Let's turn tonight, if you will,
in our Bibles to Matthew chapter 16. Matthew chapter 16. And I'll begin my reading in
verse 13 and read through verse 20. When Jesus came into the coast
of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, whom do
men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, some say that
thou art John the Baptist. Some, Elias, and others, Jeremias,
are one of the prophets. He saith unto them, but whom
say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus
answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for
flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven. And I say unto thee that thou
art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church. and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto
thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatsoever thou shalt
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou
shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged
he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus
the Christ. There's so much in a passage
of scripture like this, but I'm going to pass over most of it
and speak to us from the words of our Lord in verse 18, this
rock, this rock. I say also unto thee that thou
art Peter and upon this rock, I will build my church. and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I want us to think,
I have five things I want us to see this evening that speak
to us of the Lord Jesus Christ as a rock. As a rock. The rock. He said this rock. This rock means that there are
other rocks. This rock. This rock. is the rock upon which the Lord
Jesus Christ builds his church. And there are five things that
I'm going to mention to us this evening. First, this rock, this
rock, different from all the other rocks. This rock is unlike
all other rocks. Turn with me, if you will, to
Deuteronomy chapter 32. You'll see what I mean. is unlike
all other rocks. In Deuteronomy chapter 32 and verse 29, Moses speaking to the
nation of Israel, oh, that they were wise, that they understood
this. that they would consider their
latter end. How should one chase 1,000? Think about that. How does one man put an army
of 1,000 to run? How is that possible? One man against 1,000. And two, Two men put 10,000 to flight. How is that possible? The two
men go out on the battlefield and they face an army of 10,000
and the two men put the 10,000 to flight. Except, now notice
this, how should one chase 1,000 and two put 10,000 to flight? Except their rock, the rock of
the 10,000, the rock of the 2,000, except their rock had sold them,
and the Lord had shut them up. For their rock, notice, for their
rock is not as our rock. Even our enemies, Moses says,
even our enemies acknowledge this truth. And we know that
was so in Egypt, when plague after plague, finally the Egyptians
confessed, this is the hand of God. They had their gods, they
had their rocks, the Egyptians did, and they could do some of
the signs or the miracles that Moses did at first, but they
came to a point when their gods could not compete with the God. This rock, This rock is unlike
all other rocks. What I mean is, our God, this
rock, is unlike all other gods. That's what he's saying. Unlike
all other gods. All other rocks, all other gods,
are different from our rock. from this rock upon which Christ
builds his church, because all other rocks had a beginning.
And this rock is eternal. This rock had no beginning. Remember
when he appeared to Moses in the burning bush, he confessed
his name, I am. Not I was, not I shall be, but
I am. The self-existent Lord God Jehovah
who needs nothing, needs no one, because he is self-efficient
himself. Our rock is unlike all other
rocks. This rock upon which Christ builds
his church is unlike all other rocks. We know, as we read through the
Old Testament history of the nation of Israel, there were
various gods that they encountered. Baal was one god that we read
about quite often. Astaroth, that goddess, was another
one. But also here in Deuteronomy,
God warned the nation of Israel not to worship the sun or the
moon or the stars, and we know that those things have served
as gods for many different nations who did not have the knowledge
of the truth. Their God is not as our God. Their rock is not as our rock.
This rock is eternal. This rock is all powerful, and
all other rocks are limited to place, this rock is everywhere
present. Other rocks have wills. Think
about this. Other rocks, other gods have
wills, but they have wills that may be resisted. This rock, the
scripture says, does according to His will in the army of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? None can question
this rock. So that's the first thing I'll
point out to us tonight about this rock. Our Lord said, upon
this rock I will build my church. This rock is unlike all other
rocks, all other gods. Second, I want you to turn to
Isaiah chapter 28. This rock is a cornerstone. In Isaiah chapter 28 and verse
16, we read, Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone. Now, you
know, I assume all of us here know that many times the church
is referred to by that name Zion, Zion. And that's what we read
here in the Old Testament, as well as what our Lord said. Behold,
I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone. We should know that
many times the church is called Zion in the Old Testament, Mount
Zion. And the Lord Jesus Christ said
upon this rock, this is really our Lord repeating what we have
here in this prophecy in Isaiah 28 and verse 16. This rock, which is the Lord Jesus Christ,
is the foundation stone upon which his church is built. Of
course, the Apostle Paul, writing to the church at Corinth, he
said, other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which
is Jesus Christ. God said, behold, I lay in Zion
for a foundation, a stone, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone. Now, we could say something about
each one of those declarations here, but I call our attention
especially to that cornerstone. I lay in Zion for a foundation,
a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone. How does a cornerstone serve
in a building? Well, it unites two sides, doesn't
it? It brings two sides together.
And this pictures to us that this rock, this rock upon which
the Lord Jesus Christ built, builds his church. This pictures
to us that this rock unites two sides, that is heaven and earth,
that he is God and he is man. He is the God-man. He's the rock who is both God
and man. He had to be man for a number
of reasons. One reason is it was man who
had sinned against God. And it had to be one in the same
nature who had sinned against God to reconcile men to God. But another reason, maybe more
important, is he had to be man that he might obey, to obey the
law of God, to obey God Almighty. He had to be man. He had to be
man to suffer. Angels cannot suffer. God cannot suffer. He had to
be man that he might obey God Almighty, and he had to be man
that he might suffer for the sins of his people, and he had
to be man that he might die, that he might die in the place
of others. But then he must be God, right? He must be God because if he's
just a man, even a perfect man as he was, a sinless man. But if that's all he were, that
would not be enough to satisfy infinite justice. He must be
also God to give the value, if I can use that word, to give
the value, the power, the sufficiency of what he did to be put to the
charge of those he came to save and to reconcile them unto God. He might obey, suffer, and die
as man and as God that his obedience, his suffering, and his death
might satisfy God's Infinite justice. Not just God's justice,
but His infinite justice. So this rock is unlike other
rocks. This rock, upon which Christ
builds His church, that is Himself, is a cornerstone. A third thing
about this rock, this rock was disallowed of men and smitten. Disallowed of men and smitten. Look with me in 1 Peter chapter
two. 1 Peter chapter two and verse four and verse seven. Two times in
these few verses here, the apostle Peter tells us that this rock
was disallowed. disallowed. First Peter chapter
2 and verse 4, we read, to whom coming as unto a living stone
disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. And
then in verse 7, unto you therefore which believe he is precious,
but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders
disallowed The same is made the head of the corner. The word which is here translated
disallowed according to Strong's Concordance means to disapprove. To disapprove and by implication
means to repudiate the builders here. The stone which the builders
disallowed. Who are the builders here? They
were the priest, they were the leaders of the nation of Israel
when the Lord Jesus Christ, the scribes and the priests, when
he came into this world, they disapproved his person. Remember,
he confessed to be God. I and my father are one. And what did the builders do?
They took up stones to stone him. They disapproved of him,
disapproved of his person. They disapproved of his doctrine. Except your righteousness shall
exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall
in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. They disapproved that
because that was their hope. That was their boast, their righteousness. their righteousness by their
obedience to the law. And he said, no, no, his doctrine,
they disapproved of it. If except your righteousness
exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, you're not going to
enter into the kingdom of God. And you know, it's so sad, isn't
it? That many people even today believe that by their obedience,
whatever rules they have come out of the Bible, that they're
going to make themselves right with God, that they're going
to be saved and enter into the kingdom of heaven. No, no. The Lord Jesus Christ said, you've
got to have a righteousness better than that. You've got to have
a righteousness that God will accept. It must exceed that man
righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees. or you shall
in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven." Not only did they
disapprove of his person, they disapproved of his doctrine,
and they disapproved of his kingdom. They said, my kingdom's not of
this world. Well, that's what they wanted.
That's what they desired, a kingdom in this world that would be like
the kingdom that David had years before when the nation of Israel
conquered just about every nation around him, remember. And he
wore the crown of all the various kings of the various nations
around them. His army seemed like they could
not be defeated. That's what we want. And even
the disciples, you remember, they said, well, What we would
desire is, one of them said, I want to sit on the right hand,
and the other one said, I want to sit on the left hand when
you come into your kingdom. They're thinking of an earthly
kingdom, aren't they? And our Lord said, my kingdom
is not of this world. My kingdom is within you. Within you, in your heart. He comes to rule and reign in
the hearts of his people. This rock was disallowed and
smitten. I pointed out it was disallowed,
but remember, it was also smitten. And this was pictured, wasn't
it, in the Old Testament when Israel, the nation of Israel,
some people believe there may have been as many as two to three
million people, and they come out of Egypt, God delivered them
and brought them out and they come into the wilderness and
they hadn't gone far before they came to a place and there was
no water. Now water's not a luxury, is it? It really isn't. I mean, it is in some ways, but
you must have water. That's the reason they call this
planet that we live on the blue planet. Why? Because there's
water here. And there can be no water or
be no life rather, if there is no water. And of course, as their
custom was, they began to complain and murmur, murmur against Moses
as though it was his fault that there was no water. You remember
Moses went to the Lord, let's turn and read that in Exodus
chapter 17. This rock is disallowed indeed
of man, but smitten, smitten of God. And this was pictured
in the Old Testament in Exodus chapter 17 in verses three through
six, we'll read. Verse three, we read, 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? You know, when the Lord first,
I believe, began working in my life, I read through these Old
Testament passages and I think, What's wrong with those people?
What's wrong with those people? I mean, God had just brought
them out of Egypt with a high hand, a strong arm. And here
they are already. But you know, as I have, I hope,
grown and matured, I realized that I'm just reading about myself. That's all I'm doing. I'm just
reading about myself. Yes. We trust God today and tomorrow
we have a small inconvenience and we're ready to question God's
love and God's providence and we lose patience, don't we? Just
like these people of old. Why did you bring us out here,
Moses, to kill us in the wilderness? 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." That same rod that God told him to smite the river to open
up the Red Sea when they came across. Take that rod and go. on before the people, and the
elders with thee, and thy rod, take it in thy hand, and go.
Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock, and hoar
up, and thou shalt smite the rock." Smite the rock. Take that rod and wham! Smite the rock. He didn't say
you're to go there and look at the rock. He didn't say you're
to go there and admire the rock. What a beautiful rock, what a
beautiful boulder that is. Oh no, they could still be there,
thirsting until the rock was smitten. Smite the rock and out
of the rock then flowed water. There shall come water out of
it, and the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight
of the elders of Israel. The rock must be smitten. Now,
people can admire the Lord Jesus Christ as a good man, as a philosopher,
a lot of good teaching. But we've got to have more than
a philosopher. We've got to have a savior. This
rock had to be smitten. He had to be smitten for us.
Paul identified this rock as Christ in 1 Corinthians 10. He
said, this rock is Christ, a picture of Christ. Remember in Hebrews,
we read without the shedding of blood, there is no remission.
No one will ever have our sins put away unless the rock is smitten. We know that picture to us the
Lord Jesus Christ as he died for us upon the cross of Calvary,
smitten so that water, life, eternal life might flow from
him. We sing that hymn sometimes,
wounded for me, wounded for me. There on the cross, he was wounded
for me. Gone my transgressions, and now
I'm free, all because he was wounded for me. Smite the rock. A fourth thing about this rock,
and let's go back to I Peter 2. This rock is a living rock. This rock is a living rock, 1
Peter 2 and verse 4, to whom coming as unto a living stone. There's a difference, of course,
between the foundation stone in a physical building and the
foundation stone in the spiritual temple that is the church of
the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many differences. The foundation and cornerstone
in this spiritual temple is alive. It's a living stone. Then in a second way, there's
a difference. Every stone in this building
is laid upon this foundation stone, this cornerstone. There
are buildings in Europe You know, years ago, Pat and I got to go
to England and London. It just seemed like every building
ought to be important because they've been there 300 or 400
years, it seems like. But I'm sure most of those buildings
there had a cornerstone, had a foundation stone. It's still
there. and they've built up upon it, but all these rocks that
have been, these stones rather, that have been built higher upon
it, they don't touch the foundation stone. They don't lay upon the
foundation stone. There's a stone put on that foundation
stone, another stone on it, another stone on it. That's not the way
it is in this spiritual temple, this church that the Lord Jesus
Christ is building. Every stone in this building
is laid upon the foundation stone, every stone. And because He is
a living stone, then we become living stones built upon Him. It is being in union with this
stone, being laid upon this stone. This living stone, this living
rock, that eternal life flows unto us. And there's a fifth thing about
this rock I wanted to mention tonight. This rock, and I just
want to emphasize that when you leave here tonight. This rock,
this rock is different from all other rock. This rock upon which
Christ builds his church, And of course it's speaking of himself.
But this rock is like a great rock in a weary land. Turn back with me to Isaiah chapter
32. This rock is like a great rock in
a weary land. In Isaiah chapter 32, verses
1 and 2, we read about this king. And this king, in verse 1, is
no other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings. Behold,
a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment,
and a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind. and a covert
from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as a shadow
of a great rock in a weary land. All of these four things that
are mentioned here are true of this rock. He's a hiding place from the
wind. You say, what does that mean,
temptation? Temptations are represented to
us by the wind. He's a hiding place from the
wind. The tempest, the trials, he's
a covert. The word covert means a covering. When I read that word, I think
of the word covert. I met a man years ago. in Wichita
Falls, and he told me that one day he was traveling, and he
was in his car, and he saw this tornado coming, and it was obvious
it was going to come right over where he was. He pulled off to
the side of the road, and down in the ditch there, he knew there
was a culvert there. He got in that culvert, and that
tornado passed over him, and his car was ruined, of course,
but he was safe. He was saved, but he did tell
me this, he lost his hearing because of the noise in that
culvert. But the Lord Jesus Christ, he's
a covering. He's a covering from the tempest,
from the trials that come your way. And no child of God is exempt. No child of God is going to go
through this world and not face trials and temptations. And he,
this rock, he is the hiding place. He's the culvert, the shield.
And number three, from the dry parched desert of this world,
he is as rivers of water. And this world sometimes can
become a very dry place for God's children. But in Christ, there's always
rivers of water for his people. And then the last thing, in a
weary land, he's a shadow of a great rock. Shadow. I always think of a man, you
know, it's very hot over there. The temperature's very high in
that part of the world. A man that's maybe been walking
and he's exhausted He gets behind a rock and there's a shadow,
a little cooler there to refresh himself. What a picture that
is of the Lord Jesus Christ as we go through this world and
we too become tired and sometimes discouraged and sometimes ready
even to give up. We go to the rock, don't we?
He's a rock, a shadow in a dry, land, a weary land. I'm going
to ask you to turn to one other place. I want you to look in
Matthew chapter 7. I believe the Sermon on the Mouth,
the message the Lord Jesus Christ preached, recorded in our Bibles
in chapters 5, 6, and 7 of Matthew. I believe it's the longest recorded
message that we have of our Savior, and you know he came down to
the end of it and he gave this illustration. And it's such a
good illustration, isn't it? Of two men building a house,
and one builds his house on the sand, and one builds his house
on this rock, this rock. And the winds come, And the floods
come. And what happens to the house
of the man who built it on the sand? It's washed away. The foundation is gone. But look
what he says in these two verses, 24 and 25. Therefore, whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken
him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the
floods came. As I said, just because you're
built on the rock doesn't mean you're going to escape the rains
and the floods, the winds, as you go through this world as
a child of God. The rain descended, the floods
came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it
fell not. For it was founded upon the rock,
a rock, this rock. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. Amen. Thank God for the rock. The Lord Jesus. David.