matter is Moses hadn't fetched
them water out of the other rock. God gave it. And Moses lifted up his hand,
and with his rod he smote the rock twice, and the water came
out abundantly. and the congregation drank, and
their beasts also." Well, everything's okay. No. And the Lord spake unto Moses
and Aaron, Because you believe me not to sanctify me in the
eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring
this congregation into the land which I have given them. they neither one were allowed
to lead those people into Canaan. God killed Moses and buried him
himself. Why? He said, because you failed
to sanctify me in the eyes of this people. You failed to do
what I told you to do. And in doing so, you failed to
show the true picture. You were not to strike the rock
again. You certainly were not to strike
the rock twice. You were to speak to the rock. Why? Because if there's one thing
this book emphasizes, it is that Jesus Christ died for his people
once. Once. Because his death was such
an utter success And because the sufficiency of his sacrifice
was such for the sins of his people that he made an end of once. He only had to die once because
he is the perfect sinless God-man in the flesh. Now listen, Hebrews rings this out. Hebrews 7, speaking of this priest
contrasted to every other one, it says, He needeth not daily
as those high priests to offer up sacrifice first for his own
sins and then for the people's, for this he did once. when He offered up Himself once. Again, Hebrews 9, neither
by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. Why? Because God says where there
is remission of sin, there is no more offering for sin. Hebrews 9 again, had he been
like others, then he must often have suffered since the foundation
of the world. But now once in the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for him shall
he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Just once. That's all you have to pay a
debt. If you were to get double billed
for something, doesn't that just make you angry? You say, that's
not just. And that's all justice requires,
was the full, complete, God-satisfying payment in the matter of our
sin. Strike that rock once, Moses. You say, but we still sin. Yes,
we do. So what do we do? We speak to
the rock. What do we speak to the rock
about? To receive again the experience of forgiveness. God, in the legal
sense, forgave all His people, all their sins, when Christ hung
on that cross. but we keep speaking to the rock,
that we might experience that forgiveness, that we might know
it in our conscience when he settles it by the blood of Christ. He says we are sanctified. By
the witch will, we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once. once. He paid it all once. He satisfied
God on our behalf once. He made an end of sin once. It is no more. And for Moses to go in disobedience
to God, God hadn't changed. That rod was still in his hand
to show that he was still a just God, but he was satisfied so
that all he was to do was to speak to the rock. And I'll tell you what I like
in this. I like that even Moses' disobedience couldn't undo the
work of Christ, could it? Even Moses' failure, Moses' misunderstanding,
it could not undo what Christ does. And here he is, stricken. Who was he stricken for? That rock that was smitten by
Moses, who was it for? It wasn't for all those people
in the land of Canaan. It was for those Israelites.
The water flowed out from that rock for them because they are
representative of God's spiritual Israel. Just go back to Isaiah
53. And hear God say this in verse
8, For the transgression of my people was he stricken. Unworthy, undeserving, helpless,
even murmuring sinner. And I'm not altogether sure that
I understand everything it means when he says that that rock followed
them, except to say that every bit of mercy that God had to
them, it was because of His grace. Those who truly drank from that
spiritual rock, which was basically Joshua and
Caleb and others who died. But only Joshua and Caleb entered
into the land of Canaan from that generation. And that's what Paul's doing.
In 1 Corinthians 10, he's saying to those Corinthians who profess
faith in Christ, he said, don't you be like the most of them. Don't you be like them. That rock is Christ. And he needed only to be stricken
once as the substitute of his people to satisfy the justice
of God on their behalf. And that sacrifice has a lasting
efficacy and a never-ending sufficiency. So that our Lord Himself describes
it like this. Whosoever drinks of the water
that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that I
shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up
into everlasting life." In Hebrews, the apostle gives
the same warning that Paul gives in Hebrews, in 1 Corinthians
10. He says, for unto us was the
gospel preached as well as unto them. You say, well, now wait a minute.
They never heard the gospel. That was the gospel. Whether
it was the Passover lamb, whatever it was, whether it was that rock
stricken, that's the gospel. They heard the gospel. He said,
For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them, but the
word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith
in them that heard." You see, a lot of those people,
all of them I'm sure, when that water came out of that rock,
they lapped it up. But they didn't drink of that
spiritual type. They didn't believe that gospel
type. That God, alone, by grace, in
Jesus Christ crucified, gives every blessing. That's why our Lord one day said,
if there's anybody after all this religion, They've all been
to these various feasts in Jerusalem, and the last day of the feast,
he said, if there's anybody that's still thirsty, let him come unto me and drink. He is the rock of salvation,
and there is no other. All spiritual and eternal blessings. as the gift of God are in Him. In Him crucify. God help us to drink and to drink again. To speak to that rock. Father, we thank you this day
for your mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ. Take this picture, we pray, that
you've given us, that was written for our learning, that was preserved
for those of us upon whom the ends of the age shall come, and enable us, giving us the
gift of faith to believe on Christ, to receive from Him all of salvation. He is the rock, and He is to
be praised. We thank you and we pray in His
name. Amen.