THE Lord Jesus has many names in Holy Writ. When you mention the names of warriors and patriots, the great things which distinguished them, present themselves to the mind. When you mention the name of the sun, you think of his beauty, his light, his heat, that he alone keeps the visible world in existence, and that without him the world would come to nought. In speaking of this “tower” which is Jesus Christ, it may be remarked that when one begins to make a building, he first draws the plan. The plan of this “tower” was drawn in the mind of God from all eternity,—Christ set apart for the salvation of His Church. The humanity of Christ is built upon the attributes of God, the human nature being assumed by the divine.
I. It is said that this tower is strong.
Christ was strong as God. It is the test that is put upon any one that proves his strength. God is strong to defend His glory, His law and rights. Some kings are imposed upon, and they have no strength to oppose their oppressors. Their laws are disobeyed and their properties illegally taken away. But that is not the case with God; He is strong, being possessed of omnipotent power. All other powers have received their power from Him. When the old world rebelled against Him, and trampled upon His law, He proved His strength by destroying them and sweeping them away with the flood from the face of the earth. He was strong in reducing the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes.
Christ was strong in creating the world by the Word of His power—when He called forth the heavens, earth and sea, garnished the heavens with lights, and filled the earth and sea with all kinds of creatures, and continues to regulate them by His unerring wisdom. The planets revolve upon the palms of His hands.
This tower is not only strong as God, but as man. There was no access to this tower for sinners of mankind except by a human nature, and so the divine nature had to come to borrow materials from the human in order to accommodate the human race. The Lord prepared for Him a body. This tower was tried in His human nature and proved strong. He was besieged by strong powers. All the powers of the world tried to pull Him down, —kings, princes, and the lower orders. Satan tried Christ, and instigated all human powers against Him, but they could make nothing of Him. They have tried Christ in His people also. But still Christ in His kingdom is increasing in strength. He must reign till all His enemies are made His footstool.
Death has a universal sway in this world, and is a powerful king, but Christ is stronger than he: He has deprived him of his power by restoring the dead to life. The grave has kept so many under its sway, and is not yet satisfied, but Christ mocked its power, and rose after conquering it. He has the keys of death and hell, and at the judgment day shall denude it of all its power.
There are objects, to which your hearts warm, when you hear their names mentioned, on account of their excellence. The name of Christ is very sweet to a believer. Just as the sun warms the earth, so does Christ cheer and kindle the grace of love in the heart. The sun brings alive; so does Christ; it was He that imparted life to the believer. The sun gives heat; Christ warms the heart with love to God and man. The sun directs by his light; Christ enlightens the heart, preserves the soul from danger and leads it in the right way on to glory. The sun makes fruitful; Christ makes the souls of His people fruitful in love, faith, and self-denial. The sun cheers when he rises, dispelling darkness; Christ cheers the heart, when He begins to shine in the promise. The sun is full of light and cannot be scanty, but continues to give light on account of the abundance that is in him. Christ is full of all blessings, and continues to bestow them abundantly upon His people, to perfect their happiness for time and eternity. The sun sometimes becomes eclipsed. Christ hides His face from His people, and leaves them in darkness. When they commit sin, He frowns, chastises, and leaves them in darkness. As the tears of repentance are shed, He breaks in again upon them with the light of his countenance, dispelling their darkness, and as a father comforts his children, He comforts them, renewing His love and giving them proofs of His close relationship to them, as was done to the prodigal son. When He thus entertains them, their love and gratitude know no bounds.
There are other towers to which men flee that they may be saved from the wrath of God, such as the works of the law. They substitute these for the work of Christ. They clothe themselves with their own righteousness. But the law of God and the sword of justice shall prove to them that this refuge is not a strong tower, when they shall be taken out of it and destroyed. Almsgiving, voluntary humility, attending upon the means of grace, and partaking of the sacraments are towers which sinners make their refuge, but death shall pull them down to the ground, and their inmates shall be put to the sword of God’s justice. Millions make a strong tower of confession to the priest and think that he can forgive their sins, when they should confess their sins to God only in Christ’s name, who can alone forgive, and save us. Episcopalians make a strong tower of baptism, and think that they are renewed in it, and have their sins washed away; circumcision availeth nothing. The Jews made a strong tower of the patriarchs, who were a blessing in the Church in their day, but Christ must be the Saviour and pattern of the believer. He has left us an example to follow Him. The Jews also laid great stress upon circumcision. But all these towers proved ineffectual to save a sinner. The Scribes and Pharisees were very zealous following the traditions of the fathers, so that they found fault with Christ Himself. But O! what a weak tower to protect a soul from the punishment of sin after death. Some under the gospel make it their tower or hope of heaven, that their parents were pious. Absalom had a very pious father, David, but he could not impart his own good qualities to him. Piety is not hereditary, and those that trust to the piety of parents or relatives as a ground of their hope for eternity shall find that the floods and storms shall rage against their house, built upon the sand, and that it shall have a tremendous fall at death. The tower of Babel was strong, but it fell, and the builders were confounded, as they attempted to reach heaven with it. Everyone who attempts to reach heaven with their building apart from Christ as a foundation, shall be confounded at death. The temple at Jerusalem was the most magnificent in the world, but enemies have not left a stone of it. There have been many towers in our land, but the rude hand of age has denuded them of their beauty and laid them in ruins. There is no trace of their inmates. But Christ, the strong tower, can never be taken by enemies, and those that have fled to Him for refuge since the time of Abel to this moment are quite safe and perfectly happy within Him. Christ can never become old; from everlasting He is the strength of His people, and is a treasure-house of blessings to make them happy and blessed.
II. “The righteous runneth into it and is safe.”
All are dead in the first Adam. A dead man is insensible of his danger. Do to him what you like,—he cannot flee. They must hear the voice of the Son of man. Christ’s voice conveys conviction of sin and light. Then the sinner awakes as a dart of light enters the dungeon of his heart, and he finds himself in Satan’s arms, condemned by the law of God, and void of God’s image. He sees how Satan was deceiving him when tempting him to live in sin, pretending to be his friend, when tempting him to gratify his lusts, so as to prepare him for hell. Then he awakes to a sense of his danger, and he begins to abhor sin, Satan, and foolish companions. Christ takes out the heart which was hard, and a nest of serpents, evil spirits and lusts, and gives him a new heart. Seeing the suitableness of Christ as a sacrifice dying in their room, such souls flee to Him, and the face of their hope is towards Him, and the face of their thoughts and affections. For what have they fled to Him? They have fled for mercy and salvation—to secure shelter from the wrath and curse of the law of God, to have their sins washed away in Christ’s blood, to be clothed with his righteousness, to become His members and adopted children, to know Him and worship Him, to enjoy His face and to be enriched with spiritual supplies out of His fulness.
Those who “run” to this refuge will not be asleep in unconcern about their souls, or have their souls absorbed in worldly objects. They do not run slowly, but flee as for their very lives. When “the avenger of blood” was pursuing, the pursued would require to flee with all his might. A sight of the avenger and the sword would make him flee. They flee with the tears of repentance, with a broken heart, with much darkness, mourning their miseries. The curse of the broken law and his officers took them by the throat to be destroyed. They flee to Christ to pay the debt and to set them free. Christ sets all free from condemnation who flee to Him.—(Rom. viii. 1.) They flee in order that their conscience may have peace. They flee to be washed in Christ’s blood, and take shelter in the wounds of the nails and the gash the spear made in His side, that they may get peace from the terrors of the fiery wrath of God. Christ receives them with open arms and open breasts and allows them to drink of the water of life freely, and they become united to Him, embracing Him by faith. As stones are quarried, polished, and placed upon the foundation, so are believers whose hope is fixed upon Christ and His finished work for time and eternity; they are quarried from their natural state through the blasting of the fire of the law, and polished by the Spirit.—(Eph. ii. 18.) They are united to Christ through faith, and cemented together in love. The head of this tower is in heaven, where His gracious presence is immediately enjoyed by the Church triumphant. The Church militant enjoys glimpses of His presence here. In the midst of storms and floods blowing from hell, sin and the world, Christ in good time draws nigh, making the glory of His power and love manifest in quelling the storms and floods that threaten to drown them, as He did to the disciples, when He came walking upon the sea, giving them always additional proofs of His love and affection towards them.
III. The wicked will not flee to this tower.
Being dead in sins, they do not feel their need of fleeing to Christ. When people are very fond of their companions, and long with them, they do not like to leave them and follow others. Men by nature are much taken up from their infancy with the world, with the carnal mind and Satan. Satan gives them plenty of pleasures congenial to their carnal minds so as to keep them from fleeing to Christ. But when death comes, they shall regret their folly. When they are in hell they cannot flee to Christ.
“To-day, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” If you come, there is room in this tower, and plenty of Joseph’s goods to make you comfortable. There was no room in the Ark, when the flood came; there was no room in the Temple for the Gentiles, till the veil was rent. There is room through the rent body of Christ. There is an eternal feast going on in this Temple; Christ is their food—His glory as God-man. The blessings they possess in His company shall ravish their hearts with indescribable joy.