“THERE SHALT THOU STAND ON THE ROCK”
There is a certain fragility and trepidation, a timidity about humanity today. Political regimes totter and economic structures crash. Horrific crimes are committed. Men seek a remedy, they seek some sense of stability, and God has an answer to it: the Rock of Ages:
‘On Christ, the solid Rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,’1
And:
‘Jesus, my heart’s dear Refuge,
Jesus has died for me;
Firm on the Rock of Ages
Ever my trust shall be.’2
How very wonderful, that there is a place for you beside Jesus today. God, in His grace, is extending that offer to every man and woman, boy and girl, in this room and indeed in this world, for the grace of God carries with it salvation for all men (Titus 2:11), without exception. He said, “Behold, there is a place by me: there shalt thou stand on the rock”.
In John 19, it says that there were two malefactors beside the Lord Jesus when He was crucified, “one on this side, and one on that, and Jesus in the middle” (v.18). They both had the opportunity to take their place eternally beside the Lord Jesus. One did not do so, indeed he insulted the Lord Jesus. Perhaps that malefactor was a Jew. Scripture speaks of Jeshurun, the upright people, and it says “Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked”, Deut.32:15. You might say he rebelled against the Jewish law and all its requirements, in which he had no doubt been instructed in his early years. He “kicked … And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation”. Maybe he was rebellious and disobedient like you and me. Even in his position of utter hopelessness, he despised the opportunity to secure his eternal blessing with the Saviour of sinners.
But the other, recognising his awful plight, and the excellence of the One who was before him, the only Man who had done nothing amiss, says “Remember me, Lord”, Luke 23:42. Was he rejected in his hour of greatest need? Ah no! “To-day”, was the reply, “To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (v.43). He had found a place beside Jesus and he was standing firm upon the Rock. There was a place for him beside Jesus, not only for these excruciating hours of his sufferings on the cross, but for all eternity. That conversation would be heard in heaven. God Himself would hear these words: “To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise”. And what did God do? He laid that malefactor’s sins upon the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And what did the Lord Jesus do? He bore these sins in His body on the tree. He will do the same for you, friend. He has done it for me. He bore my sins, every one of them. “Jehovah hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all” (Isa.53:6): wonderful Saviour that He is.
The scripture says “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock on Horeb; and thou shalt strike the rock”, Exod. 17:6. God smote Jesus at Calvary and He was witness of His sufferings:
‘Stricken, smitten and afflicted’ (Hymn 378)
God’s beloved Son bore that dreadful, excruciating stroke from God Himself. The sword of divine judgment fell upon Him, “he was wounded for our transgressions…bruised for our iniquities”, Isa.53:5. Divine wounds these were! He bore them as no other man ever could. He endured too the hatred and insults of men. What grace that was! As the jeers and taunts fell on His ears, He “made intercession for the transgressors”, Isa.53.12. From these precious lips as He suffered, there flowed the words “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”, Luke 23:34. He made intercession for that malefactor at Calvary in his extremity, and the consequence is that he will be for ever with Christ. The other malefactor, well, what can be said of his fate? A Christless eternity, perhaps. Why? Because he rejected the opportunity to stand upon the Rock: he “lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation”, Deut.32:15.
That Rock is referred to in Isaiah 26:4 as “the rock of ages”. Hymn 396 says the rock was ‘cleft for me’. Christ bore the awful judgment of God against sin and He exhausted that judgment. But then too, His soul was made “an offering for sin”, Isa.53:10. Our souls bow in wonderment and adoration that the soul of Jesus should be made an offering for sin. Nothing less would suffice for our eternal salvation to be secured. The redemption of their soul indeed is costly (Psalm 49:8).
In these three hours of forsaking, atonement for our sins was made eternally by the Lord Jesus Christ as He bore the wrath of God, which should have fallen on you and me. The fruit of generations and centuries of sin was all dealt with during these three hours at Calvary. What unmitigated sufferings Jesus bore! He could cry “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”, Mark 15:34. God had to forsake the One whom He loved on our account: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him may not perish, but have life eternal”, John 3:16. And He gave up that One, so precious to Him, because there could be no other remedy. He alone could bear the guilt and the judgment of your sins and mine, in order that we could come into eternal blessing.
The words, “Behold, there is a place by me: there shalt thou stand on the rock” ring out tonight as clearly as they did when they were first uttered. That rock can never be eroded. There was a man in Matthew’s gospel (7:26,27) who built his house upon the sand. Men build these structures that seem so attractive and so sturdy. Then a crisis comes along and down they tumble. That man built his house upon the sand, and “the rain came down, and the streams came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell, and its fall was great”. That is the sad outcome of the aspirations of this poor world.
In contrast, what God sets up is permanent: “there shalt thou stand on the rock”. What a wonderful assurance that gives, an anchor for the soul that is both secure and firm (Heb.6:19). If you have your foundation on this Rock, you have the full assurance of an eternity of bliss into which death, sorrow and disease can never enter; all is secure in the work of Jesus at Calvary. How God feels the effects of sin on His creature. Man had been created in His image, but had fallen, taken in by the subtle wiles of the serpent, and down through the generations following, man after man, guilty sinners all, increased the weight of sins for which Jesus bore the penalty at Calvary, and Jesus bore them one by one. Think of the burden on the soul of the blessed Saviour, as God laid on Him the “the iniquity of us all”- the sins of every repenting sinner.
It defies human comprehension, that there was a Man so glorious, so perfect, a divine Person of course, yet as Man capable of bearing our sins in His body. How Jesus felt that at Calvary, during these three hours of forsaking. But then that triumphant cry: “It is finished”, John 19:30. Everything was done and fully accomplished as God would have it done. Then He delivers up His spirit to His Father. He laid down His life. There follows one further demonstration of surpassing grace. A soldier pierced His side. What next? If the side of a dead person was pierced, no blood would flow, but from the side of the blessed Redeemer “there came out blood and water”, John 19:34. Blood for our eternal redemption, every sin washed away, by which He Himself has gone in to these heavenly places above; and blood which entitles you and me to enter the realms of glory, on the same basis as He has entered. Can you say it, young person, or older person too, that the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed you from every sin, and that you stand as justified before a righteous, sin-hating God, without anyone able to point a finger at you? Because the blood of Jesus is sufficient to cleanse you, and to justify you: “being justified freely by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus”, Rom.3:24. How wonderful the work is, how very accessible it is: the Rock is available for you today.
Flee to the Rock of Ages today! The opportunity exists, but it will not always be available because the day is coming when the glad tidings will cease to be preached. All will be finished then, the dispensation of grace will be rolled up and judgment unequalled in this world’s history will be pronounced on this poor, benighted scene. But the glory of the present day is that the radiancy of the glad tidings is shining for you and for me. How brilliantly and gloriously the gospel enlightens the sin-darkened soul and raises us up in the enjoyment of a life which can never be equalled. It is wonderful that the precious blood of Jesus has been shed - “in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of offences” (Eph.1:7) - but in addition to that, we are assured that as believers we are justified, because of the One “who has been delivered for our offences and has been raised for our justification”, Rom.4:25. He was “in the heart of the earth three days and three nights”, Matt.12:40. He could not have gone down deeper, He went to the lowest point, “the heart of the earth”, you could not go further than that. And Jesus, the precious Saviour, the Lord of life and glory, the Originator of life, was three days and three nights in that deepest point. Then He was raised by the glory of the Father (Rom. 6:4), and after forty days taken up into heaven, a glorious Man. Scripture speaks about Him being “carried up into heaven” (Luke 24:51); it was heaven’s delight to receive such a blessed Person.
A further great blessing of the gospel is that you, being formerly so far from God, are reconciled to Him by the work of Jesus. The scripture says, “Him who knew not sin he has made sin for us, that we might become God’s righteousness in him”, 2 Cor.5:21. Think of it, that we guilty sinners might become God’s righteousness in Christ Himself - so glorious, extensive, and all-sufficient is His work. And it is available for you tonight: “There is a place by me”. The word sounds out, there is a place for you and a place for me: “thou shalt stand on the rock”. Your eternal salvation is affirmed and assured: nothing can alter that.
Then too, the Holy Spirit is given to invigorate you and to give you a power able to withstand the wiles and attacks of the enemy of your soul. Moses struck the rock, and water came out: that refers in type to the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is wonderful to think of the Holy Spirit coming on the basis of the sufferings of Jesus. God stood upon the rock, He witnessed the sufferings of the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit has come to be with believers.
The Lord Jesus continues to be with us, He is “the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land”, Isa.32:2. Are you aiming for satisfaction? Do you need some object for your desires and aspirations, your hopes? Come under the benign shadow of the Lord Jesus! We had that reference this morning, “In his shadow have I rapture and sit down; And his fruit is sweet to my taste”, Song of Songs 2:3. How sweet companionship with Jesus is, His grace coming into your heart, His love flooding your affections; and He is “the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.”
There is a wonderful scripture too in 1 Corinthians 10:4, the “rock which followed them: now the rock was the Christ”. What a touch of grace that is. In Israel’s journey, there were the stragglers, but the “rock which followed them” brought up the rear guard, you might say. If you are in despair, look behind you and there is a Rock that is following you, you have recourse to the all-sufficient Jesus. Yesterday, today, eternally the Same! He is a wonderful Saviour, the Rock of our salvation. The invitation is there, “there is a place by me: there shalt thou stand on the rock”. If you take that place on the rock, you will never regret it. May it be the portion of every one today, for His name’s sake.
Preaching of the Word of God, Grangemouth
7 May 2023
Jim T Brown
Edited and published monthly by Alistair Brown and Paul Martin
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