It says there in verse 15, because
ye have said, we have made a covenant with death, and with hell we
are in 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. And then God tells us where the
real refuge is at. 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. And then he says, when I lay
judgment to the line, righteousness to the plummet, The hell shall
sweep away the refuge of lies, and the water shall overflow
your hiding place. And your covenant with death
shall be disannulled. Your agreement with hell shall
not stand. I want to talk about, first of all, a false refuge,
and then I want to talk about a true refuge. A true refuge. You know, the only time a person
needs a refuge when there's some trouble going on, the only time
you need a hiding place is when something terrible is fixing
to happen. A big storm comes through, you want a place to
hide, you want a place to get away from it. And sometimes,
if you haven't got a hiding place, what are you going to do? And every, you know, and when you're in the right
refuge, it'll calm your fears, it'll still your fears. And if there's refuges that will
even save your life, you know, people have storm cellars and
places like that, that they have the right refuge, it'll save
their life. But almost everybody wants a
refuge from pain, They want some place that they
can refuge or take gold, get away from drugs. And everybody
will want a refuge in death. They'll want a refuge from fear.
They'll want a refuge from storms. And a lot of people have prepared
themselves a refuge when they get old. And you know, they have a refuge,
you know, that will be in their life. You know, they buy insurance.
Telling my wife this morning, I said, you know, I said, fella,
I know it's got $2 million worth of life insurance. And he said,
most of that'll take to pay the debts and hopefully give my wife
a little money to live on for a while. I don't need that kind
of insurance. But I mean, most folks, I mean,
they have insurance. You know, they have retirement
plans. They have something figured out, something that's gonna give
them a refuge. make life easy, comfortable for
them and save them from fear when they get old. You know,
a lot of people use physical fitness. They have good doctors. But the most important refuge
or hiding place is the last one that most are least concerned
about. And that's a hiding place from God's law hiding place from
God's justice, a hiding place from God's wrath. Ain't that
what he says there in verse 17? Judgment, will I lay to the line. I'm gonna lay it to the line. Lay it to the line. And then
he said also this, he said righteousness, I'm gonna lay it to the plummet.
We all know what a line is, we all know what a plummet is. And
the hell, when it comes, it's gonna sweep away the refuge of
lives and the water shall overflow your hiding place. And most don't
even think about it, and I'll tell you why, because they've
already accepted Jesus. They're fixed up for heaven.
They've made an agreement with hell. And there's two hiding
places brought before us. There's that one I read about
in Isaiah 32, behold a man. shall be a covert from the tempest,
from the wind, from the storm. And so there's two hiding places
brought before us. The one is a hiding place that'll
hide us from the place of God's judgment, God's wrath, God's
law, God's justice. Hide us even from our sin because
it's been put away. And the other is a refuge of
lies The one is a man, the other one is man's invention. That
first, this man, the king, it reigns in righteousness, this
man who shall be a hiding place, a covert from the storm. That's
a revelation that comes only from God. The second is an invention
of men. You know Ecclesiastes says men
have sought out many inventions, many inventions. And all men
feel their need of a refuge of some kind or other. But all men
are not equally safe in their place of refuge. And it's vitally,
vitally important that we know whether our refuge is true or
whether our refuge is false. I think that's vitally, vitally
important. I want to talk about this first
refuge, this covenant made with death, this agreement made with
hell, that they said we've made lies our refuge. That's what
I want to talk about first. We've made lies our refuge. We've
made a covenant with death. With hell we're in agreement.
Now what in the world makes a false refuge? What makes a refuge of
lies? Well, I'll tell you, I think
the first refuge that people hide in, the first refuge of
lies that they have and told themselves is that they feel
that they're really, really good people. They're a really, really
good person. I think they have a great opinion
of themselves. And when you have a good opinion
of yourselves and the sight of God, that's a refuge of lies.
That's a refuge of lies, having a wrong opinion of yourselves.
And let me show you what I mean. You keep Isaiah 28. Look over
here in John 9 with me. Look in John's Gospel, Chapter
9. This is a perfect illustration of what I'm saying. And you remember
our Lord Jesus said, well you're turning over there, let me tell
you when our Lord Jesus, you know, he was preaching one day
and he said, the people told him, said Pilate killed a lot
of Galileans when he sacrificed his sacrifices, he shed their
blood with the sacrifices. Our Lord said, you think those
Galileans were sinners above everybody else that's in Galilee?
He said, no, they wasn't. They wasn't. They said, they
must have really been bad. They must have been real bad
sinners that Pilate had them killed and mingled their blood
with his sacrifices. Our Lord said, no, they're more
sinners than anybody else in Galilee, except you repent, you're
gonna have the same consequences. And then he said, well, what
about that tower that fell over in Siloam? And it killed 18 people
when it fell. It killed 18 people. And they
said, boy, them must have been some awful bad people. They must
have really sinned against God. They must have really done something
bad that God killed 18 of them at one time. He said, you think
those fellows was worse sinners than anybody else over there?
He said, I tell you, they wasn't. You're just as bad as any of
them. He said, except you repent, you're gonna perish too. And
look what he said here in John 9, 32, 33. This is where Christ
healed that blind man that was born blind. And they kept talking
about, you know, who done this, who done this? And this blind
man finally told these Pharisees, they said, if this man were not
of God, he could do nothing. They answered and said unto him,
now listen to this, thou wast altogether born in sins, and
you think you're gonna teach us something? And they cast him
out. You're gonna teach us something? You're just born in sins, but
not us. We've already got us a covenant.
We've already made an agreement with hell. We've already agreed
with death. It's not coming close to us. It gonna get you, but
it ain't gonna get me. And that's what they say. And
I tell you, great men hide themselves in their goodness. They hide
themselves in their morality. They hide their self as I'm as
good as anybody else. I'm as good as anybody else that
goes to church up there. And they hide behind everything
they possibly can. They hide behind their self-righteousness. And I tell you what, he says,
when the overflowing scorch will come, he said, it's gonna sweep
away it. It's gonna sweep it away. And
I tell you, if a man don't get aside of his sins here, he'll
get them at judgment. There's no doubt about that.
No doubt about it. Let me tell you something else,
a refuge of lies that people hide in. And this covenant with
death. They have a wrong view. A wrong
view of God Himself. You know what view they have
of God? Almost everybody has of God. It's His love. God is love. My God is love. Oh my, my God is so merciful. Oh my God is there. My God, you
know, they have this view of God that all he is, is love.
He's either all love or he's all impotent, one or the other.
He cannot, you know, and let me tell you something. If God
is all one way, if all he is is love, if all he is is he just
got one attribute, then he isn't God at all. But that's where
people hide. They hide over here in the love
of God. And I'll tell you, and I've told you this time and again,
they'll say, God loves you and we do too. God loves you and
we do too. They have this raw opinion of
the love of God. They make God's love to be paramount
to everything in this world. God couldn't possibly punish
me. God could not punish my sin. God could not send me to hell. God could not possibly deal with
men the way they are. There couldn't be a hell if he's
a God of love. But oh my, and I tell you this,
oh, they have this wrong view of God, or else, or else he's
this God, who, that, listen, if you'll make a step towards
Him, then He'll make a step towards you. You come, you know, you
just work this out. You keep coming to Him, and He'll
meet you halfway. God is love. The Bible tells
us that plainly over in John. First John, God is love. But
it all says in that same chapter, God is light and in Him is no
darkness at all. God is light and there's no darknesses
at all. And God is love, there's no doubt
about that. But it said here, He'll also
lay judgment to the lion. He'll bring righteousness to
the plummet. And I tell you, you know, God
is love, and it's manifested, God manifest His love, and He
only manifested it in one place, and that's in His blessed Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He said He predestinated us in
love, having predestinated us. He loved! You know, God only
loves people for Christ's sake, and He only loves people in Christ.
Who shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ? And people run over there when
you start talking about God being a God of judgment, a God of wrath.
They say, your God may be that way, but my God's a God of love! My God, like do you know that
he's the only one that they know? He's the only God that exists.
The God that David and Benjamin told me, a God that exists. No
other God exists. Oh, God reconciled us to God
in Christ himself. And here's a refuge, this is
one of the most To me, this is one of the awfulest refuges of
lives, and the most common one, the most common one, is an old
experience that stays old. Now what do I mean by that? That
when you start trying to find out if you know God or have a
relationship with God, you run back to some time or place, an
experience you had. When you hear preaching like
this, you say, Oh listen, he ain't getting close to me. I
remember I saved way back yonder. I got on that old-fashioned altar.
I accepted Jesus when I was 12 years old. I accepted Jesus when
I was 14 years old. I let Jesus into my heart. I
made my decision. And they always go back to some
time, some experience, some moment that they can run to. But here's
the question. Here's the question. What think
ye of Christ? When did you actually come to
Christ? When did you actually find your
rest in Christ and Him alone? When did you actually come? I
didn't ask if you was a Calvinist. I didn't ask if you believed
in the five points. I'm asking what in the world,
when was the world that you, when time did you come to trust
Christ and Christ alone? And you turned, you turned your
back on everything that you ever had. I've had as many, listen,
I had experiences back years ago. I spoke in tongues. That's
experience. It was a lime wonder that Satan
put on me. It was a lime wonder. I'm telling
you, I've had some experiences. I've had some real experiences.
Woke up one night in the middle of the night and the devil was
sitting on my dresser. Back when I was sick, come back
to Vietnam, the devil was sitting on my dresser. That's a fearful
experience. But I don't have to go anywhere,
you know, I don't have to go back one minute, not one minute
to see an experience. You gotta trust Christ now. And
if you have to go back and say, well, you know, I just, I've
went from being an Armenian to a Calvinist. You say, well that's
your experience. Well I went from believing that
I was an Armenian until I become a Calvinist. I used to believe
that it was up to my will. Now I believe that God's will
is okay. I believe it's paramount. But oh my, this is probably the
most deceiving refuse that people have. And let me tell you something. I know this without a shadow
of a doubt. Salvation is not an isolated experience. It's not something that happens
one time. Once God starts saving you and
you start repenting and you start believing, you never stop repenting
and you never stop believing. Ain't that right? You never,
you're always, Lord I'm sorry. Oh I'm sorry for what I just
thought. I'm sorry I let my mind wander. I'm so sorry, Lord, that
I have this enmity in my heart. I'm so sorry I feel so hard. I'm so sorry that I'm so this
way, and I'm so sorry I'm that way. And then you say, Lord,
please, please, please forgive me. No, God, I need you so. Oh, they're constants. Faith and
repentance is a constant in a believer's life. Constant. And I tell you
what, let me give you another one. Another refuge of life. A profession of faith that doesn't
produce the fruit of the Spirit. Now look with me over here in
Galatians chapter five. Galatians chapter five. You know
a profession that doesn't produce the fruit of the Spirit. Look in Galatians 5.22. A profession that doesn't produce
the fruit of the Spirit. You know our Lord said a tree
is known by its fruit. Look what it says here. But the
fruit of the Spirit, it doesn't say fruit, it says fruit. One thing, all these things exist
in in a person's life. May not exist perfectly all the
time, but it's there. But the fruit of the Spirit,
first of all, is love. Love. A new commandment I give unto
you. What is it, Lord? That you love one another. Joy. Ah, boy. Peace. Wonderful peace
coming down from above. Sweep over my spirit. Long-suffering. Oh, my. Long-suffering with one
another. Suffer long with one another's
weaknesses and inabilities and failings and shortcomings. Gentleness. Oh, gentleness. Goodness. Faith. Meekness. Temperance. I guess so. Has anybody got a law against
a person being like that? Huh? You know the Pharisees,
let me tell you something about the Pharisees. They didn't have
any fruit. They had religion. Oh my goodness
they had. They had doctrine. Strong doctrine. They lived what they called holy
lives. They was righteous to the law.
They was blameless. They believed they was God's
elect. They believed that nobody was going to heaven but them.
They had all the religion, their prayers, and their tithe paying.
They had all the ceremonies. But you know what they didn't
have? They didn't have mercy. They didn't have love. They didn't
have forgiveness. They didn't have compassion.
And you know what a legal conviction is? You ever heard of legal convictions? Let me tell you what a legal
conviction is. It's when you say, I gotta stop doing that. I gotta quit this, I gotta quit
that. That's legal conviction. Whenever you legally get convicted
of certain something you're doing, you say, well, I'll get a little
more peace if I'll stop that. If I'll quit this or I'll quit
that, that's legal convictions. You know, we don't repent of
what we do, we repent of what we are. We repent of what we feel. What
we feel. We repent of what we think. And I tell you what, where there's
life, where there's life, there'll be growth. When a baby's born, they start
growing pretty quick. And anybody who wants to have
a little old baby, especially little grandbabies, When they
watch their grandbabies start growing, they'll just sit and
listen to them making noise. They'll just sit and watch them
make noise. They just get enamored whenever
they first start making noise. You can't understand a word they're
saying, but they're making a noise. You just get all taken up with. Listen, did you hear it? Did
you hear it? Well, now that's where there's life, there's growth.
It may be slow growth. Fruit may just be in the bed
on the tree. But it's there. But it's there. It's there. And listen to this. What a refuge this is. And then
I'm going to get to the true one in a minute. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. That's the most common
refuge that people have tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. One of these days, tomorrow,
but tomorrow never gets here. That's the most common refuge.
When Paul preached to Felix, you know what Felix said? He
was the governor, come in, took over where Pontius Pilate was.
He said, when I have a more convenient season, I'll call you. I'll call you. The Bible says
today, today, today, today, today is the day of salvation. Not
tomorrow. You know, James said it this
way. A fella says, I'm gonna leave this place and I'm gonna
go over to Yonge City. And when I get over there, I'm
gonna buy and sell and I'm gonna gain a lot. I'm gonna really do good. And
then he turned around and said, now wait a minute. Wait a minute. Don't you know what your life
is? It's a vapor. It appears for just a little
time and then it's gone. You know, we get up in the morning
after a hard rain or something and there'd be fog everywhere.
And that fog will go, and in just a little while, that fog's
gone. And that's what he's saying. He said, you consider your life,
don't you? Before you go here and go yonder
and do this, he said, consider your life, it's just a vapor.
He said, this is what y'all are saying. If God wills, I'll do
this. If God wills, I'll do that. If
God wills, this'll happen. If God wills, I'll go here. If
God wills, I'll do that. And that ought to be the first
word out of our mouth is either thanks be unto God or God if
it's your will. If it's your will. What happens
to this refuge? Look back over here in Isaiah
28 with me. What happens to it? They said, oh, when the overflowing
scourge surpassed three, he said, they know it's gonna come. They
know an overflowing scourge will come one of these times. He said,
it ain't gonna come near to us. It ain't gonna bother us at all.
But now, listen to what God said down here now. Verse 17, judgment also
will I lay to the line, righteousness to the plummet, and then the
hail is gonna fall. And it's gonna sweep away that
refuge of lies, and the water shall overflow the hiding place.
You're going to have to come out of it or drown one. You're
going to have to come out of that hiding place or you're going
to drown. That's what he's saying. And
your covenant With death shall be disannulled, and your agreement
with hell shall not stand. And he said, they said, oh, when
the overflowing scourge shall come unto us, it ain't gonna
bother us, but look what God said. When the overflowing scourge
shall pass through, then you're gonna be trodden down by it. All right, now over here in Isaiah
32. Now, let's get on something else. If you got one of these refuges
of lies, or you have these refuges of lies, I pray God made you
know it today. When you've already made your
agreement, no, I'm okay, I'm all right, I'm not interested.
Listen, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow. Listen, you ain't shaking me
up, preacher. I've got my experience I can
run to. But now look over here, Isaiah
32. Here's a true refuge, a true
hiding place. Behold, a king shall reign in
righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And listen
to this now, and a man. A man should be as a hiding place.
Oh, there's a different hiding place here now. From the wind,
Covert from the tempest, rivers of water in a dry place, and
the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. Four things. Oh my. We need a refuge. Oh, God's people need a refuge,
a hiding place. And ain't that what he said?
Shall be as a hiding place. A hiding place. We need to look
what it says. First of all, shall be a hiding
place from the wind. The wind. Oh, what kind of wind? The winds of trials? Oh, we have
winds of trials. A strong wind will blow. And
that wind will blow sometimes and it will blow hard. And you
think that wind is going to just destroy you. Your trials come
so deep and so powerful and so great that you say this wind
is just going to blow me away. It's going to destroy me. And
then there's the wind of false doctrine. Oh, that wind of false
doctrine, oh God. How I bless the day, oh how I
bless the day that God crossed my path with the truth. Because
I believe false doctrine. I preach false doctrine. I believe
false doctrine. And God in sovereign mercy came
and crossed my path with somebody with the truth. And that we're in the false doctrine. And one of the false things that
people have is, is they believe that if I'm saved by grace, and
sovereign grace, and free grace, then that means that I have no
responsibility whatsoever how to live in this world. I can
live like I want, and go where I want, and do what I want. And what I mean is living a life
of intemperance. That's what I'm talking about,
intemperance. And I can say things, and do things, and overindulge
in things, and do things that's not right. And I know it's not
right, but well, I know I'm saved by grace. No, that's a dark, bad thing.
And then there's, I tell you, he's talking about a hiding place
from the wind. What about the fierce wind of God's wrath? Oh,
that fierce, fierce, fierce wind of God's wrath. Oh, it's fierce. It was so fierce
it destroyed everybody but eight souls one time. It was so fierce that it destroyed
Sodom and Gomorrah. Oh, and then look what else we
need a hiding place from. Not only from the wind, and a
covert. Everybody knows what a covert
is. Something like this here that
you can get in. And he said a covert from the tempest. A tempest. Do you know what a tempest is?
It's a storm that goes around and around and around. Tempest. Tempest. Oh my, we need a hiding
place from the tempest of the world. Oh my, from the world. Some of you have to work in the
world. And I tell you, the tempest just gets so great, the phone
rings off the hook. Everybody's want something at
the same time. Oh, listen, I need this, I need that. Well, I gotta
have this done right now. And I'm on the phone, and you
just hang it up, somebody else will. And next thing you know,
it's just this great tempest, and it's got out of control.
And then there's that tempest of public opinion. Oh my, we
got to pay attention to what public opinion tells us. We don't
know how to dress unless public opinion tells us. We don't know
where to go except public opinion tells us. We don't know where
the best vacation spot is except public opinion tells us. We don't
know what kind of car to drive except public opinion tells us. Ain't that right? What would we do without public
opinion? Oh my. Oh, the tempest that goes
on in our own hearts and in our own minds. The tempest of God's
holiness, the tempest of God's justice. And how about the tempest
from Satan's temptations? The tempest that comes as a whirlwind,
and you think it's going to scatter us. And look what else it says
now. Not only a man shall be as a
hiding place from the wind and covert from the tempest, But
look up what it says, rivers of water in a dry place. You
ever been in a dry place? Dry eyes, dry heart. Oh my. Disappointments, discouragement,
depression, despair. Oh, it gets so dry. I used to go hunting a lot of
times with my uncle years ago, and he said, boy, you sound like
a hobbled elf and go through a bunch of dry leaves, making
that much noise. But oh, my. But he said, you
know what? He said, this man's going to
be rivers of water. When you get in a real, real
dry spot, and your eyes are dry, and your heart's dry, and your
mind's dry. We talk about people having mind
fogs. Mind fog. Well, listen, God can clear away
that. But I do know this, when we're
in them dry places, and we all get in them dry places, the Bible's
dry. Our hearts are dry. Our prayers
are dry. Our worship's dry. And then God,
here comes this great big river. Let me show you that. I said
rivers of water. Look at Isaiah, excuse me, Psalm
45. Look at Psalm 45. And oh my, how many times has
that happened to you in your lifetime, your lifetime as a
believer? That you're so dry. And then
here comes this rivers of water. Oh, listen to what it says. Psalm 46. Did I say 45? I meant
Psalm 46. Psalm 46. Look what it says here. There is a river. The streams whereof shall make
glad the city of God. the holy place of the tabernacles
of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She
shall not be moved. God shall help her in that right
early. Oh my, when we're in that dry
place, he says, this man shall be rivers of water. Rivers, rivers,
great rivers of water. Then he says, back over here
in Isaiah 32, not only from the wind, from the tempest, rivers
of water and a dry place, and then the shadow of a great rock
and a weary land. Oh, weary land. You know, Paul
mentioned several times, be not weary in well-doing. Now, I don't
know about you, but I get very weary sometimes. I really, really
get very weary. You know who I get weary with
more than anybody else? It's me, I get weary with me.
I'm just so weary with myself. But a weary land, a weary land. We live right now in a very weary
land. We really live in a weary land.
Oh, it's so weary. This land is so weary. It's not
weary for people that live in the world, but it's weary for
us. And oh, a fainting heart. A weary, weary land. Boy, you
get to walking, you say, boy, I remember when I was a kid,
lived down in Canton, North Carolina, where my dad was from. We'd decide,
three or four of us boys, we'd decide, we're gonna go to that
mountain. We're gonna leave here and we're gonna go to that mountain.
We'd walk to four or five, we'd leave early in the morning, walk
to four or five o'clock, and that mountain was as far away
as when we started. We'd have to turn around and
go back to the house. or else, or else lay down and sleep on
the ground. Cause it was that mountain, that mountain said
that far away. That's what it's called about
being in a weary land. You don't think you're ever gonna get there. Your steps get weary. Your mind
gets weary. Your heart gets weary. Oh, I
just don't think I can go on. But look what it says now. But
oh, when you're in that weary land, that's a great big rock
right there. That's a great big huge rock
right there. See that great big rock? I'm in this weird land, look
at this wonderful shadow. It's not only a place I can rest,
but I tell you, I can hide in this rock, I can go in this rock,
and there'll be a shadow over me, and this weird land will
just stop. I got this resting place, I got
this place, this wonderful shadow over me. Oh, what a wonderful
thing. What a wonderful thing. Oh my. Then look what else it says.
And we have a refuge, and look what he calls him. He says there's
a man. He's a man. A man. Who is this man? Well, three guesses and the first
two don't count. Oh my. This is my fellow, the
Lord Jesus Christ. This is my fellow. This man is
the branch. My man, the branch. There's the
man, Christ Jesus, who is our mediator. And oh, John, let me
look at this with me. Look over in John chapter 19.
John chapter 19. Here's something to look at.
Talking about our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, a man. You know, if you try to find
refuge in just a regular man, in me or one another, you're
going to be sadly, sadly, sadly disappointed. Sadly disappointed. But if Christ the man, made like unto us, sin accepted. In verse 9, chapter 19, Pilate
therefore took Jesus, scorched Him, and the soldiers plaited
the crown of thorns, put it on His head, and they put on Him
a purple robe. Now this is, you know, let me take a minute to
say about this. You know at Easter time they put out all these crosses,
and they put these purple scarves around them. They think they're
really doing God a service. But look what it says now. And
they said, hail, king of the Jews. And over here said, a king
shall reign in righteousness. And they smote him with their
hands. Pilate therefore went forth again, saith unto them,
behold, I bring him forth to you that you may know that I
find no fault in him. Listen to this now. Then came
Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Can you see him standing there
in that purple robe? supposed to be royal. And Pilate
saith unto him, behold the man. Behold the man. And I tell you,
not only is that back over here, he's a king. And what does this
king do? He reigns in righteousness and
he does it right now. And what that means is that as
king, everything he does is right. And he said, his scepter is a
scepter of righteousness. He's the same today, yesterday
and forever. And it says the government, government
is on his shoulder. I mean, you know, they talk about
a coming king. He always been king, he's king
now and he'll always be king. And I tell you what, I want him
right there sitting on that throne. Right there sitting on that throne.
Don't you? I want Him sitting on the throne. Oh my. And all the time I want to be
around that throne when I'm sitting at the foot of it. Huh? And then look what it said. He's
our hiding place from the wind, from the fierce wind of God's
wrath that He said. And oh, He says He's a covert
from the tempest. A covert means it's something
undercover. It's hid. It's out of sight.
And you know we're hid with God in Christ? And when you're hid, that means
there's a place of secrecy. Who don't know it? The world
don't know it, but we know it. God's law, God's justice, His
wrath, His righteousness can't find us here in this hiding place.
You know why? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's Christ that died. Who is
He that condemneth? It's God that justified us. Oh
my. And that rivers of water, he
said, oh, he'll lead us beside the still waters, make us lay
down. Oh, and I'll tell you, he says
that there were trees of righteousness planted by the Lord, by the rivers.
And then the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. Hot, we
can't find a shade. Oh, great shadow in a weary,
weary land. And let me give you some blessings
real quick, real quick. Look what it says down here in
verse three of chapter 32, of Isaiah 32. Do you know the blessings
enjoyed from the man are hiding place, and the eyes of them that
see shall not be dim. You know what happens when you're
hiding? He gives you clear eyes. He gives you clear eyes. You
can see clearly. You can see clearly now. Oh, I see it, I
see it, I see it. Oh yeah, I see it. They really
see things as they are. Oh, they see the difference in
the refuge of lies and the refuge of truth. And then look what
else happens here in verse three. And the ears of them that hear
shall hearken. He said, I'm going to open their
ears. And guess what they're going to do? He said, they're
going to listen. He said, they're going to listen. He said, my
sheep hear my voice. They hear the word. They hear
it, he opens their ears. And then look what it says also
in verse four. The heart also of the rash, or
the hasty, shall understand knowledge. Oh my. He said, he gonna teach
our hearts. Well, we used to be hasty, but
now he takes our hearts. And I tell you what, he said,
what will they do? They'll understand knowledge.
They'll know something about God. They'll know something about
themselves. They'll know something about
sin. Oh, they understand. They understand this more than
anything else, that Christ is all and in all. And then look
what it says there again in verse four. The stammer shall be ready
to speak. The tongue is loosed. Oh, you
know what it says? They speak plainly. Oh my. The tongue is loosed. They speak
plainly. They tell the truth. The way of salvation, the way
of substitution. Oh, man's a hiding place. And man is a hiding place. Oh
my. Let me ask you this, in closing. Who is your hiding place or where? If who is your hiding place,
if Christ is your hiding place, You can't be more secure. You can't be safer. You can't
be more saved. But if you have a where, a where
and a when, then you got a refuge of lives. A refuge of lives. Our Father, in the blessed name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, Thank you for your great truth, for
the blessed word of God, for the truth as it is in our Lord
Jesus. Father, it's in your hands. Holy Spirit,
do with it as you will. Lord, it's your word. It's your
word. You said it would never return
to your void. It would accomplish that that
you sent it. And oh Lord, do that for the glory of Christ,
for the glory of thine own person. And oh God, as we sung already
this morning, keep us believing, keep us cleaving. And oh, praise the Savior. Praise
the Savior. We bless you for him. Amen and
amen. upon Jesus' wonderful face, and
the things of earth will in the light of His glory and
grace.