A Refuge from the storm (Quality very good)

[0:00] If the Lord shall be pleased to help me, I shall call your attention to a subject that you will find in the book of Isaiah, chapter 25, and just one sentence in the center of the fourth verse.

[0:25] A refuge from the storm. Chapter 25, the book of Isaiah, and a sentence in the center of the fourth verse, a refuge from the storm.

[0:48] This is what Jesus Christ has made to poor sinners when they are born again and realize their need of a refuge which will avail them for time and eternity too.

[1:14] The subject to you may seem to be one that is very simple to bring before you and very familiar to.

[1:24] And yet even the familiarity of it can be a danger. Are you inside the refuge that Jesus Christ is?

[1:39] Jesus is the door, yet the sides are two, inside, outside. Which side are you?

[1:50] From baby days on, you dear young people, have heard about Jesus Christ as a refuge. You have learned from baby days on to sing about it, rock of ages.

[2:08] Shelter me, let me hide myself indeed. But is that how you feel before God with whom you have to do? You all know, I need take up no time to prove that the value of a refuge, such a refuge, as will avail for time and eternity too, consists in being inside it.

[2:34] You may sing about it.

[3:04] And now that is our great concern regarding you, dear young people, that God in his great mercy will so lead you into his truth.

[3:20] And first of all, the truth of what you are by nature as sinners. And then, show you this refuge, which the word of God refers to, I should judge, more than any other illustration, which the Holy Spirit has been pleased to use in, Indicting the word of God, a refuge from the storm.

[4:00] You will notice that it says the storm. And now, at the present time, I'm not sitting any caps on, but I'll just tell you the truth, dear young people.

[4:16] At the present time, as you are journeying through life where you are in life's morning, you have got quite a deal that is very pleasant to dwell in.

[4:31] You have got LSD, quite a deal of it too, in your pocket. And there are many pleasures that you can enjoy that were not to be known by many of us who are old and grey-headed in our life's morning, and by no means were our pockets lined with LSD like yours are.

[4:59] But, I want to warn you, you must not think the sky will always be blue, but on the horizon already, there are dark clouds coming up, and there are days of testing ahead.

[5:20] You will find storms will come, and as you go forth in life, especially when you dwell under your own home roof, in your own little family circle, there will be storms within and without, because God has so ordained it.

[5:44] Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward. And now, there will be storms beating upon you, it may be, in the very near future, and you will need a refuge.

[6:01] And it will not have to be a man-made refuge. A man-made refuge is said to be, and it is, in this book of Isaiah, a refuge of lies.

[6:14] A man-made refuge is said to be, and it says also, in that scripture, and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

[6:35] And now, you will need a refuge then, that is not man-made, but one that is provided by God.

[6:51] And what a wonderful mercy it is, that God was pleased to condescend, to provide such a refuge for sinners, and down through the ages, countless multitudes, have sheltered therein for time and eternity too.

[7:14] And that is what our great concern is, that God will so deal with you, that you shall realize your need of him as a refuge, and say what godly David did in his day, I flee unto thee to hide me.

[7:38] When the Lord began to deal with me, when I was eighteen years of age, there was one hymn that was a great favourite and still is of mine, amid the sorrows of the way, Lord Jesus, teach my soul to pray, and let me taste thy special grace, and run to Christ, my hiding place.

[8:08] It just set forth what I desired in my heart, that God would enable me to do. And now, looking at this subject, I read to you what is very familiar to you, you've heard about it all your life long, about the cities of refuge.

[8:33] And, it is very impressive to watch how God in his infinite wisdom ordained that those cities should be where they were.

[8:48] They were spaced out in the land of promise, and outside it, so that when the refugees were in need of a shelter, they could make good speed to where the city of refuge was.

[9:10] And if they came to a road with a fork in it for another road, then there was a signpost that said, refuge, refuge, showing them which was the way to go to reach the city of refuge.

[9:27] And you know, it was a very solemn business to be fleeing to a city of refuge in your felt need of that shelter it afforded, because in those days there were blood pews, so that if a man unwittingly slew his neighbor, then the nearest relative of that neighbor would make it his business to kill the man who had committed the murder, although it was unwittingly, and that went on from generation to generation.

[10:04] And God provided for that, because the land of Canaan was not absolutely conquered, the Canaanites still dwelt in the land, and God did not design that the Israelites should follow up blood pews, and he provided cities of refuge.

[10:29] As I read to you, there were six cities appointed, and speaking about the signpost that pointed out the way to go, refuge, refuge, that reminds us of all those who teach and who preach, and that is their great concern, as grace is given, to show the way, and tell what a dear saviour they have found, and point to his redeeming blood, and say, behold the way to God, and then in those cities of refuge, there were no weapons of war allowed to be, which is to teach all those who were born again, all who were taught of God, what you read in the

[11:34] Corinthians epistle, we do not war after the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty, through God, to the pulling down of strongholds, you will remember reading, where it was said in Old Testament times, you shall not need to fight in this battle, the Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace, and now that is what every sinner born again, is enabled to prove, as he puts God to the test, in his dealings with him, the Lord will appear on his behalf, ye shall not need to fight in this battle, use your own wisdom, your own initiative, in dealing with whatever matters may arise, that you want to see cleared up, you must commit it unto the

[12:42] Lord, and wait upon him to fight for you. Another thought is this, a refuge from the storm, and now I've often thought how good it is of God in the name of these cities of refuge, of which there were six, every one of them has a meaning which relates to Jesus Christ, in what he is, as that refuge for sinners, which the gospel makes known.

[13:28] And now the name of one city was Bezer, and that means fortress. Do you remember Martin Luther wrote a wonderful hymn on Psalm 46, 6, and it begins, a strong fortress is our God, a refuge never failing.

[13:57] And when there were storms in the land in which Luther lived, when there were things arising, opposition to the Church of Christ, and things sometimes were heavy going, then Martin Luther used to say to his friend Philip Melanchthon, come Philip, let us now sing the 46th Psalm, and they sung that hymn, and in singing it they would feel again they were in the refuge from the storm that the Psalmist speaks about.

[14:34] God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Another city, was named Ramoth, and now the meaning of that name is high place, and there is a word in Isaiah which tells us how people thought of God are lifted up on high when all around them seems to be so discouraging he should dwell on high, his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks, bread shall be given him, his water shall be sure, munitions is not what many people think it is, a war coined word, it is found in the word of God, munitions of rocks, and it means supplies, stores, and of a truth, if you are helped to dwell in this refuge that Jesus

[15:47] Christ is, there is a word which guarantees for you, my God shall supply all your needs, out of his riches in glory, by Christ Jesus, us, and now there is another city of refuge which was named Golan, and now that name means revelation, and you will never know this refuge that Jesus Christ is, and search it out by your own eyesight, you will need it to be revealed to you, and then need grace to flee into it, there is a word in the Corinthians epistle which will help you to understand what I want you to realize, where the Apostle

[16:48] Paul tells us but as it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him, but God hath revealed them unto us by his spirit.

[17:15] You cannot enter into these things by just education. Education is not to be despised, it is good but for this life only and to fit you for living this life and what God may ordain you to be in some sphere of usefulness but it cannot in and of itself fit you for eternity.

[17:47] Do remember that however intellectual you may be it will not help you to gain the sky. God never meant that men should scale the heavens by strides of human wisdom.

[18:06] It must be by revelation alone that you are found in this refuge that Jesus Christ is. And now Hebron was the name of another city of refuge and that means friends and fellowship.

[18:25] What did you sing a little while ago? Where friends hold fellowship with friends and that is before the mercy seat.

[18:40] As some of you dear young people I'm drawing a boat adventure listen to those who pray in public when you have been at the prayer meeting and listen for yourself if to be some petitions that welled up in the breast of the one trying to pray spoke on your behalf and you found in your heart an amen to what he was begging of God to do on his own behalf.

[19:17] That is the fellowship referred to. Oh it is at the throne of grace where all suspicion prejudice disunity all vanishes and you dust tail in and you flow together to the goodness of God and you realise he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit and we know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren oh if you should be favoured to get inside this refuge you will find it to be Hebron you will find he who is the refuge is a friend who sticketh closer than a brother yes and all who dwell therein you will feel one with them in the things of God and sweet it is to have that feeling love is the golden chain that binds the favoured souls above and he is a heir of heaven who finds his bosom glow with love another name of the city of refuge was

[20:33] Kadesh and now do listen Kadesh means holiness and it says of all who dwell in this refuge from the storm all who are born again and they shall be called a holy people and they love holiness although the more you love it sometimes the more you look within and feel the very opposite of what you desire to be but it is a holy principle godly fear which makes you to know what you are by nature and lament it and say with Paul I would do good but evil is present with me do remember that the last city of refuge was named

[21:34] Shechem and now Shechem means strength and now that means that whatever your need may be whether it be to do with your soul salvation or in your everyday life in your circumstances even in your family circle there is help in God strength is his he is called the strength of Israel and how strong is God you might think that's a strange question but I want you to think about it how strong is God God has the strength of omnipotence he is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or even think and they that wait upon the

[22:39] Lord shall renew their strength and in that sense when they feel the Lord appearing on their behalf and they find their strength renewed and when he overturns the mountains by the roots and they look on like Manoah and his wife and the angel did wondrously and Manoah and his wife looked on they are dwelling in Shechem then even in this refuge from the storm that Jesus Christ is and now there is another illustration which I want to just refer to before I come to open up the subject yet a little more from another viewpoint and that is where David when he was fleeing from Saul the word of God tells us

[23:42] David therefore departed then and escaped to the cave of Dullam and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it they went down thither to him and now do listen to this it seems very simple in the reading of it but the truth of it is very beautiful when you think of a greater than David and everyone that was in distress and everyone that was in debt and everyone that was discontented margin reading for discontented is bitter of Saul gathered themselves unto him and he became a captain over them and now these are the people who want to find Jesus Christ to be a refuge from the storm poor sinners who are in distress about their souls eternal welfare poor sinners who feel to be deep in debt under the law which demands pay me that which thou owe'st and they cannot produce a far then not one stitch of the righteousness which the law demands for payment and everyone that was discontented there you see poor sinners who have to declare

[25:15] I cannot hear contented live with all the dainties earth can give oh they are sinners who have a case for God for him to touch with his touch which still hath its ancient power and to know he is Jehovah Rophi the Lord which healeth a refuge from the storm and now I want to take this word refuge and just give you a few thoughts taking each letter of the word showing you what kind of a refuge Jesus Christ is and now the letter R stands for revealed I've already hinted at it in the name of the city of

[26:15] Golan which stands for revelation Jesus Christ is a revealed refuge and now if you study the word of God you will find oh God makes that play not only in putting it down in words for you to read but in other illustrations and now when Israel were in the wilderness wandering there for forty years and the tabernacle was set up in the midst of Israel's camp in the holy place in the tabernacle there was the seven branch golden candlestick and that alone gave the light for the priest to do their work there were no windows in the tabernacle no daylight was allowed to filter through but they did their work in that light which was provided by the golden candlesticks and it says that the candlesticks were fed with beaten olive oil for the sanctuary and now that is to teach us that you can only know the things of

[27:32] God are right by him whose things they are leading you into his truth in thy light shall we see light thy word is a lamp unto my feet a light unto my path you remember when Saul of Tarsus was wrought on by God on the Damascus road that for a while he was blind and needed someone to lead him but when the Lord appeared on his behalf having convinced him of his sin and then blessed him indeed when that good Ananias went to comfort him and speak words which God indicted him to tell Saul of Tarsus as to what the will of

[28:33] God was concerning him you read and they fell from his eyes as it had been scaled and then he could see clearly and now as sinners come into the world regarding the things of God they have got scales on their eyes scales of ignorance of God scales of enmity to him and this truth and however much they may think they know something about these things they do not know them aright until the scales fall from their eyes and the eyes of the blind are open then they see light in God's light and this refuge is revealed and glad they are to see it and what do you think sometimes about it they that in the

[29:37] Lord confide and shelter in his wounded side to see all dangers over past stand every storm and live at last yes a refuge from the storm and that refuge blessed be God is revealed in the word of his grace but everything hinges as I have said on you being found inside him I am the door said Jesus if any man enter in he should go in and out and find pasture and now the letter E stands forever open sometimes you sing this the door of thy mercy stands open all day to the poor and the needy who knock by the way no sinner was ever yet empty sent back who came seeking mercy for

[30:41] Jesus save I must not take up time to make any comment from that viewpoint but I will just say that I have had many searchings of heart in my life even in time from a pastor's viewpoint right to tidy up somewhere and that rent between you and God with whom you have to do do suffer that word of exhortation for

[31:44] I wish you well and now you know that Bernardo's homes have got a motto and they have been helped to live up to it to a very very great degree no destitute child is ever refused admission and now it might be that there can be contingencies arising through warfare Bernardo's homes being blitzed and things like that that they might not be able to continue to fulfill that motto as they have done hitherto but as regards this refuge that Jesus Christ is ever open refuge it will never never fail any poor sinner who seeks admission to it yea the word of God says him that cometh unto me I will in no way cast out he will regard the prayer of the destitute and not despise their prayer blessed refuge from the storm for young and old alike an ever open refuge and then the letter F stands for full in the cities of refuge according to what we gather and from what Jewish history tells also there were always supplies in the cities of refuge for refugees what I read to you there was always bread bread should be given water shall be sure and Jesus Christ as the refuge for sinners that he is oh the word of God tells us in the most wonderful word in him there dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and sometimes you sing about that fullness the fullness resides in Jesus our head and ever abides to answer our needs the Father's good pleasure hath laid up in store a plentiful treasure to give to the poor yes a refuge that is full and it means not only your needs in grace and your needs to do with your soul's salvation but your needs in providence are all available to be supplied from this refuge that Jesus Christ is if you seek his divine aid the word of God makes that very plain where do you think the ravens got the bread and flesh that they brought to Elijah morning and evening when he dwelt by the brook Pyrrhus oh they found it in this refuge that the text tells us about do remember that and it says they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing so the letter F stands for fool there was always something to meet the needs of the refugees for them to be clothed and to be fed and in Jesus Christ there is an infinite fullness and the greatest mercy

[35:45] you dear young people can know is to be able to say feelingly mark what I said feelingly out of the abundance of the heart for the mouth to speak it what godly John said and of his fullness have all we receive and grace for grace one of them writer says and at the time he was feelingly dwelling in this refuge he who has made my heaven secure will hear all good provide while Christ is rich I can't be poor what can I want besides and now the letter U stands for unfailing Jesus Christ is an unfailing refuge he is ever available wherever you may be do remember that dear young people because in the years ahead you may not be under Union Chapel roof but you may be scattered far and wide and you may look back to your life's mourning and think on these times that you are now living in and how you used to gather under Union Chapel roof to worship God and month by month for these young people's services do remember that you can stand at the foot of Jacob's ladder at any time anywhere worldwide north, south, east or west

[37:28] God is approachable do remember that and if you were helped to draw near to the ladder's foot which means to be found before the mercy seat you will see what Jacob saw in his dream and the Lord stood above it and you will see the Lord by living faith dealing with you and that which you desire are to be done on your behalf awake sweet gratitude and sing the ascended saviour's love sing how he lives to carry on his people's cause above and he does that at the top of the ladder that Jacob saw the foot of the ladder being on the earth denotes his humanity the top which reached to heaven denotes the deity of Jesus Christ and thus there was a blessed means of communication between earth and heaven and God has provided it and thus you can prove

[38:40] Jesus Christ to be a refuge from the storm whatever the nature of the storm may be much might be said along that line of thought but I do not want to keep you long and now the letter G stands for God given you ought to say thank you to God that he has provided it and it was at an amazing cost that God provided it much more than any of us can ever begin to comprehend however much we ponder the matter in our heart it is one of those deep things of God which are unfathomable as deep as deity itself God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life oh it is a God given refuge wonderful it is that God should have had it in his mind to provide it and down through the ages he has made it manifest and patriarchs and selmists and prophets and now in a gospel day those whom

[40:10] God ordains to preach they love to tell of a refuge for sinners which the gospel makes known it is found in the merits of Jesus alone the weary the tempted and burdened by sin were never exempted from entering therein God given is this refuge and there is this viewpoint of that truth if you say I'm not at all concerned to enter into it I would rather live my life outside it and live as I was born and be after the flesh the things of the flesh and be in the world and of it if you should make up your mind to live like that and if you should die like that you will be lost and I have told you not all the preachers God ever sent to preach put together doing their utmost to describe what it means to be lost can tell you what a millionth part of it is to be lost as long as God shall God remain so long shall last hell's lingering pain so long the joys of heaven shall be oh long delight long misery oh do not turn your backs on this refuge do not make up your minds that when you can break loose from your family circle and your godly father and mother that you will go off on your own and live as you lift and do as you like for the word of

[42:03] God is very solemn regarding such behaviour he that rejecteth me and my words hath one that judgeth him the word that I have spoken it should judge him at the last day he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption oh but listen dear young people who want to dwell in this refuge as grace is given he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting and one and one writer says very beautifully approach my soul the mercy seat where Jesus answers prayer and humbly lie at his dear feet for none can perish there a refuge from the storm and now we come to the last letter

[43:03] E and that stands for everlasting what did Moses say to Israel of old when he gave them his last address the eternal God is thy refuge and remember if you should have the wondrous mercy to be found inside this refuge and realise the mercy of God made known toward you and get a glimpse of Jesus Christ with a sweet hope that he died on Calvary's cross for you that sweet blessed experience will never never die out of your soul it will be a reality for time and eternity too they that once is kindness proved find it everlasting love a refuge from the storm revealed ever open full unfailing

[44:20] God given everlasting child love faith so as for things to rare things above glauben your eyes h mine. And dear young people, may that refuge be yours. Amen.

[45:17] Simmons Follow ballots книge And They love with Zeal ready to your altar floor, Yahweh's hand Istera right's Back teen doors worship every day,agan

[46:20] Where the world is the sky Where can they go and the world Where who can they fly It is that the true can stay Of the heaven of that day When the cloud is far will fade And in vain for shall thou raise

[47:30] Then will be a story tree Let go now the awesome band May I now turn right with me Fly and find a refuge To death Where does the king fill the song Is secure for every heart

[48:31] To the heaven of that day Make a love for you Till thou long For one where thee love and praise Dwell in Christ the sinner's land And a smalleurysmal Till the attention, the cruel Its vast Is about the earth

[49:33] To have left May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, the communion of the Holy Spirit be upon us and all who love the truth everywhere. Amen and Amen.

[50:00] Amen.

[50:30] Amen.