Series: Isaiah
Title: Inhabitants of the Rock
Text: Isaiah 42: 11
Date: October 13, 2011
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
I remember seeing mountains for the first time. As a mountain is first seen in the lowly parts of the earth but then rises up to the clouds so Jesus Christ has come into the dust of the earth—flesh and bone like those he came to redeem. He has accomplished the requirements of God for his people and is now risen in his majesty the right hand of God like a mountain rises above the clouds.
As Isaiah went forth with the word of the LORD declaring how the LORD would conquer all his enemies for his people, how the Lord would call out his sheep from the four corners of the earth, the LORD said, “Sing a new song.” I can’t go further without returning to this one little phrase that caught my attention in Isaiah 42: 11:
11:…let the inhabitants of the rock sing,
Title: Inhabitants of the Rock
Proposal: The Lord Jesus Christ is the Rock in whom his children inhabit: (dwell)
· from eternity past put in him by divine election;
· in him when Christ walked this earth fulfilling all righteousness on our behalf
· in Christ when died in our place obtaining eternal redemption for us;
· in Christ by irresistible grace when the Spirit of God rebirthed us and called us to faith in Christ
· And we shall dwell in Christ the Rock for all eternity when time is no more. (Is 43: 10)
Divisions: 1: In Christ the Rock his inhabitants behold the glory of God; 2: In Christ the Rock his inhabitants stand on one, sure immovable foundation; 3: In Christ the Rock we find our rest and refreshing as we journey through this wilderness.
I. WE BEHOLD THE GLORY OF GOD IN CHRIST THE ROCK
God gives a description of us by nature. In ourselves. In the pride of our sin, we dwelt in many “clefts.”
Jeremiah 49:16: Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.
By the regenerating power of God the Holy Spirit, God brings us out of our many “clefts” and brings us into Christ our one Cleft—THE Cleft of THE Rock! In that one Cleft—we behold the glory of God.
Exodus 33: 14 And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. 15 And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. 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. 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. 18: And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. 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. 20: And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. 21: And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: 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:…
2 Corinthians 4: 6: For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Exodus 34: 1-4—(all the law if fulfilled in Christ) 5: And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him THERE, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6: And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7: Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. 8: And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
The inhabitants of Christ the Rock sing:
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the Rock
That shadows a dry and thirsty land
He hideth my life in the depths of his love
And covers me there with his hand
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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 from wrath and make me pure.
II. WHEN THE SPIRIT OF GOD MAKES US EXPERIENCE HIS GRACE, CHRIST BECOMES IMMOVEABLE IN CHRIST--OUR ONE FOUNDATION.
Isaiah 28: 16: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
1 Corinthians 3: 11: For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Christ is the Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption—the All in all of the believer and ye are complete in Christ.
Why does the unregenerate sinner not stop trying to establish his own righteousness? One simple answer—he does not believe the very Word of God!
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, 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.
Romans 9: 33: As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
This is the song of the inhabitants of the Rock!
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said—
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
Those who do not rest in Christ our Rock are foolishly building their house on sinking sand. But those who do heed his word are wise.
Illustrations: The hurricane winds—imagine an F5. Tornadoes. Earthquakes. Tsunamis. God communicating to us on a level so we can sort of comprehend the wrath that awaits the unbeliever.
The people who stay on the shore when everyone else is evacuating is the very foolishness of all who do not believe on Christ.
Matthew 7: 24: Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26: And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
The New Song for you who the inhabitants of the Rock!
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus name
On Christ the Solid Rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
When darkness vails his lovely face
I rest on his unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil
On Christ the Solid Rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
His oath, his covenant, his blood
Support me in the whelming flood
When all around my soul gives way
He then is all my hope and stay
On Christ the Solid Rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
When He shall come with trumpet sound
O may I then in him be found
Dressed in his righteousness alone
Faultless to stand before the throne
On Christ the Solid Rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
III. THOSE WHO ARE INHABITANTS OF CHRIST THE ROCK, FIND OUR REST AND REFRESHING THOUGH THE BATTLE BE LONG AND WEARY. (Ex 17: 6)
The Lord called us to bear witness. Christ is the Rock of of Living waters—the Life and Refreshing of our souls as we traveal through the wilderness.
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.
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.
John 4:10: Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
Isaiah 43:20: The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.
Paul said let us not tempt God as they did, flee from idolatry and EVER rest in Christ our Rock. Ever drink this water of Life!
Our one work is to hold up the rod of the gospel. Like Joshua, Christ goes forth conquering Amalek. But we truly have no strength in ourselves—we become weary. How do we strengthen one another? Ex 17: 12—
Exodus 17: 12: But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13: And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
Christ is the Rock of Sanctuary in which we abide till the judgment of this world be over.
Isaiah 26:20: Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.
Isaiah 8: 9: Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. 10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us. 11 For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, 12 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
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Great Rock, for weary travelers made
When storms of sin infest the soul
Here let me rest my weary head
When lightnings blaze and thunders roll
Within the cleft of his dear side
There all his saints in safety dwell
And what from Jesus shall divide?
Not all the rage of earth and hell
God says in mercy to those he calls by his grace—he says:
Isaiah 2: 10: Enter into the Rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty…
· Because of God’s own Word
· God’s own glory
· God’s own righteousness
· God’s own holiness
· For the sake of his precious Son Christ our Rock
· We have this promise!
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He that believeth shall never be moved!
AMEN!