HYMN: ROCK OF AGES

(Message by Tanny Keng)

Rock of Ages

Hymn writer (lyrics): Augustus M. Toplady (1740 - 1778) Music composer: Thomas Hastings (1784 - 1872) Notes  An Anglican priest born in England, Augustus wrote this hymn just two years before his death in 1778. Thomas Hastings, a self-taught musician, was a very prolific writer of gospel music. It is believed he composed roughly 1,000 hymns before his death.

Rock for all ages a) The Bible refers to Jesus Christ as a living stone or rock. i) 4 Come to the Lord, the living stone rejected by people as worthless but chosen by God as valuable. (1Peter 2:4) b) The 'rock' that led the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage and taught them along the way was none other than Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 10:1-4)! The apostle Peter quotes from Isaiah 8:14 regard the affect Christ's life and ministry will have on some people. i) This is the stone that will make people stumble (the KJV, NASB, YLT and NKJV translations have 'stone of stumbling'), the rock that will make them fall (the KJV and other translations have 'rock of offense'). (2Peter 2:8) c) Jesus is the rock, the solid and never-failing cornerstone on which a Christian's life is built. Those who not only READ the words of Christ but also OBEY them are considered by God to be wise! i) 20 You, too, are built upon the foundation laid (meaning the truth taught) by the apostles and prophets, the cornerstone (which supports everything else) being Christ . . . (Ephesians 2:20)  ii) 24 'So then, anyone who hears these words of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock.' (Matthew 7:24)

The End ...