HIDE ME, ROCK OF AGES

As I look around me I realize so many people are crying on the inside.  Many are in despair, having no one to lean on.  They are smiling on the outside, but are crying on the inside.  Some have deep hurts from the past, and their struggles go on and on.  I see many as I minister in the nursing home.  Some think life just can’t get any worse.  You may not be in a nursing home situation, but you, too, think life has passed you by.  You may be in trying circumstances.  You may feel rejected and alone, alone in a “wilderness” place.  I want to lead you to the “Rock of Ages.”  He, Christ, is the only one you can turn to, and find shelter within the cleft of the rock, a shelter in the time of storm.

“Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer.  From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I” Psalm 61:1-2.

This Psalm was written by David when he was on the run from his son, Absalom.  Absalom had betrayed his own father and was intent on taking the throne.  In verse 2 it says he was “overwhelmed.”  He was weak and faint, maybe he was sick.  He had never felt such grief and sorrow in all his life.  His own beloved son had betrayed him. 

Your troubles today may be like “deep waters” and threaten to drown you.  David was helpless and weak, and he knew that God alone has rescued him from Saul (Psalms 18) and in Psalm 61, his very own son.  When you wish that God would quickly rescue you in the storm you are going through, remember that he will either deliver you the trial or be your support as you go through it.  Either way, His plan is best for you.  So ask God to help you, hold you steady against the winds of sorrow and lead you to the Rock that is higher than you.

And the LORD said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel.  Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river and go.  “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.”  And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. Exodus 17:15-16

When the children of Israel disobeyed Him,  God disciplined with 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.  But He was merciful and provided water from a spiritual Rock that followed them wherever they went.  Water came only when the Rock was struck by Moses.  That Rock that was struck was Christ, our “Rock of Ages.”

“and all drank the same spiritual drink.  For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.”  I Corinthians 10:4

And we remember Christ on the cross, and when the soldier pierced His side, blood and water flowed, it became a fountain, a cleansing stream for our sins, thirst quenching water for our souls, springing up into eternal life and our Rock is a refuge from the storms that come into our lives.  And we praise Him because He is now risen, our glorified Lord, who sits enthroned in the heavens.

Jesus is the Rock of our foundation.  He is the foundation upon which we build our “house.”  All other ground is “sinking sand” (Luke 6:48-49).  He’s the Rock of all ages.  He is the Rock of our Salvation (Psalm 89:6). If you build on this Rock, you won’t be shaken when the storms come.

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

HE HIDETH MY SOUL

A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, a wonderful Savior to me, he hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock, where rivers of pleasure I see.

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry thirsty land, He hideth my life in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand, and covers me there with His hand.

A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, He taketh my burden away, He holdeth me up, and I shall not be moved, He giveth me strength as my day.

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry thirsty land, He hideth my life in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand, and covers me there with His hand.

With numberless blessings each moment He crowns, and filled with His fullness divine, I sing in my rapture, oh, glory to God for such a Redeemer as mine.

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry thirsty land, He hideth my life in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand, and covers me there with His hand.

When clothed in His brightness, transported I rise to meet Him in clouds of the sky, His perfect salvation, His wonderful love, I’ll shout with the millions on high.

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry thirsty land, He hideth my life in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand, and covers me there with His hand.

Fanny J. Crosby

May you, just as David and Moses, find yourself hiding in the Rock that is higher than you, that Blessed Rock of Ages, and covered there by His precious nail scarred hand, in the Name of Jesus.

Pastor Sharon

It's Friday. But Sunday's a Coming!

I remember so well the Sunday that I first heard this sermon, it was in 1995, and I had just been diagnosed with Non Hodgkins Lymphoma, facing surgery, and chemotherapy, and I was frightened.  I had gone down to the altar for prayer and anointing and was standing in the narthex of the church crying at the end of the service, after hearing this sermon.  A dear sister in the Lord approached me and took me in her arms, and she said, “Honey, it is now Friday for you, but Sunday is coming.”  I was encouraged in my faith and went on into treatment, and have been cancer free now for almost sixteen years, Praise the Lord!

So I want to encourage you out there, you who are in a “Friday” in your life.  It is dark where you are, the storm is threatening, lightening flashing.  You feel as if you are going to go under, you are in despair.  Maybe your health is failing.  Maybe you lost a dear loved one.  Maybe you just lost your job and your home, and you don’t know to turn now.  But, dear ones, “It’s Friday, But Sunday is Coming” So I want to share this sermon with you by Dr. Tony Campolo.  And think of what our Lord went through on that Friday, that dark, dark Friday.  Even His friends had deserted Him, and His Father turned His back on Him, and He faced the horrible reality of crucifixion and the mocking crowds.

Dr. Tony Campolo tells the story of a little preaching competition that he had with his pastor during services at the church where he attends. Dr. Campolo tells how he preached the perfect sermon, perfect in every way. He had taken the congregation to the heights of glory. And as he sat down beside his pastor, Dr. Campolo patted him on the knee and simply said, "Top that." The older black pastor looked at him and said, "Boy, watch the master."

It was a simple sermon, starting softly, building in volume and intensity until the entire congregation was completely involved, repeating the phrases in unison. The sermon went something like this.

It's Friday. Jesus is arrested in the garden where He was praying. But Sunday's a coming.

It's Friday. The disciples are hiding and Peter's denying that he knows the Lord. But Sunday's a  coming.

It's Friday. Jesus is standing before the high priest of Israel, silent as a lamb before the slaughter. But Sunday's a coming.

It's Friday. Jesus is beaten, mocked, and spit upon. But Sunday's a coming.

It's Friday. Those Roman soldiers are flogging our Lord with a leather scourge that has bits of bones and glass and metal, tearing at his flesh. But Sunday's a coming.

It's Friday. The Son of man stands firm as they press the crown of thorns down into his brow. But Sunday's a coming.

It's Friday. See Him walking to Calvary, the blood dripping from His body. See the cross crashing down on His back as He stumbles beneath the load. It's Friday; but Sunday's a coming.

It's Friday. See those Roman soldiers driving the nails into the feet and hands of my Lord. Hear my Jesus cry, "Father, forgive them." It's Friday; but Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, bloody and dying. But Sunday' a coming.

It's Friday. The sky grows dark, the earth begins to tremble, and He who knew no sin became sin for us. Holy God who will not abide with sin pours out His wrath on that perfect sacrificial lamb who cries out, "My God, My God. Why hast thou forsaken me?" What a horrible cry. But Sunday' a coming.

It's Friday. And at the moment of Jesus' death, the veil of the Temple that separates sinful man from Holy God was torn from the top to the bottom because Sunday's a coming.

It's Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, heaven is weeping and hell is partying. But that's because it's Friday, and they don't know it, but Sunday's a coming.

And on that horrible day 2000 years ago, Jesus the Christ, the Lord of glory, the only begotten Son of God, the only perfect man died on the cross of Calvary. Satan thought that he had won the victory. Surely he had destroyed the Son of God. Finally he had disproved the prophecy God had uttered in the Garden and the one who was to crush his head had been destroyed. But that was Friday.

Now it's Sunday. And just about dawn on that first day of the week, there was a great earthquake. But that wasn't the only thing that was shaking because now it's Sunday. And the angel of the Lord is coming down out of heaven and rolling the stone away from the door of the tomb. Yes, it's Sunday, and the angel of the Lord is sitting on that stone and the guards posted at the tomb to keep the body from disappearing were shaking in their boots because it's Sunday, and the Lamb that was silent before the slaughter is now the resurrected Lion from the tribe of Judah, for He is not here, the angel says. He is risen indeed.

It's Sunday, and the crucified/resurrected Christ has defeated death, hell, sin and the grave. It's Sunday. And now everything has changed. It's the age of grace, God's grace poured out on all who would look to that crucified Lamb of Calvary. Grace freely given to all who would believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary was buried and rose again. All because it's Sunday.

IT'S FRIDAY, BUT SUNDAY'S A COMING!



He is Risen,

Pastor Sharon Besler

THE MIGHTY CROSS

“Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand, the shadow of a mighty Rock within a weary land; a home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way, from the burning of the noon day heat, and the burden of the day.

Upon that cross of Jesus mine eyes at times can see the very dying form of One who suffered there for me; and from my smitten heart with tears, two wonders I confess, the wonders of His glorious love and my own worthlessness.

I take, O cross, thy shadow for my abiding place; I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of His face; content to let the world go by, to know no gain nor loss, My sinful self my only shame, my glory all the cross.”  (Elizabeth C. Clephane)

My mind goes back to the cross, on that Friday, on that day of suffering and sorrow.  My mind cannot comprehend what my Lord went through that day, taking my sin, your sin upon Himself.  And yes, on this cross we see the wonders of His glorious love, and I see my own unworthiness.  We see the shame and sorrow of the cross, but we also behold the glory of the cross, that Mighty Cross.

That Mighty Cross stands at the center of Eternity! The cross literally splits history in two.  The cross stretches across time, down through the ages and into eternity.  It stands pointing back to the Old Testament and it pictures or paints shadows of the cross and into the New Testament and the sacrifice of Christ, the shedding of His blood for man’s sin, and then His resurrection. And it points forward to His Church, His blood bought body of believers, His bride.  The cross of Christ shadows all that man has ever tried to do, we can never get away from the cross.  At the foot of the cross we find salvation and forgiveness of sins.  We then find joy, peace and eternity with Christ, our Lord. 

The Mighty Cross stands before the beginning of time, when God the Father had a plan. The very Lamb of God would be slain from the foundation of the world.   “All who dwell on earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” Revelation 13:8.

We see the picture of the cross in the Tabernacle in the Wilderness.  Every piece of furniture, all the instruments of sacrifice spoke of the cross.  Even the arrangement of the furniture as it was laid out, from the Ark in the Holy of Holies, through the Golden Altar of Incense, and through the Brazen Laver to the Brazen Altar.  In the crossbeam of the cross, you have the Golden Candlestick and the Table of Shewbread on the other side.

We see the cross in the Altar of Sacrifice.  For every sacrifice that was made, every lamb that was slain, spoke of death and His sacrifice and his atoning for sin.  For those sacrifices did not take away sin, only covered it temporarily.  It was in the cross and the sacrifice of Christ that sin was atoned for and our sins are washed away.  Praise the Lord!  “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” Hebrews 9:12.

We see a picture of the cross again in the book of Numbers.  In chapter twenty one, the Children of Israel are again complaining, speaking against God and Moses.  So God sent fiery serpents among them, and they bit the people and many of them died.  They came to Moses and cried and said that they had sinned and would he pray that the Lord take the serpents from among them.  And Moses prayed for the people.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.”  So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. Numbers 21:8-9

And our Lord spoke of the serpent in the wilderness as He spoke with Nicodemus in John 3:14-15, speaking of His own death.  He also referred to being lifted up in John 12:32 and John 8:28.

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

The bite of the serpent was deadly, and the children of Israel could only be healed by looking at the brass serpent; and sinners can only be saved from sin by looking at the cross and accepting His salvation.  Both the pole with the serpent and the cross of Christ were lifted up.  The brass serpent was in sight of all the people.  So Jesus was listed up from the earth, raised upon the cross.  We see how the design was similar.  The pole was lifted up to save life. The cross was lifted up to save the soul.  The people of Israel were to look on the serpent and be healed.  And sinners look on Jesus Christ and His cross and are saved from sin and receive eternal life.

And what does it say?  “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  Romans 10:8-10

So in this Easter Season, He is calling you, my friend, if you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, to look at the cross, to remember the cross.  He died for you because of His great love. And He wants to spend eternity with you, and now is the day of salvation, please don’t wait.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  John 3:16

In the Name of Jesus,

Pastor Sharon

ARE YOU LOSING HEART AND

GIVING UP YOUR HOPE?

We live in a world of great despair.  People everywhere are losing hope and see no “light at the end of the tunnel .”   We have seen recently great earthquakes and turmoil in other nations, and even more despair.  If you are feeling hopeless today because of your own circumstances, I bring you God’s hope.  That hope is in Jesus Christ, and He is the only answer we have in these troubling times, and the troubling times in your own life.

Is your body wracked with pain?  Have you lost a dear loved one, and your grief is beyond measure?  Again, I bring you hope.  Have you lost a job or your home?  Again I bring you hope.  Do you feel like there is a dark cloud hanging over you?  Even on the darkest, cloud filled day, the sun is shining behind those clouds. 

Do not be afraid to enter the cloud that is settling down on your life.  God is in it.  The other side is radiant with His glory.  “Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings” I Peter 4:12.  When you seem the loneliest and most forsaken, God is nigh.  He is in the dark cloud.  Plunge into the blackness of its darkness without flinching’ under the shrouding curtain of His pavilion you will find God awaiting you.  (Streams in the Desert)

‘We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed – always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body”  2 Corinthians 4:8-10 (NLT)

Paul, in this chapter, is reminding us that although we may think we are at the end of the rope, we are never at the end of our hope.  Just think of all the Apostle went through.  He went through beatings, shipwrecks, persecutions, imprisoned and much other suffering, but he could proclaim the hope he had in Jesus Christ.  Many of the epistles were written from prison.  The book of Philippians, for instance, was written from jail, and he continued admonish his readers to “rejoice.”

These perishable bodies of ours are subject to sin and suffering, but isn’t it wonderful that Jesus says in Hebrews 13:5: “I will never leave you or forsake you.”  Whatever the suffering that you are going through right now, my friend, He is right there in the midst of your trial.  Praise the Lord, Christ has won the victory over death, and has given us eternal life.  All our suffering and trials are opportunities for Christ to demonstrate His power and presence in us.

As you are facing great trials and pain, it is easy to focus on your pain rather than on your ultimate goal.  God wants you to focus on the reward for your faith and the joy that will last forever.  No matter what happens in your life or in mine, we have the assurance of eternal life, when all suffering will end and all sorrow will flee away.  What a wonderful day that will be?

“And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads.  They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” Isaiah 35:10 (NLT).

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” 2 Corinthians 4:16-17.

Do not let your troubles and afflictions diminish your faith.  We all must realize that there is a purpose in our suffering.  First of all, our sufferings remind us of Christ’s suffering for us.  Secondly, our sufferings keep us from pride.  Thirdly, they will cause us to look beyond this present life and the hope that is awaiting us in heaven with Jesus.  Fourthly, our standing strong in great trials will inspire faith in others who see us walking through tough times, and standing strong in our own faith.  Fifthly, our trials will give God the opportunity to demonstrate His mighty power in our lives.

Just remember your ultimate hope when experiencing great suffering and pain in your body, or going through times of great dark times, when you feel like you are in that cloud that I mentioned before,  is knowing that this life is not all there is, but there is a greater life ahead in heaven, can help you arise above the pain and suffering of this world.  Just knowing that you will forever be with Jesus is worth all the trials and tribulations of this life.

So don’t lose heart, my dear friends, it will be worth it all when we see Jesus.  Praise the Lord!

WHEN WE SEE CHRIST

Oft times the day seems long, our trials hard to bear; we’re tempted to complain, to murmur and despair; but Christ will soon appear, to catch His bride away, all tears forever over, in God’s eternal day.

It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus; life’s trials will seem so small, when we see Christ; one glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase, so bravely run the race till we see Christ.

Sometimes the sky looks dark, with not a ray of light; we’re tossed and driven on, no human help in sight; but there is one in heav’n, who knows our deepest care, let Jesus solve your problem, just go to Him in pray’r.

It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus; life’s trials will seem so small, when we see Christ; one glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase, so bravely run the race till we see Christ.

Life’s day will soon be o’er, all storms forever past; we’ll cross the great divide to glory safe at last; we’ll share the joys of heav’n, a harp, a home, a crown; the tempter will be banished, we’ll lay our burden down.

It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus; life’s trials will seem so small, when we see Christ; one glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase, so bravely run the race till we see Christ.

Esther Kerr Rusthoi