The eternal God is thy refuge (ii) (Quality: Very good)

[0:00] With the Lord's help, I will again direct your attention to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 33, verse 27.

[0:11] The book of Deuteronomy, chapter 33, verse 27. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.

[0:30] And he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee, and shall say, Destroy them. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.

[0:47] And he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee, and shall say, Destroy them. In the 31st chapter of Isaiah that we read, we saw a warning given to the futility of going down to Egypt for help, or expecting to receive any consolation therefrom.

[1:17] We were then directed in the next chapter to that man. That shall be indeed a refuge in our time of trouble.

[1:33] The refuge in itself is described under various titles. For example, the man shall be a hiding place from the wind, and a cupboard from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as a shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

[2:01] This morning, our attentions were directed to the important words, the eternal God.

[2:16] And we spoke a little concerning this eternity being in connection with his nature, and with his person.

[2:26] And since this was so, then the refuge that he became unto his people would be infinite, because God is infinite.

[2:42] And he is infinite in his knowledge, he is infinite in his power, infinite in his wisdom, and in his mercy, and in his kindness.

[3:02] This evening, we would seek to set before you the manner in which these things are discovered to us through the preaching of the gospel.

[3:17] The eternal God is thy refuge. There are few people, perhaps, in thinking upon the Lord Jesus Christ, really think upon him as the eternal God who is their refuge.

[3:39] We have only to read in the gospel, in the gospel accounts, to discover that many opinions were expressed concerning the person of Christ.

[3:57] it needed divine revelation for any person to see in him the eternal God, and that eternal God to be their refuge.

[4:16] By divine enlightenment, there were some, Peter, Thomas, Paul, just as a few examples, who were given that divine light whereby they beheld in the law of Jesus Christ the eternal God.

[4:43] Now, it is important for us that we have this view. I cannot persuade you into it. God can give you faith to believe it that when Jesus took to himself human flesh, he was the eternal God on the earth, veiled in that flesh.

[5:11] a point we must make here, although I think we have made it recently, is this, that though the Lord himself was the eternal God in human flesh, he was also, he also remained the eternal God in the ever-blessed Trinity.

[5:37] the Lord is in every place. God is a spirit. Solomon, he had such a view of God's immensity that he said, the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, much less this house that I have built.

[6:04] This is a great mystery, but it is important that we should believe it. I may say it is essential that we should believe it, that though Jesus Christ walked upon this earth, he was the eternal God, yet he was not absent from heaven during that period.

[6:33] Now, how differently we shall look at our Lord Jesus Christ, if our eyes are opened and our hearts are charged with these words, the eternal God is thy refuge.

[6:53] As the Lord may help us, we would speak, first of all, in respect to salvation. salvation. And here, there is no other refuge.

[7:07] What does salvation mean? It means that we are saved from the wrath of God. It means that we are saved from going down into the pit.

[7:23] That is hell itself. it means that we are delivered from everlasting fire.

[7:38] Now, if the wrath of God is real, if hell is real, if everlasting fire is real, then we shall flee for a refuge.

[7:56] How do we know these things to be real? A godly man, who has now been in heaven for some years, I believe, had the revelation given to him in a dream.

[8:14] And in that dream, he saw, as it were, fire, the world being on fire. And wherever he looked, and wherever he attempted to go, there was fire.

[8:31] And written in fiery letters were these words, flee from the wrath to come. You can imagine that when he woke from this dream, he was in a great dilemma.

[8:52] it had been so real to him, that the world was to come to an end, that the ending of the world was the result of God's wrath being poured out upon it, and there was this warning to him, flee from the wrath to come.

[9:12] and he was in great trouble. It was no time for laying in bed anymore.

[9:27] He could not rest. His wife attempted to console him, but this seemed to be weak consolation.

[9:44] As it happened, she picked the hymn book up and read from her hymn 144. Jesus, my all to heaven is gone.

[10:00] He whom I fix my hopes upon, his track I see and I'll pursue the narrow way till him I view. When she came to the fourth verse, the more I strove against its power, I sinned and stumbled, but the more.

[10:23] This seemed to be the crowning condemnation to this poor man. And he said, it's no use, it's no use, it's no use. no, it is not without some remarkable circumstance that in our larger hymn books, at that point, the page turns over.

[10:46] Till late, I heard my Savior say, come hither soul, I am the way.

[10:56] and there was only one way to that despairing sinner and that was Jesus Christ.

[11:08] And Jesus Christ had to be the eternal God and also the eternal refuge. and so there was a conviction laid in the heart at that time that there was hell, that there was everlasting fire, that there was the wrath of God to be poured out and a refuge was needed.

[11:43] And the rocks weren't good enough and the whims and fancies of a vain hope were not good enough. It was necessary for Christ to be revealed.

[11:59] Not only Christ as a man like ourselves, though he is, but the eternal God, that he might be a refuge from the wrath of God.

[12:14] God. So then, the eternal God is thy refuge. How is Jesus Christ a refuge under these circumstances?

[12:30] What will our faith see? Well, it will see the Lord Jesus Christ bearing up, supported, divinely supported, under the outpouring of the wrath of God.

[12:49] The wrath of God in its depth will be felt forever in the hearts of the lost by reason of the absence of the smile of God.

[13:06] God in order that the Lord Jesus might suffer hell for his people, he came to the point where he expressed himself in these words, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

[13:30] when we consider that the eternal God who is thy refuge was holy and harmless and undefiled and separate from sinners, we may well ask the question, why was it that he was forsaken?

[13:54] His soul, his human soul was forsaken of his God. he was bearing all incarnate God could bear with strength enough and none to spare.

[14:10] But what also is set before us? The eternal God is thy refuge and in order that the eternal wrath of God might not descend and remain upon may we say you it was necessary that our saviour should stand between and bear in his own body our sins on the tree all the fireiness of divine wrath.

[14:51] Oh now shall we not get a glimpse of what of who Christ really is the eternal God is thy refuge refuge indeed if we should stand as it were and ask ourselves the question is this refuge to me then we shall be glad if this scripture may appeal to us by way of invitation the eternal God is thy refuge therefore come my people and enter into your closet until the danger be overpassed it was necessary that the son of

[15:56] God the eternal son of God should be the refuge of the whole family of God there was none that was good enough there was none that was strong enough there was none that was capable enough to bear the tremendous weight that was laid upon him now how do you feel how do I feel in respect to our sins you no one has put it like this what must the load of all have been when only mine so great now if the load of sin has ever pressed you down you will need one to be a deliverer refuge may be looked at like this as that which is between in a simple illustration we may take a child and a barking dog and the child is frightened and needs a refuge and the father comes and stands in front of the child and before the dog now the child is in refuge from the dog by reason of the father's presence in the same way

[17:49] Christ is the refuge for his people from all the powers of sin and Satan as he stands between now what a war is here how impenetrable what happens to the child when that refuge is realized is there not a quietness and is there not peace toward the end of the thirty second chapter of Isaiah we read my people shall dwell in peaceable habitation in a peaceable habitation and in sure dwellings and in quiet resting places when it shall hail coming down on the forest and the city shall be low in a low place the work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever the eternal

[18:57] God is thy refuge the eternal God will further be thy refuge in so far that he himself is the truth we do read in the scriptures of being chased out of refuges of lies some of these refuges of lies may be contained in this that we may trust in our own self righteousness in our own upright life now such such a refuge will not be good enough when the holiness and righteousness of God appears the eternal God is thy refuge in that his life is sufficient and adequate to answer on every occasion whatever the law demands he is able to say

[20:12] I've kept it whatever the law may require he is able to say here I am I have completed it and there is nothing that is owing or wanting in this sense from the law of God in all its penetrating perfection we may observe this that the eternal God is thy refuge it is only when we become aware of the spirituality of the law that we shall need the eternal God to be our refuge those that trust in their own self righteousness trust in it because they're not aware of the penetrating perfections of the law the law is spiritual Paul tells us in Romans 7 that he himself was alive without the law once he was alive because he was not aware that it was spiritual but when the law when the commandment came he says sin revived and I died and that which he thought to be unto life was unto death what shall we do when the law condemns us when we feel that we have failed and I do not want to regard this as just an experience which we may have possibly in the early stages of what we might call our testimony of the work of

[22:04] God there will be many days when we shall be aware that we have failed what shall we say at the end of this day shall we be able to hold up our heads and say that we have kept the law to the satisfaction of God if we should be so deluded as to think that we've kept the law to the satisfaction of ourselves our level is very much lower than God's if according to our own feelings we should have kept the law outwardly yet God requires the law to be kept inwardly and therefore we shall need a holy man to keep the law for us now the eternal God is thy refuge will Jesus Christ be presented to our eyes this evening in all his glory the glory of his holiness and righteousness we might go so far as to say the glory of his dedication it is a word dedication that is often misused often misapplied but we can use it certainly in respect to the

[23:30] Lord Jesus Christ he was dedicated in every respect in every respect in his life to do his father's will his father's will was set forth in the law of God now the eternal God is thy refuge it convicts us and it will convict us until we are brought to Christ for the law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ but when we are brought to Christ then the apostle says we have no longer need of a schoolmaster but what does it mean to be brought to Christ it means that we should see in him that the eternal

[24:32] God is our refuge in this respect that he has kept the law for us not only so but he has magnified it and made it honorable the eternal God is thy refuge we do not want to miss out on this important point that what we have endeavored to set before you is not merely that which is in the letter of truth but that which is in the spirit now the letter killeth but the spirit maketh alive and if the spirit make us alive we shall be aware of the eternal God being our refuge one who is able to save us to deliver us to bring us into peace Christ

[25:34] Jesus is the refuge of his people and sweet will be the occasion when such a word as we read in Romans 8 verse 1 might be your experience there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit how important then to know that the eternal God in Jesus Christ is the refuge of his people but then there are many fears which arise in the hearts of God's children how shall we be delivered from them if our fear is real we shall not be able to remain in it for long because fear in its acute stage will make us tremble will make us unsettled now when we say that we're in great fear fear you will have to judge yourself as to whether you are in great fear sometimes our hearts deceive us we may be ready to say that we're in great fear and then that fear seems to vanish we will take up one or two points however in the scripture and one of them shall be this there were they in great fear where no fear was now it is

[27:32] Satan's purpose to bring the children of God into great fear where no fear was that is where there was no reason to fear the art of Satan's working is this that he will very often use a single word to commence his sentences and that word is if if has it sometimes sent the shivers down your spine by the wording by just this one word if if they'll be the children of God if you are a child of God then why has this come upon you and we may often be in great fear where there is no reason to fear what is

[28:37] Satan doing he's endeavouring to put a cloak on things to bring imaginations into our heart which are not true and to cause us to think that all these things are against us as Jacob thought and yet it is our privilege and benefit to read in the book of Genesis that all such things were working together for his good by reason of the things that happened to Jacob the things that appeared to be against him were such things that were principally correcting him for his idolatry of his son Joseph now we may have a point here it is so easy for a poor fallen man to idolize a person a child are such and such things presented to us in such a light that all these things are against me when what

[29:49] God is doing is delivering us from an idolatrous spirit but you see the situation is so acute that we may well hear the beatings of Jacob's heart crying out for a refuge the eternal God is thy refuge and he will not permit the adverse providences that as we mentioned this morning could well be in the hand of Satan in order to prove your faith yet the eternal God is over them all and is a refuge from the flood you will remember perhaps that in the revelation we read about the devil breathing out a flood if so be he might drown the church of God but there was one that helped that woman representing the church and delivered her from the flood now the eternal God is thy refuge in this way when he supplies us with food and drink refuge that is a refuge from starvation some people in more in former times in this land and maybe in present times in other lands have known what it is to come near to starvation they have reproved this the eternal

[31:41] God is thy refuge there were times when this was remarkably manifested when the children of Israel were walking through the wilderness on one occasion the manna was sent on another occasion Moses struck the rock and water came out and on those two occasions we may perhaps consider these words the eternal God is thy refuge refuge from starvation now we may apply that in the spiritual sense because in the book of Amos we read there shall not be a famine of bread or of water but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord now when this is so what shall we do where shall we go how shall we be delivered is it not to be found in the strength of these words the eternal

[32:46] God is thy refuge he is described as bread he is described as water you know one good man has said this a crumb of mercy Lord I crave unworthy to be fed with dainties such as angels have or with the children's bread a crumb of mercy now if we are full we might despise a crumb but if we are starving we might relish a crumb and we should not forget this that if the eternal God is thy refuge a few loaves and fishes were so multiplied that he was able to satisfy the needs of five thousand men besides women and children now drawing a conclusion from this we shall be bound to observe that a crumb of God's mercy just a sentence just a word applied to your soul blessed by the spirit of God will so enlarge that you will be saved from starvation and the eternal rock the eternal

[34:08] God in this way will have proved to be a refuge God is a refuge for us this is discoverable in a day to day experience how much we need to be supplied with daily bread naturally and do we not need to be supplied with daily bread spiritually now how do we see things in this light the eternal God is thy refuge shall we not worship God falling down and worship worshiping the eternal God who is the God that we worship we are bound to ask ourselves a personal question here do we worship the eternal God do we worship him who is infinite do we worship him who is in every place do we worship him who is ever merciful ever gracious ever wise the eternal

[35:30] God is thy refuge then we may think of sickness and my mind goes to the case of the lepers now they were in a dire situation a dire situation leprosy was not only a sad disease but it had a separating effect now if the life of God is in your soul it will be a sad matter if you are separated from the congregation what will you say is there any place in which or any person in whom I can find a refuge we may look to the new testament accounts to tell us about the lepers that came to Jesus Christ and there was one that came and said if they'll canst if they'll wilt they'll canst make me clean now he came to

[36:41] Jesus Christ the eternal son of God as a refuge there were thousands of people to whom he might have gone to seek that his leprosy might be cleansed but he knew that no one could cleanse him but God and so with faith given to him he comes to the Lord Jesus the eternal God as his refuge the holy hope of his salvation the only hope of his healing and he says if they'll wilt they'll canst make me clean and may we behold the richness and the glory of that refuge in the answer that was given I will be thou clean I will now we get this view of the eternal God being the refuge of his people he is ever willing to admit them to this refuge

[37:47] I will does sin trouble us leprosy in its natural form and sin in its spiritual form go along together now does sin trouble us do we need to be clean do we long to be clean do we abhor ourselves because of the sin which is in our members and do we feel that if this remains it will be the death of us in the end then the eternal God is thy refuge shall we profess our faith in this respect by coming like the man already cited if thou wilt thou canst make me clean you know there is a work of faith to be exercised if thou wilt thou canst make me clean the people of God you know are not automatums they're not robos so to speak they're not people that have no power

[39:03] I'm now referring to those that are born again of the spirit because when a person is born again of the spirit they have spiritual faculties they have faith they have hope they have love those faculties can be worked upon and they are worked upon by the spirit of God and therefore they become capable of this remarkable movement in the face of all opposition of coming to this refuge the eternal God is thy refuge if we have been forced out of all other refuges of lies may we not come to this refuge of the weary soul you know they fell down and there was none to help and they cried unto the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them out of all their distresses is the description given to us in Psalm 107 he delivered them who the eternal

[40:19] God has he delivered us have we been led in such a pathway that no one less than the eternal God could ever deliver us could ever be our refuge could ever be our salvation yea could ever be our desire now you see taking another case of the lepers we remember that there were ten on one occasion and the Lord commanded them to go according to the law and to show themselves unto the priests and while they went they perceived that they were cleansed now this was God's work and one of them only one out of ten returned to give thanks unto God may we not say there was only one that had the revelation given to him that this was the eternal

[41:25] God and you know if you ever have the revelation that God has healed you of your sin even healed you of affliction of body you will surely come and worship him as the eternal God and because you have proved that he is thy refuge in the what we might call the last place in this connection the eternal God is thy refuge when death shall loom before us now death shall loom before every one of us and it is a monster who can look the monster in the face except Jesus shines within there are people that are raising they're dead in their sins they say

[42:30] I'm not afraid to die and they're not afraid to die because they believe that when they die that is the end of all things and they do not believe in hereafter and yet at the back of their minds if we question them closely we might discover a fear and a questioning even in respect to that death but if we believe in and hereafter then how can we face death which is the medium by which we shall leave this time state and be cast into an eternal state now we shall need to feel that the eternal God is our refuge but if we feel that the eternal

[43:31] God is our refuge then how comfortable will be our appreciation and our looking forward to this wonderful exchange I have not seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath reserved for them that love him but these things are revealed unto us by his spirit now the eternal God is thy refuge in respect to all the people of God and what a refuge he is because inside of Christ we shall see his covenant engagements completely fulfilled we shall see our security is real we shall behold him having given divine satisfaction unto his father and having provided for us an entry into heaven you know we have that blessed word in the revelation

[44:51] I have set before thee an open door which no man can shut now death may well be to us a closed closing of a door into heaven we have come along thus far but there is death that stands between and death is a powerful foe and death has conquered many and cast them into hell fire and what will death do to me the Lord Jesus in his work upon earth and in his sacrifice in his vicarious death destroyed the power of death now we see the eternal God is thy refuge in this but he has destroyed the power of death so that when we come down to death it will have no power upon us what a blessing to have a view of this truth to feel that when we come down to our dying day that the eternal

[46:07] God will be our refuge will take us safely over what we sometimes refer to as the river of death and land us safe above a long eternity to spend in singing God is love life now you see the eternal God is our refuge in that he is a preserver of life I have sometimes I think mentioned the case of a man that visited another on his dying bed and he asked him how he was and the man said I'm dropping into life eternal life how could he say that because the eternal God was his refuge and he was dropping into

[47:07] Christ himself in all the fullness of Christ in all the richness of Christ in all the glory of Christ in all the sweetness of Christ in all the precious of Christ and if the eternal God is thy refuge that's how it'll be when you come to die it will be like dropping into life a terror to many but I feel sometimes persuaded in my own soul that this is what it will be with death we may fear it until we have dying grace you see we have no power at this time God takes away our breath and we die I did hear a solemn case of one person at a great age who resisted death and she said I shan't die

[48:17] I shan't die but she did die now that person's case was very solemn because evidently she was resisting death and she resisted it with so much fear ignorance because evidently she didn't see that the eternal God is thy refuge one that will and is able to carry over into heaven itself oh death where is thy sting oh grave where is thy victory now we can truly say this if this precious and glorious truth is revealed and laid in our hearts the eternal God is thy refuge now the eternal God has been thy refuge all along if he is thy refuge to deliver thee from the power of death and to land you safe above and therefore we shall have the witness of the spirit from time to time that the

[49:31] Lord the eternal God set before us in the face of Jesus Christ will truly be our refuge and if we have proved him to be our refuge as we have gone along life's journey from time to time in some of the aspects that I have referred to and others that I have not yet referred to we may well consider the fullness of falling into his sea outright and losing ourselves in Jesus quiet with the persuasion of this truth in our soul we may well look forward and say yes I shall soon be landed on yonder shores of bliss there with my powers expanded shall dwell where Jesus is the refuge until now has been revealed to me by faith and I felt how true it is and I proved how true it is in my day to day experience but now

[50:45] I shall soon be landed and I shall be in the fullness of that refuge and the glory of that refuge and the light of that refuge and the peace of that refuge that though I have enjoyed it here in part I shall there enjoy it in the fullness of it yes I shall soon be seated with Jesus on his throne my foes be all defeated and sacred peace may do with father son and spirit I shall forever reign sweet joy and peace inherit and every good obtain such is the prospect before all those who are favored to know the blessed truth not only in the doctrine of it but by a gracious experience of it the eternal

[51:48] God is thy refuge to have to come to the end of our journey and not to have this blessing is solemn indeed but to have it is the fullness of joy the fullness of joy and the glory of heaven set before us let it get and in red碴 and man