I was blessed by that, weren't
you? We've had such good, special
music today. And I'm thankful for these who have
sung for us this morning, the ladies trio and for Alan and
Gail singing for us tonight. That's part of our worship service.
We praise the Lord in song. Well, let's open our Bibles to
the book of Zechariah, chapter 3. I've got, well, one verse. I'll go ahead and read the last
two verses of chapter 3. and then endeavor to speak to
you on the subject about the stone that God has laid. The
stone that God has laid. It is the Lord speaking here
in chapter 3, verses 9 and 10. Or behold the stone that I have
laid before Joshua. He says, upon one stone shall
be seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave the graving
thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity
of that land in one day. In that day, in that day of grace,
saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbor
under the vine and under the fig tree." Our Lord Jesus, as I mentioned
this morning at the end of His great message on the Sermon on
the Mount, He finished that message with that illustration about
two kinds of builders, wise builders and foolish builders. Most everybody is dependent upon
something or somebody to hold them up in the time of storms
of life and especially in the time of judgment. People made
wise by God the Spirit built on the rock Christ Jesus. He
is this stone that God has laid before Joshua, who stands as
the representative of all of the people of God. Wise people
build all their hopes on Him. Oh God, give us wisdom. Give
us wisdom. I don't want to be like the man
who built his house on the sand. The winds blew, the rains came,
floods came and washed it away and great was the fall of it.
You know, one of the things I was re-reading that passage of Scripture
this morning, that I mentioned this morning, I was re-reading
it this afternoon. You know, both of those houses
were so close together. And I know that because both
of them experienced the same flood. And yet, though ever so very
close together, one of them was It had a foundation upon the
bedrock. It couldn't be moved. All the
troubles of life couldn't shake that house from its foundation. And even our way to the judgment,
facing our God when he dons his black robe of justice, even then,
That house built on the rock, it stands fast. But that other house, built by
a foolish man, it didn't take time to dig down to the bedrock. He just decided he needed a house,
too. And he just put it up. There's
no foundation there. Nothing to hold it up. Nothing
to make it durable. He just puts a house up, a house
of religion. He gets a little religion and
he feels like he's okay. But wait, he's building on sand. And it may be that one of the
storms of life will wash his foundation away
and his house will come crumbling down, or maybe that house will
somehow last through the storms of life. But there's another storm brewing. That's the great storm. That's
the judgment of God. And I tell you, people who build
their houses, their hopes of salvation, on a foundation of
works, or baptism, or having been confirmed when they were
young. People who build on that kind
of foundation, they're building on a sandy foundation. And I'll
guarantee you that last storm is going to get them. And our Lord said, great, great
was the fall of it. Is there a greater loss than
the loss of the soul? Oh God, help me to build all
my hopes on Christ only. I don't want to perish. I don't want to go to hell. I
don't want to be separated from God forever. You don't either,
do you? Therefore, by the grace of God
given to me, even before this world was made, by the grace
of God, I build all my hopes, all my expectations on this rock
that God has laid, even our Lord Jesus. He's our only hope. Do I need
forgiveness? Oh, yes. Well, He's the only
Savior. Do I need righteousness? Oh yes,
but He's the only righteousness. Do I need holiness? The Bible
says without holiness, nobody's going to see the Lord. Do I need
holiness? Absolutely. How holy has a man
got to be to stand accepted before a holy God? He's got to be as
holy as God is. You can forget about growing
in holiness. You're never going to be holy
enough by your efforts, by your deeds, by your religiosity. You'll never be holy enough to
stand before a holy God. Only in the Holy Redeemer are
we made holiness. He is our sanctification. I hope we're learning that. Am I in debt to the justice of
God? He's my redemption. He paid my
debt. And we love to sing that song,
Jesus paid it all, all the debt I owe. And I know sin has left
a crimson stain, but wait, there's good news. He washed it white
as snow. Do I need somebody to appear
in the presence of God for me and to stand between me and a
holy God? Yes, I do. This rock is my mediator. He's my go-between. That's what
Job longed for. Somebody to stand between him
and God. Well, we have one who stands
between us and God. He lays his hand on God and meets
God's every demand. And he lays his hand on us and
meets our every need. That's Christ the Rock. I need somebody to teach me.
I'm pretty hard-headed. I need somebody to overcome my
ignorance. I need somebody to teach me not
only to my mind, but to my heart. He's my prophet. I need somebody to offer the
sacrifice that satisfies a holy God. He's my priest. I need one who will rule the
world and govern all things and work everything out for my good. He's my king. This rock is. Behold the stone. This is what
the Lord says. Behold the stone. Look to the
stone. Look to the rock that God has
anointed. Behold the stone. That one chosen
in divine election. God chose him. God chose him. Behold mine elect, God said. He chose him first and then chose
us in him. Christ is the first elect of
God. You know what he did at the cross
of Calvary? He endured all the hell that
I would have had to endure forever. I could never satisfy justice,
but he did. And He satisfied it for all of
His people. Behold the stone. And this is
what God does by sovereign grace. See, you may not grasp what I'm
saying. I hope you do. I hope you understand
this Gospel message. But this is what God does. This
is what He did for me and it's what He's done for several of
you. He has come to us through the Word of the Gospel by His
Spirit. And He has wrought a miracle
within us. Very mysterious. And we find
ourselves delighted in this stone that God has laid. We rejoice
in Him. And you know what? We can't help
but believe Him. Isn't that right? We can't help
but believe Him. This is the work of God. You
see, the evidence, the only evidence of election... Preacher, I don't
know whether I'm chosen or not unto salvation. Well, there's
an evidence of it. And the only evidence that He
bought you, He redeemed you by His precious bloody sacrifice,
And the only evidence that the Spirit of Grace has effectually
called you, He has drawn you to the Lord Jesus Christ is you
believing. That's the only evidence. And that's one you can't see.
That's invisible to the naked eye. But it's real to a believer.
This rock is real. Christ, He's the stone upon which
the entire church of the Lord is built. Zion. Zion chosen in grace before the
world began. God put us on the rock and He
put us in the rock. How do you like that? You reckon
we're secure? You reckon we're safe? Do you
reckon when this world is shaken by the very judgment of God,
when He makes a new heaven and a new earth, do you reckon we'll
still keep going on? Oh yeah. Why is that? Because
of who our rock is. Christ the Lord. He's the rock
foundation. He's the He is indeed the stone
that the builders rejected. Foolish builders reject him. Here's what foolish builders
say, we will not have this man rule over us. Not this man. I'm all right. Somebody told
me as they went out of the building this morning, they had a dear
friend, tried to talk to them about the things of God, and
they said something to this effect. I can't quote it exactly, but
they said something to this effect. I hope in the end that my good
deeds outweigh my bad deeds. Well, if that's what you're thinking,
I can absolutely guarantee you they won't. because you don't
have any good deeds. The Scripture says there's none
that doeth good, no, not one. God's going to put you on the
scales of justice. And on one side is the perfection
and the beauty and the righteousness and the holiness of the very
Son of God. You think you can balance out
with Him? The only way to be accepted by
a holy God is to be as holy and as righteous and as perfect as
His own Son. That's the only way. You say,
preacher, that's impossible. It is impossible for us, but
nothing's impossible with God. For you see, God has made Him
this stone that God laid. to be our wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption. Look with me in Isaiah chapter
28. Isaiah chapter 28. Let me read you something over
here that the Lord says. He says it right after He condemns
those that have made lies their refuge. False religion is just
lies. Preachers lying on God and people
believe in the lies. I know it's a harsh reality and
people say, well, you're being cruel. I'm not being cruel when
I say these false preachers out here are lying to people. They're
a bunch of liars. Let God be true. Every man a
liar. They're not being honest with
people. They're lying to people because the lies that they're
telling are the lies that they believe. That's the problem. Say, I don't know what's wrong
with religion today. Well, one big problem is the
men behind the pulpits. The ignorance of the congregation
is due to the ignorance of the man who is preaching to them. He doesn't know God, therefore
they don't know God. Oh God, teach us the truth. I don't want to believe a lie,
thinking all along I'm alright. Say, I'm alright and you're alright.
None of us are alright. In fact, we're all wrong. Only
He's right. Watch this. Isaiah 28, 16. After He talks about lies, people
have made lies their refuge. Look at the last couple of statements
in verse 15. For we have made lies our refuge
under falsehood if we hid ourselves. You can't hide under falsehoods. That's no hiding place. You can't hide under falsehoods.
Hide only in that One who is the Lord our Savior. Hide in Him. Therefore thus saith
the Lord God. He said, hear me. Listen to what
God has to say. Behold! Take notice. And remember right back there
in Zechariah chapter 3, the Lord says, Behold, He introduces that
there. The stone that I have laid, behold
Him. Behold, I lay in Zion. What is Zion? That's the church
of God. That's all in the elect of God.
All of those selected by God in sovereign grace. He chose
these people unto salvation before the world began without any consideration
of who they were or what they would do or whether they would
obey or disobey. None of those things were taken
into consideration. This is a salvation based solely
on free and sovereign grace. There's no other salvation but
that salvation, which is the free and sovereign grace. Zion,
the church. Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation,
a stone. He says it's a tried stone. He says it's a precious cornerstone. And he says it's a sure foundation. And he that believes, he who
builds on this foundation, shall not make haste. Nothing's going to shake him.
He's always safe. Let me ask you a couple of questions
here. Who laid the foundation? Jehovah did. You don't make him the foundation.
God made him the foundation. Well, when did he lay this stone,
this rock as the foundation? Before the world was made in
the covenant of grace. Do you know that really, in the
mind and purpose of God, all of salvation, from our election
unto our glorification, really was I'll say, signed, sealed,
and delivered, and absolutely certain from before the world
began. They say, Preacher, how long have
you been saved? Well, how long has God been God? How long has grace toward the
elect existed? Well, forever. That's how long
I've been saved. That's how long I've been a child
of God. The Lord, our God, laid the foundation
in old eternity, in the covenant of grace. You can forget about this, well,
God voted for you, and the devil voted against you, and you gotta
cast the deciding ballot. That's a bunch of foolishness. The only vote that mattered,
and the only vote that there was, was God's vote. when He
ordained in Himself, when He devoted Himself in old eternity
to the salvation of a multitude of sinners who were ill-deserving
and undeserving of the least of His favors. He laid this foundation before
the world began. I'll tell you what else. This
foundation that God laid, it's laid out in the Word of God.
You can't read the Scriptures without coming to this conclusion
that the only foundation upon which to build your hopes of
salvation and glory is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation
is not in religious ceremonies, it's not in Confirmation. It's not in sprinkling. It's not in obedience. It's not
in anything you do. Baptism doesn't have anything
to do with it. Taking the Lord's Supper has
got nothing to do with it. Joining up doesn't have anything
to do with it. People at these religious meetings,
every head bowed and every eye closed, if you're really serious
and want to be saved, raise your hand. That doesn't have anything
to do with it. We're going to sing several stanzas of just
as I am if you'll come down here to the front and you'll show
God you mean business. You mean He doesn't see your
heart? You got to come down here. I was telling Suzanne and David
a day at lunch. I was talking about a church
that I worked in years ago. I was 19 years old. I told you the little story,
I guess, this morning about the preacher that I was learning
grace, and I told him, I think I told that in Sun School class,
didn't I? But anyway, shortly after that, I started working
in another church in Virginia, had a Sovereign Grace preacher,
and he left. And I had to miss for a couple
of Sundays. They had some guy in that they
wanted to hear and consider him as a preacher, and they voted
him in while I was gone. And then I drove back up. I was
in Bible college and drove back up. Nancy and I did. I taught
the youth on Saturday and had a Bible class Sunday morning.
We had a choir. I directed the choir, had choir
rehearsal and all that. But anyway, that Sunday morning
was the first time I ever heard that man preach. And I'm the
song leader. Joe can enter into this because
he's the song leader. I got up after he had preached
a worthless sermon. I decided in my mind right then,
this ain't for me. I'm not gonna sit under this. He got up, he said, now, Brother
Bird's gonna lead us in Just As I Am, and we're gonna sing
till somebody comes down this aisle. Man alive. We went through all
five stanzas of Charlotte Elliott, and that's a good song. You know
that? That's a good song. You read
the words Just As I Am by Charlotte Elliott, It's a good song. We sang five stanzas and we're
going to sing until somebody comes down the aisle. Nancy told
me after she said, I'll just pray and please somebody go forward.
I'm tired of singing. Well, after it's over, I didn't
even tell Nancy. I went, I made a beat line for
him and I said, I'm done. I'm not your song leader anymore.
I'm never coming back. I told him, why? That doesn't have anything to
do with salvation. Walk in the aisle like that.
In fact, it's a bad thing. Because it gives people a false
hope. That's what's tragic about it.
Gives them a false hope. And I'll tell you the rest of
the story if you want to hear it. You want to hear the rest
of the story? I'll tell you the rest of the story. They paid
me, I think this afternoon, I believe it was $20 a week, and we drove
two and a half hours to get there. Paid me $20 a week, and that
was a lot of money, especially to us. I had a college bill to
pay, and we had rent to be paid, so forth and so on. And I left. I told Nancy, I said, I'm done,
never coming back to this place again. Went by my parents' house. My brother was there. He said,
do you know such and such a pastor down at Rosemont Baptist Church
in Winston-Salem? I said, I don't know him. I know that church is off limits
because it's a sovereign grace church. My brother said, well,
I was talking to their preacher the other day and he wanted to
know what you was doing. He's looking for somebody to
lead the music, teach Sunday school class, do some preaching. I said, really? I said, yeah. Well, I just walked away from,
I forget, $20 or $25 a week, and that was painful. Back in
them days. And so, we were there that Wednesday
night. I called him, told him we was
coming. And that's where we met Tim and Debbie James, Tom and
Ann Schuler, and all the James family. and a lot of other people,
and the preacher said he got the deacon board together, and
they decided they was going to hire me. He said, we're going
to hire you, and we're going to give you $50 a week, and you
only got to drive 10 minutes. That's right. That's all I had
to drive, 10 minutes. Before I was driving two and
a half hours. To get that, not for that pay,
I was thankful to get it, but for that job of teaching and
preaching sometimes. And then the Lord opened up that
door. Can I tell you this? God honors those who honor His
Son. I know that firsthand. You take
a stand for the gospel. That don't mean it's all going
to be cream puff and you're going to have a nice smooth ride through
life. But I'll tell you what, you can't
go wrong by honoring God. You can't go wrong. And it may
cost you. It may cost you a few bucks.
That's all right. Jesus paid my debt. He's the foundation laid by God
in the Word of God. That's what I told that preacher
when I left. What you said this morning is not according to the
Word of God. Shame on you. That's what I taught.
Shame on you. I was 19 years old. And he was about, I don't know,
50 or something, 55. A whole lot older than I was.
Man ought to be ashamed of himself for lying against God. Not being
honest with people. See, Christ Jesus, He's the foundation
laid by God in the Word of God. He's the foundation, He's the
rock laid out in His sacrifice. He's the one who died for us.
He's the one who ever lives for us. And he's the foundation laid
when God exalted him to be Lord of all. That's how I know. I know that what he did honored
God, satisfied God, put away my sin, brought in righteousness
for me. I know he did because God raised
him and exalted him. He got to heaven and he sat down.
The Father said, sit down. Those priests in the tabernacle
and in the temple? If they told Aaron, I'm getting
kind of tired, could we bring a folding chair in here? No. Why not? Your work's never done. Never done. You repeat it over
and over and over again. But this man, But this man, oh, what a man! This man, when he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, he sat down. God said, sit here until I make
you in Me as your footstool. And yonder in glory, with the
eye of faith, I see Him. I see Him sitting in regal glory
and splendor and satisfaction. And I see Him having the scepter
that rules the world. There's no use for me to worry
about anything. He's piloting all of creation
to the end that He Himself has ordained. No use in me losing
sleep over it. No use in me worrying about anything. God helped me not to worry. God
helped me not to be anxious. He's the foundation laid out
when God exalted Him to be Lord of Lords. Now what kind of foundation
is He then? We know who laid this stone for
a foundation. We know Him, He laid it before
the world began. And we know He's laid out in
the Word of God and in His substitutionary sacrifice and in His exaltation. Well, what kind of stone is Christ
Jesus? Well, I'll tell you, first of
all, He's a foundation stone. Laid by God. Listen. Other foundation
can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus.
Who laid the foundation? God did. Nobody else can lay
any other foundation. There is no other foundation.
Because everything else is sinking sand. He's a foundation stone. And then the Lord says He's a
tried stone. All the saints in the past tried
him, and they found out he's faithful. He's faithful to his
promises. He's faithful to his people.
And he had never lost one of his sheep entrusted to his care. He keeps us safe. All the saints of God have tried
him and found him to be a faithful friend. Oh, he was tried by Satan. Satan couldn't break him. He
couldn't crack that foundation. The Spirit of God led our Savior
out in the wilderness and out there He was 40 days and 40 nights. And every fiery dart that Satan
could hurl at Him, He did. The rock stood firm. Oh, you
can't pierce Him. And I'll tell you what, God tried
him. God tried him. But you see, the Father had laid
help upon one who is mighty. He is the mighty God. And upon His shoulders rests
The full responsibility for the salvation of all of His people. God said, I've laid help upon
one who's mighty. So I hope I can keep on keeping
on to the end. If you own the mighty shepherd's
shoulders, you're safe. And nothing can happen to you.
You own the rock. I'll tell you something else,
he's a precious stone. Under you who believe, Peter
said, He's precious. Precious in His person, precious
in His incarnation, precious in His obedience, precious in
His righteousness, precious in His blood, precious in His offices,
precious in His names, precious in His relationship to us, precious
in His Word, precious in His ordinances, precious in the gifts
that He gives us. He is of infinite value. And I'll tell you something else. He's the cornerstone. He holds the great edifice of
the church together. He holds us. He will hold me
fast. That's an old song. I bet you've
sung that and played that. It's not in our psalm book. When
I fear my faith will fail, He'll hold me fast. He'll hold me fast. He's not going to let you go.
When Susanna and our son David, when they were little, we'd go
walking somewhere and I'd take them by the hand. I'd take my
hand now and take my hand. We'd go walking. They'd trip,
start to fall. It's not their hold on me that
keeps them from falling. It's my hold on them. That's
the only reason we haven't fallen, is because He holds us. He's a sure foundation. The years of time take its toll
on us, but not on our foundation. Is Jesus Christ the same? Huh? Yesterday? Today? Forever. That rock. That rock. Oh, it stands sure
and steadfast. And I'll tell you what, go back
over to my text just real quick. My time's about gone. Let me
show you this. He says this, verse 9, Zechariah
3, 9, For behold the stone that I have laid upon Joshua, upon,
watch this, how many stones? One stone. One stone. And he's the living stone. He's
the living stone. There's no other foundation.
There's no other stone. There's no Savior like our Savior. One stone. That's singular. That's why Christ said, I am
the way. He's not one of many ways. People say, are you of the Catholic
faith? Are you of the Baptist faith? Are you of the Protestant
faith? There's only one faith. That's
the faith of God's elect. That's what the scripture said. I am the way. I am the truth. There are no more truths. Everything
else is falsehood. And I am the life. No man cometh
unto the Father but by me. I'll tell you something else.
He's the stone smitten for sinners. Israel was thirsty. They got near Mount Horeb. They were thirsty. The Lord told
Moses, He said, take your rod with which you smote the river.
That's the river Nile, smote with blood. That's the rod of
judgment. And the Lord said, I'm going
to stand on a rock. That's what the Lord said. That
rock was Christ. We know that from 1 Corinthians.
That's what Paul said. And he told Moses, he said, you
take that rod, that rod of judgment, and you hit the rock. Smite the rock. He did and water
came out. Adults and children and all kinds
of animals. And it followed them. That's
what Scripture says, it followed them. Our Lord Jesus, God took the
rod to His rock and He smote Him. He didn't spare Him anything,
He smote Him. He was smitten of God and afflicted
is what Isaiah 53 says. And out from Him gushes the river
of life. And if you're thirsty, anybody
thirsty? Thirsty for God? My soul thirsts
for God. Like the deer being run by the
hounds. My soul runs to the water brook,
runs to Christ. My thirst is quenched. This stone is smitten. And I'll give you a couple more
and I'll quit. He is the stone in which you
must be hidden by God Himself. from His own justice and holiness. Moses said, Lord, show me Your
glory. I'll cause my goodness to pass before You. I'll be gracious
to whom I'll be gracious. You can't see my face and live.
I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to put a wound
in that rock. I'm going to hide you in the
cleft of the rock. Rock of ages, cleft. Can't it
be cleft for me? Let me hide myself in thee. And God put him in the cleft
of the rock. God passed right by him. He could
abide in the presence of God only in the cleft of the rock
in Christ crucified. He's the rock. He's the living
stone. But I got to give you this and
I'll quit. He's the stone of stumbling to many. A lot of people
trip over him. He's an offense to them. Because you see, if salvation
is all in Christ Jesus, and all of Christ Jesus, that means you
make no contribution to that salvation. That's just too big
a pill for most people to swallow. In fact, nobody will swallow
it by nature. They spit that out. I don't believe
that. I got my free will, you know. Your free will will send you
to hell. Only the will of God can take
you to glory. That's the way it is. We bow to His will. He's the
rock. We used to sing the chorus, I'm
on the rock, hallelujah. I'm on the rock to stay. For
He lifted me from the miry clay. I'm on the rock. You ever sing
that chorus? I'm on the rock to stay. To stay. He's my rock.