Conscience.If that in which you are trusting does not meet the highest
does not last. Jesus offers you life, real life, eternal life. To which will you have? "What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" *************************************************************** IX. REFUGES OF LIES "The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies" Isaiah xxviii. 17. We have seen in a former address that every man needs a refuge from four thingsfrom the accusations of his own conscience, from the power of sin within, from the power of Satan, and from the wrath to come. Almost every man has a refuge, that is, he has something in which he has put his trust to comfort him. The difficulty with most men is not so much that they have not a refuge, as that they have a false refuge, a refuge that will fail them in the hour of crisis and need; what our text characterizes as a "refuge of lies." It was just so in Isaiah's time; the men of Israel knew there was a coming day of judgment, and that they needed a hiding place from that coming judgment of God, and they made lies their refuge, and Isaiah God's messenger proclaimed, "the hail shall sweep away your false refuge, the refuge of lies," and I come to you with the same message, you men and women that have a refuge, but a false one. "The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies." I. HOW TO DETECT A REFUGE OF LIES. Is there any way in which we can tell a true refuge from a false one, a refuge that will stand the test of the coming day of God from a refuge that the hail shall sweep away? There are four tests that will commend themselves to the reason and commonsense of every intelligent and candid man here tonight, whereby he tell a true refuge from a false one, a refuge that will save from a refuge that will ruin; a refuge of truth from a refuge of lies. The first test is this: 1. A true Refuge is one that meets the highest Demands of your own Conscience.If that in which you are trusting does not meet the highest demands of your own conscience, it certainly is not a hiding place from accusations of conscience. Furthermore, it is not a hidingplace from the wrath of God, for if our own hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things. 2. The second test is this: Every true refuge is one, trust in which is making you a better man or woman today. IF you are trusting in something which is in something which is not making you a better man or woman today, it is not a hidingplace from the power of sin within, it is not a hidingplace from the power of Satan, it is not a hidingplace from the wrath to come; for a refuge that does not save you from the power of sin here on earth, very certainly will never save you from the consequences of sin hereafter. 3. In the third place: A true Refuge is one that will stand the test of the Dying Hour. If you are trusting in something that simply brings you comfort when you are well and strong, but will fail you in that