Thou Shalt Stand Upon the Rock is a sermon teaching us that we can stand on the rock that is God, trust in the rock, and rest upon Him as our Savior.

Key verses:
Exodus 33:1-22

 

I ask you to take your Bible and turn with me, if you will to the Book of Exodus 33. We are going to be looking at the entire chapter, but to begin with, I just want us to look at one verse, that would be verse 21. We’ll read that and pray but keep your Bible open. We’ll be back again looking, Lord willing, at the entire chapter.

Exodus 33:21: “And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:”

The Lord said, “there is a place by me,” – There’s a place where you can get near to me. There’s a place where you can get close to me “and thou shalt stand upon a rock.”

Human beings have inside of themselves the knowledge that there is something, someone greater than themselves. It’s inborn; it’s natural to us. There is more to our existence. We know that than just being born, living for a little while, and ceasing to exist. Some people say that. They say when this life is over, there’s nothing. You just turn into nothing.

I cannot comprehend that any reasonable person would hold to that idea that this life is all there is and there’s nothing afterward. If that’s true and that philosophy works for you, and I’ve said this many times if you have a pretty good life but what if you don’t? What if you have a life of hardship, trouble, disease, and all sorts of horrible situations? Cheer up. This is all there is! It’s never going to get any better. How hopeless is that? Utterly hopeless.

No, there’s more to life than that and inside us, we know that. We have a hope that there is some sort of reunion beyond the grave where we are going to see those we’ve loved on earth before. We’re going to see them again.

The God-Shaped Vacuum

According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Blaise Pascal was a French philosopher, mathematician, scientist, inventor, and theologian. In mathematics, he was an early pioneer in the field of game theory and probability theory. In philosophy, he was an early pioneer of existentialism. As a writer on theology and religion, he was a defender of Christianity.

Pascal wrote in the French language, I cannot read it to you in French, so I will read you an English translation. Much of his work has been translated into English. One of his most famous works is called “Pensées,” I hope I’m saying that correctly. He wrote:

“What else does this craving and this helplessness proclaim, but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is an empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in all things that are not there, the help he cannot find in those things that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.”

Pascal has often been paraphrased, that’s his actual statement as translated into English. But he has often been paraphrased as saying this, and this is the gist of it, “Inside every human being there is a God-shaped vacuum that only God can fill.”

We are designed to know God. We are designed to seek God. We’re designed to have a relationship with God. We need to know Him, we need to know His grace, and we need to know His forgiveness. And in order to do that, we need to trust Jesus Christ to save our souls.

Sin separates us from God. Isaiah 53 says that your sins have separated between you and your God. Christ died for our sins. He paid the penalty for our sins. He was buried and rose again on the third day. He says if we put our faith and trust in Him, He will forgive our sins, he will save our souls, and He will give us everlasting life.

As far as filling that void, Jesus alone can do that. In Matthew 5:6, Jesus says:

Matthew 5:6: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”

That is a promise. If you truly want to know the Lord, if you truly want to know His righteousness, you can.

John 6:47: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

John 6:48: “I am that bread of life.”

John 6:49: “Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.”

John 6:50: “This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.”

Luke 6:47: “Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:”

Luke 6:48: “He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.”

Luke 6:49: “But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.”

Paul wrote:

1 Corinthians 3:11 “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

The confidence that you need to get through every day just to make it every day, to get up out of bed and go to school or go to work or do the things you have to do, the confidence you need every day, the comfort you need to get you through hours of grief and mourning, the hope you need in order to get that blessed assurance that this life is not all that there is and that there is a place called Heaven where you can live eternally – all of this comes from knowing that your faith, your hope, your life is founded upon a rock. Now, what rock is that? In 1 Corinthians 10:3-4, the Apostle Paul answered that for us, he said:

1 Corinthians 10:3: “And did all eat the same spiritual meat;”

1 Corinthians 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.”

We sang, if you noticed this morning, all of the songs we sang, the congregational songs, the special, all talk about the Lord being our rock. And He is. He is the one foundation. There are songs we didn’t sing. We didn’t have time to sing all of them. The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ our Lord. There’s a children’s song we sing sometimes, “Jesus is the rock of my salvation. His banner over me is love.”

Ignoring God and His Word

But I want us to look at Exodus chapter 33. There is a very special experience described here. Yes, this is something that happened thousands of years ago on the other side of the world. But I’m going to tell you that the kind of experience we’re going to read about here, if it isn’t already, can be yours. Maybe it is, but you have not fully realized all that you have because you are founded on the rock which is Christ.

The story takes place during the time when Moses was leading the people of Israel through the wilderness. This is early in the journey. In verse one, it says:

Exodus 33:1: “And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it:”

Exodus 33:2: “And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:”

Exodus 33:3: “Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.”

Exodus 33:4: “And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments.”

Exodus 33:5: “For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.”

You may be asking what in the world is all this about? Let me summarize it for you. The Lord rebuked the people because they wanted to ignore Him and His Word. Very much like now, what American people are doing today. They want to ignore the Lord and His Word. And so, Psalm 33:12 says:

Psalm 33:12: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.”

But the Lord is not our God if we have chosen some other god or if we, as in Psalm 14, say, “There is no God.” Psalm 14:1 actually says, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.”

But too often, we are like the people who need God when they are in trouble, when they are going through a storm, when they are going through difficult times, when they are going through hard times, they need God. But when the sun shines, and the road smooths out, “It’s okay. We can make it on our own. We don’t need God anymore.”

Let me offer you some evidence of that. Some of you sitting here this morning aren’t old enough to remember this, but some of you are. Just over 20 years ago, we had a major attack, the largest attack ever made on the United States of America. Almost 3,000 people died in one day.

Right after that, there was a national revival. You were seeing flags all over the place. People were putting them on cars and carrying them. But more than that, people were going to church who hadn’t been going to church. They even called, the President of the United States called, a national prayer meeting in the National Cathedral. How many of you knew we had a National Cathedral? A few of you. Most people do not even know that there is such a thing, but there is. I’ve seen it, but I have not been at a service in it, but I have seen it. But that didn’t last long.

You know what? For a few moments there, we needed God. For a few moments there, we were calling out to God. For a few moments there, our country began to realize that we were not sufficient in and among ourselves and called upon God. but it didn’t last. It wasn’t very long at all before we decided, “No, we’re okay. We can handle it. We got this.”

And so often, I’ve seen people just like that. I could tell you about it – it’s usually men who do this. I don’t say a woman couldn’t do it. I’m sure they are capable of it. But men, a lot of times when they’re in trouble, you’ll see them in church. They will be coming around, “Pastor, will you pray with me.” But when the trouble is gone, so are they. You don’t see them anymore. Why? They don’t need God anymore. They need God when they are in trouble. When things are going good, nope, they can handle it.

So, that’s where the people were in verses one to six. And because of that, the Lord said to him [paraphrasing], “Alright, you are going into the promised land, but I’m not going to go with you.” And the reason he said, “I’m not going with you, you are too stiffnecked, you’re too corrupted. And if I go with you, I’ll destroy you. So, I’m not going to destroy you. You’re going to go into the promised land just like I told you, but I’m not going to go with you.”

What if God said to us, “You know, I’ve blessed this country”? And He has. We won’t go into detail on that, but we can, and we’ll do it another time, Lord willing. But what if He said, “Okay if you don’t need me, I’ll let you go on without me.”

Our national motto is “In God We Trust.” But do we really? I think a lot of people’s motto is, “In Self, I Trust.”

Those Who Sought the Lord

Look at verse seven:

Exodus 33:7: “And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.”

“And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp,” – why did he do that? If you know your Bible well, then the tabernacle is built in the middle of the camp of Israel. The twelve tribes of Israel were encamped all around it, and every man’s tent faced the tabernacle. So, they encircled it, and the tabernacle was the very center of everything in the life of the people of Israel. And Moses takes the tabernacle and takes it out of the camp and builds it far off and away from the camp.

Why did he do that? He was showing people physically what God had just said spiritually that the Lord said [paraphrasing], “Alright, you don’t need me. You don’t want me to be the center of your life. You don’t want me to be all that you look to and all that you trust in? I’ll go outside. You can make it on your own.” So, again verse seven:

Exodus 33:7: “And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.”

So, not everybody went, but those who sought the Lord, those who hungered and thirsted after righteousness, and those who wanted to know God, they went out there where the tabernacle was, and they sought God. Verse eight:

Exodus 33:8: “And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle.”

Some of the people went to the tabernacle, but the rest of the people, they stayed home. They watched, wondering what was going to happen. There goes Moses. He’s going to the tabernacle. What’s going to happen next? Spectators.

The Tabernacle Outside the Camp

Verse nine:

Exodus 33:9: “And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses.”

We talked a little bit about this in our Sunday School class this morning. Let me talk to you a little more about it. As the tabernacle was set up there was a cloth wall that surrounded it. The area inside that wall, there’s only one door, one entrance inside that wall, and the area inside there was called the outer court. What was in the outer court was an altar of sacrifice and a laver of cleansing where the priests after they made a sacrifice would wash themselves and then they could enter the holy place.

Inside the holy place, there was a smaller tent structure called the holy place, the first section. The second section was called the holy of holies. In the first section, you entered through a veil and went in there. As you enter the holy place, on your right would be a small rectangular table over here, and on it would be shewbread, bread that was baked every day and put there as an offering to the Lord. On the left would be the seven-branched candle stand called the menorah. That was the light you would have inside there. I say you’d have only the priests could go in there. Just past the menorah on this side was an altar of incense where the priests would offer incense on that altar.

Then there was another veil. That veil separated the holy place from the holy of holies. The first veil separates the holy place from the outer court. Who could go into the outer court? Anybody could go into the outer court. Who could go into the holy place? Only the priests.

But that second veil that separated off the holy of holies. Inside the holy of holies, there was the ark of the covenant, a wooden box that had been covered in gold. Inside that box were the original stone tablets that God had Moses write. There was a pot in there that contained manna, a sample of it that God fed the people of Israel. There was Aaron’s rod that was in there. God allowed that rod to bud, no root, no water, but allowed it to bud to show that God’s authority was in Aaron and Moses. That was in that box.

On top of that box is a flat piece called the mercy seat. Coming out of the mercy seat, two cherubim, think angels, and their wings would come up like this [demonstrating hands held above the head nearly touching], and in between those two cherubim would be the pillar of cloud in the day and a pillar of fire by night. The glory of God was there. And there was a chimney above that, and the cloud and the pillar of fire would go up out of the chimney. The people of Israel could look at the tabernacle, and they did not see God, but they saw that God was there. They knew His presence was there. They could see it.

All of that is what Moses moved outside the camp. Those who wanted to follow the Lord went outside to the tabernacle. The rest of them stayed home and looked to see what was happening like watching a news story on television.

Speaking as a Friend

Then in verse 10:

Exodus 33:10: “And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door.”

Not in its normal place in the holy of holies, but the glory of God came and stood at the tabernacle door. “And all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door.” Watch verse 11:

Exodus 33:11: “And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

“And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.” Isn’t that something? Moses is standing there. God meets him at the door, and He talks to him, “as a man speaketh unto his friend.”

“But his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.” What’s going on here? I’ll tell you what’s going on here. The Lord desires to speak to His people. He desires to speak to you “as a man speaketh to a friend.” In John 14:15, the Lord says:

John 14:15: “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.”

He wants to speak to you as a man speaks to a friend. We sing the hymn; I think we sang it last Sunday, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to Him in prayer. Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.” He wants to talk to us as a man talks to his friend. He talked to Moses that way. In verse 12, you see the relationship between the Lord and those who trust Him.

Exodus 33:12: “And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.”

Exodus 33:13: “Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.”

Exodus 33:14: “And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.”

Exodus 33:15: “And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.”

Exodus 33:16: “For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.”

Exodus 33:17: “And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.”

That was Moses and the Lord. But here’s what I’m trying to show you this morning, that can be you and the Lord. You have the same God that Moses had. Remember we read a little bit earlier that Joshua stayed in the tabernacle? Well, you have the same God that Joshua had. He’s not changed. He’s not different. In Malachi, He says, “I am the Lord, I change not.” We read in the New Testament, “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Theologians call that the immutability of God. To put it in plain English, it means God does not change. He is always the same.

So, you have the same God that Moses had. God wants to speak to you as He spoke to Moses, as a man speaks to a friend. He knows you by name. He knows your name. He knows who you are. “The Lord knows who I am. I don’t know why He would like me. Certainly, don’t know why He would love me.” The amazing thing is He does.

John Newton wrote that “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.” All that He has is yours when you place your faith and trust in Him. Like Moses, we need to ask Him to show us the way He’d have us go. And He has promised to go with us. We just need to rest in His promise.

Moses said to the Lord, “Lord if you are not going with me, I don’t want to go. Moses had it right. I don’t want to go through life without Him. I don’t want to go through life alone. I’ll tell you what, I had years of that before I came to know the Lord. I don’t want to go back to that. Not interested.

If we are the people of God, if He is indeed present with us, then we must be separated from the world, separated to Him. Why is that? I’ll explain it to you very simply. I’m sure everybody here already knows this, but that direction is east. The sun comes up over there every morning. And if you go not very far, maybe two miles straight that way, you are going to go to the ocean. That way is west. That’s the Everglades out there.

People who haven’t lived here for long, I don’t think that’s anybody here, I think you’ve been here for a while and have it all figured out. But people come here from other areas. I tell you what, I go to some places in town, and I get lost all the time. Those streets are hard to figure out. First of all, they name their streets. They don’t number them, so there is no order to them. It just gets confusing. Oh, use GPS. Yeah, that doesn’t help. But the fact of the matter is, it’s simple around here. You know that, right? I mean, it’s easy. The ocean is east, the Everglades are west, and everything else is north and south. That’s all there is to it, guys. You figure it out; it’s simple.

But let’s suppose that the east, for our illustration purposes, represents going to Heaven. And west, and I’m not against the west at all, but let’s let that represent Hell. You know what? That’s where the world’s going. They’re going that way [pointing west]. And God says, I want you to come out of that and come to me and follow me, and we’re going this way [pointing east]. And that’s why we’re separate from the world. That’s why we need to be different because we are going in a different direction. We’re going the Lord’s way instead of going our own way. We’re going the Lord’s way instead of going the world’s way. Now, we are in the world, but we are not to be of the world. You’ll find that in John chapter 17.

Show Me Thy Glory

But then, the Lord promised to answer Moses’ prayer. Another reason we need to be separate from the world is that they need to see a difference in us. And they need to know who it is who makes that difference. So, the Lord answers Moses’ prayer because Moses did find grace in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord does know his name. In Luke 10:20, Jesus says to His disciples:

Luke 10:20: “Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.”

“Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you.” They were, you know, under the disciples. Don’t rejoice in that, “but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” That’s what you should rejoice over. The Lord God has saved you. The Lord God has forgiven your sin. And your name is written down in Heaven.

There’s an old Gospel song that says, “There’s a new name in Heaven and it’s mine. Praise God, it’s mine. So, rejoice in that.

Let’s look at verse 18:

Exodus 33:18: “And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.”

Do you know what Moses is saying? He’s saying, “I want to see God. I want to see God.” Haven’t you ever wanted to see God? Haven’t you ever had that desire? You hear people talk about it. I kind of like reading stories about time travel, that kind of thing. I don’t think it is possible, I don’t think you can do it, but it makes an interesting story. If I could time travel, you know where I’d want to go? I’d like to go back to the time when Jesus was here. I’d like to go back to Jerusalem when He was here and all of Israel when He was here. And just see Him and watch Him and listen to Him. You know what? Can’t do that. What I can do is go forward. What I can do is see Him in eternity.

So, Moses asked to see God. Listen to this exchange between Philip and the Lord Jesus:

John 14: 7: “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.”

Do you know what Jesus said? Do you want to know the Father? You know me. You’ve seen Him.

John 14: 8: “Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.”

Philip says [paraphrasing], “I want to see Him. I want to see the Father. I want to see God.” That’s what Philip is saying.

John 14: 9: “Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?”

Let me read that to you again, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?”

God’s Promise

And then, in verse 19:

Exodus 33:19: “And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.”

Did you hear what the Lord promised to Moses? He said [paraphrasing], “I will make all my goodness pass before you. I’m going to proclaim my name before you, the name of the Lord.” What is so significant about that?

Do you know that today, nobody knows how to pronounce that name? We say Jehovah, and we say Yahweh, but it is only a guess for two reasons. Number one, in Hebrew, the name is only written with consonants or no vowels. So, we insert the “e,” the “o,” and the “a” that we think belong there. The other reason is that name was considered by the writers of scriptures so holy that they never spoke it. They only wrote it. It hadn’t been spoken in thousands of years. Do you know what happened to Moses? The Lord proclaimed His name in front of him. Moses heard that name that none of us had ever heard.

If you read Revelation 19, it says that the Lord Jesus has a name that no man knew. Here it is. Here is what we do know about that name. We know that it means Jehovah is our Savior or Jehovah is our Savior. In other words, the LORD, in all capital letters, and Jesus are the same.

He said, “I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.”

Now look at verse 20:

Exodus 33:20: “And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.”

Why is that? Because God is holy. And sinful man coming into the presence of a holy God is overwhelmed by His holiness. Isaiah says, “I saw the Lord high and lifted up.” And then he said, “Woe is me, judgment is upon me for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell amongst a people of unclean lips.” Listen to John 1:18, John says:

John 1:18: “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”

They haven’t seen the Father, but they’ve seen Jesus.

Philippians 2:6: “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:”

Who thought it would not be robbery to be equal with God? Jesus Christ.

In Colossians 1:15, Paul speaks:

Colossians 1:15: “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:”

Did you get that? The invisible God. The invisible God was seen as “the image of the invisible God.” Want to know what God looks like? Looks like Jesus.

Hebrews 1:1: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,”

Hebrews 1:2: “Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”

Don’t miss this:

Hebrews 1:3: “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;”

Again, what does God look like? He looks like Jesus.

The Rock of My Salvation

Verse 21 that’s the verse we started with earlier:

Exodus 33:21: “And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:”

The Lord said [paraphrasing], “There is a place by me. There’s a place where you can get close to me. There is a place where I will meet you.” And “Thou shalt stand upon a rock.” Again, the New Testament says, “Draw nigh to God, He will draw nigh to you,” James wrote that.

“Thou shalt stand upon a rock” – remember 1 Corinthians 10:4. We talked about it a minute ago. That rock was Christ. So, the Lord is a rock. Don’t miss that, don’t lose that thought, “the Lord is a rock.” Let me give you some evidence of that. David sang:

2 Samuel 22:32: “For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God?”

Again, in Psalm 18:31, David says:

Psalm 18:31: “For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?”

Psalm 27:5: “For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.”

The Lord is a rock. But I want you to understand something else. The Lord is not just a rock. The Lord is THE rock. Listen to this:

Exodus 17:6: “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.”

Not just any rock, “thou shalt smite the rock.”

Deuteronomy 32:15 speaks of “the Rock of his salvation.”

Deuteronomy 32:18: “Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.”

2 Samuel 22:47: “The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation.”

Psalm 62:6: “He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.”

Psalm 62:7: “In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.”

He is THE rock.

Psalm 89:26: “He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.”

Psalm 94:22:” But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.”

Psalm 95:1: “O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.”

I want you to understand the Lord is a rock. I want you to understand the Lord is THE rock. But I want you to understand that the Lord is our rock. Your rock, our rock.

Deuteronomy 32:31: “For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.”

What does that mean? Even our enemies know their rock is not the same as ours. That which they place their faith and trust in is not the same as Him in whom we place our faith and trust. Not the same.

1 Samuel 2:2: “There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.”

So, the Lord is a rock, He is the rock, and He is our rock for all those who believe in Him and trust in Him. Peter explains it this way:

1 Peter 2:6: “Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.”

1 Peter 2:7: “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,”

1 Peter 2:8: “And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.”

Paul said:

1 Corinthians 3:11 “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

Are you on the rock this morning? Are you resting upon the rock? Are you standing upon the rock? The Lord said to Moses, “There is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock.” Is your life founded upon Him? Is your life built upon Him, built upon the Lord Jesus Christ? All that begins when you begin to know Him. All that begins when you trust Him. When you trust in the fact that He paid for your sins at the cross. He was buried and rose again on the third day, and you trust Him, your living Savior, to forgive your sins, to give you eternal life. That’s the beginning. From that point forward, you build your life upon that foundation – He who is a rock, the rock, and our rock.

Has He forgiven your sins today? Has He saved your soul? If so, rest in Him. If not, trust Him today. We sang it a while ago, “Rock of ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee; let the water and the blood, from thy wounded side which flowed, be of sin the double cure; save wrath and make me pure.”

Look at verse 22, and we’ll finish:

Exodus 33:22: “And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:”

Exodus 33:23: “And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.”

Do you know what the Lord is saying there? “I’m going to take care of you. If you want to see me, stand on the rock, stand close by. I’m going to let you see part of my glory. I’m going to cover you because you will not be overcome by my holiness. I’m going to secure you inside the rock, and I will pass by, and you will see my glory.” Moses did that.

That’s what the special song was about today. Fanny Crosby wrote that song over 100 years ago. “A wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Lord. A wonderful Savior is He. He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock.” Isn’t that what it says here?

Exodus 33:22: “And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:”

If your life is built upon a rock, the rock, our rock which is Christ, then “thou shalt stand upon a rock” has spoken to you. You can stand, and you can be secure. Stand on His Word, stand on His presence, stand in your faith in your rock. Trust in the rock. Rest upon Him. He is your Savior.

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Let us pray. Our heavenly Father, thank you so much for blessing us. Thank you that we have the opportunity to call you heavenly Father. Thank you for the rock that is Christ Jesus, who loved us and gave himself for us. Now, Lord, it is my earnest prayer that there is a soul listening today and one who might be listening later who does not know you as their Savior. They want to know you. They seek to know you. Let that person realize that God so loved the world, that’s the people in the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that’s Jesus Christ, that whosoever, anybody on the planet, believes in Him that he should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not His son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.

Lord, it is my prayer that if such a person is listening today that they would open their heart and say, “Jesus, I believe. I believe that you love me. I believe that you paid for my sins on the cross. And right here, right now, this Sunday morning, November 13^th, 2022, I’m trusting you. Trusting you to forgive my sins paid for at the cross. Save me, save my soul and give me a home eternal in Heaven. Thank you, Lord Jesus.”

Maybe you prayed that prayer, and maybe you didn’t. You may say, “It sounded good to me, but I don’t understand it.” We are here to help you. We’ll be glad to take the Bible, the Word of God, and show you what it has to say about how you can know that your soul is saved, your sins are forgiven, and you have a home in Heaven. And then, you are founded upon the rock safely and securely forever.

Father, we come now to an invitation time. It is my prayer that if anyone here hasn’t trusted you, they will come to the front now at this time while we sing the song. Let us meet them there. Let us show them from the Bible how to be saved and know it.

Lord, there may be other people here who know you as their Savior, who have trusted you. They need prayer, or they made another decision, or they need to make a decision. Holy Spirit of God, work in our midst. Bring those who need to come. Bring those who should come. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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