I'm not going to read you a scripture,
we'll get to that in just a minute. I do wanna make this statement
here. All the problems religious people have with believers can
be traced to one concern, one root cause. And that cause is
Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the issue, isn't
he? Okay? Because at the heart, at
the root, Christ is the issue. The issue is not whether baptism
is necessary for salvation. That's not the issue. They want
to make that an issue, but that's not the issue. And it's not,
for some people, that you have to have a second work of grace
in order to be saved. Again, people will want to make
that the issue, but that's not the issue. It's not that the
doctrine is the real issue with religious men or women, but one
more thing, the biggest sticking point that people have with the
so-called doctrines of grace, TULIP, is the one thing that
directly concerns the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, limited
atonement. Some of them can live with total
depravity, some of them can live with unconditional election,
Nobody wants limited atonement. Nobody wants particular redemption. They all agree that one's gotta
go. And you know why? Because the
problem is Jesus Christ with his people. The true issue for them is this. Jesus Christ is not enough. Not
his work, not his power, not his person, is not enough to
save a soul without their help somehow, someway. That's the
true sticking point. That's the true concern. Because Jesus Christ is the redeemer
of his people, his atonement, his sacrifice, his offering,
and God's acceptance of him is sufficient or it's not. That's the point, that's the
point. Joe Terrell wrote this, this is kind of what made me
think of this. Christ is never enough in the mind of the unbeliever. But Christ is enough to anyone
who has nothing else. That's us, that's us. If you've
got nothing else, you'll look to Christ. The only way you'll
have nothing else is because he's looked at you. But anyhow,
that's why I just wanted to throw that in there, just for free.
Now, I am gonna start in Psalm 62. That's not my text, but it's
important. And then I'm gonna read some
other verses from Psalms. I'm just gonna read a few verses.
and bounce around until I get to my text. Psalm 62, verse two says this. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense, I shall not
be greatly moved. Okay, verse six, the same chapter,
or same Psalm 62. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense, I shall not
be moved. And verse seven, in God is my
salvation and my glory. The rock of my strength and my
refuge is in God. Now you don't have to turn to
these. Psalm 78 and verse 35 says this, and they remembered
that God was their rock. and the high God, the Redeemer,
their Redeemer. Psalms 89 and 26 says this, he
shall cry unto me, thou art my father, my God, and the rock
of my salvation. Psalm 94 verse 22, but the Lord
is my defense and my God is the rock of my refuge. Psalm 95 and verse one says,
oh come, let us sing unto the Lord, let us make a joyful noise
to the rock of our salvation. And the last one, well next to
the last one, 2 Samuel 22 and verse 47. The Lord liveth and
blessed be my rock. And exalted be the God of the
rock of my salvation. Now you might be, noticing a
trend here. Okay, well I got one more for
you. This is 1 Corinthians 10 and
verse four. And did all drink the same spiritual
drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed
them, and that rock was Christ. Now I'm gonna tell you right
now, every one of those rocks I read about in Psalms, that
rock's Christ too. Now, Jesus Christ is our rock and
our salvation. Jesus Christ is the believer's
rock and the rock, it's his salvation, but he gives it to us. Oh, I
like that. He makes it our salvation. Oh, I like that. The Lord lives. The Lord liveth. Let's be the
rock. Let's be the rock. And exalted
be the rock of my salvation. and that rock is Christ, no question
about it. Now, I'm gonna go to my text,
which is in Exodus 33. Now, here's my title. There is a place by me. There is a place by me. You thought
it was gonna be something about a rock, didn't you? Well, it
is, but that's not the title. Exodus chapter 33, and I'm just
gonna read verse 21 to start and finish basically. 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 passes by that I will put thee in a cliff to the rock
and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by, and I will take
away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face
shall not be seen. Now, the Lord said, okay, this
is one of these places you gotta pay attention, and I gotta admit
to being guilty here, because I have read this I don't know
how many times, and it never really grabbed me, you know. God says, behold. And the Lord
said, behold, behold, right here, right now. Moses said, beseeched
the Lord. It says it in what, verse 18. And he said, I beseech thee,
show me thy glory. Moses asked to see the glory
of the Lord. Show me thy glory, thy glory. So the Lord said, Isn't that
good? Moses asked the right question.
Moses asked for the right thing. And God said, behold, behold. Isn't that something? Moses said,
Lord, I got no glory. Show me thy glory. Show me thy
glory. Moses knew who has the glory. Matter of fact, Moses knew who
had the goodness, the graciousness, and the mercy. Oh, I like that. And the Lord said, behold. What's
that mean? Look. Look! Look, Moses! Look, all of you! I am, what? The great I am is gonna tell
you something, and I'm gonna show you something. I'm gonna
show you something. Oh. But here, what's he say? Behold, here it is, behold what? There is a place by me. And man, that hit me the other
day when I saw this. And it's just like, wow, that
is so good. That is so good. There's a place
by him. And you know what? That's good
news. That's good news. That's good
news. There's a place by the Lord. And he's telling Moses, look,
see it. Behold it, perceive it, understand
it. There's a place by me, and here's
the thing for Moses, for you, for you. There's a place by me
for you. Here's the thing. Do you want
to see the glory of God? There's a place by him. There's
a place by him. There's a place by me. Do you
want to see God's goodness? Well, Jesus Christ says there's
a place by me. There's a place by me. You understand,
I want to grasp something here. I want you to lay hold of it.
There's a place by me, but understand, this is in the wilderness, okay? This is not the tabernacle, understand? The place by me is not the tabernacle.
It's not the holy of holies, it's not the mercy seat, It's
not the courts, it's not the fence, it's not the gate. It's
by me. It's by me, the Lord said. There's
a place by me. Oh, I like that. It's not the
pillar of cloud or the pillar of fire. No, no, it's by me. It's by me, I like that. And
I wanna lay a hold of that. Because here, for today, All
right, in our time, okay, the place is not by conversation
or creed. The place is not by denomination
or doctrine. The place is not by family or
favorite or pastor or preacher. The place is still by him. That's the place, by him. Oh, and you know why the Lord
tells us to behold? It's very simple. If God didn't
tell us to behold, we wouldn't even look. If he doesn't speak to you, you're
not gonna hear. And that's just the facts. But
here's the thing. If he speaks to you and tells
you to behold, you're gonna see. You're gonna see. Moses saw.
Moses saw. Oh, it's something else. The Lord commanded Moses to behold
and Moses beheld. There's a place by me. There
is a place by the Lord Jesus Christ. Look and live. Look and live. We are so blind
in and of our natural selves. Matter of fact, we're uncircumcised
in heart and ears. And our minds are blinded so
much that the gospel is hid from the lost. It's hid from the lost,
whom the God of this world has blinded their minds. But when
God tells you to behold, you're gonna see. Oh, I like that, I
like that. And God is telling his people
in his time to behold, to behold. There's a place by me, there's
a place by me. But here's the thing, the voice
of the Lord Jesus Christ commands his children, behold. And he tells them, there's a
place by me, by me. And then we have this one little
word, and, and. It's just a little word. There's a place by me, and. And, you understand, when that
word gets put in there, that means hold on, there's more,
there's more. And, I like it. Because this is a word, it's
called a conjunction, it connects two phrases. Now, both of these
phrases are complete thoughts, but they are totally connected
together. There's a place by me and. You can't separate these
two things. Because here it is. There's a
place by me and thou shalt stand upon a rock. What's that mean? Well, it meant
that Moses was going to stand upon a rock. You understand,
this was not a question to Moses. Do you want to stand upon a rock?
No, this was not a question. This is a statement of fact.
Thou shalt stand upon a rock. And listen, you don't want God to leave anything
up to you. I don't want God to leave anything
up to me. Not in the methods of salvation.
not in the purpose of salvation, not in the application of salvation,
not in the accomplishment, the preservation, or any other part
of salvation. I want him to tell me, you're
gonna stand on a rock. That's what I want, that's what
I need. Because if it's left up to me, if it's left up to
you, we are going to choose the wrong thing. We're gonna stand
in the wrong place. But he told Moses, thou shalt
stand upon a rock. There's a place by me and thou
shalt stand upon a rock. So guess what that place is that's
by the Lord? It's a rock. It's a rock. Oh, I like that. This is a flat
statement of promise. Thou shalt stand upon a rock. And the Lord put him there. The
Lord put him there. God put Moses there. Thou shalt
stand upon a rock. And I'm gonna tell you this,
this is exactly the same way that every child of God gets
put upon this rock. Psalms 40 verses one and two.
I waited patient, patiently for the Lord. And he inclined unto
me and heard my cry. What does it say next? Verse
two. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the
miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock. Oh, how did Moses get
set upon a rock, get on that rock? God put him there. God
put him there. What does it say then next? established
my goings. Now isn't that something? And, it wasn't even done then,
hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God, many
shall see it in fear and shall trust in the Lord. The Lord,
he, the Lord, brought me up. Why? There's a place by me. There's a place by me. He the
Lord set my feet upon a rock. Thou shalt, what? Stand upon
a rock. I'm gonna tell you something,
the Lord Jesus Christ sets our feet upon the rock of himself. Of himself. He sets us and he's
the rock. Oh, I like that. First of all,
when Psalm says it, he's gonna set me on my feet. Set my feet
on the rock. You know why? To stand. To stand. Isn't that something? To stand. Thou shalt stand upon
the rock. And the Lord took me out of the
horrible pit, took me out of the deep miry clay, and set my
feet on a solid rock. Oh, I like that, I do. You understand,
thou shalt stand upon the rock. Thou shalt stand. What? And it
says this in Psalms, to establish our goings. What? Our walk is upon the rock. Or it ain't a walk. Our walk
is upon the rock. You understand, there is a time
to behold. There's a time to stand still
and see the salvation of the Lord. And there's a time to establish
our goings. You understand, that's what Moses
said at the Red Sea. Stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord. And they did, whether they wanted
to or not, because they were stuck. Pharaoh was behind them,
the Red Sea was here, and the cliffs were here. They had nowhere
to go. Stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord. That's who sees. Those who have
nowhere else to go, right? But, this is the thing, you don't
stay there. You go. God established their
going. He split that Red Sea wide open.
And they walk across dry shod. They walked across dry shot.
You know why? Because he established their
goings. And that's what he's doing for
us. He will establish our goings. What does it say? The steps of
a good man are ordered of the Lord. Ah, I like that. You understand? We're sheep,
and he's a good shepherd. And what does sheep do with a
good shepherd? They follow. They follow. Oh, not only is he our good shepherd,
he also said in John 10, he is the door of the sheep. Now, by him, if any man enter
in, he shall be saved. But that's not all. And shall
go in and out and find pasture. That's John 10 verse nine. He's gonna establish your goings.
And you know what happens when you go in and out? You're following
the good shepherd. And you're gonna find pasture.
Well, he's gonna find it for you. And he's gonna put you there. And he's gonna feed you. He is
the door. You go in and out following him.
And let me tell you, with him, there's a place by me. And with
him, there's always pasture. I like that. Stand upon a rock. Now you understand in verse 22,
and it says, I come by, and it shall come to pass while my glory
passeth by that I will put thee in the cleft of the rock. We
just sang that song. Oh, and I will cover thee with
my hand. But you understand, you're gonna
stand on the rock, and then he's gonna put you in the cleft. You
know why? Because you're in Christ. And
if you're in Christ, that means you're in Christ. And you're
protected by Christ himself. Because you notice, we went from
verse, what is it? Verse 21, thou shalt stand upon
a rock, and then you get to verse 22, and I'm gonna put you in
a cleft of the rock. The rock. Oh, I like that, I
do. I will tell you this, I looked
at some of the commentary, mostly Gil, and he said there's some
who say that this rock that he stood Moses on is the same one
that gushed out water. Now, scripture doesn't tell us. It could be, or it may not be. I don't know. And they're saying
the cleft that he put Moses in is the same cleft where the water
came out. It could be, or it could not
be. But I'm here to tell you right now, it doesn't matter.
It's the same rock. It's the rock. Now, whether it's
the same, that rock was Christ, and if this is a different rock,
this rock is Christ. I like that. You understand,
Christ told a parable. He talked about two men who built
a house. Both of them built a house. Both
of them felt the need to build a house. Both of them wanted
a house. And they both built a house. And between the houses,
there was no difference. Both of them were just nice houses.
Who knows? May have a swimming pool. It
don't matter. This is the thing. Where was that house? One was
on the sand, and one was on the rock. Oh, there's a place by
me. It's a rock. And the one that
built on the sand got blown away. And great was the fall of that
house. But the one on the rock stood
firm. You know why? Not because of the house, but
because of the rock. Because of the rock. This rock upon which Moses was
placed, this rock, same rock that Moses was put inside of,
I like that That rock was and that rock is our Lord Jesus Christ
Because he is the rock of our salvation what? He hideth my soul in the cleft
of the rock that shadows a dry thirsty land he hideth my life
in the depths of his love and covers me with there with his
hand. Fannie Crosby wrote that. Talking about Jesus Christ. What? He is our redeemer from all sin. Because here it is. I got to
tell you this. If you're not standing upon the
rock, you are never going to see God's glory. If you're not standing on that
rock, if he does not place you, place your feet on that rock
out of the pit, you are never going to see God's grace or God's
mercy or God's goodness. Somebody might tell you about
it, but you won't get it. It'll go right over your head.
It did me for years. But when he got a hold of me
and put my feet on the rock, I didn't even know I was on a
rock at the time. Things started to make sense. I had nowhere
else to go. Oh. Oh. But that's the thing. If he puts you on that rock,
you will see God's glory. You will see God's grace. You
will see God's mercy. And you'll like it. You'll like it. You may not understand
it all. You still don't understand it
all. But here. If you want God's grace and mercy,
you're gonna stand on the rock. You've got to stand on the rock.
Call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved. Why? He's the rock of our salvation. What did Jesus Christ tell his
disciples? Let not your heart be troubled.
If you believe in God, Believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I'd have told
you. I go to prepare a place for you,
for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again. and receive you unto myself. That where I am, there ye may
be also. I'm gonna tell you something.
There's a place by him. There's a place by him. Oh. And today, right now, there's
a place by him. There's a place by him. Oh. You're gonna enter, if you're
gonna enter, you're gonna enter by him, or not at all. He is the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto God except by me. And I'm the
door of the sheep. By me, if any man enter in, he's
gonna be saved. And go in and out and find pasture.
And he's gonna establish your goings, oh, I'm gonna tell you something.
Here's where it all comes down to, what Christ just told these
disciples here. This is where it all comes down
to. Wherever he is, is where we're going. Now he's gonna get
us there. He's promised to get us there.
I've prepared a place for you, and I'm gonna receive you. I'm
gonna come get you. What are we to do? Walk. Walk. He's established our goings. Just walk, walk in the spirit,
walk in Christ. Don't walk in the flesh. Because
there is a place by me and thou shalt stand upon a rock. I like that, I do. I don't know of any other place
I wanna be. It's on him. It's on him. Your life is hid with Christ
in God. Earl always used to quote that.
And I like that. I like that. I like to be hid
in Christ. I don't wanna hide, but I like
to be hid in Christ. Okay, sometimes maybe I do like
to hide. But he'll establish your goings. He'll send you where
you are to be. and you will be where he wants
you to be. And as long as you're on the
rock, you're in good company. You're in good company. And sometimes
you may need to go in the cleft. You may need to be put in that
cleft. He'll protect his own. I said it last week. If he's betrothed himself to
a bride, they're gonna have a relationship. They're gonna be married. He's
not one to promise and break his promise. He never breaks
his promises. All his promises are yay and
amen. And that's it, there's a place
by me, there was when Moses stood, and there's one now. And thou shalt stand upon that
rock. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
again for this time and this place. Lord, help us to stand. establish our goings, order our
steps, help our minds to be set on you. Thank you, Lord, for
the rock that you've given to us, your son, our Lord Jesus
Christ, the salvation that you've given to us through Christ Jesus,
our Lord. And Lord, be with Walter as he
comes to preach here. Be with all others who are faithfully
preaching your gospel message. Be with us as we listen and want
to hear of your glory and your grace and your mercy. In Christ's
name we pray, amen.