Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I have a wonderful verse of scripture
for us to consider today. It's in Isaiah 26, if you would
like to read along with me. Isaiah 26, verse 4 says, Trust ye in the Lord forever
for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." That's a wonderful
verse, isn't it? Trust in the Lord forever for
in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. I have a center margin
in my Bible that gives scripture references and it will give some
of the meanings of certain words, translations of certain words.
And it says that everlasting strength translates the rock
of ages. That's what it means. That verse
says, trust ye in the Lord forever. for in the Lord Jehovah is the
Rock of Ages." Now right here in this verse
he tells us who to trust in and he tells us who it is that
we're trusting in and he tells us why we can trust in him. He tells us who to trust, He
tells us who that is, and He tells us why we can trust Him.
He said, trust ye in the Lord. Trust ye in the Lord. Who is
the Lord? When He says, trust ye in the
Lord, well, who is the Lord? The Lord is Jehovah. The Lord is God Almighty, that's
who the Lord is. The Almighty God, he said, trust
in Jehovah, God Almighty. Well, why can we trust in the
Lord Jehovah, God Almighty? Verse four, he said, because
he is the rock of ages. That's why. Trust in him. who is he? That's the Lord. That's Jehovah. That's God Almighty. Why can we trust in him? Because
he's the rock of ages. That's why. He is the rock of
of ages. Now, I'd like for us to look
for just a moment at what this means, what exactly he is saying
in this verse, why he is called the rock of ages, our everlasting strength. Why
is that? Our Lord Jesus Christ is referred
to as a rock all through the scriptures. That's a very common
description of him. through the Word of God and I
want to show you just a few of those places for a moment. Over
in Deuteronomy chapter 32, it says in Deuteronomy 32 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 shall 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. 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." Who is He? He's the Rock. That's wonderful news, isn't
it? He is the Rock. In verse 30,
right here in Deuteronomy 32, verse 30, it says, How should
one chase a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight? How could one man defeat a thousand? How could two men defeat ten
thousand? He goes on to say, except their
rock, capital R, had sold them, given the enemy to them. and
the Lord had shut them up. Verse 31 says, for their rock,
lowercase r, is not as our rock, capital R. Their rock is not
as our rock. We have a rock and their rock
is nothing like our rock at all. Look with me at 1 Samuel chapter
two. couple of books over in 1st Samuel
chapter 2. This is a woman named Hannah's
prayer to the Lord and it says in 1st Samuel 2 verse 1, Hannah
prayed and said, my heart rejoiceth in the Lord. Mine horn, that
means my strength, is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged
over mine enemies because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none
holy as the LORD, for there is none beside thee, neither is
there any rock like our God." There is no other rock like our
God, no other, neither is there any other. Over in Psalm chapter
18, it says in Psalm 18 verse 1, will love thee, O Lord, my strength."
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my
strength in whom I will trust, my buckler and the horn of my
salvation and my high tower. He's my rock. right here in Psalm
18 verse 31 says, for who is God save the Lord or who is a
rock save our God. Verse 46 right here says, the
Lord liveth and blessed be my rock and let the God of my salvation
be exalted. be exalted. I love there's a
story of a young boy many, many, many years ago, he went and suffered
a shipwreck out in the ocean and it was near enough to the
shore to where he swam to a rock that was sticking up out of the
water and they found him the next morning and rescued him
and he'd been out there on that rock all night long and the just
the storms were raging and the waves were raging and They picked
that boy up and brought him back to shore and they asked him,
son, weren't you afraid? Didn't you tremble? And he said,
oh yes, I was afraid and I trembled. But he said, my rock never did.
It stood firm all night long for me. I was so fearful on that
rock, but my rock stood firm. Well, listen to this. The Lord
is our rock. Is that good news to you? The
Lord is our rock. Now this is a critical verse
of scripture. Knowing everything we've just
declared, this is a critical verse of scripture for all of
us to understand. It's in Luke chapter 20. If you
want to read this with me, Luke 20 verse 17. It says, he beheld them and said,
now this is the Lord speaking. What is this then that is written? What he's saying is, what does
the scripture say? The stone, the rock, the stone
which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of
the corner. He said, I want you to know this.
I want you to understand this. The stone that the builders rejected,
They said, no, that one's no good. We don't like that one.
He said that same stone has become the head of the corner, the cornerstone. When you built a stone building,
that one solid cornerstone is the stone that everything else
was built on. And he's saying the stone that
man trying to build his own building to God, The stone that man threw
out and rejected, he said, be warned, that stone, that rock
has become the head of the corner. The nature of mankind, I'm talking
about me, I'm talking about you, all men and women, our nature.
The natural flesh of all mankind has rejected the rock. We need to understand this and
I'm talking about me talking about you. The natural flesh
of mankind has rejected the rock, God's rock, the rock of God as
he is declared in the word of God. You tell men that they've
rejected Christ. And they say, no, I haven't.
You say you've rejected the rock of God. And man says, no, I haven't. Here's what we mean by this.
Here's what the scripture means by this. Man has rejected Christ
the rock as he is declared to be in the word of God. Men and
women have made up in their mind what they imagine Jesus Christ
to be. And it's nothing like the rock
that is declared in the word and that's the truth. Man has
imagined, well, I believe that Jesus Christ is like this and
I believe he's like that and they don't naturally believe
he's a rock, they believe he's a soft man, they believe he's
nothing like a rock. They've rejected the declaration
of the rock. Man naturally has no desire to
be built on and does not trust the foundation of Christ the
rock. They'd rather trust and be built
on gentle Jesus meek and mild or whatever else they want to
make him up to be but they've rejected Christ the rock. Man does not want Christ the
rock. He wants to build his own house
on his own foundation. I don't, I don't think Christ
is like that. They read it in black and white and they say,
I don't, I don't think so. Now I reject that. Let's cast
that to the side. I've got another foundation that
I'd like to build on here. This is what all men and women
are going to find out at the judgment. Even though mankind
has naturally rejected Christ and His Word and His work as
it is declared in the scripture. Even though man has rejected
that of having any part in his own foundation before God. God
has made Christ to be the chief cornerstone. Christ the rock. is the chief cornerstone that
all the house of God is going to be built on. The only salvation
that there is is the salvation that is going to be built on
Christ the rock. The house is either going to
be built on Christ the rock or it's not going to be built at
all. Verse 18 says right here in Luke 20, he said, whosoever
shall fall upon that stone shall be broken. Is that what the natural
mind thinks of when you fall on Christ? Man will stand up
and say, fall on Christ. Do you think that you'll be broken
if you do? Because that's not the natural mindset. He said,
whoever falls on this stone is going to be broken. He's a rock. But he said on whomsoever it
shall fall, it will grind him to powder because he's the rock. We must see this. He is the rock. We're either going to be broken. We're either going to fall on
him with a broken and a contrite spirit. We're either going to
fall on him for mercy, crying, God be merciful to me, I'm broken
before you. Or he is going to fall on us
in his wrath. And he's going to grind us to
powder in the process. But either way, he's the rock. We must understand that because
that's the truth. Men and women are going to meet
God and they need to know who it is they're going to meet. That's why our text said, let
me tell you who to trust in and let me tell you who he is. He's the rock. He's the rock. We must know the truth. He's
the rock. Now here's the gospel. All right. The truth is he's the rock. The
gospel is he's the rock of ages. That's the good news. He's the
rock of ages. He is the rock of eternity. He is the rock of life. He is
the rock of salvation. Look with me back at our text,
which is in Isaiah 26. It says in Isaiah 26, verse four,
trust ye in the Lord forever. Forever. We can trust in Him
forever. Throughout the ages. Ages and
ages and ages. We can trust in Him forever.
Verse 4 says, Because in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. Everlasting sustainment. Everlasting provision. everlasting
protection, everlasting salvation. I just told you the story of
that young boy who was shipwrecked on that rock. As long as he was
on that rock, he was safe. As long as he was on that rock,
he was protected. Get off of that rock, there's
no salvation. In the Lord Jehovah, is everlasting
strength. Now, when I read that here in
the verse, here in the text, when I read that, three rocks
in the scripture came to my mind, three particular rocks. And in
these three rocks, I want us to see how Christ is our rock
of ages. All right? He will be our strength. He will be our protection. He'll
be our provision all the days of our life. And that's wonderful
news, all right? So let's look at these three
rocks. Here's the first one. It's in 1 Samuel 7. Over in 1 Samuel 7, verse 3 says,
And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If you
do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away
the strange gods and Ashteroth from among you and prepare your
hearts unto the Lord and serve him only and he will deliver
you out of the hand of the Philistines." The Philistines were coming up
against them to fight with them and they were a much greater
army and Israelites were scared to death and he said, you turn
to the Lord. Verse four, then the children
of Israel did put away Balaam and Ashteroth and they served
the Lord only. They got rid of all those lowercase
r rocks and they started serving and looking to the capital R
living rock. Verse five, and Samuel said,
gather all Israel to Mizpah and I will pray for you unto the
Lord. I pray for you. And they gathered
together to Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the
Lord and fasted on that day and said there, we have sinned against
the Lord. And Samuel judged the children
of Israel in Mizpah. And when the Philistines heard
that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpah,
the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when
the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines. And the children of Israel said
to Samuel, cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that
he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines. What they
were saying is, he's the only hope we have. We're no match
for the Philistines. Verse Samuel, and Samuel took
a sucking lamb and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto
the Lord. And Samuel cried unto the Lord
for Israel and the Lord heard him. Samuel took a picture of
Christ making intercession for us to God. He took a young lamb
and he sacrificed that innocent animal on behalf of this sinful
people who were about to die in their sins. And in that innocent
blood offering to God, God heard him, God answered him, we're
going to see God save them. He offered that lamb and verse
10 says, as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines
drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a
great thunder on that day upon the Philistines and discomfited
them and they were smitten before Israel. And the men of Israel
went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and smoked them
until they came under Beth-char. Then Samuel took a stone. After
that defeat, Samuel took a rock. He took a stone and set it between
Mizpah and Shen and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying,
hitherto hath the Lord helped us. He acknowledged who had gotten
the victory. Samuel took a stone and he set
it right there in the midst of them and he called the name of
it Ebenezer and that name means the stone of help. Saying hitherto
hath the Lord helped us. There's a song that says hither
by thy help I'm come. Every victory over every enemy
has come to us by the hand of the Lord our Rock. And that's
just the truth of the matter. Every deliverance that we've
ever received has come to us by the power and the might of
the Lord our Rock. He has won the victory. And he's given us the victory.
We didn't win the victory. We didn't help him win the victory.
He has gotten the victory and he has given us the victory. Never one time have we ever gotten
our own victory. Never one time. Our victory is
in him. We have a lot of enemies. We
do. We have had, we will have a lot
of enemies. I'll tell you the greatest one
we've ever faced though is our own sin. That's the greatest
enemy we've ever faced. We're no match for it. It will
take us down. It will destroy us. By nature,
we're held captive to it. We're bound by it. We're the
servants of it. But Christ came and defeated
it. He said, sin shall not have dominion
over you anymore. Our rock came and led captivity
captive. He set us free. And because of
that, all of his people say, this is what they all say, hither
by thy help we are come. In him, only in him is everlasting
strength. Only in him. We're only saved
because of him, because he chose to help us. Where did he defeat
our enemies? How did he set us free? Not only
from our sin, the power of our sin and the penalty of our sin,
not only from the sin and from the wrath and punishment that
we deserved from God for committing that sin against him. How did
that deliverance take place? We'll look at the second rock
with me. Exodus 33, over in Exodus 33, this is a wonderful portion
of scripture. Exodus 33, verse 12, Moses is
asking the Lord to show him how he will deliver them. He's saying,
Lord, go with us and deliver us. And in verse 18, he said,
I beseech thee, show me thy glory. Verse 19, and the Lord said,
I will make all my goodness pass before thee. and I will proclaim
the name of the Lord before thee, and I will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show
mercy. And he said, 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. and it shall come to pass while
my glory passeth by, I will put thee in a cliff of the rock,
a broken place. I'm gonna put you in the cliff
of the rock and I'll cover you with my hand while I pass by.
And I'll take away my hand and thou shalt see my back parts
but my face shall not be seen. He said, here's your salvation.
I'm gonna put you in the broken place of the rock And when I
pass by, my glory and my judgment, when it passes by, it will not
touch you because you will be hiding safe in the cliff of the
rock. And who is that rock again? The
Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is that rock. He said,
I'm going to put you in Christ and there you'll be safe. David
said, in the time of trouble, he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret of his tabernacle,
he'll hide me, he'll set me up on the rock. Christ the rock. God said, I'm gonna deal with
you in him. All right, now here's our third
rock. This is gonna tell us how we're sustained all the way.
Over in Exodus 17, it says, in Exodus 17, that the people of
Israel were dying of thirst. came to Moses and they were so
thirsty, but they'd been murmuring and complaining and Moses cried
out to God and said, what shall I do? And God said, you take
the rod that's in your hand, which represents God's law, God's
holiness, God's justice. And he said, you go to the rock
in Horeb and smite the rock. And when you do, water will come
flowing out of that rock and the people will be delivered,
refreshed, satisfied. And that's what Moses did. And do you know who that rock
was? The Lord Jesus Christ. He was smitten for our behalf. He was given, he was wounded
that he might give life giving refreshment. life-sustaining
refreshment to all of his people forever. That's what Christ did. Our text says, trust ye in the
Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. He's the rock of ages. Till next
week, may the Lord bless his word to our hearts. You have
been listening to a message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport
Sovereign Grace Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like
a copy of this message or to hear other messages of Sovereign
Grace, log on to our website at ksgctn.org. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m., and 6 o'clock
p.m., Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next week
for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.