Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
chapter 28. Isaiah chapter 28. Today's message is called, A
False Refuge. Isaiah 28, we'll be looking at
verses 14 to 18. Sister Kathy hit on that in the
song about, are you trusting in your works? Are you trusting
in something you do? It's a false refuge. Isaiah 28,
verses 14 to 18. Wherefore, hear the word of the
Lord, ye scornful men that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, we have
made a covenant with death and with hell in our agreement. When
the overflowing scourge shall pass through, It shall not come
unto us. For we have made lies our refuge,
and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. Therefore, thus saith
the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation of stone,
a tribe stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth
shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the
line, and righteousness to the plummet. And the hail shall sweep
away the refuge of lies, and the waters overflow the hiding
place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and
your agreement with hell shall not stand. When the overflowing
scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it."
Now here before us, we have a reproof of those who would scorn the
judgment of God. And we have before us Those who
at this time in the history of Israel were scorning the judgments
of God, and we have folks like that still today, who scorn the
judgments of God. People who've made a covenant
with death, with hell in their agreement. They say, I'm fine. I prayed a prayer. I'm fine. Long time ago, I made
a decision. Well, beloved, they made a covenant
with death. And here the leaders had made
a refuge of lies in a covenant with death. But our great God,
our great God is a God not only of love and mercy, but our great
God, the God of the Bible, is a God who is holy. whose absolute holiness, whose absolute righteousness,
and He's not only a God of love and mercy, but He's a God of
justice and wrath. Folks don't want to hear about
that. All they want to hear about is a God who loves everyone,
supposedly. But that's not the God of the
Bible. The God of the Bible is holy. And He is love. He is love. But He's a holy God. And He's
a righteous God. And He's a sovereign God. And
His ways are not our ways. And His thoughts are not our
thoughts. And here these leaders had made a refuge alliance. And let us not forget this, too.
Folks, when I was in dispensationalism and all that error and all that,
I used to think that the God of the Old Testament was for
the Israelites, and the God of the New Testament, well, He's
for believers. Do you know that Jesus Christ
is the same yesterday, today, and forever? He's the same God
in the Old Testament as He is in the New. He don't change. He don't change. Now let us think on this. Here
in our text we have the religious leaders of those days had made
a covenant with death, a covenant, an agreement with hell. And they've
made lies their refuge. Now think of the religious leaders
of our day. Those who comfort people in their
refuge lines. Those who tell people, when I
was an Armenian, when I was lost, and I was lost. I was religious but lost. And
I heard guys say, everyone bow your head. And everyone repeat
this prayer. And I heard those liars say to
those people, now you're going to heaven. Just because they
prayed a prayer. And I didn't know any different,
but now I do. And there's thousands of churches across this country
right now, today, right now, that are doing this. Patting
people in a refugee line. And it makes gospel preachers,
it burns us up. They're making people two-fold
the child of hell. They're comforting people in
the refuge of lies. And someone, if they even get
thoughts of like, well, you know, maybe I'm not saying... These
false preachers say, oh, no, no, you made a profession years
ago. You're good. And I've heard them do that. I even had people say that to
me after I told them the Lord saved me. Well, no, you were
saved way back then. No, I'm the one who knows I wasn't
saved. You may have thought I was saved.
Yeah, I knew doctrine. I could sit down with you and
go toe-to-toe with you about Calvinism, about all that stuff.
But I was lost as a white goose in the snowstorm. I didn't have
a clue. But praise God, he rescued me
and saved me from that. Those false refuges. My. And the religious leaders
of our day and their followers, they refuse to bow down to the
God of the Bible. They refuse to bow down to the
God of the Scriptures. To the God who's revealed in
the Scriptures. Now they're bowed down to a God of their own imagination.
They're bowed down to a God who they think is waiting for them
to make a decision. They'll bow down to that God,
because that's their God. But that's not the God of the
Bible. That's not the great I am. But think of this. When we present
to them the God of the Bible, when we present to them a God
who's absolutely sovereign when we're talking to them, And I
know you all have done this before, too. I know you all experience
this. You present to them and you speak to them about the God
who's absolutely sovereign and who rules and reigns and who's
pure holiness and pure righteousness. You'll quickly find out that
the God they serve is not your God. You'll find out real fast. My oh my. And our text here before
us in these verses speaks of a people who have made a refuge
out of lies. They scorn the judgment of God.
They scorn the judgments of God. It also speaks of those who trust
in those lies. And they will perish. They will
perish if God doesn't save them. And it says that one day the
overflowing scourge will pass through and they'll be trodden
down by it. My oh my. People who are trusting
in a refuge of lies. Now natural men, think of this
too. Natural men, they either trust
in a false god or they trust in themselves. Even an atheist
is trusting in himself. He is. They're trusting it's
self-righteousness. They're either trusting in a
false god, natural man's either trusting in a false god, or they're
trusting in themselves. Now they might not admit that
to you, but they are. I remember one grace preacher
telling me, or I actually heard about this one grace preacher
was visiting the church and he was preaching there and he was
sitting at the table of one of the members at their house and
his son came in who wasn't saved and he came in and he says, well,
I can't sit with you guys. I'm just such a sinner. It was
Greg Elmquist. And I guess Greg Elmquist just
turned to him and said, no, you're just self-righteous because we're all sinners. And
we ain't no better than anyone else. Oh my. Oh my. So our text here before
us speaks of a people who have made a refuge out of lies. They've
scorned, they've scorned the judgments of God. They're trusting
in their own self-righteousness. We see here in these verses that
there is certain doom to come to those who trust in a refuge
of lies. There's certain doom to come
to those who trust in a refuge of lies. The first point I'd
like us to consider is this, about some of these people. And
look at our text again. Because ye have said, we, verse
15, we have made a covenant with death and with hell and our agreement
with the overflowing squirt shall pass through. It shall not come
unto us. They say, well, we'll be fine.
The judgment of God's not going to fall upon us. Because we prayed
a prayer, or we did this, or we did a certain act. We have made lies our refuge,
and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. The first point I'd
like us to consider about some of the things that people form
into a refuge of lies is this. They have a wrong view. They
have a wrong view or a wrong opinion of sin. They have a wrong
view or a wrong opinion of sin. And there are many false teachers
out there who never ever mention sin. A lot of you might remember Robert
Shuler, remember him way back, a false preacher, just a false
teacher, never mentioned sin at all. Norman Vincent Peale
was another one way back when, but now, and those were the false
teachers of old. They never mentioned sin, they
never mentioned, and they had an absolute wrong opinion of
sin. Well, in our day, we got Joel
Steinman, a false, a wolf in sheep's clothing. Never mentioned
sin, never mentions nothing, the guy's a total wolf. But yet,
if you just happen to even be flipping through the channels,
there's literally 25,000 to 30,000 people sitting in there. Well,
they love him. Why do they love him? Because he never mentions
sin. He's tickling their ears. Oh, people feel good. He has a wrong opinion of sin.
He's a wolf in sheep's clothing. He's a false preacher. And he,
along with the people who follow him, they also have a wrong opinion
of sin. They say, we're not sinners. We're good people. We're good
people. But the Scriptures declare that
there's none good, that there's none righteous. And look at our
text again. Because ye have said, we have
made a covenant with death and with hell, are we at agreement
when the overflowing scourge shall pass through it, it shall
not come unto us. We're fine. We're fine. We're not sinners. We're good
people. That's not what the scriptures
say. Scripture says there's none righteous, that there's none
good. And I like what one grace preacher said. He said, if we
do not see our sins here, we'll certainly have a good look at
them in the judgment. Brother Donny Bell, he said,
this is the point on the man who wants to die and then the
judgment. If we don't see our sins here, we'll have a good
look at them in the judgment. My, oh my. Turn, if you would,
to Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter 13. Now God must reveal to us that
we're sinners. And we are, every one of us.
And we're no better than anyone else. Not at all. We're blessed. We who are redeemed,
we who are saved are blessed that God has chosen us, but He
didn't choose us based upon anything we've done. He didn't choose
us based upon any good, unless that's for sure. Because there's
none good, right? Look in Luke 13, verses 1-5. There were present at that season
some that told him of the Galileans whose blood had mingled with
their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto
them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans,
because they suffered such things? Do you think that they were more
sinners? I tell you, nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all
likewise perish. See, the Lord's saying we're
all sinners. And if you don't repent, you're
going to perish just like them. Or those 18 upon whom the tower
of Siloam fell and slew them, think ye that they were sinners
above all men that dwell in Jerusalem? I tell you nay, but except you
repent, ye shall all likewise perish. See, man, natural man
has a wrong opinion of sin, a wrong view of sin. They have a refuge
of lies. I'm a good person. No, we're
not. We're all sinners. And the Lord showed here in Luke
13, in both those situations, He showed there's no difference
between sinners. Sin is sin. and except you repent, you shall
all likewise perish. That's sobering words. But that's
truth. So man has a wrong opinion of
sin. Man does not understand the fact that we are sinners,
that we cannot save ourselves. But when God reveals to you,
when God reveals to you, He did this to me. And I know you who
believe He did this to you. When God reveals to you what
you are, you don't see yourself any better than anyone else.
And I remember one grace preacher a long time ago saying to me,
grace is the only place where there's a bunch of chiefs. The chief of sinners. Because
every believer sees himself as a chief of sinners. We see ourselves
for what we are. We are given a proper perspective,
a proper view, a proper opinion of sin. And we see that we are
the worst offenders. Oh, but praise God, we have a
mighty Savior. We see that. We have a mighty Savior. We've
repented and we fled to Christ. And this is the good news of
the gospel. that Christ came to save sinners. He came to save
sinners. Has God shown you you're a sinner?
I pray he does. I pray he does. The next point
I'd like us to consider that man make into a refuge of lies
is this, they have a wrong opinion of the love of God. They have
a wrong opinion of the love of God. Now, if you talk to most
religious folks, and even those who are not religious, but they
claim to believe that there's a God, they'll tell you, almost
to a person, almost, but not quite, but almost, that God loves
everyone. That He loves everyone. Well,
think of this. I want us to ponder this, beloved.
If Christ died for everyone, then everyone would be saved. But not everyone's saved. But the ones for whom Christ
died for, He saves them. He saves them. Our God, our King,
is a successful Savior. And everyone that He's loved
from eternity, He saves. He saves. And as I said, if Christ died
for everyone, then everyone would be saved. Because our great king
is what? He's a successful savior, isn't
he? He not failed. But the people he came to save,
the people he came to redeem from their sins, he saved. And
he reveals himself to them. And then we're given a proper
opinion of our sin, aren't we? We realize that we're chief of
sinners. He did not die for everyone, but He did die for His people.
Praise His mighty name. He says, I am the good shepherd
and know my sheep. Gnoska. I know them intimately.
And I'm knowing Gnoska again of mine. I'm knowing intimately
by them. Why? Because we become born again
of the Holy Spirit of God. Oh, we know Him intimately, don't
we? And as the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father.
Gnoska again. And I lay down my life. For who?
for the sheep. And remember, later on in John
10, he turns to those Pharisees and says, and you're not my sheep. Boy. So a refuge of lies is,
another refuge of lies is that people trust in the wrong opinion
of the love of God. They think that God loves everyone.
Oh, he won't send anyone to hell. No. Well, they're in for a big surprise. God's love and mercy and grace.
Now think of this, beloved. God's love and His mercy and
His grace is in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. There is no condemnation for
His people. Why? Because we're in Christ. He died
in the room and place of His people on Calvary's cross. He
died. He took the judgment. of his
people on Calvary's cross. Our sins, the believer's sins
are imputed to Christ. Yet he paid every single thing
that God demanded for my sins and for yours who believe and
for all the elect of all the ages. And he cried, it is finished. And people who, turn if you would
to Psalm 7, people who think that God loves everyone, the
scriptures declare that He's angry with the wicked. Look at Psalm 7. Psalm 7, verse 11. God loves
His people. But beloved, he is angry with
the wicked every day. He loves his people, but he is
angry with the wicked every day. Psalm 7, verse 11. God judges
the righteous. Psalm 7, verse 11. God judges
the righteous and God is angry with the wicked every day. And then I'll read a portion
in John chapter 3. And think of this, we see people
prosper, we see the people of God go through trials and tribulations
and struggle all through this life, don't we? But let us remember
this. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. Hath. Remember our Lord said,
except you repent, ye shall all likewise perish. God's people
repent, don't they? They turn to Christ. He that
believeth on the Son hath. I love those little hinged words
in scripture. Ha! It's not a meeting. It's not based upon me. He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not
the Son shall not see life. But the wrath of God abideth
on him. And the only reason the wrath
of God doesn't abide on believers is because it was poured out
upon Christ. Oh my, what a Savior! What a
Redeemer! What a God! is Jesus Christ our
Lord. The love of God to His people
is in Christ and Him alone. In the Lord Jesus Christ, the
believer is chosen. In the Lord Jesus Christ, the
sinner is accepted by God. In the Lord Jesus Christ, we
have redemption from all our sins. All of them. All of them,
beloved. And in the Lord Jesus Christ,
the believer is complete. My goodness. The next point I'd like us to
consider that man make into the refuge of lies is they make an
old experience a refuge of lies. They're constantly looking back
to something they've done. They're constantly looking back
to a prayer that they prayed or a date written in their Bible. They're constantly looking back
to an old experience, and they make it a refuge of lies. They
look back to when a preacher talked them into praying a prayer, and then pronounce them saved. And if you're trusting in an
experience for your salvation, or you're waiting for an experience
to occur, you need to look to Christ. You need to look to Him
alone. He's the only one. He's the only
one who can save you. You can't save yourself, but
Christ can save sinners, and He does. Looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith, which means He's the beginning
and He's the end. He's the author and the finisher,
salvations of the Lord, who for the joy that was set before Him
endured the cross. despising the shame, and he sat
down at the right hand of the throne of God. He sat down. Now,
in the Old Testament, the priest never sat down, but Christ just
sat down at the right hand of the Father. Why? Because the
work's done. It's finished. Oh, beloved, this is good news
for sinners. And some people look back to
a baptism or a religious experience, and they trust in that. Do you
know? that the believer is continuously
looking to Christ. Every day. You don't look back
to an experience. We just keep looking. We just
keep looking to Him. Oh my. God's people look to Christ
for salvation and then they continue to look at Him. And look to Him
all through their life. And even, and then think of this.
All through our lives the believers look into Christ. And then when
we die, we see him face to face. My. Brother Joe is beholding
the face of Christ. He's seeing the Savior face to
face. He's not worried about us. He's
not worried about anything going on down here. He's beholding
the Savior. He's looking to the one that
he trusted in. Everyday oh my and that's what
happens when the believer goes home sister Marge. She's beholding
Christ She's beholding our Savior. Oh my Christ is the believers
object of worship here on earth and And remember, we see through
a glass darkly while we're here. We see through a glass darkly
while we're here. But then, we'll see him face
to face. Thou art worthy to take the book
and to open the seals thereof, for thou hast slain and has redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation and has made us unto our God kings and priests
and we shall reign on the earth. My, oh, my. The next refuge of lies that
people make is they look to a profession that does not produce the fruit
of the Spirit. They look to a profession that
does not produce the fruit of the Spirit. Turn if you would
to Galatians chapter 5. Now remember, the Pharisees,
they had doctrine and they had ceremonies, didn't they? They
knew doctrine and they had ceremonies. And they had all these traditions.
But they didn't know God. They didn't know God. They were
not born again. They did not have the fruit of
the Spirit. Look at Galatians 5, verses 22 and 23. But the
fruit of the Spirit is love. God's people love one another.
Joy. We have joy. Now, we're not always
bouncing off the walls, happy, right? No, we're not. We go through
trials and tribulations. But we have a joy deep down inside,
don't we? We have a joy that's that. And
then peace. God's people have a peace that
passes all understanding. The world can't understand it.
It can't. And think of this. How can we,
in the midst of trials and tribulations that would crush us, have a peace? It's the fruit of the Spirit.
You have a peace that passes all understanding. Your hearts
and minds are kept upon Christ. Long-suffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. Now if someone claims to be saved
and hates the brethren, or has no love toward the brethren,
then, beloved, I'll doubt their profession, to be honest with
you, I will. Now, I don't know, I can't judge who's saved and
lost, but when you hate the brethren or you have something that you're
constantly just, look at what Colossians 1.4 says, look at
this. Colossians 1.4, the one thing that sets us apart as believers
is our love for the brethren. And think of this, if you have
a hard time with someone, think of this, if there's someone that
you have a hard time with or that sometime might rub you the
wrong way, because we all have different personalities, don't
we? Right? Think of this. Before we get
upset with them, let us think how much God's forgiven us. And if we want to bring something
up from the past, let us just stop. Because God don't bring
up things from the past. Do you imagine if, do you imagine?
My goodness, I don't even want to think about it. God doesn't
bring up our sins. He says, I don't remember them
anymore. We ought to be the same with
our brethren, eh? We ought to be. And we have a spirit of unity
that way. It's marvelous. Look at Colossians
1, verse 4. Since we heard of your faith,
the faith in Christ, the faith which produces the fruit of the
Spirit, right, because the faith is a gift from God, of your faith
in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have to all, all saints,
not just the ones you get along with, but all of them, all saints. This is just being honest, isn't
it? All saints. Even some of the ones we might
not agree with on everything. The scripture says all, A-L-L,
all saints. My. God's people, this is the
marvel too, God's people are knit together in love. We're
knit together in love, it's amazing. I already feel like you're my
family, I've only been here, it's coming up a year now, but
I feel so attached to you all and so united with you and knit
together with you, it's incredible. And I've talked to several preachers
about that, and they said, it just gets more and more and more
amazing that way. God knits his people, preachers
and we're all God's sheep, he knits his sheep together in love. That's why it's hard for us. We joy for when a believer goes
home to be with the Lord, but we mourn for their fellowship.
Because we're knit with them. I like what one friend of Vicky's
put on her page on Facebook, Brother Joe Bison. And she said,
I'll see you soon. I like that. When a believer
goes home, we see him soon, don't we? Because our life's just a
vapor. It's just a vapor. So God's people are knit together.
Look at Colossians 2.19. Turn over one more chapter if
you're in Colossians still. Colossians 2.19. Look at this. And not holding the head from
which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment
ministered and knit together. See, we're knit together, beloved.
Increases with the increase of God. God's people are knit together. How are we knit together? In
Christ. In Christ. Only in Him. I remember Paul,
an older gentleman who I had the absolute privilege of pastoring
in Oregon. And I remember him talking. One
time we were all sitting around talking, a bunch of us. And Paul
said, he just out of the blue said, you know, I probably never
would have hung out with any of you guys before the Lord saved
me. I wouldn't want to have anything to do with any of you. And we
were just talking about our different personalities and everything.
And he goes, but I love you. And Paul's gone home to be with
the Lord now. And I'm looking forward to the
day when I get to see him again. But that was an amazing statement,
really. Because we're all from different
walks of life, different personalities. But we're knit together in Christ.
Oh, my. We're family, beloved. It's incredible. And not only do we get the privilege
of being together here, but we're going to spend eternity worshipping
our King. It's amazing. It's amazing. God's people have joy and peace,
and they're long-suffering with one another, and long-suffering
with people in general, too. Even with unsaved folks, we're
long-suffering with them. And may we, if we don't, if we
get to a point where we're not that long-suffering people, I
like what Henry said, and I love this. Don't ever forget the rock
you were hearing from. Don't forget where you came from.
Don't forget the pit the Lord pulled you out of. And God's people are gentle people. They have faith, and that faith
is in Christ, in Him alone. And that faith is being given
to them. And the faith has one object,
as I said, Christ. One object, Christ and him alone.
The next point I'd like to consider is this. And people make this. This is probably one of the biggest
refuge of lies that religious people and or that unsaved people
make. And this refuge of lies is tomorrow. Tomorrow. I'll wait till tomorrow. I'm
still so young. I have so much life before me. I can tell you of three or four
people I knew in high school, three or four people I knew in
high school who thought that they had tomorrow. and who died. And I know many of us who are
older now can tell the same story. We know many people through the
years who thought, oh, I have tomorrow. Tomorrow. Turn, if you would, to Luke chapter
12. We see a rich man here who thought
he had tomorrow. And this is a refuge of lies
that people just, they just, like I say, it's a very popular
thing. Oh, tomorrow. Oh, I'll wait till
tomorrow. And I know that God must make
us willing. And I know that. But so many people say this to
their dear ones. Tomorrow. Luke chapter 12, verses
16 to 21. And he spake a parable unto them,
saying, the ground of a certain rich man bought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself,
saying, what shall I do because I have no room to bestow my fruits?
His crops were overflowing. I got no room to put my stuff.
I got so much stuff, I don't have any room to put it. Everything's
full. And he said, this will I do.
I'll pull down my barns and build greater. And there will I bestow all my
fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, remember
the refuge of lies we looked at. And I'll say to my soul, thou
hast much goods laid up for many years. I'm good. and take thine ease and eat,
drink and be merry." Now this is that man saying,
I'm fine. Tomorrow I'm going to do this and the other tomorrows. Tomorrow is for years. But God said unto him, Thou fool,
this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then whose
shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that
layeth up treasure for himself that is not rich toward God. He thought he had tomorrow. He
didn't have tomorrow. The rich man spoken of in the
passage in Luke Again, thought he had tomorrow. He is resting
in his riches, beloved. Resting in his self-righteousness.
And he discovered to his doom that he did not have tomorrow. He is trusting in a refuge of
lies. Tomorrow. Scripture declares now is the
accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Now the last point I'd like to
consider, and look at this, right in the midst of this text here.
The last thing I'd like us to consider, and this is marvelous.
The last thing here, right in the midst of the text, right?
Verse 16. And this is, now we've looked
at the false refuges, right? Verse 16 tells of Jesus Christ,
who is the true refuge. Jesus Christ, who is the true
refuge. Look at this. Therefore, thus
saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone,
a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth
shall not make haste. Jesus Christ is the true refuge
for believers. Behold, I lay in Zion a foundation
stone. Now God has purposed this and
He's promised this. Turn if you would to Galatians
chapter 4. God has purposed this and He's promised this. And it will in the fullness of
time come to pass. Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation
stone. A tried stone, a precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make
haste. Galatians 4, verses 4 and 5. That which God has promised,
that which God has decreed shall come to pass. He will perform
it. Look at Galatians 4, verses 4
and 5. But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth
His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them
that were under the law, that we might receive the adoptions
of sons. When the fullness of time, behold,
there is the foundation stone laid in Zion. God became a man,
Jesus Christ, the God-man mediator, the one who died for the sins
of his people. And in verse 16 continues in
our text, in Isaiah 28, it continues, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation. Christ is often referred to in
the Old Testament as a stone. Psalm 118.22 says, The stone
which the builders refused has become the head, stone of the
corner. Isaiah 8.14 says this, And he
shall be for a sanctuary, but for a stone of stumbling, for
a rock of a fence to both the houses of Israel and Jinn, and
for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. So for some, he's
a stumbling stone. But for others, oh, he's a cornerstone. Romans 9, turn if you would to
Romans chapter 9. In the New Testament, Christ
is identified as a rock of offense, a stumbling
stone. So we know our text in Isaiah
28, 16 is speaking of Christ. Look at Romans 9, 32 and 33.
Romans chapter 9, verses 32 and 33. Wherefore, because they sought
it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law, for
they stumbled at the stumbling stone. As it is written, behold,
I lay in Zion. He's quoting what we read. Behold,
I lay in Zion a rock of offense, and whosoever believeth on him
shall not be ashamed." Christ is the rock, the foundation stone
that's laid in Zion. And who's Zion? The church. Oh my beloved. Oh my. He's one who is chosen of God.
Turn if you would over to 1 Peter chapter 1. Or chapter 2, I mean. 1 Peter 2, verses 4 and 5. He's the one chosen of God, but
rejected by man. In whom we, as the body of Christ,
are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood. Look at 1 Peter 2, verses 4 and
5. To whom coming as unto a living
stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God. Christ is
chosen of God and precious. Ye also, as lively stones, are
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood. Spiritual sacrifice
acceptable to God, how? By Jesus Christ. By Jesus Christ. And then our text in 16 goes
on to say he's a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure
foundation. Has he not been tried and approved
in every way? He's been tried and approved
to be a sufficient cornerstone. A foundation stone. And stones,
foundation stones, I read foundation stones were to be chosen with
care. They're to be chosen with care.
And to be thoroughly examined by the builder. Who's the builder? God. Christ is a precious cornerstone,
giving not only strength to the building, but beauty and glory
also. Psalm 144.12 says this, that
our sons may be as plants, growing up in their youth, that our daughters
may be as cornerstones, polished at the similitude of a palace.
A cornerstone is a stone that unites several parts of the building
together. And think of this in light of
Christ. The body of Christ made up of, turn a few words to Ephesians
chapter 2. The body of Christ is made up,
think of this, a cornerstone is a stone that unites several
parts of the building together. And think of this in light of
the body of Christ, which has both Jews and Gentiles, right?
But we're one in Christ, aren't we? We who were once enemies, are
now one church. Look at Ephesians. And remember,
the Jews hated the Gentiles. But not in Christ. Because now
we're all spiritual Jews. We're all one in Christ. We're
all one in Him. Look at Ephesians 2, verses 11-22. Wherefore remember that ye being
in times past Gentiles... So he's writing to the Ephesian
believers. They're Gentiles. in the flesh, who are called
uncircumcision, verse 11, by that which is called the circumcision
in the flesh made by hand. So the Jews call the Gentiles
the uncircumcision. That at that time ye were without
Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God
in the world. Now, as I said, There's only
one true refuge. There's only one true refuge,
and that's Christ. And for the believer, He's our
one true refuge. We don't trust in our works.
We don't trust in anything that we do. We only trust in Him.
He's the one true refuge. Look at verse 13. But now in
Christ Jesus, ye who were far off, We were far off, right? We were
without hope. Our maiden nigh. Our maiden nigh
by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace. Now there
used to be a wall separating the Gentiles. There's a court
of the Gentiles. They couldn't go any further.
Look at this. For he is our peace, who hath
made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition
between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even
the law of commandments, contained in ordinance, for to make in
himself of twain one new man, so making peace. And that he
might reconcile, he reconciled all his people, Jew and Gentile,
unto God, in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity
thereby. and came and preached peace to
you. Peace to you in Christ. God's people have peace with
God. And it's only through the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone.
And came and preached peace to you, which were far off all we
were of. And to them that were nigh, being
the Jews. For through Him, we both have access by one Spirit
unto the Father. There is only one true refuge
that we can have access to God, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ
in Him alone. Nowhere else, beloved. But look
at this. For through Him, we both have
access by one Spirit unto the Father, born again by the Holy
Spirit of God, and are built up Or now, therefore, ye are
no more strangers. Now, we were strangers, right?
To the covenants of God. Gentiles. Now, therefore, ye
are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the
saints. Fellow citizens with the saints. And of the household
of God. And are built up upon the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Jesus Christ himself, what? Being the chief cornerstone. Behold, I lay in Zion, in whom
all the building fitly framed together groweth into a holy
temple in the Lord, in whom ye are also built together for the
inhabitation of God through the Spirit." Sinner friend, Christ
is the sure foundation. He's the sure foundation upon
whom you may rest your eternal soul. He's the only foundation. He's the one who will not fail
you. He's the one who will not deceive
you, as your lying refuges will. People who are trusting in a
refuge of lies will find a certain doom. But
all those who trust in Christ, He's the sure foundation. He's
the sure foundation. And look at the latter part of
verse 16 that says, He that believeth shall not make haste. He that
believeth shall not make haste. God's people, what do they do
when the Holy Spirit regenerates them? They flee to Christ. There's no haste. They're running. They're running to Him. They're
made willing. And Christ becomes their all
in all. They have revealed to them that Christ is the true
refuge for sinners. And I can say that's true for
this sinner right here. Christ is the refuge of my soul.
Is He for you? He's the only true refuge. He's the only true refuge. Turn, if you would, over to Isaiah
32. Isaiah chapter 32. And think of this for the believer.
He's the one true refuge. He's the one true refuge that
we cling to. And those who trust in your refuge
of lies are clinging to the refuge of lies. But we cling to Christ. We cling to Him. Look at Isaiah
32, verses 1-4. Behold, a king shall reign in
righteousness. Oh, our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ is a great king. Behold, a king shall reign in
righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall
be as a hiding place from the wind. The Lord Jesus Christ is
a shelter in a time of storm. He's the only refuge. He's the
only refuge for any sinner. He's the only refuge for any
sinner from the wrath and justice of God. He's the only hiding
place. He's the only hiding place, beloved.
A man, and a man being Christ Jesus, he's the God-man. Fully
God and fully man. Shall be in hiding place from
the wind, in a covert from the tempest, as rivers of water in
a dry place, as a shadow of a great rock in a weary land. In the
eyes of them that see shall not be dim, in the ears of them that
hear shall hearken. The heart also of the rash shall
understand. Oh, we're given ears to hear
and eyes to see and understanding to know the things of God. Shall
understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammers shall
be ready to speak plainly. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
all-sufficient Savior, and God's people have had revealed to them
that there is salvation in no other. He's the one true refuge. And our prayer, if you're here
and you don't know Christ, is that God would grant you faith
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's go there. Heavenly Father, we just come
before thy throne. Oh, we who are redeemed by thy
precious blood, Lord Jesus, we marvel. We marvel. and that how
you have saved us from all our sins, that you are the one true
refuge, and that you revealed to us by your Holy Spirit that
you are the one true refuge for sinners. And we know that we
have no merit upon our own works or doings or anything we say
or think, but our salvation is 100% wholly dependent upon Thee,
Lord Jesus. and nothing in ourselves. We
pray that You reveal Yourself to others today, to Your sheep
who are lost, either through the preaching of the Word here
or through going out on CD. We just pray that You'd use it
for Your glory. But if it be Your will that You'd draw lost
sinners to Thee, we pray. And we'll give You all the glory
and honor and praise. And again, we love You because
You first loved us. In Jesus' name, Amen.