In the 32nd chapter of Deuteronomy
is recorded that song which Moses spake in the years of the children
of Israel where he rejoiced in the greatness of his God and
the victories of his God and the justice of his God in overruling
their enemies. Moses said, in verse 3, I will
publish the name of the Lord. Ascribe ye greatness unto our
God. 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. He is the rock. And he contrasts
the rock, their God, with that rock which their enemies followed
in verse 31 where he says, for their rock is not as our rock,
even our enemies themselves being judges. Our enemies know that
their rock, that in which they trust, That on which they build
is not as our rock. They have seen the works and
the ways and the victories of our rock, our God. They've seen
that He brought us out of a wilderness. They've seen that He brought
us out of Egypt and He saved us by His mighty hand. They've
seen that He's true and faithful. They've seen that He's glorious.
They've seen that He watches over us. They've seen that He
protects us. They've seen that He gains us
the victory. They know that we speak the truth. They know we worship the one
true and living God. They've seen it, they have to
confess it. And they have to confess in the
end that their rock is not as our rock. Everyone has a rock
upon which they build and a rock in which they trust. Everyone
has that which they follow, that which they trust in. They have
a rock that gets them through life. Men trust in riches, in
strength and power and status. Men trust in ideas and ideals
and wisdom and knowledge in their intellect. Men trust in idols
of their own making. Men trust in those gods which
they worship in their religions. Whatever those religions may
be, organized or otherwise, men make idols of all sorts of things
which they worship. Ideas they follow, great men
they follow, pleasures that they seek after and worship. Everyone
has an idol that they follow and set up and trust in. They
may trust in themselves, in their own strength. They may trust
in the advice and the help of friends and family. They may
trust in the state. They may trust in their politicians. They may trust in their ideals
of how countries should be governed and led. They may trust in capitalism,
democracy, freedom of speech. They may trust in the inventions
of man, in the information age. They may trust in the internet.
They may trust in science. But everyone has that in which
they trust and which they follow. Everyone has that upon which
they build their life and their ideals. And yet whatever they
trust in, they're rock. If it is not, as Moses says,
our rock, If their trust is not in the Living God and in His
revelation of His truth, if their trust is not in God and His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, whom He sent into this world to deliver
men from the judgment of their sins, if their trust is not in
Him and His salvation, then their trust is in sand. Their rock
is nothing but sand which will lead them to destruction. For
they are yet in their sins. Their sins will bring judgment
upon their heads and will lead them to destruction. Israel's
enemies had rocks in which they trusted. Moses says later, Where
are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted? which did
eat the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink
offerings. Let them rise up and help you
and be your protection. Their enemies had their gods
and they worshipped their gods and trusted in their gods and
thought that if they served their gods and sacrificed to their
gods and did this that and the other that those gods which they
worshipped would preserve them from trouble. But there came
that day when Israel came in their midst and utterly destroyed
them. And they found their gods to
be worthless. Where are they now? Where is
the help from your God? Those rocks in whom you trusted. Those dead, dumb idols that you
made, that you fashioned out of your own hands and set up
and worshipped and said, this will save us. Those imaginations
of your own mind, where are they now? they're false and they're
helpless and man today has just the same he may not have an idol
carved out of stone or out of wood that he names but he has
those things in his intellect those things he worships those
ideals and ideas which he thinks will bring this world peace those
ideals which he thinks will make this world a better place, those
ideals which he thinks will bring a prosperous life. And he shuts
his ears to the truth, he shuts his ears to the reality of a
life after death, he shuts his ears to the reality of having
to stand before that God that made him and preserves him. He
shuts his ears to the reality that he is a sinner who is accountable
unto that God. And he looks upon simply that
which he can see, touch, handle and feel. That which is in the
natural realm. And he says this is all there
is and we're going to do the best we can to get through this
life. And he sets up his ideals of
how he can make this world a better place without God. And in so
doing he bows down to these ideals and his ideas and his ways and
his strength and his wisdom. For he says, this is my knowledge,
and this is my wisdom. These are the things that I know,
and I see, and I believe. And I cannot see God, and I cannot
see Jesus Christ. Therefore, he cannot be. Therefore,
I will not worship him. What I have heard of him, I dislike. What I have heard of God and
Christ, I dislike. For the Bible tells me that I
am a sinner. And the Bible tells me that I
am worthless. The Bible tells me that I am
nothing. And I hate that. Because I love
myself. And I think I am wonderful. And
I'll have no one tell me that I am a sinner or worthless or
nothing. So he rails against the truth
of the Bible. He rails against the truth of
God and the gospel. And he rails against Moses' rock. and in its place he sets up another
rock. That of his own understanding.
Well what is your rock? Is that a description of your
rock? Is that a description of what you trust in? Or have you
come to know that there is no rock upon which you can depend? No rock upon which you can build?
No rock in which you can truly trust? except for the Rock. The Lord God, He is the Rock,
His work is perfect, all His ways are judgment. He is a God
of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He. Is this your Rock, the Rock which
Moses speaks of? It says in Psalm 20 verse 7,
some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember
the name of the Lord our God. Psalm 44, I will not trust in
my bow, neither shall my sword save me. But thou, O Lord, hast
saved us from our enemies and has put them to shame that hated
us. In God we boast all the day long and praise thy name forever. Psalm 49, they that trust in
their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches,
none of them can by any means redeem his brother nor give to
God a ransom for him. There's no help in the strength
of man or in the riches in this world or in the wisdom and knowledge
of this world. They may seem like a rock to
many, but they're a rock which crumbles away. Some people have
great inner strength, great resolve, ambition, confidence, and willpower,
but in the end they grow old, and they grow weak, and even
the strongest of man fades away. In the end that strength resolve
and willpower fails. Others trust in their friends
or they use friendship or love as a rock. Many worship love
as though it's that power greater than any other but the love of
man fails. Friends even loved ones ultimately
fail us. We may trust in them but how
often they let us down. Rocks they may be for a time,
but rocks with cracks, rocks which crumble, they're not sure
and they're not certain, they're not everlasting, they're not
perfect. Their rock is not as our rock. Our rock, his work is perfect,
all his ways are judgment a god of truth and without an iniquity
just and right is he. psalm 146 tells us put not your
trust in princes nor in the son of man in whom there is no help
Isaiah 31, woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and stay
on horses and trust in chariots, because they are many, and in
horsemen, because they are very strong. But who look not unto
the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord. Oh, there's great
might in men, in the power of man. Mankind builds great cities. Mankind has achieved many great
achievements. Man loves to display his strength
and his power and his wisdom. But in the end, all men die.
All men have but 70 years or so upon the face of this earth.
They're born weak babes in the care of another. They reach old
age and fall back into the care of another. and they're but vapour. They come and they go, they're
but grass which grows up one moment and is mowed down the
next. Our life is fleeting and our
strength is a delusion. There is no rock to depend upon
in these things, in the strength for ideals of man. If you lean
upon these things, you'll find it doesn't last. They don't last,
they won't save you, they won't help you in the end. They're
delusions. Their rock is not as our rock. Our rock. Our rock, the Lord
God, is solid. He's eternal, he's true, he's
everlasting, he's absolutely dependable. He says in this chapter,
I live forever. He's from everlasting to everlasting. He is the one who was in existence
before ever this world came into being. He was the one who spake
and this world was created. He was the one who spake and
life was breathed into mankind. He is the one who by his word
sustains every living creature throughout the ages. and he is
the one who will speak and this world will be concluded it will
be rolled up like a scroll it will be burnt with fire he is
from everlasting to everlasting He is the one who speaks and
his words are true and dependable. He has never said a lie. He has
never said a thing shall come to pass that has not come to
pass. He said that he would send his
son into this world to ransom a people and that son was sent
into this world and he came and he saved the people. He has said
that there is a day coming when this world will be concluded. when we will all come to stand
before Him, to be judged for the good and the wrong that we
have done. And that day is coming. All that was said of Christ's
coming, all that was prophesied of Him and recorded in the Scriptures
was true to the letter it came about. He was born in the city
of David as promised, He was of royal line. All the promise
concerning Him are true. His work is perfect. His ways
of judgment are just. He is a God of truth and without
iniquity. Just and right is He. There is none like Him. There
is none that you can trust in who is like unto this God. His
knowledge is greater than any man's. He knows all things. He knows all things from the
beginning to the end. He knows the beginning from the
end. He knows the future. He knows what will happen before
it happens. He is everywhere. He's not like
man that can be here and there and travel about but he is everywhere. He's omnipresent. He's omniscient. He knows all
things. And he's all powerful. He's omnipotent. He can do whatsoever He likes. He speaks and the world is made. He speaks and the world is destroyed. He speaks and judgment is poured
out. As it is said in this chapter
here, He says, I, even I, am He and there is no God with me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal, neither is
there any that can deliver out of my hand. Our destiny, our
lives are in his hands. If we remain in our sins, he
will speak and judge us and kill. If we're forgiven of our sins
by his grace, through the blood of His Son shed on our behalf,
then He will make us alive. What comes to pass is in His
hands, not ours. It is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God. He is all-powerful. His words
are true and living. What he says is true. And when
he speaks, there is life and power in his words. As recorded
in Mark, the disciples were astonished at Jesus' words. But Jesus answered,
if again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for
them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God?
They found all his sayings astonishing. And he reminds them, that if
you trust not in him, but in this world, you will not enter
into the kingdom of God. Those that trust in riches, those
that trust in man, those that trust in their own wisdom, will
find that all these things fail them. But those that trust in
Christ, in the living God, and in his words, find that these
are eternal words, everlasting words, words of eternal life.
words that lead them into the kingdom of God. Reminded elsewhere, charge them
that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded, nor
trust in uncertain riches, but that they should trust in the
living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. There are
no riches in this world which are everlasting. The riches of
this world fade away. But in God we have riches which
cannot be taken away. In Christ we have riches which
are beyond telling, beyond price, which no one can take from us. Their rock is not as our rock. The Lord is pictured as a rock
in many places in the scriptures. The Israelites who had journeyed
through the wilderness knew this in a very real way. For there
was that rock given to them, out of which poured forth water
that they should drink. That rock that sustained them
in that dry and barren land as they journeyed through. They
were given manna to eat and water from the rock. And that rock
that they drank out of was a picture of Christ. Because if we drink
of Christ, we will never thirst. And if we eat his flesh, we will
never hunger. 1 Corinthians tells us that they
did all drink the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that
spiritual rock that followed them. And that rock was Christ. He is a rock which brings forth
living water. If we drink of the water of life
which he gives us we will never die. Their rock is not as our
rock. Christ speaks of that rock upon
which he will build his church. Upon this rock I shall build
my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
What rock is that? is the rock of the revelation
of who Christ is as our rock. The church is built on knowing
Christ and Christ is its foundation and unless we are built upon
a rock then whatever we may call it we may call what we build
upon a rock but it is but sand. Christ teaches that the man that
builds his house upon the sand, the storm comes and washes it
away. But the man who is wise to build
upon the rock, when the storms come, his house stands. And Christ's
church is built upon the rock. because he comes in his gospel
to those who are in this world, those who follow a rock which
will never keep them, those who are lost and blind and dead in
sins. Those like you and me, deluded
by the wisdom and the intellect and the teaching of this world,
deluded by its riches and pleasures, deluded by that which it promises
but it can never give. that which fades away. He comes
unto us who are dead in sins, deluded by these things, and
He comes by His Spirit and points us to that which is the rock.
He says here is salvation, here is life, here is water which
if thou drinkest of it thou will never thirst, here is bread you
can eat and live forever, here is one who can take away your
sin. Here is One who does take away
your sin. Here is One who can save your
soul and deliver you from judgement, deliver you from the anger of
God against your sins and bring you into eternal life. He comes
in the Gospel and points sinners unto Christ upon the cross. He points them to a sacrifice. and a priest who has prepared
a sacrifice and who offers up that sacrifice on their behalf
and he says here's your priest and here he is sacrificing himself
and he's sacrificing himself for you that he should take the
judgment of your sins upon himself that you should be spared it
and that through him you should live Look at His blood which
He has shed, He shed it for sinners like you, He shed it to wash
you clean. Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world. Behold the blood and the water
pouring forth from His side, that blood which cleanses your
sins and that water which brings that blood and applies it to
your heart behold the blood and the water behold the water pouring
forth from the rock the rock which was crucified for sinners
have you beheld that rock? is he your rock? for their rock
is not as our rock and our enemies know it our enemies
themselves are judges of these things they know that Christ
died for sinners they know that he is the Lord God Almighty they
know that salvation is in him and none else and they know that
his church is built upon the rock. The rock. This rock is a refuge, a refuge,
a hiding place from every storm. If he is your rock, then whatever
trouble or storm may come your way, You have a refuge and a
rock to hide yourself in, where no harm can come your way. This
book of Deuteronomy sets before us a number of things. One of
the laws that are presented to us in it regard those cities
of refuge that the Israelites were taught to build. Whereas
someone accidentally slayed somebody else they could flee to that
city of refuge and flee from the judgment which would come
upon them. And this is a picture of Christ
our refuge, Christ our rock to whom we can flee when the judgment
comes against our sin as it will because we are guilty, we have
sinned and we deserve it, every one of us. when that judgment
comes and the day is coming when it will come upon us when that
judgment comes if we're found hiding in this city of refuge
if we're found hidden the cleft of this rock then that judgment
will pass us by Because this rock is a sure and a certain
refuge, a sure and a certain hiding place for sinners. If
you're hidden in this rock, nothing can condemn you, no harm can
come your way. Because all the storm will hit
the rock and nothing will touch us. And when Christ went to the
cross for his people, he went there as their rock. they went
in him. As it were, as the ark, as Noah's
ark, God's people were hidden in that ark, and the storm came
upon the ark, but touched not them. So at the cross, our ark,
our rock, was struck, and the judgment rained down upon him,
but touched none of his own who were hidden in him. If you were
hidden Christ at the cross, if you were in Him, if the judgment
of God came upon Him for your sins, then not one spot of judgment
or anger would strike you. Nor will it ever strike you,
because it was expended upon Christ forever. He laid down
His life as a sacrifice once and for all. that all his people
should be forever spared, forever delivered from that wrath to
come. He saved them effectually and
eternally. He saved His people whom He chose. If He chose to save you, then
He put you in the cleft of the rock, He put you in His side,
and He took you through Calvary's cross. He took you to the cross,
He took you through the judgment, He took you through the grave,
and He brought you out the other side when He rose again. Delivered,
saved, forgiven. You are in the rock, in your
refuge, and he brought you through. He took the judgment that we
might be spared. Is he your rock, or do you trust
in another? Their rock, your rock perhaps,
their rock is not as our rock. for nothing can bring you through
the judgment against our sins but Christ and his sacrifice
for sinners. No riches will deliver you from
God's wrath against your sins. No pleasure of this world will
deliver you from that wrath to come. No friends, strength, ideals,
intellect or knowledge will spare you from that judgment. Only
the knowledge of Jesus Christ, only the knowledge of this rock,
only a trust and belief in this rock will bring you through.
All else will fail. all else will fail. You must
be in this rock, you must be one for whom he died, you must
be one of his portion. For the Lord's portion is his
people, Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in
a desert land and in the waste howling wilderness and he led
him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his
eye. Is that you? Did he find you
in the wilderness? Did he lead you to the rock that
is higher than you? Did he take you and lead you
and instruct you and guide you and keep you? Did he spare you
the rough to come? Did he shelter you from the storm?
Are you, as Jacob, the apple of his eye? Oh, what a rock! What a one to trust and to depend
upon, what a refuge, what salvation. Their rock is not as our rock,
but our rock is an offense to many. Because they hate that
salvation is in Christ alone. They hate that salvation is in
God's strength alone. That we can do nothing to affect
it, that we can do nothing to save ourselves. We hate to bow
down the knee to another because we love ourselves and worship
ourselves. Because we're so proud, so arrogant. We hate it. We hate the idea
that God is all powerful and our end is in his hands. And
yet it is. And our wisdom is to bow the
knee to his authority and rule and power. And bow the knee to
his almighty claims upon this world. And plead for his mercy. And should we bow the knee, and
should we cry out for mercy, then he will not turn us away.
For whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. There's no crying out, it is
not fair, because if you want to be saved, he has not turned
any away who truly seeks his salvation. The trouble is the
heart of man is so hardened against this that many will never cry
out. Many will never turn, many will
never turn to this rock, they'll just rail against it. As it is
written, behold I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of
offense. He's a stumbling stone to many
and a rock of offense and his gospel's a rock of offense. Yet
whosoever Believe if on him shall not be ashamed. Is he an offence to you? Is he
a rock of offence to you? Or is he the rock of your salvation? Is he your rock? Is he your God? Is he your saviour? Is he? Which rock is yours? Their rock or our rock? Which rock will you depend upon? Their rock or our rock? For their rock is not as our
rock. Praise God.