AUSTRALIAN BIBLE CHURCH October 14, 2007 p.m.

A Presbyterian Church Governed by Jesus Christ
and Following His Word, the Bible

ROCKS AND STONES: God and man
Jesus Christ - the Rock on which you are Never Rocked

There follows a list of the Bible passages we shall use this evening, DV. Main verses are provided here.

I The ROCK that never MOVES

Psalm 18:31-32 For who is a Rock except the LORD ? and who is a rock, except our God!
It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect.

Deuteronomy 32:4  He is the Rock, His work is perfect,
For all His ways are justice,
A God of truth and without iniquity,
Righteous and upright is He.

Psalm 62:2 He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my defence. I shall not be greatly moved.

II Samuel 22:32-33 For who is God except the LORD ?
and who is a rock, except our God ?

Daniel 2:35B,44A And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed...

I Corinthians 3:11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid,
which is Jesus Christ.

Parallel to this, the Rock as here shown is Christ seen as the Son of the living God, and acclaimed in heart and life as such, just as Peter by the grace of God had just done (16:13ff.). Thus we have:

Matthew 16:18  And I also tell you that you are Peter (petros, stone) but on this rock (petra, mass of living rock - word play), I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

I John 5:12 focusses this:

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

II NO REST UNDER THE ROCK

Matthew 21:44 Whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. That is the nature of truth when mercy is forsaken. Christ is that mercy.

 I Peter 2:7-8  Therefore it is contained in the scripture, Behold I lay in Zion, a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believe in Him will by no means be put to shame.  Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious, but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone, and “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offence.”

This is from Isaiah 28:16,  Psalm 118:22, Isaiah 8:14. Isaiah says he who believes in Him will not make haste – that is be in a surge of meaningless activities, or buzzed in rush because of lack of trust and strength.

Jeremiah 2:27 Saying to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave birth to me.’ For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face, but in the time of trouble, they will say, Arise and save us. Man is forever making stones, literally or symbolically, into the Rock; but there is only one Rock which never moves, the foundation of law and love, limit,  form and truth.

Zechariah 14:4 And in that day, His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west…” This Rock splits even a mountain when the truth of His crucifixion shows the reality of His rule.

III THE CLEFT IN THE ROCK

Exodus 33:22 So it will be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Read this with Exodus 33:19.

Matthew 11:28-30 Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.

It is not to believe God but to receive Him which challenges (cf. Romans 1:17ff.). Yet one is born without assent, grows without giving permission. Here does liberty meet the love of God.

To receive one’s Maker is as personal as being born from a mother’s womb. It is all personal when you move past the structure.

Like the cancellation of a debt by a Cross which covers, so is the entry to the freedom of heaven. He has done the work. You accept it on this, His basis. He is there to receive you since He is resurrected from the dead, a thing He foretold – setting its data a while later, around 600 B.C.  – 1000 years beforehand. Death is our inheritance through sin; He gives His, life through redemption.

There is a cleft in the Rock. This is a hiding place, an inward sortie for strength, a post for production, a site for reflection, a fortress for spiritual safety, a place for perception and a realm for His children. His life is eternal and He grants it to those who receive Him (I John 1:1-4, 5:11ff., Romans 3:23-27). Man’s troubles spring from divorce from God; their solution is return to His rest.