Well, let us turn once again
to God's word and we turn now to Deuteronomy, another of the
books of Moses, the first five books, of course, the Pentateuch,
the books of Moses. We read from Exodus and from
Numbers, but I want to turn to Deuteronomy chapter 32, the song of Moses. I'll read the
first four verses. Deuteronomy 32 from verse 1. Give ear, O ye heavens, and I
will speak. And hear, O earth, the words
of my mouth, and my doctrine shall drop as the rain. My speech
I'll distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb,
and as the showers upon the grass, because I will publish the name
of the Lord. Ascribe ye greatness unto our
God. 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 I want really to center your
attention with the Lord's help for a while on the words that
we have here at verse 4. Deuteronomy 32, 4, speaking of
the great God, He is the rock, His work is perfect for all His
ways, our judgment, a God of truth, And without iniquity,
just and right is he. The rock of Israel, the rock
of Israel is being set before us in the verses that we've just
read. And who is this rock? Well, we're
going to consider that ultimately we're to understand this in terms
of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, And also here we see
something of the perfection of the work of Christ. And that's
the division that I want to follow. Just these two headings. First
of all, the person of Christ. And it is clear, abundantly clear
from what we have in the New Testament, that this rock is
Christ Jesus. There in 1 Corinthians chapter
10, where The Apostle is writing of the
children of Israel, their deliverance from Egypt under Moses, and how
they are brought through the Red Sea, and remember how he
declares that all these things happened unto them for ensamples,
or types is the word that we have in the margin, all these
things happened unto them for types, and they are written for
our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. And in those opening verses of
that 10th chapter, he declares at verse 4, that spiritual rock
that followed them and that rock was Christ. That rock was Christ. And as we've said so many times,
we have the key to the Old Testament in those things that are written
in the New Testament. because God in these last days
has spoken unto us by his Son and we have the fullness then
of God's revelation and what light it throws on what we have
here in the Old Testament. Christ then is here in the text
that's before us tonight. He is that Rock of Israel. Furthermore, We also find Christ
in those significant words of David, the last words of David,
recorded there in 2 Samuel 23. What does David say? Verse 2, verse 3 also, The Spirit
of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue, the
God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me." Interestingly,
here, three times he speaks of the Lord speaking to him. And really, we see here something
of the doctrine of the Trinity, the Spirit of the Lord, spake
by me, he says. The God of Israel said. And then
again, the Rock of Israel spoke to me. We have, first of all,
the Holy Ghost. And of course, the Holy Ghost
is the one who is the inspirer of the Scriptures. He's the one
who spoke by King David, the sweet psalmist of Israel. And
then we read of the God of Israel, God the Father. And then we have
mentioned there of the Rock, which again is the same as we
have here in our text. Tonight, this is the Son of God,
the Son who would, in the fullness of time, become also the Son
of Man. He is the Messiah. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law. This is at Great mystery of godliness. Without controversy, Paul says,
great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. The promised Messiah, the son
of David. And remember what Paul says in
the opening verses of the epistle to the Romans as he begins to
define the message, the gospel that he is called to preach. that gospel that was revealed
to him by God, it concerns his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which
was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared
to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness,
by the resurrection from the dead. All we see there that he
is David's son, He's a real man, he's the promised Messiah of
God, the man, Christ Jesus, and yet he is also the eternal Son
of God. And remember how Peter confesses
him there at Caesarea Philippi when the Lord asks those questions
of his disciples, what is being said by the people. And then
he asks them direct, what do they say concerning his identity? And Peter's great confession,
they want the Christ. They want the Messiah, the son
of the living God. And then Christ goes on to say
upon this rock, upon this rock, I will build my church and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. He is the rock then
that he's being spoken of here in our text are the foundation
can no man lay than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ
how clear the scripture is how awful then are the blasphemies
of the man of sin and the son of perdition that the Pope sets
himself up not just this Pope but all the Popes set themselves
up as being that rock because they say that they sit in the
very seat of Peter and Peter was the rock to them it wasn't
Peter it was Peter's confession that the Lord was referring to
when he said upon this rock I will build my church Christ then is
said before us here in the text and it's interesting how many
times In the Scriptures, even here in the Old Testament, we
have the Christ being spoken of as the Rock, and we see that
especially in the book of Psalms. For example, there in the opening
word of Psalm 61, Where the psalmist cries out to God in his prayer,
Hear my cry, O God, attend unto my prayer. From the end of the
earth will I cry unto thee. When my heart is overwhelmed,
lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Or that high rock, the
Lord Jesus. And he is that one, of course,
now who is exalted to the highest heavens, that one to whom all
authority has been committed, that one who is reigning now. Head over all things in this
world to the church, which is his body, or lead me to the rock
that is higher than I. And we need to be those who would
be led to that rock time and time and time and time again. Then again in the 62nd psalm
and the second verse. He only is my rock, says the
psalmist, and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be greatly moved. And then he repeats himself at
verse 6 of that psalm. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be greatly moved. In God is my salvation and my
glory. The rock of my strength and my
refuge is in God. Or read through that 62nd psalm
and see how the psalmist there rejoices in this one who is the
rock of salvation. His work is perfect. All his
ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniquity,
just and right is heard. And here in Deuteronomy 32, in
this song, the Song of Moses, this rock is spoken of in another
six verses. Verses 13 and 15 and 18, and
then again in verses 30, 31 and 37. But look at what we have here,
for example, in verse 15, we see something of the following
of the children of Israel under the name Jeshurun. Jeshurun waxed
fat and kicked. They weren't waxed and fat. They
weren't grown thick. They weren't covered with fatness.
Then he forsook God, which made him and lightly esteemed the
rock of his salvation. Oh, how they lightly esteem the
rock of salvation. Again, verse 18, of the rock
that begat them, they were unmindful, and has forgotten God that formed
them. And we know when Messiah comes,
David's greatest son comes unto his own, his own receive him
not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power, gave
he authority to be called the sons of God, or the folly of
those who reject this Saviour. They forgot God their Saviour,
he says in the 106th Psalm. They forgot his works and his
wonders that he had showed them, or what wonders God had done
for them in delivering them from the bondage that was Egypt, bringing
them to himself, entering into covenant with them, and then
also watching over them throughout all the wilderness wanderings,
40 years in the wilderness, and yet they forget God and all His
wondrous works. Oh, let us not be like the children
of Israel and forget God. We are forgetful, and the Lord
knows that. And in His goodness and mercy,
of course, He has granted us that holy ordinance of the Lord's
Supper that we might remember. The Lord willing, we'll observe
it again this coming Lord's Day, this too in remembrance of me,
says Christ. And there we need to be reminded,
and we need to remember all that Christ has done, that greatest
of all His works, that great work of redemption. And so turning
in the second place, to say something with regards to the perfection,
of Christ's work. His work is perfect. For all
His ways are judgment, a God of truth, and without iniquity,
just and right is He. And where do we see this perfect
work? Where do we see the justice of
God, the truth of God? Ultimately, it all leads up,
of course, to The death of Christ, He is obedient. He's obedient
in life, but He's obedient unto death. Even the death of the
cross, and we sang it just now, in His highest work, redemption.
See, His glory in a blaze, nor can angels ever mention, or that
more of God displays. Grace and justice here unite
to endless days. Oh, the wonder of it. Now, the
readings that we took earlier, those words in
Exodus 17, where we read of the rock, do you remember what we're
told there concerning the rock from whence the water came? They've
come to a place called Rephidim, as we see in the opening verse,
of that chapter and they begin to to murmur and to complain
because there's no water and they're thirsty they're thirsty
and what do we read? and Moses cries to the Lord what
shall I do? the people were ready to stone
him What shall I do unto these people? He says. And the Lord
answers, Go on before the people. 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 Horeb. 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. Now remember that Christ is the
rock. He is the rock. And there we
have a type, really. That supply that comes from Christ
and that glorious supply that comes when the Lord is stricken. But then we also read the opening
part of Numbers chapter 20. Later on, again, they come to
that place where there's no water and they cry again, they chide
with Moses. And the Lord tells Moses what
to do there in Numbers chapter 20 and verse 8. He's not told
to smite the rock, but he is this time to speak to the rock. He's to take his rod but he's
not to strike it, he's to speak to the rock but what he does in verse 11
is to strike the rock and the consequences of that simple action
are so terrible for Moses because God tells him that he is not
going to enter the promised land He lifts up his hand and strikes
the water's flow. But verse 12, the Lord has spake
unto Moses, Because ye 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. It's
a terrible judgment. Why so? Well, the whole point
of the type there is that the rock had already been smitten, and a just God would never demand
a double payment. When we think of Christ as the
antitype, remember how he's spoken of there in Isaiah 53, stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquities, and a just God. I would never demand
a double payment. The top lady so rightly says
payment God cannot twice demand. First that my bleeding surety's
hand and then a game of mine. God cannot. Why? Because He is
a just God. His work is perfect. All His
ways are judgment, the God of truth, and without iniquity,
just and right is He. All those for whom the Lord Jesus
Christ has laid down His life by the shedding of His precious
blood, the pouring out of His soul unto death, all those for
whom He died could never suffer, because that would mean that
God was requiring a double payment. And isn't this really gospel
truth? What does Moses say, verse 3? Because I will publish the name
of the Lord, ascribe you greatness unto our God. He is the rock,
His work is perfect. Well, this is that gospel that
we seek so feebly to proclaim. That great work that Christ accomplished
upon the cross when he made the one sacrifice for sins forever. And reading that third verse,
I will publish the name of the Lord. Was not Moses there mindful of
what the Lord had proclaimed to him? Back in Exodus 34, where
we see the Lord revealing himself
to Moses, this is after the whole business of the golden calf and
the terrible sin that Israel had been guilty of and God was
going to disinherit them and Moses had stood in the breach
and been a mediator and pleaded for them and he wants the assurance that
God will yet go with his people and he asks God to show him something
of his greatness and what does the Lord do? He proclaims his
name. Moses says here in Deuteronomy
32, I will publish the name of the Lord. But there in Exodus
34, verse 6 we read, And the Lord passed by before him and
proclaimed, The Lord, God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering
and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no
means clear the guilt, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children and upon the children's children unto the third and to
the fourth generation." Oh, mark what it says here. He will by
no means clear the guilt. The punishment must be visited
upon those who are the transgressors where there is guilt there must
be atonement for that guilt but in the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ we see that there is forgiveness and God is just and God is the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus if we confess our sins
John says, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Oh, in Christ all the attributes,
all the attributes of God are for the sinner. Faithfulness,
justice, all that God is is the Holy One of Israel, the Righteous
Lord. He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. His
work is perfect. There is a perfect harmonizing
of all the attributes of God in the work of the Lord Jesus.
Holiness, righteousness, justice, judgment. All these meet together
with mercy and grace and love and compassion. As the psalmist
says, mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace
have kissed each other. All that God is, in his glorious being, the great
Jehovah, the triune God, all is on the side of the sinner. All I wonder, David says, if
the Lord should mark iniquity, you should stand. But there is
forgiveness with them. that thou mayest be feared the work of Christ as well as
the person he is the rock his work is perfect and there's great
comfort is there not great comfort that we can draw from this particular
figure this type of the rock when we take account of the experiences
of the people of God. Again, the experience of Moses,
the context. We just read those words at the
beginning of Exodus 34, but what is the context? We have it at
the end of chapter 33. Moses has made this request,
show me thy glory. And what does God do? he proclaims
his mercy. But there at the end of that
previous 33rd chapter, verse 21, the Lord says to Moses, Behold,
there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock, and
it shall come to pass while my glory passeth by, that I will
put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand
while I pass by. And I will take away mine hand,
and they shall see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen.
Or we can only see anything of God in and through Christ. And this is Moses. The law was
given by Moses. But Moses, of course, is a man
under the grace of God. Whereas the law was given by
Moses, grace and truth have come by Jesus Christ. And it's in
the New Testament that we have the fullness of the revelation
with the coming of Christ. That Christ who is the image
of the invisible God. And what comfort is to be drawn
from a right consideration of Christ Here in verse 13, concerning
Israel, God says, And He made him ride on the high places of
the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields. And
He made him to suck honey out of the rock, and out of the flinty
rock. Oh, what sweetness we can draw
out of the bitterness of the Lord's sufferings! How He suffered! when he bled and died, when he
was a worm and no man, when God visited upon that Holy Soul of
the Lord all the guilt that is ours, as those who are trusting
in Him. What sweetness there is in the
Gospel. Again, the psalmist says, He opened the rock and the waters
gushed out. They ran in the dry places like
a river. And Isaiah says much the same,
Isaiah 48, 21. They thirsted not when He led
them through the deserts. He caused the waters to flow
out of the rock for them. He cleaved the rock also and
the waters gushed out. This is where we find sweetness,
refreshment, every good thing in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
himself is the rock, that sure foundation. And what does Peter
say concerning that foundation? He that believeth on him shall
not be confounded. Ought to be those who are made
then to stand upon this rock, even Christ in His person, and
Christ in all that perfect work that He has accomplished, a full
salvation, a free salvation. He is the rock, His work is perfect,
for all His ways are judgment, the God of truth, and without
iniquity, just and right. is heard, or that the doctrine
there might drop as the rain, the speech distill as the dew,
as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as showers upon the
grass. Brother Lord, bless His word
to us. Let us, before we pray, sing
the hymn 924, the tune Rockingham 398, Great rock, poor weary sinners
made, When storms of sin distress the soul, Here let me rest my
weary head, When lightnings blaze and thunders roll. 924, TUNE
398