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diff --git a/25459.txt b/25459.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..19a1c53 --- /dev/null +++ b/25459.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2070 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Cities of Refuge: or, The Name of Jesus, by +John Ross Macduff + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Cities of Refuge: or, The Name of Jesus + A Sunday book for the young + +Author: John Ross Macduff + +Release Date: May 13, 2008 [EBook #25459] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CITIES OF REFUGE *** + + + + +Produced by Heiko Evermann, Marcia Brooks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from scans of public domain works at the +University of Michigan's Making of America collection.) + + + + + + + + + +THE CITIES OF REFUGE. + +[Illustration: The Man-Slayer] + + + + +THE CITIES OF REFUGE: + +OR, + +The Name of Jesus. + +A SUNDAY BOOK FOR THE YOUNG. + +BY + +REV. JOHN R. MACDUFF, D.D., +AUTHOR OF "MORNING AND NIGHT WATCHES," "MEMORIES OF +BETHANY," "MIND AND WORDS OF JESUS," ETC., ETC. + + "How sweet the NAME of Jesus sounds + in a believer's ear! + It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, + and drives away his fear." + +NEW YORK: +ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, +No. 530 BROADWAY. + +1865. + + + + +MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS, + +This little book contains, with a few additions, the substance of what +was spoken one Sabbath to a number of hearers of your own age. It may +serve to recall to those that listened to it, and to unfold to those who +did not, some simple and well-known, but precious gospel truths. + +May He whose NAME it is designed to exalt, bless you in reading it, and +enable you from the heart to repeat as your own happy experience, the +well-known verse of the beautiful hymn I have put on the title-page. + + "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the + children of Israel and say unto them, When ye be come over + Jordan into the land of Canaan; then ye shall appoint you + cities to be cities of refuge for you."--NUM. xxxv. 9-11. + + + + +I. + + +When travelling lately through the Simplon--one of the great Alpine +passes leading from Switzerland into Italy--I observed, close by the +roadside, at regular distances, a number of plain, square buildings. On +these (sometimes over the doorway, sometimes on the side) were inscribed +the words--"REFUGE No. 1," "REFUGE No. 2," "REFUGE No. 3," &c. I think +there were twenty altogether. I was told, on inquiry, they were intended +as shelters for any hapless travellers who might be overtaken by the +sudden storms which so often sweep down from the snow-white mountains +bounding the prospect. These "_Refuges_," at the time I saw them, were +empty, for it was in the beginning of summer, when everything, even in +that elevated region, was looking bright and green. The Alpine +rhododendron was flushing, with its pink blossom, the mountain sides; or +growing up, along with the lovely blue gentian, close by stray patches +of winter's snow which were still filling the ridges and hollows in the +higher parts of the pass. Seldom at this season are travellers exposed +to any peril from an Alpine storm. It is different, however, in winter +or spring, when the avalanches come tumbling from the heights, or the +snow is drifting in huge masses over that wonderful Road. Many +shivering wayfarers have fled with thankful hearts into these shelters. +Some have been carried thither, in a state of insensibility, by unknown +benefactors, and on gradually awaking to consciousness, have blessed the +kind hearts and hands which have saved them from certain death, and are +now ministering to their necessities. By others, alas! they have been +reached too late. Rescued from the snows of the mountain, they have been +conveyed to them only to die. + +As I passed those Alpine "Retreats," I could not help being reminded of +the wonderful _Cities of Refuge_ which God graciously provided of old in +Palestine for the unfortunate manslayer. + +It sometimes happened, in the land of Canaan, as in our own country, +that a Hebrew, without any evil purpose, would cause the death of a +brother Hebrew. He did not intend to inflict any injury; it was the +result only of unhappy accident. But, nevertheless, to show God's +detestation of the shedding of blood, he was liable, by the Levitical +law, to be killed by the Avenger, or "Goel,"--the person nearest related +to the murdered man. If he wished to escape with his life, his only +chance of safety was to flee to one of these Refuge-cities. It mattered +not what his age, or name, or station in life was. He might be young or +old, prince or noble, priest or prophet, he was exposed every moment to +death, unless he availed himself of the offered shelter. There was no +time for delay, he must betake himself to instant flight. To linger +might be to perish. + +Do you not think with pity of the unhappy fugitive, obliged thus +suddenly to leave his home and all he most loved on earth? If at the +time he caused the death, he was working in his vineyard, the +pruning-hook must be left to rust on the branch. If he was ploughing +with his yoke of oxen, they must be left lowing in the furrow. If he was +busied in his harvest-field, the sheaves must be left unbound, and the +reapers receive their wages from another's hands. If he was returning +home fatigued at evening after the toils of the day, and longing for +grateful repose, he dare give no "sleep to his eyes, nor slumber to his +eye-lids." His child may be lying pining in sickness at his cottage, but +it may endanger him to return to clasp that and his other little ones in +his embrace, and bid them a fond farewell. He may have no time to alter +his raiment or take even his scrip or pilgrim-staff. The Avenger of +blood may be in the adjoining street, or in the dwelling hard by. +Another hour may be fatal;--"Skin for skin, all that a man hath will he +give for his life."[1] Off he speeds in breathless haste--now along the +level road--now up the steep ascent--with his breast heaving, and drops +of perspiration standing on his brow. Friends may meet him, but with a +wave of the hand, and shouting "Goel! Goel!" he rushes on with fleet +footstep. Parched with thirst in the hot noonday, he turns a longing eye +on the ripe grapes that are hanging in purple clusters on the wayside, +or on the water trickling down the narrow ravine. But he dare not pause. +Knowing full well that the Avenger is in close pursuit, he hurries on +with unabated ardor. Happy sight, when he sees at last, on some mountain +slope, the longed-for shelter! Happy, when, weary and footsore, covered +with dust, the portals of the city close him in. A few moments before, +had he been overtaken on the mountain-top by his pursuer, he might have +been heard to cry out, in the bitterness of despair, "Hast thou found +me, O mine enemy?" Now, safe within the secure shelter, he can +rejoicingly exclaim, even with the Avenger standing close by, "O thou +enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end."[2] + +These _Cities of Refuge_ form one of the Old Testament PICTURES of the +sinner, and of the coming gospel salvation. This was the way God took to +teach the Jewish people great gospel truths. Just as we know that +youthful readers like a story-book all the better when it has got +pictures in it; so God taught the early church, when it was in a state +of "_childhood_," by means of similar _pictures_ or _types_; and the +present was one of them. It represented, and still represents, the +sinner who has broken the Divine law as pursued by an avenger: JUSTICE +following with drawn sword, exclaiming, "_The soul that sinneth it must +die._"[3] "_Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not escape +unpunished._"[4] + +This is a picture, too, which applies to every one without exception, +rich and poor, parent and child, master and servant; "for all have +sinned, and come short of the glory of God."[5] But a glorious CITY, +"_salvation_ its walls and bulwarks," opens its gates. The sinner is +exhorted to "escape thither;" to "linger not in all the plain;" to +"flee for his life, lest he be consumed."[6] That city is _Jesus_, the +sinner's Refuge and the sinner's Friend. Once within its walls, no enemy +can touch him,--no sword can terrify him. He can triumphantly exclaim, +"Who shall separate me from the love of Christ?"[7] + +Dear young friends, it is because I know this City of Refuge is open for +the youngest of _you_, that I now write these pages. I love to read +about a group of little ones who, eighteen hundred years ago, were +gathered round its gates, asking admission; and when others, with unkind +words, were sending them away, He who held the gates in His hand, "_who +openeth and no man shutteth_,"[8] said, "_Suffer the little children to +come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of +heaven._"[9] It is because I believe and know that many as young as +_you_ have obeyed the Saviour's invitation, and have already entered +this happy City, that I ask you to come and hear while I speak to you +about it. I believe and know that many such have learned to feel that +they are sinners, and that they need a Saviour. They have been taught by +God's own Word and Spirit that they have broken His holy law, and have +thereby exposed themselves to eternal death. But they are now safe +within the Gospel Shelter. The "enemy" is "stilled." The "avenger" has +sheathed his sword. I think I can hear their youthful voices, as they +march through the streets of the City, singing, "_Out of the mouth of +babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine +enemies, that thou mightest_ STILL _the enemy and the_ AVENGER."[10] +"_Blessed be the Lord; for He hath showed me His marvellous kindness in_ +A STRONG CITY."[11] + + + + +II. + + +THE SIX CITIES. + + "And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, + and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjath-arba, which is + Hebron, in the mountain of Judah. And on the other side + Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the + wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and + Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in + Bashan out of the Tribe of Manasseh. These were the cities + appointed for all the Children of Israel, and for the + stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever Killeth + any person at unawares might flee thither, and not die by + the hand of the Avenger of Blood, until he stood before the + Congregation."-JOSH. xx. 7-9. + + + + +II. + + +It is of these _six cities_ here mentioned, I am now going to speak. The +name of each of the six has something significantly to tell about THE +NAME OF JESUS. They are six pictures of the Saviour, hung up in the Old +Testament picture-gallery. I am going to ask you to take a journey with +me to these towns of old Palestine. Before we enter their gates, I +should like again to repeat the verse of the precious hymn placed at +the beginning of this book:-- + + "How sweet the NAME of _Jesus_ sounds + In a believer's ear! + It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, + And drives away his fear." + +[Illustration: Kedesh] + + +First City--Kedesh. + +If you look far north in the map of Palestine above the lake of Merom, +near the snowy peaks of mount Hermon and Lebanon, you will see where +this Refuge-city lies. Recent travellers describe its ruins as still +standing on a rocky ridge in the midst of green hills, surrounded with +the remains of forts and castles built by the Crusaders in the middle +ages. It was situated within the tribe of Naphtali, and must have been +it great town at the time when the old warrior Barak, who was born +within its walls, marched from its gates to meet Sisera in the plain +below with his nine hundred chariots of iron. + +What does its name tell of Christ? + +The Hebrew word KEDESH signifies "_Holy_." Jesus was "_The Holy One_." +Not one stain of sin polluted His holy human nature. Angels in heaven, +as they cast their crowns at His feet, cry, "_Holy! holy! holy_!"[12] +Devils on earth were compelled to exclaim, "_We know thee who thou art, +the_ HOLY ONE _of God_."[13] Jewish priests, as they spake of Him of old +by types, took "_a lamb without blemish_."[14] Jewish prophets, as they +spake of Him in their predictions, called Him "_The Righteous_ (_or_ +HOLY) _Branch_."[15] Apostles, as they wrote about Him, said "_He was_ +HOLY, _harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners_."[16] When He was +Himself on earth, He could challenge His bitterest foes, "_Which of you +convinceth me of sin?_"[17] And when He came down, soon after His +ascension, from His throne in the skies, we find Him proclaiming as His +name, "_He that is_ HOLY, _He that is True_!"[18] + +Reader, remember this. Jesus never could have saved you unless He had +been "glorious in holiness." If He had had one sin in Him, you and I +must have been lost for ever. Just as one leak in Noah's ark of old +would have sunk it, so one leak of sin in Jesus, the true Ark, would +have plunged us all in the depths of eternal despair. Let us, then, love +often to walk round the walls of KEDESH, and think of _our_ "City of +Refuge" as "_The_ HOLY _Child Jesus_."[19] + +And when you ponder _His_ holiness, seek to be holy, as _He_ was. How He +hated sin! How He loved to do His heavenly Father's will! How gentle, +and good, and kind He was to all! He never was angry, or passionate, or +revengeful. When a youth, at His early home in Nazareth, "He increased +in favour with God and man."[20] Be _like_ Jesus in His _holiness_! Let +_KEDESH_ be a word written on your young hearts! Whenever you are in +trouble or difficulty, or temptation, always ask, "How would the HOLY +JESUS have acted here?" Turn the words of your well-known hymn into a +prayer. While you say-- + + "I love the NAME of Jesus, + Immanuel, Christ the Lord; + Like fragrance on the breezes, + His _name_ abroad is pour'd;"-- + +seek also to add-- + + "I long to be _like_ Jesus, + Meek, lowly, loving, mild; + I long to be _like_ Jesus, + The Father's HOLY Child!" + + +[Illustration: Shechem] + + +Second City--Shechem. + +Shechem was situated at the extremity of a valley among the hills of +Ephraim. The famous mountains of Ebal and Gerizim rose on either side, +from the slopes of which the blessings and the curses of the law were +proclaimed in the ears of assembled Israel. If Jerusalem was the +greatest and the grandest of the cities of Palestine, Shechem was +perhaps the most beautiful. It is still spoken of by travellers as one +of the loveliest spots in the Holy Land, with its orchards of olive, +fig, and pomegranate, and its flocks of singing-birds, which have made +the inhabitants give to the graceful slope on which it looks down, the +name of the "Musical Valley." I don't know if the streets in the olden +time resembled what they are now. The following is the recent +description of a traveller familiar with them:--"The streets are narrow +and vaulted over, and in the winter time it is difficult to pass along +many of them on account of brooks, which rush over the pavement with +deafening roar.... It has mulberry, orange, pomegranate, and other trees +mingled in with the houses, whose odoriferous flowers load the air with +delicious perfume during the months of April and May."[21] You do not +require to be told that _Shechem_ is a very ancient city, and that many +interesting events in sacred story took place in connexion with it. The +earliest mention made of it is when the patriarch Abraham slept under +its oaks, (the Terebinths of Moreh,) when he came to Canaan from distant +Chaldea, and erected his first altar under their shade;[22] and one of +the last Bible notices regarding it, is in connexion with the woman of +Samaria, when Jesus sat with her at "the well of Sychar," and spoke to +her of the better fountain, "springing up to everlasting life."[23] + +What does the name SHECHEM tell of Christ? + +It is a word which means "SHOULDER." + +Jesus, our Refuge, bore a guilty world upon His shoulder. The ancients +had a fabled Atlas, who was supposed to carry the earth on his +shoulders. Jesus Christ is the true ATLAS. "_Surely He hath borne our +griefs and carried our sorrows!_"[24] All the sins of all His people +Jesus bore for ever away. Think of that heavy load which bowed Him down +to the ground in the garden of Gethsemane, and caused drops of blood to +fall from His brow! No other one _but_ Jesus could have carried such an +awful load and burden as this. No angel or archangel could have done so. +Jesus, being God, was alone "able to save unto the uttermost."[25] He is +the only "sure foundation" that could sustain all the building.[26] +With any other, it would have fallen into a mass of ruins. + +But I love not only to visit the old city of _Shechem_, and to think of +Jesus bearing the guilt of His people on His _shoulders_, but I like to +think of Him as the true SHECHEM _now_. He is our _Shechem_ at God's +right hand. "The government is upon His SHOULDER."[27] The Church and +the world are upheld by Him. Believers--the poorest, the weakest, the +humblest--are on the _shoulders_ of Jesus. He is bearing the weight of +them all; loving them all, attending to them all, interceding for them +all. All that befalls me, Jesus orders. Food and raiment, health and +strength, friends and home, are gifts from Him. Every tear I shed, He +knows it, He appoints it. If he sends me sorrow and trial, I will go and +enter the gates of this city SHECHEM, and remember, "_Jesus_ (Jesus, who +died for me) bears me on his _shoulder_!" + +Moses speaks of God conducting the children of Israel through the +wilderness of old as a kind father carries on his shoulder his weak and +weary child. "_Thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee, as a +man doth bear his son._"[28] And David says in an hour of trouble, "_I +am poor and needy, yet the Lord_ (lit) _carries_ me on his heart."[29] + +I like to look at that New Testament picture--Jesus, the good Shepherd, +carrying a bleating sheep or lamb back on His shoulder to the fold. That +poor wanderer had gone astray on the dark mountains; but the great and +gracious Shepherd had gone after it "until He found it; and when He +_had_ found it, _He laid it on His SHOULDERS, rejoicing_."[30] + +Young reader, what _perfect_ security and safety you have in Jesus, and +in His Gospel City! Far, far more so than the manslayer had of old in +his. I daresay, even although he was delivered from the Avenger, the +Hebrew refugee could not help at times dreading lest the other might +come upon him secretly. I daresay, at night, on his lonely couch, he +would sometimes dream of the Goel stealing beside his pillow, and he +would start from his unquiet sleep at the scaring vision. Not so in the +case of those who have fled to the "Gospel Refuge." They can say in +sweet confidence, "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; because +thou, Lord, only makest me to dwell in safety."[31] He who is their +"_Keeper_" says of them, "_They shall never perish; neither shall any +pluck them out of my hand._"[32] + +[Illustration: Hebron] + + +Third City--Hebron. + +Hebron is the most ancient of all the cities of Canaan. It was as old, +if not older, than Damascus, and was built seven years before Zoar in +Egypt. After wandering about from place to place in the land of promise, +pitching their tents and altars, it was here the patriarchs had, for the +first time, a settled home. We need not wonder at their selection of the +old Canaanite city, on the peaceful slope of the southern hills, +nestling amid olive-groves and terebinths, and looking down on one of +the most fertile valleys in Palestine, with its orchards and +corn-fields. On its eastern height is the spot which gives it to this +day perhaps its most sacred interest--the cave of Machpelah, where the +dust of the patriarchs has reposed for four thousand years. It must have +been outside its walls that the angels appeared to Abraham, when he was +seated at his tent door. The adjoining height is pointed out as the +place from which the patriarch saw the smoke of burning Sodom rising +from its own deep valley. It was in Hebron David was anointed king over +Israel. It was amid its vineyards and mountain-slopes that John the +Baptist grew up as a little boy, before he appeared in the wilderness of +Judea, to tell of One mightier than he, "whose shoe-latchet" he was +"not worthy to unloose."[33] + +What does the name HEBRON tell of Christ? + +In Hebrew it means "_fellowship_," "_society_," "_friendship_." JESUS +has brought guilty man into fellowship with God. On account of sin we +had forfeited this fellowship. We had made God not our friend, but our +enemy. We were cut off from communion with all that is holy and happy. +Angels, in their errands of mercy through the universe, passed by our +world; they could hold no intercourse with those who had rebelled +against their Creator. Can none bridge this wide gulf which separates +between earth and heaven? Can no ladder be let down by which happy +angels can descend once more on their visits of love, and fallen man +once more be raised up to hold "fellowship" with God and holy creatures? + +JESUS is the true HEBRON--the true ladder of Jacob let down from heaven +and reaching to earth. Jesus has "reconciled things on earth and things +in heaven,"[34] He hath "raised us up together, and made us sit together +in heavenly places."[35] We who were once "afar off" have been "brought +nigh by the blood of Christ."[36] + +I trust many who read this will love often to visit in thought the old +city of the patriarchs, and to dwell on its name and meaning, +"_fellowship_." Think of what _you_ would have been without Jesus, your +Hebron-City of Refuge,--a poor outcast in creation, an alien from all +that is holy and happy. But by Jesus all is changed. God is your +Father--Christ is your elder Brother. In Him, God loves you,--angels +visit you,--the Holy Spirit teaches you,--heaven is open for you. You +are enrolled as a citizen of the great _Hebron_ above--"the city which +hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Christ has made you +to be members of the great heavenly family; so that the little child who +loves Jesus, is brother or sister to the archangel before the throne! +You may be deprived of human friendship and fellowship. The brother or +sister, the father or mother, or friend you once dearly loved, may be +laid in some earthly Machpelah--some silent grave. But rejoice! nothing +can separate you from a better friend and more lasting fellowship. +Though all earthly joys were to perish, you can always rush within the +gates of that mighty Hebron of refuge, and say, "_Truly our_ +'FELLOWSHIP' _is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ_." + + "Earthly friends may pain and grieve me, + One day kind, the next they leave me; + But this Friend can ne'er deceive me-- + Oh, how He loves!" + +[Illustration: Bezer] + + +Fourth City--Bezer. + +BEZER was situated beyond the Jordan, in the tribe of Reuben. Although +its precise site has not been discovered, we may infer that it was +perched on one of the many rocky heights among the mountains of +_Abarim_,--perhaps a spur of the great mount Nebo, from whose summit +Moses was permitted, before death, to get a view of the Land of Promise. +The northern portion of the waters of the Dead Sea would be seen from +it, and the pastoral mountains of Judah in the distance. From its name, +as well as from its being a border town, and subject to attack from the +warlike tribe of Moab, Bezer would probably be strongly +fortified,--similar, perhaps, in this respect to the towns in the +neighbourhood, with which the Israelites were so struck on their first +approach to Canaan, with "their walls great and high, reaching to +heaven." + +What does the name BEZER tell of Christ? + +It literally means "_stronghold_," or Rock. Jesus is the believer's +BEZER. The sinner is in danger everywhere else, but in Jesus he is safe. +He is invited to "turn to the STRONGHOLD" as a "prisoner of hope," and +once within its gates, "though an host encamp against him," he need +"fear no evil." + +What a mighty force _does_ encamp against him! There is _God's Holy +Law_, with all its terrible threatenings and curses. But sheltered in +the true BEZER he can triumphantly say, "It is God that justifieth: who +is he that condemneth?"[37] + +There is _Satan_, with his artful wiles and countless temptations. He +was once a bright angel himself. He knows what holiness and happiness +are. But being now a wicked spirit, he would make others as wicked and +unhappy as himself. He is spoken of in the Bible as "a strong man +armed."[38] But Jesus is "stronger" than this strong man. If you have +fled for refuge to this great gospel _Bezer_, seated within its secure +bulwarks you can joyfully exclaim, "_I will say of the Lord, He is my +rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whose +I will put my trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my +high tower._"[39] + +There is your own _Wicked Heart_, with its sinful thoughts, and vain +imaginations, and deep corruptions--for a man's worst foes are often +those of his own household. One of these heart-foes will tempt you to +tell a lie; another to swear; another to be dishonest; another to be +selfish; another to be passionate; another to be unkind. But He that is +_for_ you, is greater than they that are _against_ you. Safer than in +any earthly castle, you can take up your warrior-song, "_The name of the +Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is +safe._"[40] + +There are the _Trials and Sorrows and Distresses of this world_,--those +things that cause sad hearts and tearful eyes. But that blessed +Saviour--your Rock and Stronghold--"knows your sorrows," for He felt +them. He marks your tears, for He shed the same himself. Fleeing to this +true BEZER in the time of affliction, you can dry your tears and sing, +"_God also will be a refuge for the distressed, a refuge in the time of +trouble; and they that know thy name shall put their trust in +thee._"[41] + +And there is _Death_, the last enemy of all. But even over this King of +terrors and Terror of kings, you can shout in triumph from your Divine +shelter, "_O death, where is thy sting?... Thanks be to God, who giveth +me the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ._"[42] + +And Jesus is a Stronghold for _all_. I have already spoken of the little +children of old rushing to its gates,--infants smiling fearless in the +Saviour's arms. He combines the majesty of Deity with the tenderness of +man. If He had been the great God alone, you might have been awed at the +thought of going to Him. But what says the prophet Isaiah of this true +BEZER?--"_A MAN shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert +from the tempest._"[43] He Himself says in another scripture, "_I will +turn mine hand upon the little ones._"[44] + +In one of the great strongholds that were besieged in our last Indian +rebellion, the Christian mothers were wont to hush their infants asleep +by singing, "_God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in +trouble._" My young friends, "_as one whom his mother comforteth_," so +is God willing to "_comfort you_;" and here is His word of comfort: +"_The Lord is good, a STRONGHOLD in the day of trouble; and he knoweth +them that trust in him._"[45] In the old Cities of Refuge no weapons of +any kind were allowed to be made. Those who possessed them had to +surrender them. This is true in a nobler and better sense regarding the +Gospel Stronghold. There can be no deadly weapons forged there. Their +edge is blunted: "_There is now no condemnation to them that are in +Christ Jesus._"[46] Satan's armoury has been plundered; the "Stronger +than he" has "_taken from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and +divided the spoil_."[47] + +I have said that the word BEZER means "_Rock_" as well as "stronghold." +"_Trust in the Lord for ever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting +strength_," or, (marginal reading,) "THE ROCK OF AGES."[48] May you not +well say, with your eye on this glorious "Refuge"-- + + "Dear NAME, the ROCK on which I build, + My shield and _hiding-place_; + My never-failing treasury, fill'd + With boundless stores of grace!" + + "ROCK of Ages, cleft for me, + Let me hide myself in Thee!" + +[Illustration: Ramoth] + + +Fifth City--Ramoth. + +RAMOTH was situated in Gilead, within the tribe of Gad, and somewhere +near the banks of the brook Jabbok, where, you know, Jacob wrestled in +prayer with the angel. It must have occupied a commanding position among +the beautifully-wooded glens of Gilead, and, like Bezer, been strongly +fortified. We infer this latter from the many sieges it had undergone. +Being not only, like the other, a border town of Palestine, but situated +in the direct route taken by the invading Syrian armies, it must have +been constantly exposed to hostile attacks. + +You can think of Ramoth, then, among the hills and slopes on the other +side of the Jordan, with their forests of native oak, which the famous +"_bulls_ of Bashan" (herds of wild cattle) roamed at large; while more +peaceful flocks browsed on the meadows which fringed the +mountain-streams. + +What does the name RAMOTH tell us regarding Christ? + +_Ramoth_ literally means EXALTATION. Jesus is the true _Ramoth_; He is +"_exalted_ to be a Prince and a Saviour!" He was once lowly, despised, +rejected, crucified, slain. He compares Himself to a poor outcast and +exile amid these forests of Gilead: "_Many bulls have compassed me: +strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with +their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion._"[49] But having been +exalted on the cross as a _suffering_ Saviour, He is now exalted on the +throne as a _glorious_ King. "_God hath highly_ EXALTED +_Him_;"[50]--angels exalt Him--seraphs adore Him--saints praise Him--the +Church on earth magnifies Him--the Church redeemed in heaven will +magnify and exalt Him for ever and ever! + +Young reader, delight often to walk around the walls of _Ramoth_, and +think of Jesus "exalted at God's right hand." He is there pleading your +cause. Though exalted, He has not forgotten the lowliest or humblest of +His people. He is the Greatest of all Beings, but He is the Kindest of +all too. The first time after His exaltation when He came down to earth +to speak to the aged apostle John, John wondered if the glories of +heaven had altered His love and tenderness. He remembered how often +before he used to lean on His bosom. When he looked, however, _now_, +upon the glorious Being that stood before him in His lustrous garment, +with "His eyes like a flame of fire," "he fell down at His feet like one +dead." But the same gentle hand touched him, the same gentle voice he +was wont to hear so often in past years, said to him, "Fear not!" How +sweet for us to think that we have _exalted_ on the highest throne of +the universe an unchanged and unchanging Saviour, an ever-living, +never-dying Friend. + + "Though now ascended up on high, + He bends on earth a brother's eye." + +JESUS is exalted in heaven, and exalted by all the glorious family of +heaven. But, alas! there is one place where He is often _not_ exalted, +but rather cast down, and that is the human heart. That heart has been +too truly compared to the inn of Bethlehem, where there was room for +every guest but the Lord of glory! Ye of tender years, whom Christ loved +so much on earth--whom He fondled in His arms of mercy; see that it is +not so with you. "My son," He says, "give me thine heart." See that He +is enthroned there as Lord of all. Exalt Him in everything: in your +thoughts, in your words, in your deeds. Welcome Him, as the children of +the temple welcomed Him to Jerusalem of old. Take up their song, and +sing, "_Hosannah to the Son of David! hosannah in the highest!_" + + "When, His salvation bringing, + To Zion Jesus came, + The children follow'd singing + Hosanna to His name. + Nor was the Lord offended + That children joined the throng; + But smiled that they attended, + And loved to hear their song. + + "And since the Lord retaineth + His love for children still, + Though now as King He reigneth + On Zion's heavenly hill; + We'll humbly come before Him + To celebrate His praise, + And while His saints adore Him, + Our youthful voices raise." + +[Illustration: Golan] + + +Sixth City--Golan. + +GOLAN was situated in Bashan, in the tribe of Manasseh, among the +pastoral hills north of the lake of Gennesaret. It formed the most +northerly Refuge-Sanctuary on the east side of Jordan, as Kedesh did on +the west; but there are no particular events connected with it in Bible +story. + +What does the name of this last City of Refuge tell us regarding +_Jesus_? + +_Golan_ literally signifies _Joy_. Jesus is truly the _Golan_ of His +people; they may have many others, but He is their "chief joy!" Well may +they call Him GOLAN; for not one joy could have ever visited them had +it not been for _Him_. The world would have been to them, from first to +last, a "valley of Baca," (weeping,) had not Jesus died for their sins, +and saved their souls. Well might the angel say, when he came to the +plains of Bethlehem to announce the Saviour's birth, "_Behold, I bring +you good tidings of_ GREAT JOY!" + +There is not one step the Christian takes but Jesus is GOLAN to +him--"joy." He is straying, a lost sheep on the dark mountains, in +search of peace: Jesus meets him, and says, "_Your sins are all forgiven +you_;"--he is joyful at _that_. He is wandering a prodigal from his +Father's house: Jesus brings him to his lost home, and calls him His +own child; and he is joyful at _that_. He has to travel a long and +dreary journey ere he reaches his true home in heaven: Jesus gives him +His arm to lean upon; and he "goes on his way _rejoicing_." He has many +fiery trials to try him: Jesus tells him not to think these "strange," +but rather to "_rejoice_," inasmuch as He is "partaker with him in his +sufferings."[51] He has, at last, to walk through the dark Valley: Jesus +meets him there, and supports him there. He sees "the King in His +beauty," and the land that is yet "afar off;" and, believing, "_he +rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of glory_."[52] When Jesus +beholds him from His throne in judgment, what are to be His blessed +words of welcome? "_Enter ye into the_ JOY _of your Lord_."[53] And +when, as a ransomed one, he enters the streets of the New Jerusalem, at +whose feet is it that he is to cast, through all eternity, his crown? +"In thy presence," O Saviour God, is "fullness of JOY!" + +Young reader, love often to gaze on the walls of this City of Refuge. +The sacred writer, in giving the list of these six cities, seems to have +kept it to the last because it is a happy word, and speaks of the happy +prospects of all those that love the Lord Jesus. Believe me, there is no +true _joy_ but in God. The joy of the wicked is like that of a noisy +stream--noisy because it is shallow. The joy, on the other hand, which +Jesus gives, is like a great river,--deep, calm, ever-flowing, +overflowing;--not full in winter and dry in summer, but full, and clear, +and refreshing all the year long. It may be always truly said of Jesus, +the great Gospel Refuge, and of those who have fled to Him, what was +said of old about Samaria, "There was great JOY in that CITY."[54] It +was the object of all that Christ did and said on earth to give you this +joy. "_These things have I spoken unto you_," says He, "_that my_ JOY +_might remain in you, and that your_ JOY _might be full_."[55] Love Him +now, and serve Him now and follow Him now, that you may come at last to +the true Golan, in His glorious presence above, and "REJOICE +_evermore_!" + + "Then in a nobler, sweeter song, + I'll sing Thy power to save, + When this poor lisping, stammering tongue + Lies silent in the grave. + + "Lord, I believe Thou hast prepared, + Unworthy though I be, + For me a blood-bought, free reward, + A golden harp for me! + + "'Tis strung, and tuned, for endless years, + And form'd, by power divine, + To sound in God the Father's ears + No other NAME but Thine!" + + + + +III. + +THE GOSPEL REFUGE. + +"We have a strong consolation who have fled for Refuge."--HEB. vi. 18. + + + + +III. + + +And now, my young friends, we have finished the survey of our +picture-gallery. We have wandered among these six cities in the old land +of promise. I shall repeat their names once more, that you may remember +them. + + KEDESH, _Holiness._ + SHECHEM, _Shoulder._ + HEBRON, _Fellowship._ + BEZER, _Stronghold._ + RAMOTH, _Exaltation._ + GOLAN, _Joy._ + +What a complete Saviour! In Him "all fullness dwells." In the case of +some of these Hebrew cities, "not one stone has been left upon another +that has not been thrown down." Owls are screaming amid their ruins, and +jackals prowling for their prey. But not so with HIM of whom they were +types. _Jesus_ ever lives! He never changes. Time and decay cannot +crumble the walls of the Gospel Refuge. He is "the same yesterday, and +to-day, and for ever."[56] + +I want, in this last chapter, to say one or two additional things to you +about the Cities of Refuge. Let me ask you to give me your earnest +attention. + +The _first_ thing I wish you to remember is, _that all the preciousness +of that_ NAME _of Jesus, and all the security of the Gospel_ REFUGE, +_is derived from the merits of His death for you upon the cross_. + +This is the truth of all truths, and one, too, strikingly taught in +these olden types. If you read the Bible account, you will find that the +manslayer had his liberty restored to him _upon the death of the High +Priest_.[57] When the tidings of the decease of this great Head of the +Jewish nation reached these refuge towns, I daresay many of their +citizens would be heard, with wailing cry, mourning the loss of God's +faithful servant. But the intelligence was very different to the captive +Hebrew. It brought him joyful news! For that event enabled him to go +forth from his banishment, and to terminate years of painful separation +from all he loved on earth. The avenger could no longer injure him. He +could return, happy and secure, to the comforts of his long-lost home. + +So, dear reader, it is the _death_ of _your_ great High Priest that has +purchased your release from spiritual captivity. The law can no longer +hold you. Justice can no longer threaten you. You can go forth with the +glorious liberty of a child of God, saying, "_Who_ is he that +condemneth?--_It is Christ that died._"[58] + +You can picture to yourselves, on the death of the Jewish High Priest, +the Hebrew captive going forth from the city, within whose gloomy walls +he had long been enclosed. You can picture him, with merry heart, +making the valleys through which he hurried to his native dwelling, echo +with songs of joy! And shall not _you_, with happier heart and voice, +sing this song as you journey on to your heavenly home, and see it +gleaming in the distance, on the other side of Jordan-- + + "When from the dust of death I rise, + To take my mansion in the skies, + This all my hope--this all my plea, + That _Jesus lived and died for me_!" + +The _second_ thing I want to say to you is, that _God has made the +gospel City of Refuge easy of access, and has filled it with rich +provision._ + +He made the way as plain as possible to the manslayer of old. The +cities themselves were generally on a height, so as to be seen at a far +distance. The roads leading to them were carefully kept. They were +broader than others in Palestine, (sixteen yards wide.) The Jewish +magistrates and judges went once every year to inspect them, and to +order repairs. Where streams occurred, there were bridges thrown across. +Where there were angles or by-roads, posts with "_Refuge_" on them were +set up; and as there were no bridges across Jordan, three of the cities +were placed, as I have already mentioned, on one side of the river, and +three on the other; so that all might easily get at them, and none might +have any excuse for not fleeing. The nearest city could always be +reached by the manslayer in half a day. Moreover, we are informed there +were ample stores of provisions laid up in them. They were supplied with +wells of water, and Levites were placed in turn as porters or +gatekeepers, to be ready to welcome every fugitive into these homes of +safety. + +So God has done everything for _you_, to make the Gospel Refuge +accessible. Your parents and ministers--your Bibles and churches +and good books--are all, just like these refuge signals, pointing +away from the cross-roads and by-roads of human reason, and human +error, and self-righteousness, to the Lord Jesus Christ, and +saying, "Flee! flee! flee for refuge to lay _hold_ on the hope +set before you!" _Jesus_, too, the true Gospel Refuge, is full of +rich provision. "Ye are complete in Him." He, as the true Joseph, +gives forth out of the storehouses in His "treasure-cities," to +all His needy people. What are some of these provisions? There is +pardon--peace--justification--adoption--sanctification,--strength for +the hour of weakness,--grace for the hour of temptation,--and the good +hope of everlasting life for the hour of death. No wonder that he says +to every poor sinner seeking admission within these gates, "_I am the +bread of life: he that cometh unto me shall never hunger._"[59] + +As in the cities of Canaan, so in this glorious Gospel-City of which +they were types, there is a Well of living water. What is this? It is +the Holy Spirit. He is often in Scripture compared to water. "_If any +man thirst_," said Jesus, "_let him come unto me, and drink. This spake +he of the Spirit_."[60] This all-glorious well-spring, moreover, is not +like those of the Palestine cities, which were sometimes dried up in +seasons of drought, but "springing up unto everlasting life." Angels, +too, are the porters,--the blessed warders that keep the gates of this +Gospel-City. "_Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to +minister to them who are heirs of salvation?_"[61] They love to watch +by these gates, and to welcome every wanderer. How gladly they give the +word, "_Open ye the gates, that the righteous_ (those made righteous +through the righteousness of Jesus) _may enter in_!"[62] + +It is delightful, moreover, to think, that just as the Jewish cities +were easily got at from all parts of Palestine, so from all parts of the +world, may people go to the Greater and more Glorious Gospel Refuge. +Poor Pagan of the far East! cast away your idols; the gates of the +Gospel-City stand ready to welcome _you_. Indian of the far West! cast +aside your warrior spear and your offerings of blood, and flee to the +portals of mercy and to the blood which cleanseth from all sin. +Laplander of the far North, amid your polar snows! Negro of Africa, amid +your burning sands! rush to the provided shelter. There is salvation +there for _you_. "The same Lord is rich to ALL that call upon Him." +Happy prospect!--the time will come when the whole world will be found +singing together the same song and uttering the same prayer, "_Open unto +us the gates of righteousness, that we may enter into them, and praise +the Lord!_"[63] + +Will none of my young friends rejoice if they are able, by aiding the +cause of missions abroad, to help putting this "new song" into the lips +of those who are still "wandering in the wilderness in a solitary way, +and have NO CITY to dwell in?"[64] + + * * * * * + +The _third_ thing I want to say to you is, that _no_ OTHER _Refuge will +do but_ JESUS. + +I would like you to take as your motto the simple and beautiful words +which a Sabbath scholar, I knew well about, lately gone to glory, wrote +to his minister. "I am sure I may be very thankful to God for His great +mercy toward me.... _I must just keep in mind that there is one Refuge +to flee to, and that is Jesus._" + +There are many other refuges people try to take shelter in. They think +they will be as safe in them as in the ONE of God's providing; but +these will never stand in that day which will try every refuge of what +sort it is. + +I have seen some making their _own goodness_ their refuge-city. They +imagined they were not so bad as others. They trusted in the falling +Siloam-tower of their own righteousness! + +I have seen some making _God's goodness_ their refuge-city. They said to +themselves, "God is kind. He surely will not deal hardly with sinners at +last. Justice, the avenger, will not surely always pursue with her +flaming sword. The love of God will surely get the better of his +justice." + +Don't let Satan deceive you. There are many of _his_ refuges which +_appear_ to be safe enough, but on which God has written "_Refuges of +lies_." + +There were many other towns in Canaan of old which _appeared_ to be as +good and as safe as those I have been speaking of. But no city could +afford shelter to the manslayer, excepting one of the six God had +specially appointed. + +What would have happened if the fugitive of old, in fleeing from the +avenger, had said to himself, "What is the use of my going so far away +as to Hebron or Golan? I would rather flee to a nearer place. I will go +to Jericho, the old city of palm-trees; or to Bethlehem, in the hills of +Judah; or, better still, I will go to Jerusalem, the capital of the +nation, where the temple of Zion is, and the palace of the King. Surely +I shall be safer far within its lofty walls and bulwarks than in one of +these little cities of the Levites. Is it not said that '_God is known +in all her Palaces for a Refuge?_'" + +If he had done so, he would undoubtedly have perished. Neither King nor +Priest, nor Golden gate nor Beautiful gate, nor wall nor bulwark, could +have saved him from the avenger's sword. The refuge-towns appointed in +the olden time may have been "the least amid the cities of Judah." But +they were God's selection, God's ordering, and that was enough. In them, +and in them only, was the manslayer safe from the avenger of blood. + +And so it is with our Gospel Refuge. "_Neither is there salvation in any +other._" Rejecting Jesus, we are lost for ever. All other refuges, +however good or great or strong they may _appear_ to be, will prove only +Babel-towers, that will fall on the poor builders, and crush them in +their ruins. + +When God told the children of Israel to sprinkle their lintels and +door-posts with blood, they might have been foolish enough to say, "No; +we shall do better. We shall not be content with doing so trifling a +thing; we shall rather build up great walls around our houses, so that +the destroying angel may not get in." Do you think, if they had done +so, their first-born would have been saved? No; there would have been +death in every such household; these high walls would have proved +useless. Nothing but the red mark on the doorway of the dwelling would +be of any avail in warding off the fell stroke. + +So it is with the sinner. All the walls which pride, and +self-righteousness, and good works can rear, will do nothing to keep out +the sword of avenging Justice. But _the sprinkled blood of covenant +mercy will_; for "_the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth_ (and +alone cleanseth) _from_ ALL SIN!"[65] + +I remember, many years ago, attending the deathbed of a young man in +E----. He told me, one day, he had dreamt of being in a shop in ---- +Street, which seemed to be hung round with armour and coats of mail. A +number of people in the shop were girding these on; while a man was +standing with a drawn sword in his hand outside the door, ready to slay +them as they passed into the open street. One after another he cut +down;--the armour was no protection to them--their bodies were lying +dead and wounded on the pavement. In great fear and terror, the young +man said, his turn seemed at last to come, when he, too, must try to +cover himself with the same armour, and rush out by the fatal door. He +knew not what to do. In looking around him, he observed, in the +uppermost shelf, something resembling a web of coarse linen, lying +apparently neglected. He resolved to take it down, and wrap himself in a +portion of it, instead of the unavailing sheaths of iron and steal. +Covering his head and body, he darted out, following the footsteps of +the others. The sword descended; but it bounded back again. It was +unable to pierce the linen covering. He alone was safe in that crowd of +dead and dying. + +Beautifully did this youthful dreamer apply his own "vision of the +night." It was:--How vain are all the boasted sheathings of the armour +of self-righteousness; and how safe and glorious is that "white linen" +covering of the righteousness of Jesus! To the eye of reason, the +panoply of iron and steel seems the best, and strongest, and securest. +Many will not "submit themselves to the righteousness of God," and +persist in using the others. But they will be a poor protection against +the sword of God's avenging justice. Happy are those who have been led +to look _above_ for another righteousness, and who have listened to the +Divine injunction, "_Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ!_"[66] + +Reader, let me ask, is this your case? Don't think, because you are +young, and have committed few sins, that you are safer than those who +have committed many, and that you have not the same urgent need to flee +to Jesus for refuge. In Canaan of old, the manslayer was in danger of +his life, whether he had killed one or several. One single life, like +one single sin, exposed him to the fury of the avenger. + +Nay, more. The Hebrew fugitive _might elude_ his avenger! He might +manage, for days, or weeks, or years, to screen himself from his wrath. +He might go, as David did to avoid Saul, to some cave of Adullam; he +might hide in the gloomy recesses of some forest;--amid the oaks of +Bashan, or the rocky gorges of the Jordan, or amid the cedar-heights of +Lebanon;--in the words of Ezekiel, "dwelling safely in the wilderness, +and sleeping in the woods."[67] But it is different with the sinner and +_his_ Avenger:--"_Vengeance is mine; and I_ WILL _repay, saith the +Lord_."[68] Who can escape _His_ glance? Who can hide from _His_ +all-seeing eye? + + "If I should find some cave unknown, + Where human foot had never trod, + Even there I could not be alone-- + On every side there would be GOD. + + "He smiles in heaven, He frowns in hell, + He fills the air, the earth, the sea; + I _must_ within His presence dwell, + I cannot from His anger flee." + +The _fourth_ thing I want to say to you is:--That _many young and old_ +HAVE _fled to Jesus, the Gospel City of Refuge, and have found +themselves safe and happy there_. + +How delightful it is, year by year, to trace the footsteps of those, +whether young or old, rich or poor, who have repaired to that blessed +shelter! I shall close this little volume by telling you of _two_ such, +now inhabitants of the better _celestial City_. Very different they were +in years, in country, in outward position. But they were alike in +this,--that they fled in life to the gates of the Gospel Refuge; and to +both _the_ NAME _of_ JESUS was specially precious. + +The one was C---- T----, a little girl thirteen years old--the age, I +daresay, of some whose eyes are falling on these pages. I saw her when +she was bright and happy in her adopted home in England--a sweet spot in +the county of Kent, on one of those wooded heights or uplands which +command an extensive prospect of the Thames, as he winds along, hearing +on his lordly bosom the commerce of the world. Little did any then +dream, that that little life, so full of promise, was to be early +taken--her sun going down before it was "yet day!" So, however, the will +of God was; her summons came suddenly, unexpectedly. Her disconsolate +parents saw "the desire of their eyes taken away by a stroke." The dear +child herself was naturally of a timid, reserved disposition; she felt +more than she said. Her kind, unselfish heart delighted in devising +plans of usefulness and carrying them out. The entire of her +pocket-money was latterly spent in the purchase of little books for the +infant-school children--all of whom loved her much--or in publications +for loan among the elder Sunday class. She won the affections of old as +well as young. "The little lady who used to speak so prettily to us," +was the description given, with full eyes, by more than one of the +villagers who had known her loving ways, and heard her loving voice. In +another neighbourhood still more familiar to her, she used to go to the +cottages with her Bible, and offer to read to the inmates who most +needed it; always putting her little hands together first, to ask for +God's blessing, and then making some simple remarks she thought might be +of use. Those whose hearts most sorely mourned her, had the fullest +assurance that the grace of God had been early poured into their dear +child's heart. But on thinking, too, on the past, they began at times to +wonder whether these pleasing traits of character and efforts to do +good, were really prompted by love to Jesus, or whether they might be +rather the effect of habit and the imitation of others. They anxiously +searched among her little books and desk-treasures to see if they could +find anything to confirm their fondest thoughts regarding this. I +believe it was even made the subject of earnest prayer to God, that some +such precious testimony might be found. After all her other books had +been examined in vain, imagine what were the feelings of delight and +thankfulness, when, as one day she who loved her best was taking the +cover off her Bible, the two following letters dropped from it on the +ground:-- + + "B. PARSONAGE, _August._ + + "MY DEAREST PAPA AND MAMMA,--I am going to write this in + case I should go to that _happy_ land where sorrow is not + known, suddenly; and that you may have _no_ fears about my + soul. I know my state, and that my _precious_ Saviour has + called me, and I humbly accept this _glorious_ invitation + as a poor WRETCHED sinner. I _strive_ not to expect + redemption by my own poor merits. I have no comparative + fear of death, but as a passage from a wicked world to a + happy, happy home. Though I am by nature very wicked, it + is all washed away by my Saviour's blood. The Holy Spirit + has taught me what to pray for, and how to pray. I hope all + my dear friends will forgive me if I have been angry when + they have spoken to me about my faults. I should like, + dearest parents, whatever little money and things I have, + to be given to the Church Missionary Society and the Bible + Society. My dear Saviour has forgiven me all my INNUMERABLE + sins, and so, dear parents, you need not fear about my + soul. I believe my Saviour will _not_ forsake me if I trust + in Him, and I know that all my righteousness is as filthy + rags.--I remain, dearest parents," &c., &c., &c., + + "C. M. T." + +The other paper that was found, was probably intended for her brothers +and sisters. It is as follows:-- + +"When you are in trouble, go to God and tell Him all about it. The +Saviour who called little children to come to Him will listen to you, no +matter what the subjects be, if you be but in earnest and need His help. +If you have a difficult lesson to learn, a hasty spirit to subdue, an +unkind word to bear, a proud spirit to humble--whatever your difficulty, +take it to God in the name of Jesus, and He _will_ help you. If even we, +who see so little beneath the surface, are not pleased with outward +appearances without good qualities within, how much less is the great +God who searches the inmost recesses of the heart? 'The Lord seeth not +as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord +looketh on the heart.' What we require is a new heart cleansed by the +Holy Spirit, full of all the graces mentioned in St. Paul's Epistle to +the Galatians, (chap. v. 22.) Oh! go then to JESUS and ask of Him in +earnest prayer to pardon your sins, and to confer upon you the blessed +gift of a new heart." + +My young friends, have _you_ fled like C---- T---- to an all-gracious +Saviour? Is the "_name_ of Jesus," so sweet to _her_, equally precious +to you? Does it "soothe your sorrows," "heal your wounds," and drive +your tears and fears all away? Can you say, in the spirit of her +beautiful and comforting letter,-- + + "Till then I shall His love proclaim + With every fleeting breath; + And may the music of His _NAME_ + Refresh my soul in death." + +Having told you of one recently "fallen asleep in Jesus," who had early +repaired to the shelter of the Gospel Refuge, I shall now tell you of an +aged servant of Jesus who has, more recently still, entered on her +glorious rest. + +She was a former parishioner of mine. Her home was a lowly cottage in +one of the loveliest villages of Scotland. Poor in this world, and an +almost constant sufferer, she was rich in faith,--one of "Christ's +jewels;"--her life was "hid with Christ in God." If I could venture to +name two peculiarities in her spiritual being which distinguished her +more than others, it would be these: Love for _the_ NAME _of_ JESUS, +and a _Life of_ PRAYER. "His _name_," to her, was "like ointment poured +forth."[69] Often have I delighted to sit with her in her cottage, with +her Bible on her knee, and hear her speak of "the _name_ which is above +every name;" walking about these six Refuge-Cities, "telling all the +towers, marking the bulwarks, and considering the palaces." She had +herself long before, in early life, fled to the Gospel stronghold. I +think her favourite city would have been GOLAN, "Joy." Her heart seemed +ever to be filled with "peace and _joy_ in believing." + +Doubtless much of this calm serenity and joy she derived from her life +of _prayer_. It is no small matter for the writer of these pages to +know, that there was not a day for upwards of sixteen years in which he +was not personally and specially remembered by this lowly saint at a +throne of grace. + +One forenoon during this past year, she had entered her cottage, +carrying a pitcher of water down from the well in her garden. It was the +last time she crossed her threshold. When her door was opened, she was +_found alone on her knees_; BUT _her spirit had fled_! PRAYER, as it had +been her ever fond delight in life, had been her solace and comfort in +death. Her last act was drawing water out of the better "_wells of +salvation_." She began with _prayer_, but ended in _praise_! She began +her prayer on earth, and "finished it with the angels!" + +Reader! when you come to die, could _you_ be equally happy, equally +safe? Would you be able thus to rejoice and triumph in the _name of +Jesus_? Could you declare, with either of these two glorified spirits, +before God "took" them, "_We_ HAVE _a strong city; salvation hath God +appointed for walls and for bulwarks_?"[70] Has the Holy Spirit taught +you, as it taught them, that you are sinners by nature, and in a state +of condemnation? Have you heard God's voice behind you, declaring that +"He can by no means clear the guilty?"[71] And are you able now +joyfully to say, "I heard Thy voice, and I was afraid, because I was +naked, and _I hid myself_?" + +Are you, like them, really "hid" _within_ the gates? The manslayer of +old required to be _within_ the refuge-city. Even if he were but one +footstep without, the avenger of blood could cut him down. It did not +matter _how_ near he was, if he was not _inside_ the portals! + +And so it will avail you nothing to know about Christ, and hear about +Christ;--to survey the strength of the city's walls, the glory of its +battlements, and the beauty of its palaces. It is "_the righteous who_ +RUNNETH _into it_," who alone is "_safe_." + +What more, in closing, have I to say, but to repeat the solemn word, +"_Haste thee, flee for thy life_!" Every hour you put off, the time is +shorter; the avenger is nearer; the chances of escape are fewer. There +is no time for delay. I say this to the very youngest. I say more. As +young feet can run fastest, so it is with young souls. You will never go +to Jesus so easily as now. Let nothing keep you back. It is said that on +digging up the ruins of Herculaneum, (the city that was buried under the +lava of Mount Vesuvius,) the body of a man was found in an upright +posture, in the act of running out of the door of his house to escape +destruction. He had a bag of gold in his hand. Others had escaped in +safety. But this miser loved his gold more than his life. He had +returned to fetch it, thinking he would have time enough to escape the +terrible doom; but the burning stream overtook him. He was encased in a +living sepulchre. + +It was one, too, of the saddest incidents connected with these Cities of +Refuge of old, when some poor, breathless, panting fugitive--just when +he was in sight of the city--when he had almost reached the gate, sank +exhausted. Or perhaps the case of some other who had lain down weary to +sleep, but who had been startled by the avenger at his side, and the +drawn sword gleaming before his eyes;--years after, the pile of stones +marking the spot where his blood had been shed. + +But, oh, sadder, sadder far, for any, young or old, to perish within +sight of Christ! To suffer the love of sin, or the love of pleasure, or +the love of the world, to make them "too late!" To be _almost_, but not +_altogether_ saved! To be cut down by the sword of wrath, or overtaken +by the fiery stream, with heaven in view! + +God grant that this may not be the case with any one of _you_! + +I shall conclude with a happier picture:--The citizens in these +Refuge-cities of old, were sometimes seen clustered on the top of the +walls, watching the approach of the manslayer, and cheering him on when +faint and exhausted. So, think of the happy citizens of the New +Jerusalem: Patriarchs, prophets, saints, departed friends, who are now +safe within its gates, watching you from these glorious heights, +beckoning to you not to tarry, but to be "followers of them who, through +faith and patience, are inheriting the promises." "Verily I say unto +you, There is joy in heaven among the angels of God over every sinner +that repenteth." + +We have been speaking of the "_name_ of JESUS." + +Read the motto over the gateway of all these six cities. Read the motto +over the door of the Gospel Refuge:--"_Neither is there salvation in +any other: for there is none other_ NAME given under heaven among men +by which the sinner can be saved, but _the_ NAME of JESUS." + + _Jesus, my Refuge_! look on me: + When weak and weary, worn, opprest: + I cast my every care on Thee-- + Thou art my _Rest_. + + _Jesus my Refuge_! guide my way, + Dispel the gloomy shades of night, + Oh, shine Thou forth with cheering ray!-- + Thou art my _Light_. + + _Jesus, my Refuge_! storms may rise, + Affliction sweep with tempest-shock, + My spirit to Thy shelter flies, + Thou art my _Rock_. + + _Jesus my Refuge_! legion-foes + May seek to drive me from the field, + But in Thy strength I shell repose-- + Thou art my _Shield_. + + _Jesus, my Refuge_! Thou in store + Hast happiness without alloy, + Pleasures unmingled, evermore-- + Thou art my _Joy_. + + _Jesus, my Refuge_! on the brink + Of Jordan, in my latest strife, + Thou wilt not suffer me to sink-- + Thou art my _Life_. + + _Jesus, my Refuge_! oh, supply + My every want, whate'er befall; + Through life, in death, eternally, + Thou art my _ALL_! + + ANON. + + + + +THE ROCK OF CASTELLO. + + + + +The Rock of Castello. + + +As I was walking on a bright summer evening, among the Italian Alps, I +came to one of the lovely valleys of the Waldenses. These, perhaps I +should tell my young readers, are a pious race of Christians, who have, +age after age, boldly "contended for the faith once delivered to the +saints," and kept the lamp of truth brightly burning, when all around +was darkness. + +This beautiful spot is surrounded by very lofty mountains, whose tops +are almost lost in the clouds, while the little stream that murmurs +below has its banks covered with vines and mulberry trees, rich corn +fields, and happy villages. When I first entered it by the Alpine pass +of La Croix, the whole valley was shrouded in a dense fog, with the +exception of one bold and very remarkable Rock, which towered in +solitary grandeur above the sea of mist, and seemed from its height like +an island suspended in mid-air! + +Upon inquiring what this Rock was, I was informed it is a place famous +in the history of the Valley. When the poor peasants were persecuted by +their foes, their cottages and hamlets plundered, their loved +sanctuaries burnt with fire, and "all their pleasant things laid +waste," they would retire with their wives and little ones up to this +rocky citadel, which the God of nature seemed to have reared as a +shelter for His defenceless people. + +Within this Rock that same God had wonderfully provided for their safety +and comfort. It contains a large cavern, capable of holding many at a +time; and in the very centre of this cave is a fountain of water, which +yields a never-failing supply. When driven thither by the storms of +persecution, the exiles provided themselves with food, from the +plentiful wild fruits of the adjoining mountain, so that the Bible +promise was made good to them, "Their bread shall be given them, and +their water shall be sure!" Swords and cannon and other means of +defense they had none, but a single man, stationed at the mouth of the +cave, was enough to defy hundreds of armed soldiers. He had only to hurl +fragments of loose stones (which were supplied from the sides of the +cavern) down upon the foe, and they were instantly beaten back, thus +fulfilling God's words to Israel, "Five of you shall chase an hundred, +and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight." + +Often, often, then, when the wintry tempests and Alpine storms, and +drifting snows, were raging fiercely around, adding to the terrors of +the enemy, did these peasant warriors find in the Rock of Castello a +secure shelter and retreat. With their fountain and blazing fire, their +Bibles and their God, they would make the rocky cavern ring with praise. +They "feared the Lord," and had no other fear. He had "given his angels +charge over them;" and they could boldly make the challenge, "God is for +us, who can be against us?" + + * * * * * + +When I heard about this Rock, which the "God of _Nature_" had upreared +as a citadel for his oppressed people, it reminded me of a better ROCK, +which "the God of _Grace_" has provided for perishing sinners! + +Dear Children!--You are all, by nature, like these poor Christians of +the Alps, the inhabitants of a Valley. It is called "_The Valley of +Tears!_" Like theirs, too, it is a lovely valley, far too lovely for +sinful man; but though lovely, its name tells you it is a _Valley of +Weeping_. Sin has made it so. And more than this, it is a _Valley of +Danger_, a _Valley of Death_! + +It is full of _Enemies_. I can not tell you them all, "their name is +Legion, for they are many." There are: + +THE WORLD. Ungodly men, bad companions, + tempting you to sin, + and trying to keep you + back from fleeing to Jesus! + +YOUR OWN The enemy within, the worst +HEARTS. of all, because the most + deceitful of all! + +SATAN. The great enemy, who goeth + about seeking whom he + may devour. + +DEATH. The last enemy, a sudden + enemy, but oh! remember, + a _sure_ enemy; other enemies + _may_ come, He _must_ + come, and the time of his + coming is generally "at + _midnight_," when you least + look for him! + +Methinks I hear my young readers exclaiming, If my enemies are so many, +if my danger is so great, is there no place I can flee to? "What must I +do to be saved" from those enemies in this _Valley of Tears_? Oh! +whither shall I flee from the "wrath to come?" + +Hear the voice of God:--He is pointing to a Rock rising from the midst +of the Valley, and is calling aloud to you, "Flee to this Stronghold, ye +prisoners of Hope!" + +Do you ask--When shall I flee? He answers, "_Now_ is the day of +salvation!" + +Do you ask--May I not _wait_ a few years? I am yet a young inhabitant of +the Valley. Death, if he be the _surest_ enemy, is the _last_ enemy; +have I not yet time enough? God answers--TO-DAY! while it is called +to-day! "Verily, there may be but a step between thee and Death!" "Haste +thee; flee for thy life." + +Do you ask--But must I leave all the pleasures of sin, and so much that +I love in this valley of tears? God answers, "What is a man profited, if +he should gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" + +Do you ask--But is there no _other_ refuge than this, no other means of +safety but, amid storm and tempest, to climb to this Rock? God answers, +"Neither is there salvation in any other! For there is none other name +given under heaven, by which a sinner can be saved, but the name of +Jesus." + +Dear children, let this be _your_ prayer: "Lord, lead me unto this ROCK, +that is higher than I!" + +Oh! with what delight does that Great God look upon children, such as +you, when they "flee for refuge to lay hold on this hope set before +them;" and when they join their hearts and their voices together, +saying, "Oh! come, let us sing unto the Lord; let us make a joyful noise +unto the ROCK OF OUR SALVATION!" + +But I would like to tell my Young Readers something more about this +Great "Refuge from the storm"--this Great "Covert from the tempest." Let +us seat ourselves for a little in the Alpine valley, under the brow of +the Rock of Castello; it may help us to some thoughts of the better +"Rock of Ages!" I dare say many a poor Waldensian, when taking shelter +in this earthly refuge, would be often reminded by it of the ROCK that +can never be shaken! + +_First_, The Rock of Castello _is very High_. So is _Jesus_; so High, +that He is called _the Son of the Highest_--"The Ancient of Days!"--"God +over all." "The heaven of heavens can not contain Him!" + +_Second_, The Rock of Castello _rises from the Valley_: so Jesus rose +from poor parents in this valley of tears. He "humbled Himself," to take +upon Him our nature; so that "although he be HIGH, He might have respect +unto the _lowly_!" + +_Third_, The Rock of Castello _was quite close at hand_; though lofty, +it was always near for fleeing to: so is Jesus, the "Rock of Ages." We +have not to say, "Who shall ascend into Heaven to bring Christ down?" +"He is not far from any one of us." Indeed, He is so very near, and so +very accessible, that the only wonder is that there should be any found +who do not "flee to Him for refuge!" + +_Fourth_, The Rock of Castello _was wont to shelter many children and +helpless infants_; many poor mothers, driven from their homes, carried +their babes thither in their arms. Jesus, the living Rock, does the +same. He delighted, when on earth, to fold children to his bosom, and +say, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not!" It +was neither His nor His "Father's will" that so much as "one of these +little ones should perish." He was so HIGH that angels adored Him; so +meek and lowly, that infants smiled in his arms! + +_Fifth_, The Rock of Castello _has a large cleft or opening in it, which +admits into the cavern_. Jesus is a _rent_ and _smitten_ Rock! You can +enter by faith _into_ Him only through His opened side. Oh! what a +smiting that was, by the rod of God's justice! and yet, had there been +no such smiting, you and I, Dear Children, must have _perished_! + +_Sixth_, The Rock of Castello _was a Secure Hiding Place_. No other spot +in all the valley could have afforded shelter but this. On any of the +surrounding mountains there would have been certain destruction to the +exiles, from the Alpine snows, and fierce hurricanes and storms. But +here, in their cavern, nothing could touch them, and if the storm raged, +it spent its fury on the Rock! + +Jesus is, indeed, a _safe Shelter_, while every other refuge will prove +"a refuge of lies!" The tempest of God's wrath, and the curses of God's +law, are still raging fiercely all around. But what matters it? They can +not touch _You_, my Young Friends, _if sheltered in the Rock_! Upon that +ROCK, eighteen hundred years ago, they exhausted all their fury. Jesus +shelters and delivers you from that fearful storm of Law-curses, by +himself being "made a curse for you!" The tempest may smite _Jesus the +Rock_, but it can not touch those who have "won Him, and are FOUND IN +HIM." + +_Seventh_, The Rock of Castello _has a Fountain in it_. Jesus, the +Living Rock, has opened a Fountain not only "for Sin," but "for +Uncleanness." He does not wish only to _justify_ you, by sheltering you +from the Storms of the Law,--but He wishes also to _sanctify_ you, and +fit you for glory. He does not only wish to make you _Safe_, but to make +you _Holy_. The HOLY SPIRIT is this _Fountain_ in the Rock. Oh! Dear +Children, bless God for this "Well of Water, springing up unto +everlasting life." It washes, and cleanses, and refreshes you. Without +it, your naturally _unholy_ hearts could never be fitted for the holy, +happy heaven, of a Holy, Happy God. + +_Eighth_, The Rock of Castello _remains as it was to this hour_, while +all its brave inmates of past generations are no more. Jesus is an +_Everlasting_ Rock, unchanged and unchangeable. This is still "His name, +and still His memorial," "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and +for ever!" For six thousand years, sinners have been crowding in, and +"still there is room!" + +_Ninth_, The Rock of Castello _was only a safe retreat so long as those +who fled for refuge remained within its cave_. The enemy were +continually on the watch, and to venture out, would be to _perish_! +Jesus, the "Rock of Ages," thus speaks to you, "Abide in me!" "Out of +me, ye can do nothing." It is only "the Righteous who runneth _into_ Him +that is _safe_! To _abide_ in Jesus is to be secure from every danger, +to _leave_ Him is _destruction_!" + +_Tenth_, The Rock of Castello _had to be fled to in the first moment of +danger_. The only safety of the persecuted was in _instant flight_. On +the first tidings of the enemy, houses, and lands, and vineyards, and +all they possessed, had to be left, and, "forgetting the things that +were behind, they pressed forward" to their Rock! Jesus tells _you_, +dear children, your only safety consists in _immediate_ flight to +Himself, the Rock of Ages! Delay may be fatal! The storm-blast is +gathering, the sky is darkening, there is the distant muttering of the +thunder. The enemy is on the march--Satan is watching--Death is +approaching. Already he may have strung his arrow. "Flee to the +stronghold, ye prisoners of Hope,-- + +TO-DAY." + +Oh! forbid that this should be _your_ history now, and your history +through eternity (How awful are the words!)-- + +"They lightly esteemed the _Rock of their Salvation_!" + + * * * * * + +Reader!--Have _you_ fled to this Living "Rock of Ages?"--Have you made +it your prayer, + + "Jesus! Refuge of my Soul! + Let me to Thy bosom fly?" + +And in _that_ bosom, and _that_ refuge, are you hiding yourself until +all Earth's "calamities be overpast?" The deeper you hide yourself in +the clefts of the smitten Rock, the safer you are. Oh! do you ever pause +and think that there is a day coming, when this Valley of Tears "and all +the works that are therein, shall be burned up?" When "God shall arise +in the glory of His Majesty, to shake terribly the Earth." When every +mountain peak shall be black with tempest--and the whole valley shall be +a sheet of living fire! Then (as I saw on the evening I entered this +Alpine valley), there shall be but ONE ROCK seen rising far above the +mist, and thunderings, and lightnings, and tempest! JESUS CHRIST, the +Rock of Ages! the Sinner's Refuge! and the Sinner's Friend! Many voices +shall be heard beneath in the valley, calling upon _other Rocks_, but it +will be to hide them from the "_wrath of the Lamb_!" The loose fragments +of stone thrown down from the Rock of Castello crushed hundreds: "On +whomsoever THIS STONE shall fall, it will _grind them to powder_!" + +Oh, when the voice of the Great Judge shall resound through the dens and +caves of the Earth with the Question,--"_Sinner, where are thou?_"--How +blessed if you shall be able, from your safe shelter, to reply, "Here +am I, Lord! I heard Thy voice, and I was afraid, because I was naked, +and I hid myself!" Hid yourself! where? Hid myself in + +"THE ROCK OF AGES." + + + + +JESUS, MY ROCK. + + + When the storm and the tempest are raging around me, + Oh! where shall I flee to be safe from their shock? + There are walls which no mortal hands built to surround me, + A Refuge Eternal,--'Tis JESUS MY ROCK! + + When my heart is all sorrow, and trials aggrieve me, + To whom can I safely my secrets unlock? + No bosom (save one) has the power to relieve me, + The bosom which bled for me, JESUS MY ROCK! + + When Life's gloomy curtain, at last, shall close o'er me, + And the chill hand of death unexpectedly knock, + I will look up to HIM who hath felt it before me, + And cleave all the closer to JESUS MY ROCK! + + Companions may smile, and the world may deride me, + And with the cold finger of ridicule mock; + But no trial, nor coldness, nor death shall divide me, + From the Shelter of Ages!--from JESUS MY ROCK! + + O Thou! who on earth, in the days of thy sorrow, + Didst fold to thy bosom the Lambs of thy Flock, + Prevent me (though young) putting off till to-morrow, + In fleeing for refuge to--JESUS MY ROCK! + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Job. ii. 4. + +[2] Psalm ix. 6. + +[3] Ezek. xviii. 4. + +[4] Prov. xi. 21. + +[5] Rom. iii. 23. + +[6] Gen xix. 17. + +[7] Rom. viii. 35. + +[8] Rev. iii. 7. + +[9] Matt. xix. 14. + +[10] Psalm viii. 2. + +[11] Psalm xxxi. 21. + +[12] Isa. vi. 3. + +[13] Mark i. 24. + +[14] Ex. xii. 5. + +[15] Jer. xxiii. 5. + +[16] Heb. vii. 26. + +[17] John viii. 46. + +[18] Rev. iii. 7. + +[19] Acts iv. 27. + +[20] Luke ii. 52. + +[21] "The Land and the Book." + +[22] Gen. xii. 8. + +[23] John iv. 14. + +[24] Isa. liii. 4. + +[25] Heb. vii. 25. + +[26] Isa. xxviii. 16. + +[27] Isa. ix. 6. + +[28] Deut. i. 31. + +[29] Psalm xl. 17. + +[30] Luke xv. 5. + +[31] Psalm iv. 8. + +[32] John x. 28. + +[33] Mark i. 7. + +[34] Col. i. 20. + +[35] Eph. ii. 6. + +[36] Eph. ii. 13. + +[37] Rom. viii. 83. + +[38] Luke xi. 21. + +[39] Psalm xviii. 2. + +[40] Prov. xviii. 10. + +[41] Psalm ix. 9, 10. + +[42] 1 Cor. xv. 55. + +[43] Isa. xxxii. 2. + +[44] Zech. xiii. 7. + +[45] Nahum i. 7. + +[46] Rom. viii. 1. + +[47] Luke xi. 22. + +[48] Isa. xxvi. 4. + +[49] Psalm xxii. 12, 13. + +[50] Phil. ii. 9. + +[51] 1 Pet. iv. 12, 13. + +[52] 1 Pet. i. 8. + +[53] Matt. xxv. 21. + +[54] Acts viii. 8. + +[55] John xv. 11. + +[56] Heb. xiii. 8. + +[57] Num. xxxv. 25. + +[58] Rom. viii. 34. + +[59] John vi. 35. + +[60] John vii. 37. + +[61] Heb. i. 14. + +[62] Isaiah xxvi. 2. + +[63] Psalm cxviii. 19. + +[64] Psalm cvii. 4. + +[65] 1 John i. 7. + +[66] Rom. xiii. 14. + +[67] Ezek. xxxiv. 25. + +[68] Rom. xii. 19. + +[69] Sol. Song i. 3. + +[70] Isaiah xxvi. 1. + +[71] Exod. xxxiv. 7. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Cities of Refuge: or, The Name of +Jesus, by John Ross Macduff + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CITIES OF REFUGE *** + +***** This file should be named 25459.txt or 25459.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/4/5/25459/ + +Produced by Heiko Evermann, Marcia Brooks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from scans of public domain works at the +University of Michigan's Making of America collection.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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