The Believer’s Refuge and Consolation A Sermon by Archibald Alexander

Hebrews 6:18. 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.

God would have His people be comfortable. He has therefore laid a solid foundation for their consolation in the promises of His Word. Faith is weak and, unless it is well supported, it is apt to totter and the soul sink into deep discouragement. The promises of God, on which the believer leans, are not only rich but sure: they are all yea and amen in Christ Jesus to the glory of God. Among men, what is confirmed by solemn oath is considered firmer than what rests only on a promise; thus God, condescending to our infirmity, has added an oath to His promise. And because there was no one greater by whom He could swear, “He swore by Himself, that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us”.

The form of expression used here is probably derived from a custom sanctioned by the law of Moses, that when anyone killed a man, he could flee to one of the cities of refuge. There were three on each side of the Jordan, so situated as to be within reach of the people in every part of the country. In ancient times, it was usual for the nearest relation to avenge the death of a murdered person by slaying the murderer. And the practice still exists among many tribes. The kinsman, who had the duty of taking vengeance was called “the avenger of blood”. He was bound in honour never to give up pursuing the manslayer until blood was shed for blood.

Whether this practice began with what God said to Noah after the flood, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed”, we need not inquire. This Mosaic law certainly did not begin this ancient custom, which was intended to prevent frequent injustice and cruelty. When a man was slain, without a deliberate purpose to take away life, the kinsman of the slain would be poorly qualified, while in the heat of passion occasioned by the death of a near relation, to judge impartially the motives behind the act. There was therefore a danger of killing someone innocent, or someone who did not deserve so severe a punishment.

By this law of Moses, an asylum was provided for every manslayer who chose to make use of it, until there was an opportunity of a fair and impartial investigation into the true character of the act. The gates of these cities of refuge were constantly kept open, so that the manslayer might get in, by day or by night. The highways to these cities also, and the bridges, had to be kept in good repair. But although all manslayers were permitted to take refuge in these cities, the institution was not intended to screen the malicious murderer from just punishment. Nor could it help such a person to take refuge in them, for if on inquiry it was found that the act was deliberate, the murderer was immediately delivered up to the avenger of blood to be put to death.

There were, however, other places to which the guilty fled for refuge. When Joab feared for his life, he fled to the altar of burnt-offering, laid hold of its horns, and refused to let go. Solomon therefore directed that he should be slain there. As there is nothing in Scripture to sanction this custom, it is probable that it was borrowed from the pagans, among whom temples and altars were always places of refuge for the guilty. To slay them in such places was considered a sacrilegious violation of the sanctity of the place.

The precise meaning of the word hope, requires a moment’s consideration. Most understand it to mean the object of hope – justification and its consequence, eternal life. Others understand it to mean the act of hope. But it is more probable that the Apostle meant the foundation of hope; that is, the promise of which he had been just speaking, which generates hope in God’s people. Certainly, this agrees best with the preceding context and with the scope of his argument. God had given a promise and confirmed it by an oath. On this solid foundation, faith could firmly rest, and hope is the fruit of faith, ever rising and falling with it. He who believes the promise lays hold of hope, for faith in the promises of God is the pillar and ground of gospel hope.

1. Let us contemplate the soul fleeing for refuge and laying hold of God’s sure promise. No one seeks a refuge unless he is afraid of some danger. The traveller who sees a storm rising and fears some injury from the wind, rain, hail and lightning, flees to the nearest shelter, and takes refuge from the gathering storm. So he who is pursued by an enemy, as was the manslayer, hastens his steps to the city of refuge. Thus the sinner, when awakened to a true sense of his danger, begins to look for a place of safety. But the person who fears no danger will not flee. You may call on him to flee as much and as long as you will, but he does not listen. He feels no motive strong enough to make him leave his worldly pursuits and seek salvation.

Hence the necessity of conviction of sin, so that people may feel their need of a Saviour. The “whole need not a physician, but they that are sick”. The first step then is to see that we are in a lost and perishing condition. Thus we learn that the first work of the Spirit is to convince men of sin. Although a mere legal conviction has no tendency to renew the heart, God deals with sinners as reasonable, accountable creatures, and He does not usually grant them grace and pardon until they are conscious of their wretched, helpless condition. Thus those convicted on the day of Pentecost were first pricked in their hearts and cried out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” And the jailor of Philippi cried out, “What must I do to be saved?”

Careless sinners make light of the gospel invitation and continue to neglect the great salvation. But when the law is brought home to the conscience, the false peace of the sinner is interrupted. When he begins to open his eyes to his true situation and finds that he is really under a sentence of condemnation, in a blind and helpless condition, that his whole nature is corrupt, and that he can do nothing to save himself, he begins to enquire earnestly if there is any refuge for someone in his wretched condition. He is now disposed to listen to every report of a refuge where he may flee and be safe.

This subject now occupies his thoughts and the things of time and sense no longer engross his attention. All earthly things appear trivial, and his only concern is how he may escape impending wrath and secure the salvation of his soul. Oppressed with the burden of his iniquities, he groans in anguish. He is filled with compunction for the sins of his youth, which now rise up before his conscience. He is ashamed to look up to the throne of a holy God, but cries with the publican: “God be merciful to me a sinner”. He takes all the blame to himself and acknowledges the righteousness of the sentence which condemns him. Sometimes he is tempted to despair of any relief, but the free offer of salvation to the chief of sinners, in the gospel, encourages him to indulge a feeble hope that God may intend mercy for his miserable soul. He therefore turns his face toward the place of refuge and resolves that he will never give over seeking and crying to God for mercy.

1. The manslayer, pursued by the avenger of blood, might for a time persuade himself that he could be safe in some other refuge. Such a course would be exceedingly unwise; wherever he was, he would still be exposed to danger; his adversary might fall on him unexpectedly and kill him. In all Israel, there was no security for a manslayer but in one of the appointed cities of refuge. There was legitimate protection here, and nowhere else.

Such is the case of the awakened sinner. He is convinced that danger is near and he must seek some refuge from the coming storm. But he is unwilling to flee to the place of safety which the gospel points to. This way of escape is not in his thoughts; it is uncongenial to his feelings. He naturally turns to the covenant of works, under which he was created. The covenant of grace is strange to him; he does not understand it. He persuades himself that by reforming his life and forsaking the sins which have particularly troubled his conscience, he may be safe without fleeing to the place of refuge, which seems far off and difficult to get to.

If conscience is still not satisfied with his reformation, he will become more diligent about religious duties. He will observe the Sabbath, attend church, pray in his family and on his own, and show much zeal in all the externals of religion. In the warmth of his zeal, he may even aspire to the holy ministry, and may warn and reprove others. He fancies himself to be religious and foolishly compares himself with the multitude who completely neglect religion and infers that his condition must be safe. He compares his present with his former conduct and congratulates himself on the great change in his way of life. Other professed believers may view him as an eminent Christian, and his delusion is so complete that he does not suspect himself. He thinks that all is well and that he shall be received into heaven when he dies. The awakened sinner has indeed found a refuge, but it is “a refuge of lies”. He has no shelter but his own rotten righteousness. He entertains high hopes, but they are built on a sandy foundation.

At some future time, he will be convinced that he has taken refuge in an unsafe place, from which he must be driven or perish miserably. This conviction of danger may seize him while he yet has an opportunity to escape to the true city of refuge which God has appointed. But often the mistake is not detected until it is too late to seek safety in the true refuge. Some have their eyes opened to see their miserable condition just as they are leaving the world, when it is too late to prepare for eternity. Others do not realise their danger until eternity reveals it to them. O wretched condition! Let all convinced sinners beware of the danger of resting on a false foundation or seeking safety in a refuge of lies. Let them never feel at ease until they have entirely escaped from the plain of destruction and have taken refuge in the mount of safety. We must be brought to renounce our own righteousness and all dependence on our own works or on our tears of repentance; we must put our trust solely in the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. The figure fleeing for refuge is well suited to express the act of faith, believing on Christ. And the phrase laying hold is a striking description of the earnestness with which the convinced sinner seizes the gracious promise of God when his eyes are opened to understand the freeness and fullness of the salvation offered to him. As a drowning man eagerly seizes a rope thrown to him and grasps it with a firmness that nothing can loosen, so the sinner flees to the gospel refuge when he is pursued by the demands of the broken law. He may immediately enjoy a feeling of repose – and often of strong consolation. The expression lay hold of would seem to refer to the horns of the altar, which the guilty person grasped who sought safety there.

Although the experiences of sincere converts vary considerably; yet some leading points are common to all true believers. As all are by nature in the same condition of condemnation and depravity; as all are equally helpless; as the same gospel is the object of the faith of all; and as regeneration in all is the work of the same Holy Spirit; there can be no essential difference in the nature of the exercises of genuine converts. All, for example, are convinced of sin and feel they are perishing. In some this conviction involves a much more vivid sense of danger, but the degree of fear does not determine either the depth or genuineness of the sinner’s convictions. There may be overwhelming terror where there is little true conviction, and there may be deep scriptural conviction where there is little terror and the mind remains calm. Indeed often when conviction is deepest, the mind is calmest. Even when it seems on the borders of despair and has almost given up hope, there is often a sad calmness, which it is not easy to account for.

All true converts are not only convinced of sin, but they feel thoroughly helpless; not only convinced that they are unable to keep the law, but also unable to repent of sin or receive the gospel. Unbelief is commonly the last sin of which the Spirit convinces the awakened soul: “of sin, because they believe not in Me”. But the truly-convinced sinner never pleads his inability as his excuse, nor does he feel less guilty on this account. Other sins are the branches of the evil tree, but he is conscious that this is the bitter root out of which they grow. Thus every convinced sinner is led clearly to see the justice of God in his condemnation. He may be said to accept the punishment of his sins, for he acquiesces in the justice of the sentence which condemns him to eternal misery. He justifies God, and takes all the blame to himself.

Indeed, at this point in his experience, his feeling is that, if he perishes eternally, he never can feel that he has been unjustly treated, but that gratitude is due to God for His long-continued, unmerited kindness. Such views can only be accounted for if a spiritual change has already taken place in the soul – though nothing is further from what this person believes. Often the sinner is renewed before he is aware of it. Spiritual life is breathed into the soul before it is filled with the joy and peace which arises from receiving Christ by faith. There are evident breathings after God – the effect of renewing grace – before the eyes are opened to behold the reconciled face of God in Christ. One of the earliest feelings of the regenerated soul is a sense of ingratitude which breaks the heart, hitherto hard, into a melting frame of godly sorrow. Tears flow apace. This sorrow is sweet in the experience, because it is always mingled with a sense of the mercy and goodness of God; yet there may be no thought of being in a safe state.

But such feelings may soon be succeeded by views of Christ as an able and willing Saviour. These first views of a Saviour are sometimes sudden and overwhelming. The soul feels itself transported, as it were, into a new world. Gross darkness is exchanged for “marvellous light”. The joy is “unspeakable and full of glory”. The soul exults in the cross of Christ; all doubt and fear are expelled, and the heart is at once filled with contrition, love and peace. These first views of a Saviour are often more noticeable in the flow of emotion which accompanies them, than any experienced afterwards.

This blessed vision of divine truth may be repeated two or three times and then the soul is left to what may be called the common encouragements which the gospel inspires. But it would be injurious to many sincere Christians to lay this down as the uniform experience of all the children of God. Indeed I am persuaded that a large majority of those converted in our day are led in a different way. Their first views are very obscure, and they can point to no particular time when darkness and doubt were banished from their minds. The light, for them, has been like the dawn of the day: at first an obscure twilight, but gradually increasing to clear light. They are conscious of a great change in their views and feelings from what they once were, but how it came about they cannot tell. All they can say is: “Whereas I was once blind, now I see”.

Often the first views of Christ are very partial. Perhaps the soul that considered its case hopeless begins to see that Christ is able to save it, desperate as its condition seemed. Even this, which would seem a small matter to many, is as life from the dead to a convinced soul almost in despair. To be assured that salvation is even possible fills the soul with a delight it never before experienced. Hope now takes place of despondency, and the soul into which this first ray of light has darted forms a purpose never to give up seeking until salvation is obtained. One of its greatest difficulties is to suppress a continually-rising thought that a change has been experienced. As sincere souls are more apprehensive of a false hope than of any other danger, they become alarmed when they find themselves sliding into the opinion that they are already Christians; yet it is hard to resist this persuasion because it is based on the evidences of piety contained in the Word of God and laid down by wise ministers.

1. The blessed effect of fleeing to the refuge set before us is strong consolation. No feeling is more delightful than an assurance of deliverance from a great impending calamity. And as no danger to which we can be exposed is comparable to that of everlasting misery, so no enjoyment is so sweet as the joy of salvation. It is described as “unspeakable and full of glory”. There must be peace and joy in believing, for he who truly believes must have some view of Christ as an all-sufficient Saviour. He must have some apprehension of the refuge provided for guilty sinners; he must have fled to this refuge, an act which cannot take place without experiencing something of that repose and comfort which necessarily follow from discovering a way of escape from the wrath of God.

Though ample provision has been made for strong consolation to all who flee to this refuge, yet the comfort enjoyed will generally be in proportion to the strength of the faith exercised. Often faith begins like a grain of mustard seed – so small that in the midst of the darkness and corruption of the human heart it can scarcely be discerned. And many people have a gloomy, melancholy temperament, or such a degree of suspicion and lack of confidence in themselves that they cannot easily be persuaded that they are in a safe state. Their comfort is therefore greatly marred by doubts and fears, which accompany some pious people through their whole pilgrimage. And they may not understand the true nature of conversion. It is assumed that this change is always very great and perceptible; and as they have never before experienced anything of this sort, they suppose they are still impenitent.

There is, moreover, a degree of perverseness in some serious people about this matter. They get into the habit of taking part against themselves, always uttering complaints about their unhappy state and refusing the consolation which the gospel freely offers to people in their condition. They may be said to deprive themselves of consolation. But it seems wisely ordered that our spiritual comforts should rise and fall with the degree of strength or weakness in our faith. If we could enjoy strong consolation while faith and love were feeble, it would prevent us from exerting ourselves suitably to grow in our spiritual attainments.

However, in God’s promises there is a rich fountain from which streams of strong consolation may be drawn at any time, by exercising a living faith. All other joy fades away when death and eternity seem near; it is earthly and cannot endure the bright light of eternity shining on it. But the consolations which are found in Christ become richer and stronger, the more we meditate on the solemn realities of the future world. Indeed, much that the believer experiences of this strong consolation arises from an assured hope of heavenly happiness. It is the anticipation of future blessedness which fills the heart with a joy which cannot be expressed. If then we would partake of this “strong consolation”, let us be strong in faith, not staggering at the promise through unbelief, but being fully persuaded that what God has promised, he will perform. Let us hold fast the beginning of our confidence, encouraging ourselves to embrace the promises in all their fullness and freeness. Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy.

Application

1. There is good reason for the name gospel (good news). To the sinner, justly condemned by the unalterable law of God, it opens a safe refuge to which the guiltiest may flee. I therefore now exhort and entreat every sinner to avail himself, speedily, of this safe retreat. Flee from impending wrath. The storm of divine vengeance lowers over your head, and unless you get into some safe shelter, it will soon overtake you, overwhelm you and plunge you into endless perdition. Escape then – escape for your lives. There is no time to be lost. The door of mercy is now open, but no one can tell how soon it may be closed, for ever.

2. Beware of false refuges. There are many of these, which deluded souls enter in search of safety, but they only expose themselves to more dreadful destruction. They provide no real shelter from the storm of divine wrath. At most they only afford momentary ease, by cherishing false hopes. But when the hypocrite’s hope perishes, as it certainly will, he is left in a more miserable condition than if he had never indulged any hope. Among false refuges, we may mention infidelity, or the foolish persuasion that there is no future punishment; trust in a decent, moral life, without any saving knowledge of a crucified Saviour; self-righteousness, or a dependence on the exact performance of religious duties. Do not flee to any of these; they are all refuges of lies.

3. As long as the Christian is in this world, he needs a refuge to which he may flee in seasons of affliction and danger. In himself there is no help or strength. He is like a defenceless, timid dove, liable to be devoured by every bird of prey. If he had no place of refuge, he could not escape destruction. But having once entered the place of refuge, he is safe; no enemy dare pursue him within this sacred refuge. Or if he should be assaulted there, he has a mighty Redeemer at hand.

4. Having found a safe refuge, the believer should be careful to remain there. The manslayer, though acquitted, could not safely leave the city of refuge during the lifetime of the high priest, and that might be as long as he lived. But our High Priest lives for ever, so we must ever remain in the refuge to which we have fled. There is safety there and nowhere else. Even when we leave this world, we are only transferred to a higher, holier refuge.

5. Let condemned, perishing sinners, who are exposed daily to the wrath of God, avail themselves of the opportunity to escape to a place of safety. Do not delay fleeing from the wrath to come. While you procrastinate, divine vengeance may suddenly overtake you. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” How can you escape, if you neglect so great salvation? Christ, who has provided this refuge – or rather, who is Himself the sinner’s refuge – kindly invites you to come to Him for rest. His gracious promise is: “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out”. Be wise then and know the time of your merciful visitation, for many who once occupied precisely the same position have eternally perished. They put off the matter too long and must lament their folly throughout eternity.

1Reprinted, with editing, from Alexander’s Practical Sermons. His Thoughts on Religious Experience should be compulsory reading for those with serious thoughts on spiritual things.