SERMON IV. Christ our Rock. "That Rock was Christ." 1 Cor. x. 4. WHATEVER relates to the character of Christto his labors of love to his interesting life, or his triumphant death, is looked upon with the deepest interest by every believer in his Gospel. The grand and lofty emblems-the rich types and shadows - and the glowing figures which the sacred writers use to set forth the Son of God, are well calculated to fill every heart with admiration, and cause even the unbeliever to acknowledge their grandeur and power. The Redeemer of the world is called Jesus, because he shall save his people from their sins. He is called Christ, because he was anointed by God, to redeem mankind. He is called the light of the world, because he came to give light to them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death. He is called a shepherd, because he came in search of his father's sheep, which had strayed from the fold; and he is said to be the good shepherd, because he will never give up the search until every lost sheep is found until every wanderer is brought back to - the fold of truth—and until there is but "one fold and one shepherd." He is called the resurrection and the life, because by him came the resurrection from the dead, and through him man is to receive the joys of a spiritual and immortal life; and so on. Whenever the inspired penmen speak of Christ, they use such a figure, or language, as is calculated to express the greatness of his power, the divinity of his character, the loftiness of his purposes, the purity of his life, and the boundless love displayed in his sufferings and death. In my text, Christ is compared to a rock. The Apostle is speaking of the children of Israel, in their journey from Egypt to the land of Canaanand says, "They did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual driņk ; for they drank of that spiritual rock that went with them that rock was Christ." By turning to the 17th chapter of Exodus, we have the circumstances to which the Apostle alludes. Moses and the children of Israel, in their journey from the dominion of Pharaoh to the land of promise, found themselves in a wilderness destitute of water. The people beginning to murmur, Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, "What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod wherewith thou smotest the river take in thine hand, and go. Behold I will stand before thee, there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall P come water out of it that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel." It is this rock, from which Moses caused the water to issue, that the text declares to be Christi. e. this rock represents Christ. I now proceed to point out some particulars in which this resemblance holds good. 1. That rock did not have an independent existence, but was created, and kept in being by another; nor did it create the water which it contained; but was only the channel or agent through which that water flowed to those who drank of it. So with Christ. He was emphatically the Son of God created by him-dependent upon himand as much indebted to his Father in heaven, for direction and assistance, as any other human being. He acknowledged that his Father was greater than himself that without him he could do nothing and that to him alone he looked for that which would sustain him amid his trials, his sufferings, and his death. This being the fact, it cannot be, as many suppose, that Christ was God himself. Nor was he the author of those great truths which he communicated to the world. He did not create them-but, like the rock, which was the emblem of him, he was the agent by which those truths were made known to the children of men. Take, for instance, one or two of the most prominent truths which he taught. One was that of the supreme and boundless love of God to the world. Now, he did not make this truth. His coming into the world did not cause God's love to exist. It was just as pure, strong and deathless, before his advent, as it was then, is now, or ever will be. He simply came to reveal this truth to man to acquaint him with God's infinite love to assure him that his Father in heaven possessed an affection for all his children, which was as pure as the river of life, and as endur-` ing as the pillars of eternity. He came to dispel that darkness in which the Deity had been shrouded to unveil to men the glorious perfections of his character, and make them what they should be, by assimilating them to God, and making them holy as he is holy. In a word, Christ came not to make God love men; but to make them love him, by revealing his great love to them. Thus the Apostle says, "But God commendeth his love," &c. Here you perceive it is stated that Christ is the medium through which God commends his love to the children of men. Take one truth the doctrine of life and immortality. This glorious and sublime truth was made known by the Saviour. But then he did not create this truth. It was just as true ages before he visited our earth, as it has been since. The Apostle says that God, according to his own purpose and grace, gave us eternal life, before the world began; but that it is now made manifest by the appearing of Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light." Here you see, that in acquainting man with the doctrine of a future glorious existence, Christ simply brought to light a truth, which had long existed in the infinite counsels of Jehovah. He says he came to bear witness to the truth; and the duty of a faithful witness is not to make truth, but to certify to that which is already true. This Christ did. By him, truths were made known, which satisfied man's desires for spiritual food, the same as the water, which flowed from the rock, quenched the thirst of the children of Israel. Again. The rock to which Christ is compared, contained that which was absolutely needed by the weary traveller to the land of promise. Here was a vast company of human beings in a wilderness; in compliance with the commands of God, they had left a country where there was bread and water in abundance, and were journeying to a strange land; but now they found themselves in a vast desert-scorched by the piercing rays of the sun-parched by the burning sand-with no cooling waters, no refreshing streams of which their thirsty souls could drink and be satisfied. But that God who had placed them in this situation, heard their cries, and sent them relief. The rock was opened and from it gushed forth those living waters which were needed by the famishing throng. So with Christ; in him are those treasures of wisdom and love those imperishable riches those unfading hopes, which man needs -which man longs for, and which will alone - -- |