our Bibles today to the letter
of Hebrews chapter 6 Hebrews chapter 6 and I'll begin
my reading in verse number 9 But, beloved, we are persuaded
better things of you and things that accompany salvation, though
we thus speak. For God is not unrighteous to
forget your work and labor of love, which you have showed toward
his name, and that you have ministered to the saints and do minister.
And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence
to the full assurance of hope unto the end. that you be not
slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience
inherit the promises. For when God made promise to
Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself,
saying, surely, blessing, I will bless thee, and multiplying,
I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently
endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater,
and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel,
confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which
it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation
who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before
us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure
and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil, whether
the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made in high priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. I began thinking about this scripture
when I saw the pictures of those along the coast of Texas who
were evacuating from the hurricane. The traffic was lined up. I especially
saw an I-35 coming out of Corpus Christi in Rockport, that area. People were running from the
storm. And I thought about this passage
which speaks to us of God's refuge. a refuge for sinners fleeing
from the wrath of God. In looking at the passage of
Scripture, I saw that the Lord Jesus Christ is set before us
here in four different aspects. He is the child of God's refuge. He is the child of God's hope. He is the child of God's anchor. and he is the child of God's
forerunner. And so that's the way we will
look at this passage today. First, Christ is the child of
God's refuge. What is a good definition for
the word refuge? Let's look back in the Psalms
at two verses of Scripture, and I believe these are the two best
definitions of what a refuge really is. First of all, in Psalm
61, Psalm 61 and verse 3. For thou hast been a shelter
for me. Refuge is a shelter. For thou
hast been a refuge, thou, thou, hast been a refuge for me, a
shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. And then also, if you will, go
back further to Psalm 32 and verse 7. So a refuge is a shelter. Those who were fleeing from the
hurricane, they were seeking shelter. But also we find here
in verse seven, thou art my hiding place. Thou shalt preserve me
from trouble. So refuge is not only a shelter,
but it is a hiding place where we are preserved from trouble. Thou shalt compass me about with
songs of deliverance. Now in our text this morning,
the apostle says, who have fled for refuge. Now, by saying the
word fled, this tells us that the author of this book, this
letter, he had in his mind those six cities of refuge. Those six
cities of refuge that God ordained in the law of Moses for the nation
of Israel. Because they were to flee to
these cities of refuge. Now we know that there are not
six refuges for sinners, but Christ is God's one refuge. But in the land of promise, and
I've thought about this over the years, We know that seven
is the number of perfection in the scripture. But there were
six, not seven, but six cities of refuge. And I've come to this
conclusion that there were six because the land was divided
by the river Jardin. And there were three cities on
one side of Jardin and three cities on the other side of Jardin. And this reminds me, at least,
that yes, we have B.C. and A.D. Our calendars are divided,
right? Before Christ and the year of
our Lord, A.D. But in both dispensations and
in both times, there has only been one city of refuge. There never has been but one
refuge for sinners. Even as we've just read in these
two verses in the Psalms, this was David who lived, what, a
thousand years before Christ, that he said thou, he wasn't
talking about a city or a great tower or anything like that.
But thou, the person, God is a person, Christ is a person,
thou art my refuge. Thou art a hiding place for me. Well, here's five questions I
want us to consider when we think about Christ as the child of
God's refuge. First of all, why? Why should men flee to Christ
for refuge? Everyone doesn't flee to Christ
for refuge, do they? Just as in the case of the hurricane. Even though I heard the governor
and I heard other officials warning people, encouraging people to
flee, but not everyone did. Many people did, but not everyone
did. And when you think about all
the reasons that people give As to why they did not flee,
it may all be gathered under this one head, and that one head
is unbelief. They did not flee because they
did not believe the hurricane was going to touch them. And
why is it that sinners will not flee to Christ? Unbelief. They do not believe that there's
anything to this as the wrath of God, as the wrath of the Lamb,
even though the Word of God convinces us of this truth. Men do not
flee to Christ for refuge because they do not believe there's any
danger. You may be here this morning.
No doubt there are some in this congregation. And the reason
you haven't fled to Christ For refuge is because of unbelief. You do not believe that the wrath
of God is going to come and be poured out upon sinners. But let me tell you something,
from the Word of God today, you may be sure, just as God in this
passage of Scripture, not only gave His Word, but took an oath
that by two immutable things, His Word and His Oath, His Promise
and His Oath, you may be sure that God's Word is sure and God's
Word will be fulfilled. Look over just a few pages to
Hebrews chapter 11. We have this example of this
man by the name of Noah. Hebrews chapter 11 and verse
7. By faith, Noah being warned of
God of things not seen as yet. Now notice what we are told here
about Noah. The first thing is he was warned
of God. What are these hurricanes? What
are these tornadoes? What are these things that people
call disasters? and things of mother nature,
which is a big lie. What are they, my friends, but
warnings, warnings from God. This is not going to continue
forever. This whole world one day is going
to be burned up. Noah, first of all, he was warned
of God. And that's what God does through
these disasters, as we call them. And that's what God does through
His Word, just like He did to Noah. Had it ever rained before? Most
people believe, according to the Word of God, it had never
rained before. And he's inland. He's not sitting
on the ocean side or the seaside somewhere. And God warns him. God warns him that He is going
to bring a deluge upon this earth and destroy all flesh outside
of the one refuge. What does the scripture say?
By faith, Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet. No one had ever seen it rain.
And certainly no one, excuse me, no one had ever seen a rain
like that rain. I told someone the other day
after this hurricane dumped all this water upon Houston. Maybe some people now will be
a little bit more prone to believe in the flood of Noah. If it just
rained for five or six days, and the number of inches of rain
that came here. Think about God opening up the
fountains and the water pouring out of the clouds all over the
world. So that the water covered, the
water covered God's earth. And Noah was warned. What did
he do? He moved with fear. He believed,
right? Why is it that men do not flee
to Christ? Because they do not believe.
Why is it that you have not fled to Christ and identified with
Christ and followed Christ? Because you do not believe. You
do not believe. Noah did. He was warned of God. of things not seen as yet, and
he moved with fear. He prepared an ark to the saving
of his house, by the which he condemned the world and became
heir of the righteousness which is of faith. He moved with fear,
preparing the ark. Now, some of the men, think about
this, some of the men who worked on that ark may have well perished
outside of the ark. Maybe he hired some men. I don't
know. You don't know. Maybe it wasn't just Noah and
his three sons who were building the ark. But I do know this,
for 120 years Noah was a preacher of righteousness. A preacher of righteousness.
That God is holy. And we must have a righteousness. if we are to be received by God. A righteousness which we cannot
produce. A righteousness which is given
unto us through the person and work in Noah's day of the one
who was promised to come. In our day of the one who has
come. Now, he moved with fear and he
condemned the world. There was one refuge. People today like to believe
that all religions are the same. It doesn't matter what you believe.
As long as you believe something, we're all worshiping the same
God. No, that's not true. There was
one refuge, and there's one refuge for sinners. And that refuge
is the Lord Jesus Christ. Why should men flee to Christ
for refuge? Why was it imperative? You know
the story or the history concerning the six cities of refuge. It
was for a person who accidentally killed someone else. Manslaughter,
as we would call it today. It was not homicide. But why was it imperative that
he flee? because of the avenger of blood. And if that man was found outside
a city of refuge, even though the killing of a neighbor had
not been premeditated, it was somewhat accidental on his part,
yet the law of God cried out for justice. He had to flee. The law cried for justice. And
it's the same with you and the same with me today. Why should
every sinner flee to Christ? Because the law of God cries
out for justice. The soul that sinneth, it shall
surely die. For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Why? Why should sinners, men,
flee to Christ for refuge? Because of the justice of God. God is just. Here's a second question. What
is meant by fleeing to Christ for refuge? What does that mean
to flee to Christ? I understand, preacher, what
it means for a man back in the Old Testament days to accidentally
be out in the field and maybe the axe head comes off his axe
and it strikes someone and he realizes the man is dead and
he flees, he runs. And they were very meticulous,
according to the law, of keeping those roads clear and if there
was rivers on the way, bridges across the river and a sign,
signpost pointing to the city of refuge. If there was crossroads
or anything like that, there was a signpost, a man's hand
pointing to the city of refuge, the near city of refuge. I can understand what that means,
running, moving, this body getting into that city of refuge, but
what does it mean to flee to Christ for refuge? Well, this
is just one of the many different ways in the New Testament that
express the very same thing, and that is trusting. Trusting
in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. To believe in Him is to rest
upon Him and His finished work. To come to Him is to turn from
every other refuge and cling to Him. To obey Him is to repudiate
any so-called righteousness of our own, and look to Christ alone
as all our salvation. That's what it means to flee
to Christ. The term fleeing is simply an
Old Testament term that's brought into the New Testament, but it
means the very same thing. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. Here's the third question. When
should men flee to Christ, the refuge? Well, the answer is obvious,
isn't it? Now. Now. Just as when a man might cause
the death of another man under the law, had to go to the city,
now. He didn't go back home and pack
a bag. Now! Now! I've got to get to
the city of refuge before the avenger of blood gets to me!
Now! Now! What does the Scripture
say? Now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. When I was just a young boy,
I remember my grandfather one day told me this. He said, tomorrow
never comes. I didn't understand that. I was
just a kid. But that's true. Tomorrow never
comes. You say, oh, yeah, but this is
Sunday. Tomorrow will be Monday. Monday will come. Yes, but when
Monday comes, it'll be today. When? When should a sinner flee
to Christ, the refuge? Now, let me show you this verse
here in John chapter 3. These are the words of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and many people are very familiar with verse
16, but they stop reading there. Verse 16 says, For God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For
God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world. The
world was already condemned when Christ came into this world.
The world was already condemned. That's the reason He told that
woman who was taken in adultery Neither do I condemn thee. She
was already condemned, just like all of us when we come into this
world are condemned. For God sent not His Son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him
might be saved. Verse 18. He that believeth on
Him is not condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already. Already, because he hath not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Now here's my fourth question. Who flee to Christ the refuge? It's obvious that not everyone
flees. Who does flee to Christ the refuge? Well, look in our text and we
are told those who flee to Christ are, in verse 17, called the
heirs of promise. The heirs of promise. You say,
well, what is an heir of promise? Well, You know, sometimes when
a person passes away, they say, well, he had so many legal heirs. And if he did not leave a will
or a testament, then the court will decide how his property
is to be distributed. Who has the greatest claim, depending
upon how close akin he was. You and I, The only thing that
we are heirs to is the wrath of God. That's what we deserve. That's what we have a right to
because of our sin against God. But there are heirs of promise. Heirs of promise. God promised
the heavenly inheritance to some who had forfeited, like you and
I, forfeited every right, every title that we might have had
to heaven. God promised. In Titus chapter
1 and verse 2 we read, In hope of eternal life, which God that
cannot lie promised before the world began. Now this promise,
this promise was made as the scripture says, before the world
began. And it was made to His Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, and those who were given to Him, heirs
of promise. As the Father gave them to Christ,
and He did, the Spirit of God draws them to Christ, and they
flee to Christ. They flee to Christ as a refuge,
their refuge, their only refuge. God knows. You say, who are they?
Well, God knows each and every one of them. God knows each and
every one that He chose and gave unto His Son, promised eternal
life to Him on our behalf. on the behalf of those that He
chose. God knows each and every one. The only thing I can say
today is I know their names. I really do. I know their names. You say, what is it? Sinner. Sinner. That's their name. It is a faithful saying, and
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. When an heir of promise hears
that word, sinner, he knows, she knows, God's speaking
to me. He's talking to me. Because that's
what I am. I am a sinner. I was born a sinner. I practiced sin. I am a sinner. Just like the Apostle Paul. When
he was a Pharisee, he was an heir of promise, but he didn't
know it, did he? He didn't know it. When the Lord Jesus Christ revealed
himself unto Saul of Tarsus, he knew that name then. He was
a sinner. And he never was ashamed to confess
it. Some people are so self-righteous,
you know, they're never going to flee to Christ for a refuge.
Why? Because they don't need one.
But every man, every woman, every boy, every girl who sees himself,
who knows himself, as the Word of God declares, to be a genuine,
bona fide sinner under the wrath of God. flees to Christ. Flees to Christ
as a refuge. You know that word atonement?
We speak about His atonement. It actually means covering. The
word means covering. And that's what Christ is. He's
a shelter. He's a covering. You know, I
thought about how the world, I don't know if it was this storm,
but one storm back or two, I remember they said Quite often, shelter
in place. Shelter in place. That's what
the world always says. Shelter in place. Trust in yourself. Trust in your works. Trust in
your religion. Shelter in place. But the gospel
says, flee to Christ. Look to Christ. Come to Christ. Well, here's the last question.
Do men only flee to Christ once for refuge? Well, in answering
that question, let me just say, there is the initial fleeing
to Christ. No doubt about that. There is
the initial fleeing to Christ. But we continually, as we go
through life, we continually find occasions when we need,
once again, to flee to Christ. Let me mention a couple. When
sin lies heavy on your conscience, when sin lies heavy on your conscience
and your peace is disturbed, flee to Christ. If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When providence seems to be against
you, and you hurt for whatever reason, flee to Christ. Flee to Christ for refuge. The hymn writer put it like this,
where could I go? Where could I go? Seeking a refuge
for my soul. Needing a friend to help me in
the end. Where could I go but unto the
Lord? Yes, there is an initial fleeing
to Christ, but it's not just once we flee to him. It's over
and over and over again. Now let me take just a few minutes
on these other three things. Christ is the child of God's
hope. You know, hope in the scriptures,
it may be subjective or objective. What I mean by that, there is
a grace of hope. The grace of hope which is subjective. When Paul said, Now abideth faith,
hope, and love. That hope is subjective. We have
a hope. We've been begotten again unto
a living hope. But the hope here is not subjective. Christ is our hope. And it is
objective because you notice the scripture says, They hold
upon the hope set before us. Christ is the believer's hope
because he is the one, the person, who is set before us in the gospel. Paul tells us in Romans chapter
3 that God has set him forth to be the propitiation for our
sins. And every time the gospel is
preached, we are setting forth Christ, who is our hope. If you look over to chapter 7
here in Hebrews and verse 19, the apostle said, for the law
made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope
did. By the witch we draw nigh unto
God. Now how is it that we draw nigh
unto God? By Christ. There's no drawing
nigh unto God apart from Jesus Christ. He is our hope. He's our hope. He's our refuge.
He's our hope. And number three, He is the believer's
anchor. Christ is a child of God's anchor. You know, a ship's anchor is
out of sight. When it is being used to anchor
the ship, the anchor is out of sight. An anchor is used for
the securing of the ship, especially in times of storm. The Lord Jesus
Christ, He's out of sight. You've never seen the Lord Jesus
Christ, not with these eyes. Just like that ship, when the
anchor's down, latching on, holding on to the rock, you can't see
that anchor. It's out of sight. Christ is
the anchor of every believer. But we know this, there's a line
between the ship and the anchor. And if there's no line, the anchor's
not going to do the ship any good, is it? The anchor may be
down there on the rocks. But there's no line, and the
ship is going to go with the wind. What's that line? It's faith. Faith. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There's a line between the ship
and the anchor, and there's a line between the soul and Jesus Christ,
our anchor. And that anchor keeps the soul
in the time of storm. Will your anchor hold in the
storms of life? When the clouds unfold their
wings of strife, when the strong tides lift and the cables strain,
will your anchor drift or firm remain? We have an anchor that
keeps the soul steadfast and sure. while the billows roll,
fastened to the rock, which cannot move, grounded firm and deep
in the Savior's love. Christ is our anchor. And notice
lastly, Christ is the child of God's forerunner. Forerunner. Whether the forerunner is for
us entered. When we think of a runner, runner
in a race, We think of Christ as the believer's forerunner.
He ran the race, he finished the race, and he's entered heaven. Notice those two words, for us. Whether the forerunner is for
us entered. He's entered heaven, taking possession
of heaven for us. Now this title forerunner, I
think this probably the only time we find this in the scripture
referring to Christ. But it is designed not only to
give us assurance, to give us assurance of our security, but
to show us, to show us, and this is so important, that our security
lies outside ourselves. Our security is outside ourself
held fast by the triumphant Lord Jesus Christ. One of the old
writers said this. Listen to me. This is so good.
Listen now. Because Christ has been where
we now are, we shall soon be where He now is. Don't you like
that? Because Christ has been where
we now are. He's been in this world. He's
been in this world of sin. But He's now in the presence
of God as the forerunner, as the first fruits of them that
slept. And He's entered into heaven
for us. And just as sure as He's there, All of us who flee to Christ
for refuge, one day we will be there with Him. Amen. Let's sing that hymn, Will Your
Anchor Hold in the Storms of Life. It's number 265.