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[0:00] the name of Christ in the Old Testament that I want to look at for a little time before our session of prayer is the lovely name found in several places the rock our God is pleased to be known as the rock, the rock of Israel the rock of our salvation when you think of great rocks you think of strength you think of duration and God is pleased to be known in the revelation that he has made of himself to us as the rock and we find in

[1:00] Deuteronomy chapter thirty two that title for God Deuteronomy thirty two verses three and four song of Moses just at the end of his long and eventful life before he went to heaven to sing another song in the presence of his Lord give hear all ye heavens and I will speak and hear all the words of my mouth my doctrine shall drop as the rain my speech shall distill as the dew as the small rain upon the tender herb and as the showers upon the grass because I will publish the name of the Lord ascribe ye greatness unto our God he is the rock his work is perfect for all his ways of judgment a God of truth and without iniquity just and right is he in verses three and four you have the name of the Lord the name of Jehovah you have the name for God

[2:31] Elohim and you have this name the rock in Hebrew sewer T-S-U-R so that in these two verses there is this publishing indeed of the name the name of the Lord scribe ye greatness unto our God he is the rock and he is that God who has rent the rocks of nature would you turn to the 78th Psalm but I shall come back in a moment to Deuteronomy 32 so mark that place but in the 78th Psalm verses 14 and 15 Psalm 78 verses 14 and 15 in the daytime also he led them with a cloud and all the night with a light of fire he claved the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as out of the great depths verse 16 he brought streams also out of the rock and caused waters to run down like rivers here as

[3:53] Moses at the end of the period of his leadership in the wilderness is thinking of the rock ascribing greatness unto our God we remember how the rocks of nature were rent to which the psalmist is alluding the record in Exodus 17 the record also in Numbers 20 when God was pleased to bring water out of the rock to quench the thirst of the Israelites the very beginning of their wanderings and then again at the much later juncture and the rock provided the life giving water for the people of God ascribe greatness unto our God he is the rock his work is perfect but all his ways are judgment a God of truth and without iniquity just unright is he then in

[5:04] Deuteronomy 32 you read in the 15th verse despite the goodness of their God there was such unbelief and rebellion on the part of the Israelites but Jeshurun which is a name used in just a very few scriptures by Moses and by Isaiah once which seems to have at the root of it the sense of righteous or upright and it's used of Israel as an upright righteous nation or should it have been but Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked thou art waxing fat thou art grown thick thou art covered with fatness and he forsook God which made him and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation and in the 18th verse of the rock that begat thee thou art unmindful and has forgotten

[6:06] God that formed thee as the people prospered in the land as God blessed them materially they instead of ascribing greater thanks to God for the provision that he had made and all his bounty and the faithfulness to his promise they became self-sufficient they became rebellious they woke the covenant that they were under through Moses they provoked him to jealousy with strange gods with abominations provoked they him to anger and they were unmindful of the rock that begat them and forgot the God that formed them what a solemn thing that is that having received so much there should have been so little acknowledgement and so little return made and yet while in Israel is guilty of such ingratitude we are to acknowledge not only

[7:09] Israel but all men all men that are made in the image of God they so few of them make any acknowledgement and so very few of them render thanks for all that God gives them in whom they live and move and have their being there are the general providential mercies of God to the nations and yet how few give God any place not only Israel although it was a very solemn and serious thing considering that Israel had been favored above any other nation but yet we have to say that all men and every generation are the same and all men are without excuse you say well Israel had special revelation yes and that made them all the more accountable to whom much is given much will be required that's a principle not only in the

[8:12] Old Testament but in the New Testament the gospel principle that as much as a person has been greatly favored over others he will be the more responsible the more accountable for these favors while Israel was more favored than the heathen nations yet the heathen nations were not in ignorance of God nor are they today and there's that masterly exposition of the matter in Romans and in the first chapter where Paul shows that all men are inexcusable before God Romans 1 and at the 19th verse because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath showed it unto them for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse because that when they knew

[9:19] God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened professing themselves to be wise they became fools all men are without excuse and therefore all men are accountable that they have not been thankful when they knew God by the revelation of the natural world about them and by that which was in them the voice of conscience when they knew God and they knew something of the law yet they glorified not God and it says neither were thankful it's a very solemn thing that the nations are not thankful to God and it is something that we must wonder at ourselves that we are so lacking in thanksgiving in our turn Israel tended to wax fat and to be unmindful of the rock and to forget the God that formed them natural men give no acknowledgement to God but what of us we are more favored than

[10:38] Israel in Christ we are those that have been given so much and yet there is such our dullness oftentimes felt within us how frequently we feel that chill upon our hearts on how unthankful we are and not only are we unthankful but often like Israel of old we are rebellious and we are wayward and we provoke God and God is such a long suffering God towards us and patient in his dealings with us but when you consider the provocations that are in your own heart you must be thankful that God is so because we are scarcely better we are like jeshuren like an animal that has been provided for and given all that is necessary and more besides and yet it waxes fat and it kicks over the traces and it will not bear the yoke men are like that

[11:49] Asaph says in the 73rd Psalm I was as a beast before thee and men are like beasts so often when we say that men are like beasts we don't just mean that they're all savage although increasingly you see so many things today that make you feel that there's bestial savagery in many of the people in our society even in our country great depravity and if we say that men are like beasts it doesn't mean either that we're speaking of the filthiness or the gluttony and yet all of these things are very manifest but we're thinking of beasts in that they give no acknowledgement of God because they're not made in the image of God they're created by God but they have no soul they've got no conscience and men are like that they're living as though they had no soul and living as though there was no day when they must stand before their maker

[12:52] God and they have said that he because of problems that became large in his experience when he became envious of the prosperity of the wicked and his feet had well not slipped he said I was as a beast before thee we're not sometimes at that we're living as though there was no God when of all people we know there is a God and what a God of love and grace this God is to us and yet we are so wayward and we are so unmindful of he who has formed us and we are so easily turned aside from the rock of our salvation how good it is that there are those in the scripture that give us the example of acknowledgement and thankfulness and we look now at one or two of these examples Hannah is the first I draw to attention very different from Israel there in Moses estimate of them that they turn from the rock of the rock that begat thee thou art unmindful

[14:00] Hannah came prayerfully she prayed out of deep vexation of spirit she prayed for a son and God heard her and God gave her what she sought from him and we read in the first book of Samuel and the second chapter and in the second verse she rejoices there is none holy as the Lord for there is none beside thee neither is there any rock like our God and then in second Samuel and in the twenty second chapter the thirty second verse which is the same as the eighteenth psalm if you remember psalm eighteen thirty one the very same to samuel twenty two thirty two for who is God says David save the Lord and who is a rock save our God and David knew in his eventful life what it was to cry to the rock psalm twenty eight and the first verse unto thee will I cry

[15:15] O Lord my rock be not silent to me lest if thou be silent to me I become like them that go down into the pit and in the psalm he goes on to say in the sixth verse blessed be the Lord because he hath heard the voice of my supplications he is not as a beast there before his God he is not as one that has forgotten the mercies of God that he called and was heard but has consigned to oblivion the mercies that he received blessed be the Lord he says because he had had the voice of my supplications he found his God was his refuge in the ninety fourth psalm and in the twenty second verse psalm ninety four and the twenty second we don't have the name of David at the beginning of it but it breathes such a

[16:16] Davidic spirit that I can't otherwise think but that it is a psalm of David he says in the ninety fourth psalm and the twenty second verse but the Lord is my defense and my God is the rock of my refuge so often he needed a refuge whenever he found his God to be the refuge and when the enemy were against him and when there were those even of his friends that were turning against him he found that refuge he encouraged himself encouraged himself and the Lord his God and then we've got to say with all due respect to Asaph that dear man that laid bare his heart and have we not all felt something of what he describes that envy in his heart at the prosperity of the wicked he acknowledges that in the way he's been thinking he's been let one that didn't know that there was a

[17:18] God he's like a beast but then the end of the psalm is of a different sort altogether if it begins in the minor it ends certainly in the major and in the 73rd psalm and 26th verse my flesh and my heart faileth but God is the strength of my heart and the word strength in the margin Hebrew is rock but God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever and that's like Isaiah in the 26th chapter of his prophecy Isaiah 26 and in the fourth verse trust ye in the Lord forever for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength what a verse that is there's the triumph Jehovah in that verse trust ye in Jehovah for in

[18:19] Jehovah Jehovah is and then the translation of everlasting strength is literally rock of ages what a verse that is trust ye in the Lord forever for in the Lord Jehovah is the rock of ages and Isaiah in another place he speaks of the encouragement of God's people when their enemies come against them in that they have the rock in the 30th chapter of his prophecy Isaiah 30 and at the 29th verse he says to the remnant he says to those that are in difficulty but who look to God to help them who go and fly to him for a refuge Isaiah 30 29 ye shall have a song as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept and gladness of heart as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the

[19:22] Lord to the mighty one of Israel which is literally the rock of Israel come unto the mountain of the Lord to the rock of Israel one more example of the godly who acknowledged God as their rock and who owned their dependence upon him and looked to him in every circumstance and in every event and every trial Habakkuk in Habakkuk and the first chapter of his prophecy and in the twelfth verse Habakkuk 1 verse 12 art thou not from everlasting O Lord my God mine holy one we shall not die O Lord thou hast ordained them for judgment and almighty God thou hast established them for correction and there the reading in the margin is rock almighty

[20:31] God it is the God who is the rock thou hast established them for correction and there is another great verse that shows the names of God O Lord my God Jehovah my Elohim my holy one we shall not die O Jehovah or God the rock thou hast established them for correction God is mindful of his people now all of these texts declare much to do with the experience of God's people and in all of these verses you see the prayerfulness and the trust in God as a rock and the way that God has heard them and God has been as a rock to them been as their refuge in need been as the God of provision broken the rock as it were in the wilderness of their experience and caused blessings to flow out to meet their need but these texts declare more than just it

[21:37] God to be the rock of their salvation but there is the doctrine of God in these verses also that's what we're looking at principally we've seen Jehovah we've seen Elohim Jehovah God the Holy One we've seen all of these names as the rock the rock is all of these Jehovah is the rock God is the rock the Holy One is the rock now then if this rock Jehovah this rock who is the Lord God can be identified with Christ then we will have another great unmistakable proof of the deity of Christ from the Old Testament and that these Old Testament saints were not ignorant of Christ as sometimes we imagine them largely to be they had much of Christ although we have so much more of Christ in the light of the fuller revelation of the

[22:40] New Testament but if we can show that the one who is the Lord God the Holy One the rock is Christ then Christ is all of these titles Christ is shown in the scriptures of the Old Testament as God indeed now if you go back to Deuteronomy 32 remember these verses in Deuteronomy 32 and the fourth verse we began with it he is the rock who is the rock the name of the Lord ascribe ye greatness unto our God he the Lord our God is the rock he is the rock and then in the twelfth verse of that same chapter speaking of the dealings of God with his Israel in the wilderness so the Lord alone did lead them and there was no strange God with him it was the Lord that was with his people in the wilderness it was the

[23:43] Lord that was with them as under Moses they were brought out from Egypt and as they went to Sinai and then as they wandered all that period of time in the wilderness until God's time to bring them to the promised land it was the Lord alone that did lead him him there is Jacob the Lord's portion is his people Jacob is the lot of his inheritance but Jacob whose name all the people standing for the loved nation so the Lord alone did lead him the Lord was the leader of Israel through the wilderness the Lord alone there was no strange God with him it was the Lord himself that was the leader of his people he who is God he who is the rock was with his people now then in the New Testament on you will see that we have the unmistakable proof of sacred inspiration that

[24:44] Jesus the Christ is the rock and therefore the rock who was with Israel is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Jehovah God you have it in 1st Corinthians chapter 10 and in the fourth verse 1st Corinthians chapter 10 and the fourth verse Paul speaks of how all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea the red sea and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea and did all eat the same spiritual meat the manner and did all drink the same spiritual drink for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them the margin has or was with them and that rock was Christ the rock that was with them the rock that followed them the God who was the rock followed them and was with them in the wilderness that rock was

[25:51] Christ and therefore if that rock is Jehovah and that rock is Elohim and that rock is the holy one that is the rock of the Old Testament then Christ is all of that Christ is Jehovah Christ is God indeed Christ is the rock that rock was Christ we have it again in Matthew in the portion that I read you see the connection in the portion that we read the confession at Caesarea Philippi 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 gave various answers 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 thou thou

[26:52] Simon bar son of Jonah for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my father which is in heaven and 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 now the rock was Christ it was Christ that is set forth as the rock upon which the church is built it's not Peter as the Romish teaching is from a very early day they made out that when he said unto thee thou art Peter that he meant that upon Peter the church was built which gives the whole view of the Romish church and the primacy of Peter it's not Peter name means a rock is only something that is passing in this it is the confession of

[27:54] Peter it is not even the confession of Peter that is the thing upon which the church is built it is the thing that Peter confesses and why does he confess it because it's revealed from heaven to he would never have known it he would never have grasped it he would never have made this to reveal Christ and as Christ has worked and wrought all that is needful for the establishment of the church is upon Christ that the church is built Christ is the rock and I think there's more than just a passing reference to a rock here I think that it has signification with the Old Testament view of God as the rock it's upon that rock Christ and you see it is the divinity of Christ it's the matter in this thou art the Christ the son of the living God and if the living God is the rock then Christ is the son of the living God the son of

[28:55] God from all eternity is also the rock and this is the rock upon which the church is built you know the familiar words of first Corinthians chapter 3 and in the and in the 11th verse of it that other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ Christ is the foundation Christ is the rock Christ is the son of God Christ is the one that comes by the will of the father and with the consent of the spirit in order to seal the covenant he is the rock upon which the church is built it can be no church without Christ and it is wrong to say that or even to countenance for a moment the possibility that the church is built of Peter was but a minister as was Paul and Apollos and others you see that you see this proved by the apostle Paul in the argument of first Corinthians and first

[29:55] Corinthians and in the first chapter in the twelfth verse he's speaking of the divisions in the Corinthian church of which he's had that there were those that were saying that they were of Paul I follow Apollos what he says and others were saying I am of Cephas which is the Aramaic for Peter so Cephas is Peter people were saying in the Corinthian church I follow Paul others I follow Apollos no I follow Peter even some were saying I follow Christ is Christ divided was Paul crucified for you were you baptized in the name of Paul and then he goes on in vain he says in the fourth verse of the third chapter while one said I am of Paul and another I am of Apollos are ye not carnal who then is Paul and who is Apollos but by ministers by whom ye believed even as the

[30:56] Lord gave to every man I have planted Apollos watered but God gave the increase the 22nd verse he brings Cephas into this whether it's Paul or Apollos or Peter Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come all are yours and ye are Christ's and Christ is God and I say that it cannot be taken from the word of God and the argument of the apostle in any other way but that ministerially Peter and Apollos and Paul were those that laid the foundation but the Christ is the foundation and the very point that's made of the keys thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it is the matter of the entering and the leaving of the church and the way that there is given there is a high responsibility given to those who are the apostles and those that stand in the apostolic succession as ministers of

[32:04] Christ have a responsibility with the gospel in the way they handle the gospel in the way that they rule according to the mind of Christ in the word in the church they open a no man shuts and they shut the no man open of the ones that make the church it is not that they have the power to regenerate that they have the power to end the regeneration of any that God is minded to save they are but instrumental they're ministerial in what they do they have a valid ministry they have an authority in the ministry but Christ is the head of the church and the alone head of the church and we would hold that as something exceedingly precious and in the history of the Christian churches many have had to go to the stake because they believed in the head of Christ that was the issue with the martyrs in England it was the issue with the covenanters in

[33:05] Scotland it was the head of Christ over his church and they would not have those things which others intruded upon it in the case of the Marian martyrs the English martyrs it was the mass and the things of the Romish church on this very argument that the church was established in Peter and they held the view that the church is established in Christ that Christ is the foundation Christ rules by the word and the ministers if they are true to the word are to be heeded but if they are false to the word they're to be resisted and that is our position is it not and how it needs to be held in this day because the same issues are with us in this day as ever in that past day they will be in every generation this is the whole matter of faith and the headship of Christ Christ is the rock and he is the rock in that sense of the scripture and he is the rock in that sense that he is

[34:09] God the rock he is Jehovah he is God he the holy one he is the rock of our salvation he is the rock of Israel the old Israel that he led through the wilderness and blessed in his days pre prior to the incarnation on the new Israel that he is blessed on an occasion when the rocks were sundered not that water might come forth but the rocks were sundered because of the awfulness of the thing that was done when he died the just for the unjust and that he might obtain everlasting salvation for us the rock of ages cleft not just that the water might gush forth but there came forth the water and the blood from his ribbon side which is the ground of our hope and which is the testimony that thus God has loved us and thus his son has made propitiation for us he is the rock

[35:12] Christ is the eternal rock upon which the church is built which means that all the attributes of deity all that we associate with God and all that particularly comes to mind when we think of God as the rock belong to Christ he is he is he is that one that is from everlasting he is that one that has power to to see out all enemies he is that one who is a refuge to those that are the people that are his this can be beautifully instructive to us our refuge and our defense is Christ we are to fly to him the name of the Lord is the rock as it's a strong toe the righteous fleeth and is safe we are to run into that rock which is open for us we are to be in Christ and this is an eternal refuge this is that refuge in the 33rd of

[36:14] Deuteronomy and at the 27th verse the blessing of Moses the eternal God is thy refuge underneath are the everlasting arms and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee and shall say destroy them here is an everlasting salvation and as the rock followed them as Christ the rock followed them through the wilderness providing for them causing from the very waters from the very rocks waters to come forth to assuage their need of water so we have a provision from Christ we have that God who is the rock from whence comes living water streams of living water flow down to us from the rock of our salvation from Christ there is a river the streams whereof make glad the city of our God Christ is the support he is the he is the provider for his church he is the keeper of his saints and always will be our refuge our defense our eternal refuge our providing

[37:28] God as we said last time El Shaddai the all sufficient God our God forever and forever oh are we on this rock how many there are in Christendom that are not on the rock they are on Peter they are on this or that they are on empty form they are on ceremonies they are on traditions of men the only thing that matters is are we or are we not on the rock Christ Jesus have we had that operation of grace that has enabled us to say thou art the Christ the son of the living God to look for Christ to be the saver that we need what is it to be saved it is to rest on Christ it is to take him at his word it is to accept what he has come to do and to understand why he has come why he has done it because thus he has secured everlasting redemption for his people and as we see our need of this

[38:28] Christ as we rest on that work so it is that we have been brought there by faith those that find the matter of assurance such a problem there to see that we are looking to what he has done we are not looking to frames and fancies we are not looking to impressions we are not looking to those things that may have been made significant to us at some previous period in our experience we are looking to Christ Christ the solid rock I stand none other ground all other ground is sinking sand are you on that ground never to assume in any company that all are on that ground we've got to give diligence to make our calling and our election sure are we on Christ has the heart of rock that is there by nature in our hearts has that been broken and made a heart of flesh by operations of God's

[39:33] Holy Spirit then if that is so our God is our sufficiency he is the rock of our salvation he is our shelter he is our refuge for time and for eternity and when we have the moments of doubt and when we have the moments of depression we are to rest on that I change he changes not there can be no alteration with the rock of ages and that is the believer's hope and that's the only place where the believer in his times of doubt and difficulty will ever find reassurance Christ is the rock changes not who is able to keep who loves his people and provides for their every need yea I have loved thee with an everlasting love therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee God bless to us these few thoughts on this lovely title of God in the

[40:40] Old Testament and may we see how it belongs to Christ in the Old Testament he is the rock behold I will publish the name of the Lord ascribe ye greatness unto our God the rock he is in that fourth verse in italics isn't in the original it's because I will publish the name of Jehovah ascribe ye greatness unto our God the rock his work is perfect for all his ways and judgment a God of truth and without iniquity just and right is he doctrine of that sort is as rain that drops down as Moses says my speech shall distill as the dew as the small rain upon the tender urban as the showers upon the grass and people can say what they want today that this and that they wanted religion and this innovation and this new thing but there will never be for the true people of God any substitute for the doctrine that drops down as the dew and as the rain and refreshes the soul and that's the doctrine of our

[41:55]  God Jehovah God the rock the rock of our salvation the rock of Israel Amen