Now, if you'll take your Bibles
and turn with me to Psalm chapter 28. Psalm chapter 28. And we'll be looking at verses 1
and 2. And we'll take several other parts of this Psalm, but
our main focus is going to be found in verses 1 and 2. And I've entitled this message,
to my rock." A cry to my rock. The psalmist here, David, says,
unto thee will I cry, O LORD, listen, my rock, my rock. Be not silent to me. Lest if
thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the
pit. Hear the voice of my supplications
when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle."
Thy holy oracle, that is the sanctuary, that is the most holy
place, that is where the atonement was made, the oracle. The psalmist here writes, in
such a time, such a dark and silent time, he says, be not
silent to me. He cries unto the rock because
of the silence of God. There is never so dark a time
in the believer's life as when it seems God is silent. When he has seemingly hid his
face and left us alone. This we know to be true, that
we all deserve to be left alone. We all deserve in ourselves to
be left in the silence and God not to speak. We have sinned
against God. We are condemned in our own conscience. We stand before the Lord like
that high priest, Joshua. You remember he stood in those
filthy rags before God. And he stood there in silence. And Satan was ready to accuse
him. But what was his hope? What was
his joy? It was Christ. It was Christ
who stood in his place. Christ stood and argued his case. He said, Is this not one that
is plucked like a bran from the burning? And you remember he
told him, grab that robe, put it on him, put that crown on
his head. But what did Joshua say? Nothing. He had nothing
to say. It was silence on his part. It
is in this darkness and fear that the psalmist here cries
that the Lord revealed himself, that he speak to his heart and
give him comfort. He cries to the Lord to restore
his strength and destroy his enemies. Does any of this sound
familiar? This sounds very familiar to
me. We are often found in the silence. We are often found in the darkness. I often find myself in this condition
and sadly I feel there's times that God has left me. This is
the sharpest arrow that pierces my heart because without Christ,
without mercy, What did David say? I am like them that go down
to the pit. I am just as sure for hell. If
God is silent to me, if God doesn't answer me, if God doesn't come
to my rescue, if God doesn't atone for my sins, if God doesn't
give me any peace, I am like them that have no hope. But even in this despair, God
is still performing His good pleasure, His good will and providence. Remember that. that our God in
silence is doing this for your good. Listen, if God wasn't silent,
would you be crying to Him? Most likely we wouldn't. God
does this for our own good. Which when God is silent that
I am brought low and I see again He is all that is precious. He
is all that is precious. That He is my rock and He is
my salvation alone. Therefore, in the silence, in
the darkness, when I cannot see in front of me, I cannot see
behind me, I cannot see to the right or to the left, I don't
know where to go. I don't know what to do. God
is silent. What do you do? Cry unto Him. That's what David did. He cried
unto the Lord, My Rock. Unto Thee I will cry, O Lord. When the Lord Jesus preached
the gospel in John chapter 6, you remember that He said this,
that I came to do the Father's will. And this is the will of
Him that sent me, that all He had given me, I should lose nothing
and raise it up again at the last day. And they murmured and
complained that He was the bread of life. And He said, why are
you murmuring? No man can come unto Me except the Father which
has sent Me. Draw him. He preached the sovereign grace of mercy
of God and salvation. And you remember many of those
disciples left. And Jesus turned to His disciples
and He said this, Will you go away also? And what did Peter say? He said,
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. Christian, when we are distressed and in darkness, our
heart accuses us, our conscience condemns us and overwhelms us.
When Satan would accuse us and tempt us away, WHERE DO WE GO? WHERE DO WE TURN? TO LAW? NO. THERE'S NO REFUGE IN LAW. WE
KNOW THIS. WE SAY LIKE PETER, TO WHOM SHALL
WE GO? YOU HAVE THE WORDS OF ETERNAL
LIFE. THEN IN THE DARKNESS, IN THE
VOID AND SILENCE OF GOD, IN THE TROUBLE, IN THE DIFFICULTY, LET
US DO THE SAME. LET US CRY UNTO OUR GOD. CRY. LET US CRY TO HIM, FOR THERE
IS NONE OTHER NAME GIVEN AMONG MEN WHEREBY WE MUST BE SAVED.
THERE IS NO OTHER HELP. IF GOD SEEMS TO BE SILENT, IF
GOD SEEMS TO BE SILENT, YOU MARK THIS DOWN, HIS CHILDREN WILL
NOT BE SILENT. THEY CANNOT BE SILENT. We cannot
be silent until we hear from Him. We cannot be silent. We're like Brian Bartimaeus.
Could he be silent? They tried to shut him up. He
couldn't be silent. Jesus, Thou Son of David, have
mercy on me. Jesus, thou Son of David, have
mercy on me. And he would not be silent until
he was heard. The Canaanite woman, you remember, Lord, have mercy
on me. Lord, have mercy on me. And what did he do? He ignored
her. He was silent to her. But she would not be calmed down.
She would not until he answered her. And what did he say to her?
He said, Is it meat that the children be bred be given to
dogs? He answered her harshly. But
did that stop her? No, she took her place and said,
Truth, Lord. Even the dogs received the crumbs
from the Master's table. And he said, I have not found
so faith in Israel. So when we are in trouble, the believer
will not be silent when he is silent. And we can cry to others,
and we do. I tell you, as believers in Christ,
we long to help each other, don't we? And it is our place to help
one another, isn't it? It's our business in this world
to help our brethren, to be supportive and encouraging and loving them.
But you know what we can do? We can really do nothing. I can
help you and I can try to and I should, but you shouldn't lean
too hard on me. Why? I'm flesh just like you. Scriptures are plain. Psalm 118
and verse 16, I'll read it. The heaven, even the heavens
of heaven is the Lord, but the earth which he hath given his
children are the children of men. I'm sorry, I got the wrong
passage. I'm looking at this. Here we
go. Psalm 118, verse 8, it says, It is better to trust in the
Lord than put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the
Lord than put the confidence in princes. What good is the
government? What good are men? They're just
flesh. The arm of flesh shall fail.
But the only arm that shall not fail is God. His arm shall not
fail. Because every sinner who is without
strength, who comes to Christ, will find God to be as David
declares Him. Listen, a rock. Now why does
David use this phrase, My Rock? What is the Holy Spirit's intent? There are many scriptures, you
can look them up and you should, when you see Christ as pictured
as a rock. This is intentional, the Holy
Spirit is doing this. Why? Because a rock is firm. A rock is something that's sure
and steadfast. It is a firm foundation. Christ Jesus is described as
a rock. Now to the lost, he is a rock
of a fence, a stumbling stone. But to us who believe, listen,
this is going to be my first point, he is a sure foundation.
We cry to my rock, Jesus Christ, because he's a sure founder.
Second of all, this is my second point, we cry unto the rock because
this rock, Christ, is a refuge, a shelter, a protector. Thirdly, my third point, we see
that Christ is our rock because He is a source of refreshment. That sounds kind of confusing,
doesn't it? A rock being a refreshment? But you'll see it in Scripture
that this rock, Christ, is not only our foundation, our refuge,
but it is a source, a constant source of perpetual refreshment. And fourthly, the Holy Spirit
describes Christ as a rock because HE WILL LIKE A ROCK CRUSH HIS
ENEMIES. AS THE ROCK, HE WILL DESTROY
HIS ENEMIES. THOSE WHO ARE NOT FOUNDED ON
THIS ROCK, WHO ARE NOT PROTECTED BY THIS ROCK, WHO ARE NOT REFRESHED
BY THIS ROCK, YOU PAY ATTENTION. YOU WILL BE CRUSHED BY THIS ROCK.
YOU WILL BE CRUSHED. THIS ROCK WILL DESTROY YOUR REFUGE
OF LIES. this rock that is a refreshment
to so many will be a nothing but a torment to you. Now let's go through each one
of these points. First of all, Christ is our rock. We cry in
the silence to our God, to my rock, because Christ, first of
all, is a sure foundation. In the silence, in the darkness,
let us remember this, that Christ constantly, presently, and continually
is our rock, our rock, and we fall on Him by faith. We fall
on Him by faith, for He is a sure foundation. Go to Isaiah chapter
28. And look at verse 16, what God says. He says, Therefore, thus saith
the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for what? A foundation. What is His foundation? A stone,
a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make
haste. Therefore, God here is making
a contrast, friends. He's making a contrast between
those who have a refuge of lies. Before this, He says of men,
these scornful men, verse 14, THAT RULE THIS PEOPLE IN JERUSALEM,
BECAUSE YOU HAVE SAID WE HAVE MADE A COVENANT WITH DEATH AND
WITH HELL, ARE IN AGREEMENT. WHEN THE OVERFLOWING SCOURGE
SHALL PASS THROUGH, IT SHALL NOT COME TO US, FOR WE HAVE MADE
LIES OUR REFUGE, AND FALSEHOOD HAVE WE HID OURSELVES. THIS IS
A CONTRAST GOD IS MAKING. MEN BY NATURE MAKE A REFUGE OF
LIES. WHAT IS THE REFUGE OF LIES THAT
MEN MAKE? Simply, they are salvation by works and free will religion. That is the refuge of lies that
so many millions of people have hid themselves under. So many
people assume that they will be accepted of God based on what
Christ did plus something they have done. Friends, that's not
a sure foundation. That is sinking sand. That is
a refuge of lies that shall be swept away. And God puts His
rock in contrast to their rock, their foundation. They're foundations based on
falsehood, but God says, I've laid a stone in Zion, and this
by my grace, I've set Christ to be the foundation of all his
church. And all whose hope is built on
this cornerstone, the gates of hell shall not prevail against.
Is that what Christ said? He said, upon this rock. He's pointing at himself. Don't
listen to that false church that says he's talking about Peter.
That church is not, this church is not built on Peter. This church
is built on the rock, Jesus Christ. And he says, upon this rock,
speaking of himself, the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. Why? It's a sure foundation.
Surely the word of the apostles and the prophets are our foundation,
aren't they? This word that you have in your
hand, this Bible, we say this is the source of all our faith
and practice. What are we saying? This is the
foundation from which all we believe, right? I believe because
the Word of God says it. This is the foundation of all
of our faith and practice, but what's the foundation of this
book? What's the source of strength and authority from this book?
The foundation of this book is Christ, the cornerstone. The cornerstone. What is a cornerstone? That's the chief stone on which
all the building is built. They used to build buildings
like this, that they'd take a stone out of a quarry, and they'd make
sure that this stone, they'd try it, they'd test it, make
sure, and then they would... That stone had to be such a square
stone. It had to be... Why? Because
the whole building was set off that one stone. If the stone
was crooked, the building would be crooked, and the building,
the structure would fall. The stone had to be square. It had to be right. It had to
be strong. Why? Because the whole weight
of the building and the foundation rested on that stone, that cornerstone. And if this cornerstone crumbled,
the whole building crumbled. If the cornerstone was not square,
the whole building was not square. And so it is with Christ, who
is God's cornerstone. If He should fail, then the whole
thing is worthless. He's the foundation stone set
by God from eternity, and all His church is built on Him. YOU REMEMBER THAT IN EPHESIANS
HE SAID THAT ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS IN HEAVENLY PLACES ARE IN CHRIST
JESUS. HE PUT US IN CHRIST JESUS, THAT
WE SHOULD BE HOLY AND WITHOUT BLAME BEFORE HIM IN LOVE, HAVING
PREDESTINATED US ACCORDING TO THE ADOPTION OF CHILDREN, LISTEN,
BY JESUS CHRIST. ALL OF THOSE SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS
AND HOLINESS AND SALVATION AND ADOPTION WERE BASED ON HIS WORK
ALONE. by Jesus Christ. He set that
stone, and everything that is not on this stone, you listen,
it will be cut off. Look at Isaiah 28, look at verse
17. Judgment also will I lay to the
lion, and righteousness to the plummet. And the hail shall sweep
away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the
hiding place. Friends, There has never been
a man more tried and more proven than Christ. You know that? There's never been one more tried
and proven than Christ. He's the only sinless God-man.
The only one. God tried him. God tested him. Remember, put him out there in
the wilderness. The Spirit of God led him into the wilderness,
fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. Satan tempted him in the wilderness. The Jews tempted him. And what
did he say? The prince of this world hath
found nothing in me. WHAT DID HE SAY TO THOSE JEWS?
HE SAID, WHICH OF YOU CONVINCETH ME OF SIN? AND EVEN THAT EVIL
GOVERNOR, PILATE, HE SAID, I FIND NO FAULT IN THIS MAN. HE WAS
TRIED. HE WAS EXAMINED. AND THEY FOUND NOTHING IN HIM. And through the ages, has He
not been tried still? Aren't men still putting Him
to the test? And you know what? He's found
to be true every time. He being God is the same yesterday,
today, and forever, yet men are still falsely trying to accuse
Him and refuse to believe on Him, who God has set to be the
only foundation for His church, the only foundation for everyone
that believes on Him. Everyone that believes on Christ,
He is a sure foundation. He is that stone which the builders
rejected, but God made head of the corner. Here is, we have
a foundation, a firm foundation. Here, the refuge for the lost,
Christ the rock of our salvation, His the name of which we boast. Lamb of God, for sinners wounded,
sacrificed to cancel guilt, none shall be confounded, who on Him
their hope is built. Why? He's a sure foundation.
Tonight, do you need a sure foundation for your soul? Believer, are
you in the silence? Does God seem to be silent? Are
you in distress? Are you in trouble? Are you in
grief? Listen, you who have put your
soul on Him by faith, you can be sure that this foundation
will not move. I thought of this. What if you're
in the darkness and you can't see in front of you, you can't
see behind you, you can't see this way? You know, the only
thing that really matters is what's underneath you. No matter
what you can't see, you can sure feel what's underneath you. And
so when you can't move, the best thing to do is fall down on the
rock. You can be sure that the foundation
underneath you is sure. You can feel that always, can't
you? I'm moving around on this floor. It's hard. I'm not going to fear falling
through. Oh, friends, we're not going to fall
off. They that believe shall not make haste. Why? I'm not
going anywhere. Christ is my rock, my foundation.
Second of all, Christ is not only my foundation, He is my
refuge. He is my refuge. Moses, when
he prayed to God, you remember he said, Lord, show me thy face.
Show me thy face, thy glory. And God says, you cannot see
my face, you'll die. And over in Exodus chapter 30,
I believe it was chapter 33, this is what God says. He said, chapter 33, verse 22,
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. The cleft of the rock, a refuge. You see, a man, in order to see
God, in order to know God, in order to see the glory of God,
he must be in a refuge. And that refuge is Christ. He
is the cleft of the rock. Jesus, the eternal rock, was
always near the Father. He said, I'm going to put you
in a place by Me. Isn't that where the cleft of
the rock? He said, by Me. That's where Christ was always,
by God. He was always with God. And the
Father, they are one in power, in deity, in will and purpose. God has predestinated us. He has chosen us who are believers
in Christ under the adoption of sons and purposed that we
be perfect. Isn't this His purpose? You believe. Isn't that right? Isn't this
His purpose that you should be holy? How should you be holy? The only way is He put you in
Christ. The only way you and I could
be perfect is being in union with someone who is. In love,
He made us accepted in Christ. He put us in that cleft from
eternity. You were in this refuge from
eternity. There was never a time in eternal
purpose of God that you were not kept in the cleft of the
rock. Never was there a time when you
were not in union with Christ. We were in Christ. We were preserved
in Christ until the appointed time that through faith we should
realize it. Isn't this? We should experience
it. Now, when we were born, there's
no way you could say I was in Christ or with Christ. There
was nothing in me. There was no Spirit of God in
me as of yet. But according to the purpose
of God, it was. And at the appointed time, it was going to come to
pass. I was going to experience it
because I was already in Him, in this cleft. And at the time
of God appointed of our salvation through faith, His blood had
already been shed. He was already satisfied the
justice of God by His one offering. Scripture says, He hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. He opened our eyes. By the exceeding
greatness of His power, He opened our eyes and when He created
in us a new nature, we were able to see and experience. We were
able to know how God could be just and justify the ungodly
only through Christ, only through a refuge. You remember Noah's
Ark? What a picture of Christ as a
refuge. Noah was in the ark. He endured the storm just like
everyone outside the ark. He didn't miss the storm. He
didn't get out of the storm. He was just in a refuge and that's
the only way he was saved. That's the only way we're saved,
believers, being in a refuge. The wrath of God fell on our
refuge instead of us. The rain fell on the ark instead
of Noah. And that's the only reason Noah
lived. That's the only reason we live. Because we're in Christ.
Believer in the darkness, remember this. He's your refuge. He's
your refuge. He bore our sins in His own body
on the tree. He bore our guilt. He was made
sin for us. Made sin for us. Who knew no
sin. The spotless Lamb of God was
made sin. Yet He remained spotless. I can't
explain it. That's what happened. That's
what happened. He's made sin for us who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteous. And what was the
result of that? Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3 said, He, having
purged our sins, sat down. In other words, the work was
done. When He died, He purged our sins as our substitute. Jesus suffered the full measure
of God's wrath without mercy for all the sins of His people
and forever satisfied the justice of God. Believer, if Christ has suffered
for our sins, if he has endured the wrath of God for us as our
rock, how shall then the waves of justice
of God ever come to us? How can God condemn us if Christ
paid for our sins? I'm going to read this hymn because
I think it amazingly fits this really well. Gus's top lady wrote
this. He said, From whence this fear
and unbelief? If God my Father put to grief
His spotless Son for me, can He, the righteous Judge of men,
condemn me for the debt of sin which Lord was charged to thee?
Complete atonement thou hast made, and to the utmost farthing
paid, what e'er thy people owed? How then can the wrath on me
take place, if sheltered in God's righteousness, and sprinkled
in thy blood? If thou hast my discharge procured,
and freely in my place endured, the whole wrath divine, payment
God will not twice demand. First at my bleeding surety's
hand, and then again at mine. Turn then, my soul, unto thy
rest. The merits of thy great High
Priest hath bought thy liberty. Trust in his efficacious blood,
nor fear thy banishment from God, since Jesus died for thee. When's all this fear? When's
all this trouble? Why do I doubt? Why do I fear? God had made Him to be my refuge,
and if He endured my sin, can God demand twice payment from
me? No. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my
people, saith the Lord. Why, her warfare is accomplished.
You tell Jerusalem, my warfare is accomplished, for the Lord
hath received double for all her sins. The Lord Jesus is thy
refuge. is thy refuge. Listen to what
Jeremiah said. Now you get a hold to this. Now this is what a refuge has
done for us. This is what the refuge has done
for us. This is why I cry to Christ, My Rock. And when God
is silent, when everything is in trouble, when the world is
collapsing around me, this is why I cry to My Rock, because
He is my refuge and because He had died for my sin, Jeremiah
chapter 50 and verse 20. Sorry about that. Get a hold to this. In those
days and at that time, sayeth the Lord, the iniquity of Israel
shall be sought for and there shall be none. The sins of Judah and they shall
not be You understand what that says?
Anybody misunderstand that? Can you misunderstand that? He
said in that day and that time. What day and that time? When
Christ died. That's the day, that's the time when all of the
sins were totally eradicated forever. And God says in that
day and that time, listen, there's no more sin. No more sin shall
be found. Where? In His people. Jesus Christ
is our refuge. He's our refuge from the wrath
and justice of God. He's that city of refuge, isn't
He? You know, that avenger of blood could not touch Him. If
He made it to the city of refuge, He could not. You, sinner, if
God, by grace, lets you flee to Christ, listen, you make it
to Christ, you're safe. And remember, when that high
priest died in that city, guess what? He was allowed to go anywhere
he want to. Listen, the high priest already
died. You can go anywhere you want to. Why? The wrath of God
cannot touch you. He's your refuge. Now look at
this next thing. We cry unto Jesus our rock because
He is a rock of refreshment. A rock of refreshment. In Isaiah chapter 48, I'm going
to read this to you, you're not going to stay there. So Isaiah
chapter 48 and verse 21, And they thirsted not when He led
them through the deserts. He caused the waters to flow
out of the rock for them. He claved the rock also, and
the waters gushed out. This is talking about the children
of Israel when they wandered in the wilderness and murmured
against God because they had no water. God in great mercy
gave them water from FROM A VERY INCONSPICUOUS SOURCE, A SOURCE
THAT NOBODY EVER WOULD HAVE DREAMED OF, A ROCK. HE TOLD MOSES, HE
SAID, YOU HIT THAT ROCK, AND OUT OF THAT ROCK WILL FLOW WATER
ENOUGH FOR OVER TWO MILLION PEOPLE. OUT OF A ROCK. What a picture
of Christ who is the source of all spiritual refreshment and
blessing. He pictures in this the church. Where do you receive your refreshment,
believer, when God is silent, when there's no answer? Where's
your refreshment? Where's your encouragement? Where's
your strength come from? It comes from this rock. Christ,
the rock of my refreshment. Jesus is a rock in a weary land,
isn't He? This is a weary land. And what
do you need most in a weary land? I need forgiveness. Gushes out. Listen, you can ask for as much
forgiveness as you want and there's still more. There's still more
forgiveness than you... There's more forgiveness than
you have sin. Pardon? You need that? Peace? rest, assurance, faith, love,
temperance, meekness, there's all gushes out of the rock. And
listen, just as no man would have ever thought to seek water
from a rock, even so no man ever thinks to seek salvation from
Christ. No man ever thought of it. When
Christ came, He had no form or comeliness that we should desire
Him. He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from
him. He was despised. And we esteemed him not. No man would have ever sought
a king in a stable. No man would have ever searched
for a mighty conqueror among carpenters. No man would have
ever esteemed the lowly and meek as noble and majestic, and no
man would have ever saw salvation in one who was crucified and
dead. Yet the king of kings was born
in a stable. The mighty conqueror and the
captain of the armies of God was a carpenter. The most majestic
and noble man humbled himself to be the meekest and lowliest
of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself
and became obedient. Listen, to the death of the cross,
for what purpose? To save his people from their
sins. He who is our eternal rock of
deity. condescended to be made flesh,
so that he should be able to bleed in the stead of his people. Therefore, behold, Jesus is that
smitten rock, and out of him flowed what? Both blood and water,
atonement and cleansing, atonement and refreshing, Wherefore hath
God highly exalted him, and raising him from the dead, God highly
exalted him, and given him a name that is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue
shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. This is where salvation is. It's in Him. It flows from Him. He is the source of all salvation. of all forgiveness and pardon.
Do you remember the next time that
rock was seen? It wasn't to be smitten, was it? It was to be
spoken to. But Moses, you know, he got mad
and he smote that rock a second time. You remember he didn't
get to go into the Promised Land because of that, really because he was
a type of the law. The law cannot speak to you in
peace. The law cannot speak to you in
peace. It only condemns. It only charges. Now was Moses right to condemn
them? You bet he was. They were a sorry group of people
just like us. Murmuring and complaining over
and over. How long shall I bear with you?
That sounds like the law, doesn't it? How long shall I bear with
you? The law won't bear long. If you're under the law, you're
under the curse of the law. But God said, Speak to the rock.
Why? Because that was the better picture. Once Christ was smitten,
now all that needs to be is, Ask and it shall be given to
you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened
to you. Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? Listen, if
you hunger and thirst for righteousness and you come to Christ, you shall
be filled with righteousness. He's a source of refreshment.
Speak to the rock. Jesus told that woman a whale.
He said, if you knew the gift of God and who it is to ask thee,
you shall say and ask him. And he would give unto you the
living water. The water of life. The water
of life. What is that? That's the spirit
and truth. He said, they that worship God
must worship Him in spirit and in truth. When you are giving
this water of life, it's the truth. Christ is the truth. And
who teaches you that but the Spirit of God? Ask Him! Listen, if you're not saved,
I know this, you're not asked. And if you've asked, you've asked
for a mist to consume it on your lust if you've not been saved.
If you come to Him as a sinner with nothing, Prince, He'll give
you salvation. It's refreshing. Speak to the
rock. Both the water is pictured. JESUS
SAID IN JOHN 4, TO WHOSOEVER DRINKETH THIS WATER SHALL THIRST
AGAIN, BUT TO WHOSOEVER DRINKETH THE WATER THAT I SHALL GIVE HIM
SHALL NEVER THIRST. BUT THIS WATER THAT I SHALL GIVE
HIM SHALL BE, LISTEN, IN HIM A WELL OF WATER SPRINGING UP. THAT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE IT'S
CONSTANT. IT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE PERPETUAL. HE DIDN'T SAY, I WILL
GIVE YOU A POND OF WATER. That's how you feel. I know that's
how you feel, as though you've got a pond of water. No, no,
that's you. You're a stagnant pond. He, the Spirit of God,
is a well of living water, springing up inside of every one of God's
people. And He will give you this fountain
of water, in you is Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit will give
you the truth, which is Christ. We who are washed, washed by
the blood of Jesus Christ, we are free from all our sins, perpetually, constantly being
cleansed. Listen to this. He cleanseth
us and cleanseth us and cleanseth us from what? All your sins. How many sins you have? How dark are they? How grievous? How horrible? What evil things
we have done? And yet, He says, I am a rock
of refreshment that cleanseth us from all our sins. Have you not found this to be
true? In trouble, in times of grief,
when we cry unto God, as David did, I have always found this
to be true. He hears me. LOOK AT WHAT DAVID
SAYS IN VERSE 6, BLESSED BE THE LORD, BECAUSE HE HATH HEARD THE
VOICE OF MY SUPPLICATION. WHY? BECAUSE HE'S CRYING IN THE
NAME OF CHRIST. IN VERSE 2 HE SAYS, BECAUSE I'VE
LIFTED UP MY HANDS TO THE HOLY ORACLE, BECAUSE I'VE COME BY
MY ROCK, MY REFUGE, MY FOUNDATION, AND MY REFRESHMENT, BECAUSE I'VE
COME BY HIM, I KNOW THIS, HE HAS HEARD ME. NOW HAVE YOU NOT
FOUND THAT TO BE TRUE? HE HAS HEARD ME. HE HEARD ME. Every time the one cries by the
rock, you can guarantee this, they will be heard. They will
be heard. Verse 7, we find this, that the
Lord is our strength. He says, The Lord is my strength
and shield. My heart trusted in Him, and
I am helped. Therefore, my heart greatly rejoices,
and with my song will I praise Him. With my song will I praise
Him. He is my strength and shield. Verse 8, The Lord is their salvation,
and He is the saving strength of His anointed. You see, when
we are encouraged in our rock, what do we know about everybody
else? What do we know about the other people in the church, those
who are other believers in Christ? I know this, if the Lord is my
strength and my shield, if He is my rock, my foundation, my
refuge, my refreshment, surely He's yours. He is the refreshment
not only of me, but of all His people. He is their strength. He is their salvation through His anointed. Now listen,
this should give you encouragement no matter how bad your sin is
because He's not just cleansing your sin. His blood is not just
sufficient for your sin. The Scripture says the sins of
the whole world, wherever His people are in the world, all
of them, His blood was sufficient to cleanse them of all their
sins as well. And I'll tell you this, when
we are encouraged, we're able to encourage one another, aren't
we? Though God be silent to us, yet listen, He's not silent,
is He? Did He just not speak? Is this
not His Word? I'm not, it's not my word. This is His word. He's speaking. All who believe on Christ, cry
unto Him as their salvation. Why? He's our rock of, our foundation
of our soul. Eternal foundation. He's our
refuge. He's our refreshment. He's our strength. He's our shield.
Rock of ages cleft from me. Let me hide myself in thee. Let
the water and the blood from thy riven side which flowed be
of sin the double cure. Cleanse me from its guilt and
power. And fourthly, lastly, he is not
only a foundation stone, he is not only a refuge and refreshing
rock, but I want you to be warned, he is a crushing rock, a crushing
rock. Sinner, pay attention. Today
is the day of salvation. Today. Every true believer knows
this for sure. That we are set on a sure foundation. Christ is our refuge and our
refreshment. He is the fountain of living
water that springs up daily. He is even now our rock and sure
foundation. He is presently our shelter and
He is constantly our refuge. And this rock is sure and able
to save the vilest of sinners. That's what we're sure of. We're
sure of this. And now by faith we enter in
while there's room. Enter in. Come to Christ. Look,
I've showed you the rock. I've showed you everything you
need for salvation's in Him. Come in Him. Come by faith and
believe on Him. And listen, if you will not,
you will be damned. I saw a picture of someone that
had died several decades ago. Lost, evil, corrupt person. Died in their sins. And however many years they have
been there in hell, the writing on the wall is still the same.
Shall be damned. And when they are there a thousand
years, THE WRITING WILL STILL BE JUST AS SURE, SHALL BE DAMNED. WHY? GOD WILL CRUSH HIS ENEMIES. BY THE SAME ROCK HE SAVES US,
HE WILL CRUSH THEM WHO ARE HIS FOES, WHO WILL NOT COME TO CHRIST. LOOK BACK AT YOUR TEXT. LOOK
BACK AT YOUR TEXT. DAVID SAYS, DRAW ME NOT AWAY
WITH THE WICKED AND WITH THE WORKERS OF INIQUITY. which speak
peace to their neighbors, but mischief in their hearts. Give
them according to their deeds, according to their wickedness
of their endeavors. Give them after the work of their hands.
Render to them their dessert, because they regard not the works
of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands. He shall destroy
them and not build them up. The Lord Jesus Christ will soon
come as a crushing rock. And I want to close. Go over
to Deuteronomy. Go over to Deuteronomy and see this. Deuteronomy chapter
32. I'm going to skirt through this. In verses 1 and 2, God declares
His doctrine. And verse 3 says, I'm going to
publish it. And what is his doctrine? Here it is. He is the rock. His
work is perfect. Isn't that what I just said?
I've been spending now, I'm at 46, I better move on. I'VE BEEN SPENDING 46 MINUTES
TELLING YOU ABOUT THE ROCK. AND WHAT DOES GOD SAY ABOUT HIS
ROCK? THIS IS HIS DOCTRINE. MY ROCK IS PERFECT. VERSE 4.
HE IS A ROCK. HE IS PERFECT. ALL HIS WAYS ARE
JUDGMENT. A GOD OF TRUTH WITHOUT INIQUITY. JUST AND RIGHT. BUT WHAT HAPPENED?
THEY HAVE CORRUPTED THEMSELVES. THAT'S WHAT WE'VE DONE. WE'VE
CORRUPTED OURSELVES. THEIR SPOT IS NOT THE SPOT OF
HIS CHILDREN. THEY'RE A PERVERSE AND CROOKED
GENERATION. Verse 9, FOR THE LORD IS A PORTION OF HIS PEOPLE,
JACOB, THOSE CHOSEN. HE SAID, I FOUND HIM, I FOUND
JACOB, HE WAS THE APPLE OF MY EYE, I SAVED HIM, I PROSPERED
HIM. BUT VERSE 15, GESHON, HIS PEOPLE,
THEY WAXED FAT AND THEY KICKED, THEY FORSOOK GOD, THEY LIGHTLY
ESTEEMED WHAT? THE ROCK OF HIS SALVATION. LISTEN,
ISN'T THAT WHAT WE'VE DONE? BY NATURE THAT'S WHAT WE'VE DONE. Of the rock that begat thee,
thou art unmindful, thou hast forgotten the God that formed
thee." How often do we do this? You believers, how often have
we forgotten the rock? Oh God, help us. God's been merciful to us, but there are others that He
will not be merciful to. And you know who they are? The
ones who have another rock. If you have a rock that's not
my rock, my rock will crush you. He says in verse 31, their rock
is not our rock. Isn't that right? False free
will works religion, their rock is not my rock. Their Christ
is not my Christ. Why, mine's a sure foundation,
mine's a sure refuge, mine's a constant refreshment. Theirs
is not. And so God says to them, verse
35, to me belongs vengeance and recompense. And He's going to
say to those, He said in verse 37, where are their gods, their
rock whom they trusted? What are you trusting in? What
rock are you leaning on? You're resting your soul on something
today. What is it you're resting on?
What are you trusting in? When you die and face God, what
are you trusting in? That's your rock. And if your
rock is not my rock, listen, God says He's going to mock you.
He'll say, where's your rock now? Where is it? In verse 43, he said, Rejoice,
O ye nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood
of his servants and render vengeance to his adversaries. That's what
he's going to do. Bob, but here's my hope. Listen,
he will be merciful unto his land and to his people. And what
did Moses say? He said, verse 46, set this in
your heart. Set this in your heart. Oh, listen,
believer, are you in the silence? Is God not speaking? Are you
in distress? Believer, are you in distress?
Then cry to your Rock. Why? He's the foundation of your
soul. Don't lean on man. He's the foundation. He's your
refuge. He's your refreshment. I want
to close with this. As a reminder, since He is my
Rock, He's my refuge, and He's my refreshment, I want you to
know this, no matter what your experience in this life, and
I mean it, there's so many things that are so full of pain. There's
so many trials, so many difficulties every believer faces in this
life. But I want you to know this, whatever you experience in this
life, you can be sure of this, God is the same. All we who believe on Christ
are sure that He is the first cause of everything, and we bless
His name, we trust Him in every circumstance. Listen, this is
what Spurgeon said. He said, Christian, the Christian
knows, we know this, no change with regard to God. He may be
rich today and poor tomorrow and may be sickly today and well
tomorrow. He may be in happiness today
and tomorrow be in distress. but there is no change with regard
to his relationship with God. If he loved me yesterday, he
loves me today. I am neither better nor worse
in God than I ever was. LET PROSPECTS BE BLIGHTED, LET
HOPES BE BLASTED, LET JOYS BE WITHERED, LET MILDEWS DESTROY
EVERYTHING, AND I HAVE LOST NOTHING IF I HAVE GOD. IF CHRIST IS MY
ROCK, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, ALL IS WELL. WHY? because my relationship with
God doesn't change. He's still my rock, even when
I can't hear Him, even when I don't feel His presence. He's still
my rock, my refuge, my foundation, and my refreshment. Is He your rock? That's a serious question, friends.
I'm not asking that just to be I'm not trying to be cute with
this. Is He your rock? That's a serious
question you need to be asking. Because if He's not your rock,
He will crush you. But if He is your rock, He'll embrace you. He'll hold
you. And He loves you. My eternal rock. Crying to Him. I pray God will bless this.