Isa
26:4 Trust ye in the LORD forever: for in the LORD
JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:
(The Lord Jehovah
is the Rock of Ages)
Deut 32:4 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. (KJV)
Introduction.
This is the foundational cord for that beautiful hymn “Rock
of Ages Cleft for me” which has remained one of
the most popular hymns in the Christian Church.
The picture of the rock is very familiar to all who read the
Bible. As we read through the Bible we find that rocks
and mountains are associated with very important incidents,
and with landmarks of Spiritual Truth.
1. On Mount Ararat
--- the new world began.
Gen 8: 4 And the ark rested
in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the
month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
2. On Mount Moriah---
Abraham’s Faith was perfected, when he was prepared to
offer Isaac unto God as a sacrifice.
3. On Mount Sinai---
The Law was given to Moses
4. On Mount Horeb
-- The Tabernacle was designed
5. On Mount Carmel---
The nation of Israel was called to make their choice as to
whom they would serve, the prophets of Baal, or their
Covenant God.
6. On Mount Hermon
---The Lord Jesus was transfigured.
7. On Mount Calvary---
He was crucified.
8. On Mount Olivet----
The Lord Ascended back to heaven.
Mountains with their Rocks have become favourite expressions
of sacred things.
Let us consider the Metaphor of the Rock, for this is one
that is repeated over and over again.
“The Lord
is our Rock”. He is -- “The Rock of our heart”
“The Rock of our Salvation” and the most sublime
of all, He is the blest Rock of Ages”.
This is the only passage
in the Bible, where we actually find this particular
phrase, which is so full of deep meaning. V4 (everlasting
strength) the rock of ages!
Jesus is our Rock of Ages— and we can sit down under the shadow of the Rock, and drink
from the crystal waters of His Bountiful supply.
1. Jesus is the
Rock who Flows
Isa 26:4---looks back at
some of the most instructive types of the Old Testament.
It recalls the “Rock Horeb”. This rock
would speak to us of ---
A. The Favour
of Christ our Saviour.
The Apostle Paul,
speaking to the New Testament Corinthian Church, writes
of their forefathers---
1 Cor 10:4 And
did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank
of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that
Rock was Christ.
Perishing of thirst,
the Israelites were led by Moses to the face of the
Rock Horeb. --- Then Moses, the lawgiver, lifted up
his Rod and smote the rock at God’s command.
Immediately it
burst open and from the cleft there poured forth a living
stream. The stream went running through the camp and
from the floods of water the thirsty souls did drink.
They drank and
drank again, and their children and their cattle drank
from this wonderful supply, until their thirst was fully
satisfied. And they praised God for His great deliverance
This incident points
us, with full Scriptural authority, to the Crucifixion
of our blessed Saviour. The Rod of God, the Lawgiver
and Judge of all men, smote Him.
He was smitten
as our sacrifice and as our substitute. From
His pierced side there flowed forth for us the water
of life, from which we can drink of His boundless mercies,
His forgiving love, and His renewing Grace.
The Lord’s
own words come to mind
John 7:37 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
John 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said,
out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Having drunk from
the living water, every believer can say with thanksgiving
and Praise.
Rock of Horeb Riven
for me;
By the Law’s avenging Rod
Flowing from Thy side I see
Streams of Water and Blood
And I wash my crimson soul
Whiter that wool or snow
While the cleansing Waters roll;
And the living fountains flow.
1.Jesus is the Rock who Flows.
A. The Favour of Christ
our Saviour
B. The Fullness of Christ our Saviour
The Rock of ages
also reminds us of the Rock in Kedesh! Which is again
a type of Christ; which highlights a fuller and perfect
Saviour. Forty years after the Rock of Horeb was smitten,
the camp of Israel came to Kadesh. Once again, the Thirsty
and the hungry Israelites were murmuring and complaining
instead of Praying.
Moses led them
to the Rock, but this time the command from God was
different, he was not to smite the rock as before. He
was simply to speak to the rock, for the promise had
been given that the water would immediately rush forth.
Yet in a moment of haste and of disobedience, Moses
exceeded his orders from the Lord, and he smote the
rock repeatedly with words of irritation.
Num 20:10 And Moses
and Aaron gathered the congregation together before
the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels;
must we fetch you water out of this rock?
Num 20:11 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 beasts
also.
Num 20:12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron,
Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes
of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring
this congregation into the land which I have given them.
(KJV)
God Honoured His
Promise! By sending the waters in abundance again, but
He was grieved with Moses for disobeying His specific
command, and for this offence, Moses was excluded from
the Promised Land. The waters, however, did flow and
the people drank abundantly, and the river continued
to flow through the desert.
There are two thought
by way of application.
1. How important
it is for the Believer to obey the commands of God.
What He says we must do without question. It’s
Trust and obey.
J. Robert Ashcroft
All heaven is waiting to
help those who will discover the will of God and do
it.
Charles Haddon
Spurgeon
Faith and obedience are
bound up in the same bundle. He that obeys God trusts
God; and he that trusts God, obeys God.
2. This is not the Rock of Horeb! This Rock is Kadesh!
Kadesh means “Righteousness”---or Holiness---This
Rock is a type of Christ, who sanctifies and Satisfies
His people.
Christ, the Rock of ages-- will never be smitten again! We
do not need to smite the Rock, or to crucify our Lord
again. He has made the one sacrifice for sin forever.
The Water of life is there! The Fountain of the Holy Spirit
has come! All that man needs to do is to look and live—To
take and to have what God in His wonderful Grace had
given.
When Believers drink from His Provision, they are filled with
the Spirit and are Truly Satisfied. All that Moses had
to do was to speak to the Rock, trust God, and the water
would gush forth to satisfy all.
Lord, shine in
me and so be in me
That all with whom I come in contact
May know your presence in my soul.
Let all see that I daily drink from the fountain of
life
Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus.
Rock of Kadesh flowing
still,
From the Saviour Glorified.
All my empty being fills; with Pentecostal tide.
1. Jesus is the
Rock who Flows
2. Jesus is the Rock who Follows
”The Rock
of Ages”--- takes us back to another beautiful
picture. The Apostle Paul, when writing of Israel, penned
these words.
1 Cor 10:4 And
did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank
of that spiritual Rock that followed them:
and that Rock was Christ.
This does not mean
that a Rock moved through the desert. It does mean,
that the river, which flowed from the Rock, accompanied
them through the desert and did not fail them.
The Rock of God’s
supply followed them, with its waters of life and waters
for cleansing through their desert pilgrimage.
The Psalmist tells
us of an occasion when they were in the desert and were
perishing for lack of water. They gathered a circle
upon the burning sands and with their staves they dug
a well in the sand. The Rock of ages did not fail them.
The waters sprang
up from the depths below and overflowed, just as it
did at Horeb and Kadesh. The Rock of living water was
with them. They lifted up their voices in songs of praise.
Psalm 107:35 He
turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry
ground into water springs.
Let us encourage
our hearts—Jesus is the Rock who follows—He
is the Blest Rock of Ages—who sends His living
fountain to His people, all along the way as we travel
the desert pilgrimage of this life’s journey.
Jesus is the Rock who follows, the One who has promise His
People
”I will never leave
you nor forsake you! “I will be with you always
even unto the end of the age”
The Apostle Paul
could say with confidence.
Phil 4:19 But my God shall
supply all your need according to his riches in glory
by Christ Jesus.
Yet, there are
times, as we travel through the desert of this wilderness,
we forget these tremendous promises, or perhaps we are
not making the effort, that is needful, to keep in touch
with the Rock of Ages!
The Result being—we
have lost our song and the joy of our salvation in the
barren desert of this world. We moan-
Where is the Blessedness
I knew?
When first I met the Lord.
Where is the soul’s the refreshing view of Jesus
in His Word?
Friend, if this
is how you are feeling then lift up the trowel of your
Faith and do some digging, and soon you will lift up
your heart with Praise unto God.
Then you will find
that, even in the hottest desert of life’s experience,
the waters of blessing will spring forth in abundance.
Jesus, the Rock who follows, will meet you at the point
of your need.
Following Rock,
from day to day
Sending forth on every hand
Rivers all along the way;
Underneath the desert sand
Open deep the living well,
Where Thy hidden fountains flow
Ever near Thee; let me dwell;
As I through the desert go.
2. Jesus is the Rock who Follows
The Faithfulness of
Christ our Saviour
3. Jesus is the
Rock who Fortifies
Ps 61:2-3 From the end
of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is
overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than
I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong
tower from the enemy.
The Prophet Isaiah—speaks
of “The shadow of a great rock in a weary land”.
Someone has rightly
said, “a small rock only reflects on us the heat
that it has absorbed!
But a great Rock
will drink in the rays of the sun on one side, and on
the other side it casts a cooling shadow for the weary
travel”
Jesus is the Great
Rock who casts the shadow to comfort. Every passing moment He is
occupied with the care of His People. One who is ever
touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He is
ever ready, to hear our call. In the Heat of the Battle,
when the enemy comes in like a flood He says—
“My child, Shelter in Me”.
1. In the hour
of Sorrow and distress! He
says, “Hide in me and I will comfort you”
2. In the hour of fear.
He says “Run to Me the Rock for your safe refuge”---
3. In the hour of death.
He says- “My Rod and my Staff will comfort you—You
will not be crossing Jordan alone”.
Everyone, who has experienced His Saving Grace, can say with
confidence and with comforting assurance
Hiding in Thee!
Hiding in Thee! Thou Blest Rock of Ages I am hiding
in Thee
Oh the perfect
security the child of God enjoys because they have put
their trust in the one who is the Rock of Ages.
Shadowing Rock
in weary Lands
Let me rest beneath Thy Shade
Travelling Over the burning sands
Shelter my defenceless Head
Vance Havner,
--In --Jesus we all have; He is all we need and all we want.
We are shipwrecked on God and stranded on omnipotence.
3.Jesus is the
Rock who Fortifies
4.Jesus is the Rock who is Foundational
The Rock of Ages—
is the Foundation Rock. This is the place on which we must
build.
Acts 4:12 Neither
is there salvation in any other: for there is none other
name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved.
The Rock of ages
is the resting place of Faith and Hope. It is on the
Rock the “Man of Calvary” that Trust finds
its full assurance and leans firmly on the Promises
of God.
John 36:6 “Whosoever
believes on the Son has eternal life”
This is where man’s
struggle with self and sin is soon removed, when he
places all his weight on this great Promise, and puts
His faith and rest his all on the blest “Rock of
Ages.
This is where the
Soul must cast it’s anchor, and all its cables
of affection, Hope, and eternal destiny, on the Rock
of ages.
Rock of Ages, cleft
for me,
Let me hide myself in thee
Let the water and the Blood
From Thy riven side which flowed
Be of sin the double cure
Cleanse me from its guilt and power
The Apostle Paul could say with great confidence---
”I am not ashamed:
for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that
he is able to keep that which I have committed unto
him against that day”
In these days of
great uncertainty and moral and spiritual decline—men
and women need to say every day “Lead me to
the Rock” Lead me to the Rock that is higher than
I”
In times like these
you need a Saviour,
In times like these you need an Anchor—
Be very sure! Be very sure
Your Anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock
How can we know
that we are eternally Secure?
John 10:28 And I give
unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
John 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is
greater than all; and no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father’s hand.
The wise man built
his house on the Rock. The Apostle Paul, who loved and
cared for the Church of Christ said---
11 For other foundation
can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Friends, on
what foundation are you building?
The Rock of Ages is --- A Tested
Stone! A Precious Stone! A Corner Stone! He is a Sure
Foundation…and the person, who trusts in
Him, will never be ashamed as they will Prove Him to
be faithful.
Isa 26:3 “Thou
wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind
is stayed on thee: because he trusteth
in thee.”
Isa 26:4 “Trust ye in the LORD forever: for in
the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:”
THE ROCK OF AGES.
”We must
ever build on Him alone”
The Mountains will
depart one day the hills will be removed, but the Rock
of ages will stand forever sure. The Greatest buildings
will one day crumble into dust! The Oldest institutions
will vanish!
But the Rock
of Ages will remain unshaken and immovable.
1 Jesus is the
Rock who Flows
2. Jesus is the Rock who Follows
3. Jesus is the Rock who Fortifies
4. Jesus is the Rock who is Foundational
Rock of Ages—Fixed
and Sure
Be My Faith’s Foundation Stone
Hopes we build on Thee endure
Stable as Thy steadfast Throne
When my heart on Thee is Stayed
Winds may howl—and torrents pour
I shall never be afraid
For I am Safe for ever more
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