On Christ The Solid Rock I Stand

Lord plant my feet on higher ground"

Plant my feet on higher ground. Let’s examine that for a moment. I have never been interested in ‘Rock Climbing.’ I don’t understand those that do, I don’t condemn, just not my passion. There are risks in rock climbing, and the number of people killed trying to scale the mountain heights is staggering.

• Mount Mitchell in North Carolina is considered the highest peak in the United States East of the Rockies

• It is 6,711 feet above sea level

• It is named after Professor Elisha Mitchell of the University of North Carolina

In 1857 on his fourth climb up the mountain, he fell to his death. Later his ashes were taken to the top and buried there. He loved to get to the top of that rock that was higher than he. It was not a goal that most of us would consider worth the risk, but in the spiritual realm this same desire is to be the motivation of our life. We are too long to be led to that Rock that is higher than us and be ever climbing to a higher level of stability in Christ. If we are not so climbing, we will be sliding downward to that sand that is lower.

• You can't stand still in the Christian life

• We are always climbing higher or slipping lower

You don't have to be a rock collector or climber to be a good Christian, but you do have to be a rock lover - that is a lover of the rock of our salvation. The Old Testament saints like Abraham – Isaac - Jacob were always collecting rocks to build an altar to God. The people of God that we read about in the Hebrew Scriptures commemorated the significant events of their lives in a particular way. Scripture records they did so by building an altar, altars were made with rocks and stone.

• NOAH built an altar when he walked onto dry land following the flood

• ABRAHAM built an altar when he arrived in the land to which God has sent him. He built the ultimate altar of sacrifice on which he placed his son Isaac

• ISAAC, too, was an altar-builder

• MOSES raised an alter and called it Jehovah-Nissi (The Lord our Banner) to celebrate a military victory

• When GIDEON was preparing to do battle, he built an altar

• DAVID built an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite

A consistent theme of the Old Testament was altar-building. It celebrated the significant events of the Old Testament.

• At times of Joy - God’s people built altars

• At times of Sorrow – God’s people built altars

• In Victory or in Defeat – God’s people built altars

• When there was a need for Repentance - God’s people built altars

• When there was a celebration of God’s Faithfulness – God’s people built altars

• Even in modern times men of God meet with God around a pile of rocks symbolizing an altar

Our faith is built upon the rock of our salvation. In and of myself, I am anything but a rock. I am -

• Unstable

• Wishy-washy

• Insecure

• Faltering

• Movable

• More like a feather blown around on a windy day!

But when I place my faith on The Rock – Jesus, He Grounds Me - Stabilizes Me - Saves Me From Being Blown Away And Lost Forever. Jesus is also my firm foundation - my solid salvation - and my rock I can stand on in my daily growing faith.