Where shall you find aย rock?ย
(Samuel Davies, “Jesus Christ, the Only Foundation” 1757)
“The presentย heavensย andย earthย are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men! The day of the Lord will come like a thief. Theย heavensย will disappear with a roar; theย elementsย will be destroyed by fire, and theย earthย and everything in it will be burned up!” 2 Peter 3:7, 10
The fiery deluge of divine vengeance, which has been gathering and swelling for thousands of years; but has been, as it were, restrained and kept within bounds byย divine patienceโshall then rise so high as to burst through all restraints, and overwhelm the guilty globe, and turn it into a universal ocean of liquid fire! This resistless torrent shall sweep away all theย refuges of lies, and those who trusted in themโinto the gulf of remediless destruction!
Well my friends, where shall we find aย supportย to bear us up in this tremendous day? Where shall we find aย rockย to build upon, that we may be able to stand the shock, and remain safe and unmovedโin the wreck of dissolving worlds? What canย upholdย usโwhen thisย vast machine of our world, formed with so much skill and strength by the hands of aย divine Architect, shall be broken up and fall to pieces?
Now,ย nowย is the time for us to find theย refuge; it will be too late when all created supports are swept away, and this solid globe itself is dissolved beneath our feet into a sea of fire!
And where will you look? Where will you turn? Thisย earth,ย and all its riches, honors, and pleasuresโwill prove to be but aย quicksandย in that day! Yourย friendsย andย relations, were they ever so great or powerfulโcanย thenย afford you no support! Therefore, thinkโwhere shall you find aย rockย on which you may build a happiness that will stand the shock in that dreadful day?
Everything else besides Christ . . .
ย is sliding sand,
ย is yielding air,
ย is a breaking bubble!ย
In that dread day . . .
ย ย wealthโwill prove to be a vain shadow,ย
ย ย honorโwill prove to be an empty breath,ย
ย ย pleasureโwill prove to be a delusive dream,ย
ย ย your own righteousnessโwill prove to be a spider’s web!
If we rely on these, disappointment and doom are inevitable!
Nothing but Christ, nothing but Christ, can stably support us in that dread day! “He alone is my rockย and my salvation; He is my fortressโI will never be shaken!” Psalm 62:2
His righteousnessย is infinitely perfect, equal to the highest demands of the divine lawโand therefore a firm, immovable ground of trust. We may safely ventureย the weight of our eternal allโupon this rock! It will stand forever, without giving way under the heaviest pressure; without being broken by the most violent shock. Let thousands, let millions, withย all the mountainous weight of guiltย upon them, build upon this foundation, and they shall never be moved!
The firm foundations, the stately columns, the majestic buildings of Nineveh, Babylon and Persia, and all the magnificent structures of antiquity, though formed of the most durable stone, and promising immortalityโare now shattered into ten thousand fragments, or lying in ruinous heaps!ย
But here in Christโisย a foundation for immortal soulsโa foundation that will remain the same to all eternity! Hisย righteousnessย is an everlasting righteousness, Hisย strengthย an everlasting strength, and Himself the everlasting Father. He ever lives forever to make intercession for His people, and therefore he is able to save to the uttermost, to the uttermost point of durationโall who come unto God by Him!
Millions and millionsย of depraved, wretched, ruined creatures, have always found Him perfectlyย able, and as perfectlyย willingโ
ย to expiate the most enormous guilt;
ย to deliver from the most inveterate corruptions;
ย and to save to the very uttermost!ย
Ten thousand times ten thousand, have built their hopes upon thisย rockโand it has never failed so much as one of them! Manasseh, Paul, and Mary Magdalen, and thousands more atrocious sinnersโhave ventured upon thisย all-sufficient rockย with all theirย load of sinย upon them, and found it able to sustain them!
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