{"id":5957,"date":"2021-03-08T00:17:11","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T00:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=5957"},"modified":"2021-03-08T00:17:11","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T00:17:11","slug":"%ef%bb%bfthe-safe-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=5957","title":{"rendered":"\ufeffTHE SAFE REFUGE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>THE SAFE REFUGE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John MacDuff<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnd a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.\u201d Isaiah 32:2<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cA man!\u201d This first word forms the key to the precious verse, it is \u201cThe man Christ Jesus!\u201d And when and where is He thus revealed to His people as their hiding place and shelter? It is, as with Elijah of old, in the whirlwind and the storm! Amid the world\u2019s bright sunshine, in the tranquil skies, uninterrupted prosperity \u2014 they seek Him not! But when the clouds begin to gather, and the sun is swept from the skies; when they have learned the insecurity of all earthly refuges \u2014 then the prayer ascends, \u201cMy heart is overwhelmed \u2014 lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.\u201d The Earthquake, the Tempest, the Fire \u2014 and then \u201cthe still small voice!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sorrowing believer, you have indeed a Sure Refuge; a Strong Tower which cannot be shaken! The world has its refuges too \u2014 but they cannot stand the day of trial. The wind passes over them \u2014 and they are gone! But the louder the hurricane \u2014 the more will it endear to you the abiding Shelter; the deeper in the clefts of this ROCK \u2014 the safer you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Man! Delight often to dwell on the humanity of Jesus; you have a brother on the throne! a \u201cliving Kinsman,\u201d one who \u201cknows your frame,\u201d and who, by the exquisite sympathies of His exalted human nature \u2014 can gauge, as none other can, the depths of your sorrow!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An earthly friend comes to you in trial \u2014 he has never known bereavement, and therefore can not enter into your woe. Another comes \u2014 he has been again and again in the furnace \u2014 his heart has been touched tenderly as your own; he can feelingly sympathize with you. It is just so with Jesus. As man, He has passed through every experience of suffering. He has Himself known the storm from which He offers you shelter. He is the ROCK \u2014 yet \u201ca Man!\u201d \u201cMighty to save;\u201d yet mighty to compassionate! \u201cEmmanuel, God with us!\u201d He is like the rainbow in the material heavens, which, while its summit is in the clouds, each base of its are rests on earth; or like the oak which, while it can wrestle with the tempest, yet invites the most feeble bird to fold its wing on its branches!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mourner! Go sit under your \u201cBeloved\u2019s shadow with great delight.\u201d Hide in His wounded side! The hand which was pierced for you \u2014 is ordering your trials; He who roused the storm \u2014 is the hiding place from it! And as you journey on, gloomy clouds mustering around you, let this bright rainbow of comfort ever arrest your drooping eye; \u201cFor this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way\u2026 since He Himself has gone through suffering and temptation, He is able to help us when we are being tempted.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>THE SAFE REFUGE John MacDuff \u201cAnd a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.\u201d Isaiah 32:2 \u201cA man!\u201d This first word forms the key to the precious [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,72,68,129],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-author-john-macduff","category-christ-and-his-church","category-christ-his-person-and-excellencies","category-complete-in-christ"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5957"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5958,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5957\/revisions\/5958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}