Well, good evening. I'm happy
to report that the ocean is still full of water and very beautiful.
And we had a great, great time. Good to be home. If you would
open your Bibles with me to Psalm 20. Psalm 20. The Lord hear thee in the day
of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob defend thee. Send thee
help from the sanctuary and strengthen thee out of Zion. Remember all
thy offerings and accept thy burnt sacrifice. Grant thee according
to thine own heart and fulfill all thy counsel. We will rejoice
in thy salvation. In the name of our God, we will
set up our banners. The Lord fulfill all thy petitions. Now know I that the Lord saveth
his anointed. He will hear him from his holy
heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Some trust
in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name
of the Lord our God. They are brought down and fallen,
but we are risen and stand upright. Save, Lord, let the King hear
us when we call. All right, Sean, come listen
to our singing, if you would. If you would turn to song number
228, and we'll sing, My Faith Has Found a Resting Place. 228. My faith has found a resting
place, not in device nor creed. I trust the ever-living one. His wounds for me shall plead. I need no other. argument, I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that he died for me. Enough for me that Jesus saves,
this ends my fear and doubt. A sinful soul, I come to Him. He'll never cast me out. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that He died for me. My heart is leaning on the Word,
the written Word of God. Salvation by my Savior's name. Salvation through His blood. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that He died for me. My great Physician heals the
sick, the lost He came to save. For me his precious blood he
shed. For me his life he gave. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that he died for me. Okay, next if you would turn
to song number 219. And in the chorus on this one,
in my book, It is changed to Jesus died for sinful men. And so that's what we're going
to say. 219. Grace is a charming sound, harmonious
to the ear. Heaven with the echo shall resound. and all the earth shall hear. Saved by grace alone, this is
all my plea. Jesus died for sinful men, and
Jesus died for me. Twas grace that wrote my name
in life's eternal book. Twas grace that gave me to the
Lamb who all my sorrows took. Saved by grace alone, this is
all my plea. Jesus died for sinful men, and
Jesus died for me. Grace taught my wandering feet
to tread the heavenly road, and new supplies each hour I meet
while pressing on to God. Saved by grace alone, this is
all my plea. Jesus died for sinful men, and
Jesus died for me. Grace taught my soul to pray
and made mine eyes o'erflow. T'was grace which kept me to
thee. and will not let me go. Saved by grace alone, this is
all my plea. Jesus died for sinful men, and
Jesus died for me. O let thy grace inspire my soul
with strength divine. May all my powers to thee aspire. and all my days be thine. Saved by grace alone, this is
all my plea. Jesus died for sinful men, and
Jesus died for me. Okay, now let's open our Bibles
together to Exodus chapter 17. Exodus chapter 17, we'll read
the first seven verses. And all the congregation of the
children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of sin after
their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord,
and pitched in Rephidim, and there was no water for the people
to drink. Wherefore, the people did chide with Moses and said,
give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, why
chide ye with me? Wherefore do you tempt the Lord?
And the people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured
against Moses and said, wherefore is this, that thou hast brought
us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle
with thirst? And Moses cried unto the Lord,
saying, what shall I do unto this people? they'd be almost
ready to stone me. And the Lord said unto Moses,
go on before the people and take with thee of the elders of Israel
and thy rod wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand
and go. Behold, I will stand before thee
there upon the rock in Horeb and thou shalt smite the rock
and there shall come water out of it that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight
of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the
place Massa and Meribah. Massa is temptation, and Meribah
is chiding. Temptation and chiding. Because
of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted
the Lord, saying, is the Lord among us or not? Let's bow together
in prayer. Our Father, we humbly, carefully
and thankfully, bow before your throne of grace this evening.
And Father, we bow, begging a blessing from the storehouses of your
mercy and grace. Father, I pray that you would
be with us as we look into your word, that you'd give us eyes
to see our Lord Jesus Christ, that you give us a hearing ear
and a believing heart. Father, enable us to hear one
more time the story of Christ and Him crucified. And Father,
let it thrill our hearts. Let it comfort our hearts. Let
this draw us ever nearer to Christ our Savior, to love Him more,
be more thankful to Him, be more full of faith, more trusting
Him. Father, enable us to worship,
we pray. Without Thee, we can do nothing.
And Father, I thank you for a time appointed that we can meet together
and worship. We're so thankful for a place
that you've given to us where your people can meet together
in peace and in unity and worship together. Father, I pray that
you would give each of us the wisdom and the grace to carefully
protect this place that you've given to us to protect the peace
and the unity of the brethren here. Father, that you may be
pleased to preserve this place for many, many, many years as
a place where poor, helpless sinners can come and hear the
Savior, find salvation and cleansing and healing and strengthen Him. And Father, we pray a blessing
for those that you brought into the time of trouble and trial.
Here and in many other places, Father, we pray you'd be with
them, that you heal and comfort and be with them in a special
way, we pray. All these things we ask and we
give thanks to that name which is above every name, the name
of Christ our Savior, amen. I titled the message this evening,
Water from the Rock. This text is a very familiar
story to all of us. But it has such a clear picture
of redemption in our Lord Jesus Christ, the crucified Savior.
And I trust it'll be a blessing to you as it was for me as I've
been studying it this week. And there are five things here
in this story that are all part of God saving a sinner. First
of all, there was a sinful people. Verse one, Exodus 17. And all
the congregation, the children of Israel, journeyed from the
wilderness of sin after their journeys according to the commandment
of the Lord and pitched in Rephidim and there was no water for the
people to drink. Wherefore the people did chide with Moses and
said, give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them,
why chide ye with me? Wherefore do you tempt the Lord?
And the people thirsted there for water and the people murmured
against Moses and said, wherefore is this that thou has brought
us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle
with thirst? And Moses cried unto the Lord saying, what shall
I do unto this people? They'd be almost ready to stone
me. Now I said this, my first point is there was a sinful people.
Well, look down at verse seven. He called the name of the place
Massa and Meribah, temptation and chiding, because of the chiding
of the children of Israel and because they tempted the Lord,
saying, is the Lord among us or not? Now the sin of the people
here, I think I'm on safe ground saying this, it's the worst sin
of all. It's the sin of unbelief. Is the Lord with us? Really?
Is the Lord with us? After everything that's happened
here in this past month, is the Lord with us or not? Unbelief
is an ugly, ugly, ugly sin. Shameful sin. Especially when
it's found among the people of God. At least two other times
so far since they've crossed the Nile and gone into the wilderness,
at least two times so far, this recorded in scripture, the Lord
has provided water for them in the desert. Now you'd think that
the people would say, well, we're thirsty again. The Lord's going
to provide for us now like he did in the past. But instead
they say, why'd you bring us out here to die thirst? Is the
Lord with us or not? You know, the people either believe
that God was not able to give them water at this time, or that
God would not give them water at this time. Either way, that's
questioning God's character, isn't it? It's questioning God's
character. And we can't look down our noses
at the children of Israel, can we? Because we do the same thing,
don't we? After God has so richly provided
for us, don't we do the same thing? I mean, you think you're
just on the mountaintop of blessing, And you let the slightest thing
go wrong. And we think, well, the Lord's
forgotten me. I know the Lord's provided for
me in the past, but he's not going to this time. The Lord's
going to leave me on my own this time, you know. You know what
that is? That's unbelief. It's not believing the character
of God as he's been pleased to reveal himself to us in his word.
You know, unbelief is so serious that unbelief is the only damning
sin. Unbelief is the only sin that
kept the majority of the children of Israel who left Egypt from
entering into the Promised Land. It was unbelief. And if you and
me do not believe God and we die in our unbelief, we're gonna
spend eternity in hell. And the reason for it, it's unbelief.
And we'll have nobody to blame but ourselves. And here's the problem, and I
know what the problem with the Children of Israel was, because
I've got the same problem. They were looking at matters
around them with the eye of the flesh, not an eye of faith. That
was the problem. As far as they could see in every
direction, there was nothing but hot, burning sand. There
wasn't even a well that had bitter water in it. There were no more
oases left, like they had back there in Elam. They couldn't
see a solution with their physical eyes, so they thought there wasn't
a solution. Since I can't see it, and since
I can't think it up, there's not a solution. That's what they
thought. See, unbelief only trusts what
it can see, feel, touch, and understand. But our natural understanding
and in our natural way of looking at things, it's unbelief that
robs us of peace and calmness of heart. But faith trusts things
that are not seen, not seen. And those things that are not
seen gives the believer peace and calmness of heart. But unbelief,
I tell you, it's so serious. It's the only damning sin. And
unbelief makes God a liar. Now you think of that, unbelief
makes God a liar. God said he'll save sinners.
You come to Christ, God will save you. I don't come to Christ,
and you know why? I don't believe God. I don't
believe God do what he said he'd do. I don't believe it. Unbelief
calls God a liar, and it's no wonder that God hates unbelief. Look over at Psalm 78. Psalm
78. beginning in verse 10. They kept not the covenant of
God and refused to walk in his law, and forgot his works and
his wonders that he showed them. Marvelous things did he in the
sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the field of
Zoan. He divided the sea and caused them to pass through,
and he made the waters to stand as an heap. In the daytime also
he led them with the cloud, And all night with a light of fire,
he clad the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drinks as out of the great depths. He
brought steep streams also out of the rock and caused waters
to run down like rivers. And they sinned yet more against
him by provoking the most high in the wilderness. And they tempted
God in their heart by asking me for their lust, yea, They
spake against God. They said, can God furnish a
table in the wilderness? Behold, he smote the rock that
the waters gushed out and the streams overflowed. Could he
give bread also? Could he provide flesh for his
people? I mean, what God had given them wasn't enough. They
always wanted more. Therefore, the Lord heard this
and was wroth. No wonder. So a fire was kindled
against Jacob and anger also came up. against Israel, why? Because they believed not in
God and trusted not in his salvation. Not believing God, not trusting
his salvation brought the anger of God upon them. And it's no
wonder. It's no wonder. How do you feel
somebody calls you a liar? I mean, them are fighting words,
aren't they? Look over Romans chapter one. Romans chapter one. Verse 18, for the wrath of God
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. The holding
the truth in unrighteousness is refusing to believe the gospel
of Christ. It's refusing to believe that
Christ is the only righteousness that there is. People just, you
know, you obviously, you know this by nature, they're never
going to believe that. Even believers sometimes act like they don't
believe that, which is why poor old Isaiah cried, Lord, who has
believed our report? Does anybody believe what we're
preaching? I mean, Lord, you've given me the greatest story ever
told. I have a report of mercy and
grace from God for sinners. It's the best news any sinner
could ever possibly hear. Lord, is anybody gonna believe
it? Few. Few, and sometimes those that
do believe it act like they don't. And the unbelief of the children
of Israel, what got them in so much trouble? It got them so
upset with the Lord that they're ready to stone Moses. Like stoning God's servant is
gonna solve the problem and give them water. It always amazes me. I know it's
never the case, but it always amazes me. You know, there should
be some sense of loyalty and a little bit of trust built up
in a man who's been a leader and, you know, some appreciation
built up for our pastors and our leaders that over the course
of time, you know, they faithfully preach Christ to us. They, you
know, let's give them a little bit of rope here, not get so
mad at him, you know, so quick. It happened to Moses. It happened
to Joshua. It happened to Paul. I mean,
you know, but that's human nature. And you know where that all stems
from? Unbelief. That's what stems from. Now you
and I are born a sinful people. And even after the Lord saves
us, even after he gives us faith in Christ, we're still a sinful
people, aren't we? Still a sinful people. And we
still are forced to live with this sin of unbelief. Which is
why the constant cry of so many believers is this, Lord, I believe. I do. I believe God. I trust God. I believe every
word of this. I believe. Lord, help my non-belief. Help my non-belief. Our sin is
wretched and vile, and something's got to be done with it. Now here
we start out with the problem. There's a sinful people. Something's
got to be done with our sin or God's going to wipe us out. In
his holy justice, God's going to wipe us out. So here is the
second thing that's there. It was a rock. Verse six, the
Lord says, behold, I'll stand before thee there upon the rock
in Horeb. And I shall smite the rock. Now
in the midst of all this sin, In the midst of all this unbelief
against God, the Lord provided a rock there in the middle of
the desert. Now, everybody here already knows
that rock is Christ. When we were at the beach last
week, building sandcastles with our two-year-old grandson, Janet
and I started teaching him the song, The Foolish Man and The
Wise Man. And now he don't remember it
yet. But from the time he's been two years old, somebody's been
telling him that rock is Christ. Landry, it was with you. You're
three years old. That rock was Christ. You're singing that song
to somebody. That rock is Christ. We all know that rock is Christ.
Let me tell you, this rock is all you need. He is everything
you need. In every situation that you may
find yourself in, flee to the rock. Flee to the rock. What do you do when the enemy
is assailing and you need a fortress to hide in? What do you do? Run
to Christ. David said in Psalm 18 verse
two, the Lord is my rock. He's my fortress, my deliverer.
He's my God, my strength in whom I will trust. He's my buckler
and the horn of my salvation and my high tower. He's my rock
for defense. I'm going to flee to him. Well,
what do you do when you're traveling home to glory through this wilderness
of sin down here below? It's hot. It's oppressive. You feel like you can't go another
step. What do you do? Run to Christ,
our rock. Now remember, this rock we're
speaking of here is the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah told us
700 years before Christ was born, this rock is a man. Isaiah 32,
verse two. And a man shall be in a hiding
place from the wind and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of
water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary
land. This rock is Christ. Now you
run to him. He'll give you safety. He'll
give you shade. He'll give you a place of rest.
You run to him. What do you do when you need
a foundation? God shows you your sin. He shows
you his wrath is against your sin is coming and you need a
foundation. You need a foundation that's
so strong it will never move. You're in trouble. The wrath,
the storm of God's wrath is coming through. It's gonna sweep away
everything in its path and you need a foundation that's gonna
stand sure. What do you do? Run to Christ our rock. Christ
is the rock on which the wise man build. And the wise man builds
on Christ our rock because he will never be moved. And if I'm in him, I'll never
be moved either. That's what David said, Psalm 62, verse six. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be moved. If I'm in him, I shall not be
moved. Run to him. What about when you need salvation
from your sin? I mean real, genuine, lasting
salvation. What do you do? You run to Christ. David said, Psalm 89 verse 26,
that Christ is the rock of my salvation. A rock in its strength,
its durability, its eternality. Christ is the rock of my salvation. If you need salvation, run to
Him, run to Him. And then as it relates to our
text here, what do you do when you need spiritual water for
your soul? You need water to drink, you
need water for cleansing. What do you do? run to Christ
our rock. Now, you know, humanly speaking,
by the way that we would deduce things, a rock seems like a strange
place to look for water, doesn't it? They say this rock was either
flint or granite. You just don't find water in
a rock like that. But there was water in this rock,
wasn't there? Because this rock Look over 1 Corinthians chapter
10. 1 Corinthians 10. Verse one. Moreover, brethren, I would not
that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were
under the cloud and all passed through the sea. And all were
baptized unto Moses in the cloud, and in the sea, and all did eat
the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual
drink. For they drank of that spiritual
rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. That rock is Christ. Now let
me ask you, how did a giant rock get in the middle of the desert?
How did it get there? There's no mountain for it to
fall off of. How did it get there? I mean,
it just seems impossible that a rock of that size could just
appear in the desert. And by what I just read, that
that rock followed Israel through the sand. Now, how'd that happen? That's a mystery, isn't it? But
there it was. There's no denying there it was.
Well, that rock was Christ. Isn't that what Paul just told
us? How did the Son of God get into human flesh and appear on
this earth in the midst of sinful men and women? How'd that happen? How is it that the God-man appeared? John said, we touched him, we
handled him, we saw him, we heard him. How's that possible? The
Lord Jesus is God. Jesus of Nazareth is God. And he's also a real man. He
is a real man. People that lived in that day,
in the day of our Lord's earthly ministry, all they ever saw was
a man. They said, we know your father
and mother and your brothers and your sisters. You're just
a man. How can you say that you've seen Abraham? You're not even
yet 50 years old. All they saw was a man. How is
it that righteousness can come from a man to sinful men and
women like us? How is it that salvation can
flow from a man? I mean a real man of flesh and
bones and blood just like we are, how can salvation flow from
him to me? How can holiness flow from that
man, a man, to you? How's that possible? I don't,
we have to say it's not possible because we've never seen it before,
have we? But there he is. There he is, God's salvation.
Simeon saw him. This is God's salvation. This
is God's righteousness. This is the power and grace of
God to sinners. That the Lord Jesus Christ, the
son of God, came to earth for a purpose. To save sinners. And he dwelt among them. He rubbed
elbows with them. The worst of them, the publicans
and harlots and sinners, and they all ran to him. They all
flocked to him. That's why you find him amongst
a sinful people, because he came to save them, to keep them, and
to have them forever. First, there was a sinful people.
Then there was a rock. That rock was Christ. Well, the
third thing we must have is the rod of God's law. That's what
Moses' rod represents, verse five. And the Lord said unto
Moses, go on before the people and take with thee of the elders
of Israel and thy rod wherewith thou smotest the river, take
in thine hand and go. Now Moses' rod represents the
law of God. God's law must be satisfied. It must be obeyed. And when God's
law is not obeyed, that law demands justice. And the only justice
that there is for breaking God's law is eternal death. Now, we've
already seen there's a sinful people. We've seen that, haven't
we? Full of unbelief, full of questioning
God, and their sin must be punished with death. That's what God's
law demands, right? The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. But if God wipes out that whole sinful, rebellious, stiff-necked
nation, how's God gonna keep his promise to give the land
of Canaan to the descendants of Abraham. How's that possible? How can he do both? How can God
satisfy his justice and keep his promise to give the land
to this sinful people? Well, the answer is found in
the rock. This rock that God caused to miraculously appear
for sinners. The Lord told Moses, now Moses,
you take your rod, the rod of God's law, and I'll stand on
the rock. And you smite that rock. Don't
smite the people. Don't kill the people. The thought
had to cross Moses' mind. God said, don't smite the people.
Don't kill the people. Smite the rock. Spare the sinner. Smite the rock. This is the greatest story that's
ever been told, isn't it? And you know, that's what happened
at Calvary. The father made his holy, sinless son to be sin for
his people. He made his son guilty of all
the sin of all of God's elect, even though the Lord Jesus never
committed to sin. The father spared a sinful people
by making his son to be guilty and then smiting the guilty,
smiting his son with the rod of God's justice. instead of
striking the people. Spare the sinner and smite the
rock. And God's rod of justice fell
in full force on Christ, our substitute. The father did not
hold back because he knew that this was his son and it's his
son being punished and he really didn't do it. So I'm going to
like, you know, make the stroke a little lighter. No, sir. The
father gave the son the full penalty. for the sin of God's
elect. I don't know how Moses struck
the rock this time, but 40 years later, I do know how Moses struck
the rock. He struck it in anger. That tells
me he gave it everything he had. I bet he did this time, too.
I bet he did this time, too. Because doing that, striking
that rock so forcefully, fulfills the picture of Christ our substitute
being smitten for his people. to rock in the wilderness. Now
there it was. It was smitten for a specific people, the children
of Israel, not the Amalekites, not the Philistines, not the
whoever else was around. It was smitten for a specific
people, the children of Israel, by the commandment of God. Moses
never would have dreamed up to do this. This was the will and
purpose of God. God had to tell Moses about it,
and Moses carried it out. The same thing's true of Calvary.
Everything that happened, every event, everything everybody did
at Calvary was ordered, determined before by God the Father so that
his elect would be redeemed in justice. Didn't Pilate try everything
he could do to let the Lord go? You know, Pilate thought he was
in control, didn't he? He wanted to let the Lord go.
He couldn't do it. He couldn't do it. because it
was God's will the rock be smitten. And he was delivered to be smitten
because the father, now you think about the love of the father
for sinful people like you and me. The father was so determined
to save the people that he chose to save, he smote his son, his
own darling son with the sword of justice in order to save you
and me. Whew, my soul. Don't you just
love that? Can you ever get tired of that?
Well, there was the rod of God's justice, and fourth thing, there
was water. Water from the rock. Verse six,
the Lord says, behold, I will stand before thee there upon
the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall
come water out of it that the people may drink. And Moses did
so in the sight of the elders of Israel. When Moses smote that
rock, Out of that rock gushed, gushed water, life-giving water,
enough water from one rock for an entire nation, at least three
million people and all of their animals from one rock, from one
rock. But now, before any water could
flow, the rock had to be smitten, didn't it? Had to be. Well, the
same thing's true of Christ our Savior. Now, he came to save
sinners. He came to save his people from their sin. That's
why he came, isn't it? But if he's gonna save his people, he
must be smitten. He's got to be smitten for them.
He's got to be smitten so that justifying blood and cleansing
water could flow out of his wounded side. And when Christ was smitten,
this one man, one man, when he was smitten, salvation and grace
and eternal life flowed out, flowed out of him so that a number
that you can't count would all be saved from their sin by one
man, by one sacrifice forever. He's perfected his people, but
one sacrifice from one man. Now look over at John chapter
seven. The water here is a picture of
God, the Holy Spirit. Usually in scripture, water is
a, is a picture of the spirit, and it's true here, too. When
Christ was smitten, the Holy Spirit flowed forth in life-giving,
comforting, soothing power to God's people. John 7, verse 37. In the last day, that great day
of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst,
let him come unto me and drink. and drinking, coming to Christ
and drinking, is believing him. See verse 38, he that believeth
on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water. But this he spake of the Spirit,
the Holy Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive,
for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because the Jesus was
not yet glorified. This water that is flowing forth
that the Lord's talking about here is the Holy Spirit. And Christ must be smitten before
the Holy Spirit can come give spiritual life. Before the Holy
Spirit can give spiritual life to you and me, the sacrifice
has to die. He must be smitten and he has
to die. Before the Holy Spirit can come and bring comfort to
the hearts of God's people, the rock must be smitten. Christ
must be sacrificed so that the Holy Spirit has blood to apply.
I'll show you that in John chapter 14. John 14, verse 15. If you love me, keep my commandments
and I'll pray the father and he should give you another comforter
that he may abide with you forever. Even the spirit of truth whom
the world cannot receive because it seeth him not, neither knoweth
him, but you know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be
in you. I will not leave you comfortless.
I will come to you. See, the Holy Spirit can't come
until Christ first goes away. Look over page of John 16, verse seven. Nevertheless, I tell you the
truth. It's expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not
away, the Comforter will not come unto you. But if I depart,
I'll send him unto you. And when he's come, he will reprove
the world of sin of righteousness and of judgment, of sin. Here's our, we're going back
to our first points on unbelief. Of sin, because they believe
not on me. That's the issue, it's unbelief.
Of righteousness, because I go to my father and you see me no
more. Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear
them now. Howbeit when he, the spirit of
truth, is come, he'll guide you into all truth, For he shall
not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he
speak. He will show you things to come. He shall glorify me,
for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. Now,
the Lord started out that passage by saying it's expedient, it's
necessary, it's profitable for you that I go away. Now, once Christ is smitten,
He suffers, he dies, he rises again and he ascends back to
glory. Now the comforter can come. Now the comforter can come. The Holy Spirit can give spiritual
life to sinners by pointing them to Christ crucified. If the Holy
Spirit does not show us Christ crucified, we'll think Jesus
died as a martyr or as an example or something. The only way we
know he died as a savior of sinners is if the Holy Spirit shows us
Christ crucified. And what it is he accomplished
there. He'll take the things of Christ. He'll take the things
of Christ in this book and he shows them to you so that you
see. I mean, if you've ever just been
reading this book or you hear somebody preaching and you've
read this passage before and you didn't understand what it
meant and the preacher was preaching and he goes over and you say,
I see that. That's a miracle. The Holy Spirit
just took the things of Christ and showed them to you. But he
could only do that if Christ first went away, if Christ was
first smitten. The Holy Spirit is the comforter,
but the Holy Spirit can only comfort God's people by pointing
us to Christ crucified, to our crucified, risen Savior. He must
be smitten. before the Holy Spirit can come
bring comfort to you and me. And the message of comfort and
the message of salvation that the Holy Spirit brings is the
fifth thing that I see here in this text. It's not in Exodus,
it's in Numbers. I kind of mentioned this before,
Numbers chapter 20. The message that we have from
God to preach is a message of the complete success of the Lord
Jesus Christ, our Savior. Numbers 20 verse seven. And Lord
spake unto Moses saying, take the rod and gather thou the assembly
together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the
rock before their eyes, and it shall give forth his water, and
thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock. So shalt
thou give the congregation and their beast drink. Now this is
40 years later. I don't know how many times the
waters come from this rock. I don't know. But I do know about
this time. The Lord said, speak to the rock. We're in the same situation all
over again. The children of Israel, they're
a sinful people. They need water to drink. They're
about ready to kill Moses and Aaron. They don't believe God's
gonna give them water. After 40 years of manna and the
quails and the water from the rock, you'd think they'd finally
learn that the Lord's gonna give them water. Not so, not so. They did not believe God. And
the Lord is so gracious. Isn't he long-suffering with
us? He's so gracious, the Lord's gonna give him water anyway.
But this time, instead of smiting the rock, the Lord told Moses,
speak to the rock. Now that rock is still Christ.
He's still a picture of Christ, and Christ does not need to be
smitten again. He does not need to be sacrificed
all over again. The one sacrifice of Christ was
all it took. to make God's people perfect
forever. Christ has already been smitten.
He's already been crucified. He doesn't need to be crucified
afresh. Christ is not on the cross. He's
not a man getting ready to go to the cross. Where is he? He's
a man seated in glory at the Father's right hand as our mediator. There he sits on the throne of
heaven. ever living, making intercession
for you and me. Christ doesn't need to be crucified
again. Now we speak to him. We speak to the rock in prayer. We call out on him, begging him
for mercy, begging him grace for the hour, begging for his
presence. We call out to him in prayer. All it takes now is
speaking. in prayer because Christ doesn't
need to be crucified again. We don't need another sacrifice.
We need grace for the hour. We need daily supplies of mercy
and grace and his presence, don't we? We need daily cleansing,
daily forgiving, but we don't have to crucify Christ all over
again. The blood's already been shed.
You've already been washed in the blood. The blood's already
been applied. Now we speak to the rock because
he doesn't need to be crucified again. But in his anger, that's not
what Moses did. Verse nine. And Moses took the
rod from before the Lord as he commanded him. And Moses and
Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock. And
he said unto them, here now ye rebels. You can just see Moses,
he's fed up. Must we fetch you water out of
this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand and with his rod he
smote the rock twice. And the water came out abundantly
and the congregation drank and their beast also. And the Lord
spake unto Moses and Aaron, because you believed me not. See, this
is the great sin, it's unbelief. Because you didn't believe me
to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore
you should not bring this congregation into the land which I have given
them. Moses could not enter the promised
land. He saw it, but he couldn't enter
it because of unbelief. Remember, that's our first point.
It's the greatest sin, the sin of unbelief. And you think, well,
how is, I mean, I know Moses lost his temper and he didn't
do just exactly what God told him to do. How is this unbelief?
Smiting the rock twice. Smiting the rock the second time
was saying that Christ needed to be crucified all over again.
Because that unbelief, the Lord said, you will not enter the
promised land. The sacrifice of Christ, is completely and
utterly successful. Tell you what that means. If
Christ was smitten for you, the blessing of the justifying blood
and the soul-cleansing water which flowed from his wounded
side, it will flow to you. It'll flow to you, it'll give
you life, it'll give you faith, it'll give you comfort, it'll
give you the Lord's presence, all the days of your life. It
has to because his sacrifice was successful. It put away the
sin of his people. Now, if you need mercy and you
need grace and you need help from the Lord, don't go to work. Don't go to work thinking if
you can work enough, then God will bless you. Don't do that.
Speak to the rock. Call out to him in prayer and
beg him for help. He'll answer in due time. He'll
answer in due time. Keep calling, speak to the rock.
He'll answer because his sacrifice was completely successful. That's
the confidence that every believer can have. Isn't that a good story?
Now that's a picture of Christ, water from the rock. And I hope
that's been a blessing to you. Let's bow together. Our Father, how thankful we are
for Christ our rock, How it thrills our souls, how
it comforts our heart to think of the Savior, the God-man, smitten
so that his people could live. Smitten, taking the punishment
his people deserve. Father, how we thank you. Father,
I pray you'd forgive us. of our sin. I pray you'd forgive
us of our unbelief. I pray you'd forgive us of our
murmuring and complaining and finding fault. Father, let us
rest in Christ because we believe him, because we trust him. Get
glory, Father, I pray. Get glory to yourself. Get glory to your son by blessing
his message to the hearts of your people, I pray. It's in
Christ's name, for his sake and his glory, we pray, amen. All right, Sean. Okay, if you would turn in your
hymnals to song number 129, and we'll sing at the cross. 129,
stand as we sing. Alas, and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that sacred head
for such a worm as I. At the cross, at the cross, where
I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith I received
my sight, and now I am happy all the day. Was it for crimes that I have done? He groaned upon the tree. Amazing pity! grace unknown, and love beyond
degree. At the cross, at the cross, where
I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith I received
my sight, and now I am happy all the day. Well might the sun
in darkness hide, And shut his glories in, When Christ the mighty
Maker died, For man the creature's sin. At the cross, at the cross,
where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled
away. It was there by faith I received
my sight, and now I am happy all the day. But drops of grief
can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe. Here, Lord, I give myself
away, tis all that I can do. At the cross, at the cross, where
I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart, rolled away. It was there by faith I received
my sight and now I am happy all the day.