[Itopengame-main] Et me to Thy bosom fly?" And in _that

[Okel N. <man...@fu...>]

Ello _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