I want to begin reading in verse
1. You need to keep your Bibles handy, but you'll have to turn
fast. Exodus chapter 17, and let's begin reading in verse
1. And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed
from the wilderness of sin after their journeyings 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
ye 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 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 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. Now this is our study tonight,
the water. The water from the rock. We're told here in the
16th chapter that there was no bread in this wilderness to eat. We looked at that last time,
didn't we? And now we come here to the 17th chapter and we're
told that there was no water to drink. We're told that there
in verse 1. And verse 2 says you're killing
us and our cattle, our children, with thirst. And that was the
wilderness. Anybody remember the name of
this wilderness? Did you catch the name of this wilderness when
I read it to you? I think it's a name very appropriate,
don't you? Sin. Isn't that a funny name for a
wilderness? Sin. But isn't it appropriate, though,
when we think of the world that we're in, Think of the nature,
our fallen nature that we're in. Isn't that an apt name for
it? Sin. The nature of sin. The world of sin. And just like
these poor Israelites, there's no bread and there's no water
in our wilderness. This world can't produce it.
Our sinful, fallen natures can't produce it. If we have bread
and water to sustain us, it must be provided for us just as surely
as it was provided for these Jews. Now, I want you to look
here at another place with me in Numbers. And you can let Exodus
go. I want you to look in Numbers
chapter 20. I want you to turn over there
and look at this because I don't know, maybe some of you don't
realize this, but this was only the first time that Moses smote
a rock and water came out of it. It happened again probably
38 or 39 years from the first time. The first time it happened
is when they left the Red Sea, and they were going out into
the desert. The second time it happened, they had been in the
desert for probably 38 years. Marian, Moses and Aaron's sister,
had died, and now it happens again. It happens the second
time. Now look here in Numbers chapter 20 and verse 8. Almost
the same thing happened, but this was, for the most part,
the next generation. They had been out there for 38
or 39 years, and most of the old people had died. This was
a new generation coming on down. And they had either gotten so
far away from the first rock, or it had dried up. I don't know what had happened,
but now they were thirsting again. And they began to cry for water.
And in verse 8 of Numbers chapter 20, The Lord spoke to Moses and
said, 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 thou shalt give the
congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod
from before the Lord, probably laid up in the tabernacle. And
he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered
the congregation together before the rock. And Moses said unto
them, Here now, you rebels, must we fetch you water out of this
rock? And Moses lifted up his hand with his rod and smote the
rock twice. And the waters came out abundantly,
and the congregation drank, and their beasts also." Of course,
if you go on reading in verse 12 and 13, you'll see that The
Lord told Moses, you haven't honored me, you haven't believed
me, and therefore you're not going into the land of Canaan.
The first time, you'll notice, when water came from this rock,
the Lord told Moses, slap the rock, and water will come out.
This was the second time. And the Lord said, speak to the
rock. But Moses was grieved in his spirit, and he was aggravated
to children of Israel. He smoked the rock, and he smoked
it twice. It already smote Him once. Now,
does anybody realize what that signifies? It signifies the smiting
of Christ, doesn't it? Clarence was about to tell us.
Christ was smitten upon the cross. He was bruised. He was wounded.
He was cursed. His blood flowed out. He is never
to be smitten again. So the Lord says, Moses, speak
to the rock. He should have just spoken to
it. It would have given His word. Of course, that's why He brought
the judgment of God upon him. Now, there's no doubt to you
and me what this rock and what this water represents. I want
you to turn over to 1 Corinthians. Take your Bibles and turn right
quickly to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. If you have a few Bibles,
it's 1247. We're told precisely what this
water and what this rock represents, who it represents. Look in 1
Corinthians 10, verse 1. Brethren, I would not that you
should be ignorant, how that all our fathers, our Jewish fathers,
were under the clouds, and all passed through the sea. And they
were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
They all did eat the same spiritual meat, and they all drank of the
same spiritual rock. For they drank of that spiritual
rock which followed them, and that rock was Christ. The rock was Christ and they
drank of that water and that water is Christ. So in general
here we know what the rock represents, we know what the water represents.
Now Paul says here they drank of that spiritual drink and of
that spiritual rock. Now don't Don't get confused
about this. I think, and from checking with
the commentaries, I think when he says a spiritual drink and
a spiritual rock, he doesn't mean that the water was spiritual
or the rock was spiritual. The rock was physical. We're
told it was a rock of flint. The water came out had to be
water, physical water, because it quenched their thirst. But
when he says here it's a spiritual rock and spiritual water, I guess
he says that because it was so miraculously given. It wasn't
something performed by the hands of man, but it was something
performed that only God could do. A miraculous, it was a miracle
that they had this water. The rocks split. That was a miracle. And we're told here that this
rock followed them. And I think we have to be careful
here also because I think it would be sort of silly for you
and I to think that that rock went where they went. That they
looked and there was the big rock, I think it's 10 or 12 foot
high. They looked around, there it
was again. That would have been scary, wouldn't it? I think what
happened and what the Scriptures, I think, teach us, that this
rock gave out such abundance of water and it flowed. It flowed
through this desert and it was always ready at hand. It was
where they could go get it any time they were thirsty or fill
up their containers. But we see here what this water
and this rock represents. This rock is Christ. And one of David's favorite names
for the Lord Jesus Christ is his rock. How often did he say,
Thou art my rock. My rock, my refuge, my shepherd,
my high tower. He said, you know, I was in a
horrible pit in the Mari clay. I waited patiently for the Lord.
He brought me up and set my feet upon a rock. When my heart is
overwhelmed within me, lead me to that rock. So he often referred
to the Lord Jesus as the rock. So this rock represents to us
the Lord Jesus Christ. And the water, the water also
represents Christ. Now I don't have time to turn
to all of these, but it's important that I quote these to you. I
see most of you have your pen and paper. Please write this
down if you can. And at your leisure, go read
these passages of Scripture because they will be a blessing to you. In Psalms 114 and verse 8, all
of this is pertaining to water. God turned the rock unto a sanded
water, the flint unto a fountain of waters. the flint into a fountain
of waters. If you'd have saw that big flint
rock standing there, the water came away upon it. It was a fountain. It became a fountain of water. Listen to Jeremiah chapter 2
and verse 13. My people have committed two
evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain
of living waters. The Lord is the fountain of living
water. That rock was called the fountain
of waters. Christ calls Himself the fountain
of water. Listen to Revelation 21, verse
6. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I will give unto him that is
a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. And what is that? That is Himself,
isn't it? He said, I am the fountain of
living water, and if any man thirsts, I will give him of myself. I'll give him to drink of that
fountain of the water of life freely. Revelations 22, 17. This
is a very familiar passage. The Spirit and the Bride say
come, and let him that hears say come, and let him that is
athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take of the water of
life freely. So this fountain that was opened
there in the desert, the flint rock that was split, the water
is gushing out. That rock in the water represents
to us Jesus Christ Himself. Now, I think we can go ahead
and prove that in different places in the Scripture. But let's get
just a little bit more specific, okay? In specific, this water
of life represents to us the Spirit of life. Now, look here,
and wait a minute, I want you to turn to these in John chapter
7. Look in John chapter 7. Look in verse 37, but turn quickly.
A few Bibles, 1159. Does anybody read a few Bibles? Well, I'll quit telling them
all pages. John chapter 7, and look in verse 39. Okay, you found it? In the last
day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, If any
man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth
on me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water. Now what is that? Look in verse
39. This is faith of the Spirit,
the Holy Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive,
for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not
yet glorified. The Spirit of life. The Holy
Spirit. He goes under the symbol of the
water of life. Romans 8, verse 2, He is called
the Spirit of life, which is in Christ Jesus. Ezekiel 37,
verse 14, I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live. So this water represents to us
the Spirit of life, the Holy Spirit. Look in another place
while we are here in John. Look in John 6. You're something
else, water represents to us, not only the spirit of life,
but the words of life. Words of life. Look at what he
says in John chapter 6, look in verse 53. John chapter 6,
verse 53. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, except you eat the flesh of the Son
of Man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whosoever
eats my flesh and drinks my blood hath eternal life, and I will
raise him up at the last day. My flesh is meat indeed, and
my blood is drink indeed." Now he goes up here to verse 63,
and he is going to tell us what he is talking about. Verse 63,
It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing.
The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are
life. So we have the spirit of life.
Here we have the words of life. So what does this water represent?
The spirit of life and the word of life are the gospel. And when
he asked Peter, will you go away? He said, Lord, where can we go?
You have the words. You have the gospel of life. The gospel of life. Look here
at another place what water represents. It not only represents life,
And that's what we look at when we say waters represents life,
the spirit of life, the words of life. It also represents to
us grace, the grace of life. Look in Peter chapter 2. The Lord said, I am the fountain
of living waters. So what does He mean? He means
the spirit of life, the words of life, the grace of life. 2 Peter chapter 2. And look here. in verse 2. Look
at this. According as His divine power
has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness
through the knowledge of Him that is called us into glory
and virtue. According as His divine power
has given unto us life and everything that pertains to life. Well, I told you the wrong place.
I got ahead of myself. Well, hold that and look back
over at the one I wanted to read to you in 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 3, verse 7. That's where
I wanted to go. Hold that because I'm going over
there. That was my next one. Look here in 1 Peter 3, verse
7. That's what I want you to look
at right now. We can deal with that, but I want to deal with
this one first. 1 Peter 3, verse 7. I wonder why you all look
at me so strangely. Look in verse 7, 1 Peter. Likewise
ye husbands, dwell with your wives according to knowledge,
giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, as being
heirs together of the grace of life. That's where I'm going
to go. The grace of life. Now why does he call it the grace
of life? Well, what was it that chose
us to life? The Bible says we were ordained
to eternal life. What was it that ordained us?
Was it not grace? He chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world to the praise of the glory of His
grace. So it's grace that chose us to
life eternal. What was it that came to us when
we were dead and gave us life? Was it not grace? Even when you
were dead in your sins, He hath quickened us together with Christ
by grace. Are you saying? And what is it
that will keep us, and what is it that we're looking for at
the end of the way, but the grace of eternal life? So it's life. All the way, it's life. What
is it that gave us faith to believe the words of life? The Lord Jesus
said, He that hears my words and believes on him that sent
me, he hath everlasting life. But how in the world can we believe
these words of life? Through grace. Through grace. It's given you to believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. It was said of Apollos that he
helped them much which had believed. through grace. So can you see
why Peter calls it the grace of life? The believing wife and
the believing husbands, they're heirs together of the grace of
life. So what do we have so far? Well,
we have this living water. It's the water of life. Well,
what brings life? The Spirit. What gives life? The words of life. What gives
life? Grace. And look now at the passage
that I just read to you in 2 Peter 1, verse 2 and verse 3. Look
at this. I'm making a point. I want you
to stay with me. I know I'm going about this the long way around,
but I'm making a point. Grace and peace be multiplied
unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
according as His divine power have given to us all things that
pertain to life and godliness." What is it that gives us power?
Is it not the power of God? He gives us power, and by His
power He gives us everything that pertains to that life. What
did the Lord Jesus say when He was praying to His Father in
John 17, chapter 2? You have given Him power over
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given him. It takes power to give eternal
life, doesn't it? Jesus Christ has power of life
invested in his humanity. The Father has given him that
power. The Scripture talks about having the power of an endless
life. He has that in his humanity.
He'll never die again. The power of an endless life,
and he has the power to give that life to His people. And
when He does, they shall never die. They have the power of an
endless life, an endless life. So the water, what does the water
represent to us? The water of life, the fountain
of life, it represents the Spirit of life, the grace of life, the
words of life, that is the gospel, the power of life, It represents
in one word this, the spirit and grace of the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That gospel is the power of God. And when it's yielded by the
spirit of life, it gives life. It brings grace to the heart.
It gives life everlasting. Listen to Zechariah chapter 12
and verse 10. You may want to put this down
and read this sometime. Zechariah chapter 12 and verse
10. I will pour upon them the Spirit of grace, and supplication,
and they shall look upon him whom they have pierced. Listen
to Isaiah 44.3. I will pour water upon him that
is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground,
I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessings upon thy
offspring." So water is often a representation of the Spirit
and grace and the blessings of the Lord. Listen to Titus chapter
3 and verse 5. I don't have time for you to
turn now. You'll have to mark it down and read it later. Not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
His mercy He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing
of the Holy Ghost which He shed on us abundantly through our
Lord Jesus Christ. A regeneration is called a washing. I will sprinkle clean water upon
you and you shall be clean. Do you remember when that soldier
took the spear after our Lord had said it was finished and
gave up the ghost. Remember when that soldier took
the spear and pierced the side and the blood and water came
flowing out? You know what the Scripture calls that? A fountain. A fountain. In that day there
shall be a fountain open for sin and for uncleanness. You've got to mark this down
because you've got to read this. Revelation 22. He showed me a pure river
of water of life, clear as crystal. Now, you compare what we've been
saying with Revelations 22-1. He showed me a pure river. Now, when you talk about the
Spirit of life, that's a pure river. When you're talking about
grace that brings life, that's a pure river. When you're talking
about the words of life, the gospel of life, that's a pure
river, you see. He showed me a pure river of
water of life. Clear as crystal. One of these
showed me where her and Steve had been out west when they went
out there last summer. They went up Yellowstone and
they got a river. I don't know, it's come somewhere
out of that mountain. And that's one of the most beautiful
rivers I've ever seen in my life. It's clear. But I tell you, it's
not pure. You could drink out of it, but
it's not pure. It's not clear as crystal. But you're one that
is. And did you notice, if you ever read Revelation 22-1, did
you notice where this river of life was proceeding from? From
the throne of God. And where else? Of the Lamb.
The Lamb of God. The throne. That's where this
spirit of life proceeds from. I'll pray the Father and He'll
give you another spirit. He may abide with you forever.
So many places you'll see about this river. One of the most interesting
places I think that you could read that's such a blessing,
sometimes read Ezekiel chapter 47. That's a very interesting
passage. Ezekiel saw a vision. This man
came to Ezekiel, the prophet, and showed him the vision. He
took him to the temple. And out from under the temple
door, the sanctuary, probably the holiest of holies, water
was seeping out from underneath the door. And he called Ezekiel's
attention to it and he said, I saw the water and it was flowing
from underneath the threshold of the temple door. And as he
watched it, he noticed that it broadened and spread as it went. And the man said, the man went
out into the water and said, come out into the water. And
he waded out about an ankle deep out in the river. And the man
measured out about 1,500 feet and he said, Ezekiel, come on
out. And he waded until he was about knee deep. And he measured
1,500 more feet and said, can you come out some farther? He
waded until he was waist deep in the water. And he measured
1,500 more feet and he said, come on out. And Ezekiel said,
my feet wouldn't touch the bottom. And I started to have him to
swim. And he said, after I began to swim, I tried to look and
I couldn't see the shore. And then I realized this was
a river that could not be passed over. And he went back to the
shore and got up on the shore and there was two things he noticed
about that river that was coming from the temple. One was the
depth of it. The breadth of it. He said it
was so large that it could not be passed over. It's deep that
a man could swim in. But one of the other things that
he noticed that's such a blessing, he said everywhere this river
went, everything that this water touched, it brought life to it
and healed it. Isn't that wonderful when you
think of that? We have this river. We have this spirit and grace
of the Gospel. And it's proceeding from the
throne of God and of the Lamb. And everywhere it goes, and everyone
it touches, it gives them life. And it heals them. Isn't that
a blessing? Oh, such a blessing. The water,
the fountain of life. And here's some things that's
said of this river that came out of this rock. I want you
to write these things down. Because I don't have time to. I want you to write these down.
I want you to write this down. In Numbers chapter 20, verses
8 and 9 that we looked at, this is something that is very important.
The waters came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and
their beast. In Psalms chapter 78, verse 16,
He brought streams out of the rock, and cause waters to run
down like rivers. Psalm 105, verse 41, He opened
the rock, and the waters gushed out, and ran in the dry place
like a river. Psalm 78, verse 20, Behold, He
smoked the rock, and the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. So we not only have a pure river,
clear as crystal, we know where it proceeds from, but now it's
large. It's abundant. It overflows. You know, we talk sometimes about
a river that's half full. You know, they say, boy, that's
a deep river, but it's all banked. You go way down in it before
you get to the water. The waters are not very deep.
But here is a river that's not only wide, but you can't even
see the banks. It's deep, but it's full. It overflows its banks. Now, brothers and sisters, what
does that mean? That means the Son of God, the
Lord Jesus Christ, is full of grace. He's full of truth. He's full of life. He's full
of salvation. He's full of saving merit. And
if He is pleased that grace can flow to Him, to us, and not only
save us and give us life, but can heal our soul's diseases
from now until He has us in the land of Canaan. There is nothing
lacking in the Son of God to supply our need. We want nothing
else. We need nothing else but this
fountain of life. whose heart was claimed on Calvary's
tree. And that fountain flows to us.
A life-giving fountain. And it flows abundantly, doesn't
it? Abundantly. Which He shed on
us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Lord. And listen to Isaiah
41, 17 and 18. Isaiah 41, 17 and 18. When the
poor and the needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue fails for thirst,
I, the Lord, will hear them." See, you don't need to smite
him. He's done been smitten, hasn't he? I, the Lord, will
hear them. I will hear them. Woman, woman,
if you'd have asked of me, I'd have given you living water.
Boy, we know more now what that means, don't we? You ask of Me,
I'll give you My Holy Spirit, My Spirit of life. You ask of
Me, I'll give you words of life. You ask of Me, I'll give you
the power of life. I'll open My fountain for cleansing
from your sin. You ask of Me, I'll give you
living water. Living water. I the Lord will hear them, and
the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers into
high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys, I will
make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land a spring
of water." Isn't that encouraging? In this wilderness of sin, in
this wilderness of sin, this old nature. He said, right there
where you're at, I can open to you rivers of water. Brothers and sisters, this is
one of the most encouraging things to me. I've said this so often,
the older I get, the more I realize what a wilderness I am in myself. A barren wilderness of sin. But I tell you one thing I realize
as I get older, that doesn't hinder Him. If He cleaved this
rock in this wilderness of sin, He can open it to this wilderness
too, and reveal Christ, the fountain of life. the power of life, the
spirit of life, the gospel of life.