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When Moses speaks of a rock he intends that in which men seek for security, repose, refreshment. By "our rock," he means the living God in whom the saints trust — He is the impregnable strength of His people; amid the weariness of life He is the rest of their soul, in Him they find sweet delight. By "their rock" Moses meant the idols, the religious systems, the worldly things, the lying vanities in which the natural man places his hope. The outside world often concedes the superiority of Christian hope. It is true, that the verdict given in our favour by worldly and unbelieving men is not always verbal and direct; it is often unintentional, implied, and indirect, but such concessions have a great value — in some respects they are more significant than are direct and verbal testimonies. And there is another objection we may anticipate. It may be said that the testimony of worldly and sceptical men to the superiority of the Christian faith can have little sincerity in it if they do not follow up their admission by accepting that faith. But a creed may have the sanction of a man's understanding and conscience, and yet he may refuse to adopt it. There is the power of prejudice, of worldly interest, there is the tyranny of passion and appetite, there is the pride of life, there is the want of inclination to believe and obey, there is the unwillingness of men to pay the price for a great ideal.

I. THE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS OF WORLDLINESS. The million trust in gold, pleasure, position, and in certain hours they are very confident and scornful. The flowery rock of pleasure is the true rock; the design of life is the gratification of the senses; sunshine, roses, and song are the desirable things. To others the golden rock is the true rock. Safety, leisure, honour, greatness, and the fulness of joy are guaranteed by the golden reef; laying up treasure in heaven is a silly illusion of the saints. Others declare the proud rock of position is the true rock. He who builds a palace has reached life's hope and glory; there is no religion but the religion of success, and the children of advantage and renown look with pity on men whose only distinction is goodness and faith, Flushed with pleasure, intoxicated with health and wealth, blinded by the pride of life, they cry frantically: "Great is Diana of the Ephesians." But the days come when they think very little of Diana. Having served fame, pleasure, appetite, pride, mammon, they declare that they have been betrayed and mocked, and they look sympathetically and longingly to the religious life they have neglected. They do not find under their rock the sweetness they expected; in the days of health, of opulence, of pleasure, they are disappointed; the honey out of their rock is poisoned and its waters are bitter. They extol the apple of Sodom, and make a face whilst they eat it. They do not find the rest for which they hoped. Life is a weariness, the burden and heat of the day is too great to be borne. They do not find the security and peace they desire. They quarrel with their rock whilst they live; they mistrust it at the grave, for in their lips is the cry of Balaam: "Let me die the death of the righteous," etc.

II. THE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS OF UNBELIEF.

1. The sceptical world makes intellectual concessions to our creed. In our day we have witnessed a remarkable sight in the sceptical world, We have seen a great sceptic make a new rock, and we have seen how slavishly he has copied our rock. No one can study that most wonderful modern system of secularism known as positivism without being struck with its close resemblance to the Christian doctrine, worship, and hope. A story is told of one of our painters that, having painted a picture with a fine rock in it, he went to see another picture painted by a brother artist in which also a rock was a prominent feature; immediately he saw it, the original artist broke out, "He has stolen my rock, he has stolen my rock!" When I read the French sceptic's multitudinous pages I find the same cry again and again coming to my lips. Of course, I soon see that it is not my rock, not the granite foundation, not the Rock of Ages, but only plaster of Paris, on which can be built no house of salvation. Nevertheless it is a great concession to Christianity that unbelief should thus follow its lines, imitate its dogmas, worship, fellowship, and hope. In nature there is a phenomenon known as "mimicry," it is a curious fact on which our modern scientists have written largely, namely, that one class of insects or birds acquire characteristics which belong to another class, they come closely to resemble creatures with which they have no real affinity. But mind this, it is always the weak and inferior creature that apes the stronger and higher, never the superior that imitates the inferior.

2. Unbelief makes many practical concessions to our creed.

(1) Such an acknowledgment of the preciousness of our faith comes from the domestic circle in the indisposition of the unbeliever to make sceptics of his family. Men wish to do their best for their families.

(2) Such an acknowledgment comes from the business world. Scepticism may be considered a virtue in literary circles, but it is hardly accepted as such in the practical world even by irreligious men. I saw once an advertisement for a clerk: "Freethinker preferred." I do not know what kind of business was transacted in that office, or what came of that advertisement, but how strangely it sounded! I have seen it only once — significant fact.

(3) Such an acknowledgment comes from the political sphere. The validity of religion is denied in theory, but the men who deny its truth and authority confess that politically it is useful, nay, indispensable — they agree to regard it as a useful superstition. Gibbon, infidel as he was, attacking the Christian religion with learning, eloquence, and satire, yet went to church, because he confessed that he felt that government and order would be impossible unless the common people were awed by the supernatural. When later a rationalist like Edmond About said, "What France needs is ten millions of Protestants, he gave utterance to the same thought — that a spiritual faith is essential to order, to civilisation, to progress. And many able unbelievers of late years have looked with the deepest misgiving on the spread of infidel opinion — they believed that the opinion was correct, yet that socially and politically it was perilous. To discredit religious faith was to loosen the bands of order and government.

III. THE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS OF HEATHENISM.

1. The heathen are deeply impressed with our superior civilisation, which has its roots in our faith. We do not go to them with an abstract faith, but with a creed attested by many powerful and conspicuous demonstrations. We possess a marvellous sciences a vast commerces a splendid literature — power, wealth, culture, liberty almost unexampled. Christianity can say with its author: "Believe me for the very works' sake." This spectacle of a supreme civilisation in many ways affects the thought of the pagan when he considers the merit of our faith. He looks round on the backwardness, the weakness, the ignorance, the poverty, the subordination of his own land, and feels there is something seriously amiss with his gods, temples, and scriptures. "Their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges." The heathen is deeply impressed by our philanthropy, which is also a fruit of our faith. In a recent article on "The Amelioration of the Condition of Hindu Women," which appeared in a native newspaper in India, called The Hindu, occur these words: "We by no means approve of the attempts of the evangelists to Christianise India. We believe in the Hindu religion, and in the suitability of its doctrines to the people of this land,...but it is impossible not to admire and feel thankful for the good work the missionaries are doing. It is a matter of standing reproach to us that we are not able to do for our countrymen and women half as much as the Christian missionaries are doing for us."

(W. L. Watkinson.)

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KJV: For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.

WEB: For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.