By R. A. Torrey
Religion is a refuge of lies. You say, “What do you mean?” Trust in religion is one thing; trust in the personal Christ is another thing. There is many a man who trusts in his religion and yet he is not saved. You go to men, and they say, “Yes, I am religious; I go to church every Sunday; I read my prayer-book, and say prayers regularly every day; I read my Bible; I have been baptized; I have been confirmed or united to the Church; I have taken the Sacrament regularly, and that is what I am trusting in.” Is it?, Then you are lost. Let us apply the tests. Does your religion satisfy the highest demands of your conscience? Does it satisfy your conscience, when it points out your sin, to say, “I go to church; I read the Bible; I have been baptized and confirmed”? Does it really give your conscience peace? Is your religion making you a better man or woman?
Will it stand the test of the dying hour? There is a great a great deal of religion that does not. How many people have been very religious, and yet when they come to die they tremble with fear.
Will it stand the test of the judgment day? Jesus Christ says it will not. In Matthew 7:22, we read: “Many shall say unto Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works?” -that is, they have been very religious; and Jesus says, “I will say unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” Friends, if you have nothing to trust in but religion you are lost; it is a refuge of lies.
Well, then, is there any refuge? There is. “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation” (Isaiah 28:16). That foundation stone is Jesus Christ. “Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus.” As I said before, it is one thing to trust in religion, and it is an entirely different thing to trust in Christ. Oh. friends, if your trust is in Christ it will stand the test, it will meet the highest demands of your conscience. When my conscience accuses me of sin, I say-
Jesus paid my debt,
All the debt I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
“He who had no sin was made sin for me, that I might be made the righteousness of God in Him. He Himself bore my sin in His own body on the Cross”; and that satisfies the conscience. The blood of Jesus Christ gives the guilty conscience peace. It will stand the test of the dying hour. Oh, how often I have gone to the room of the dying man who was trusting in Jesus, and he has looked up into my face with radiant confidence, without a tremor of fear, trusting in Jesus.
I remember one day I was told that one of the former members of my Bible class was dying, and I went to his house. I walked in and he sat there propped up in bed. He was dying very fast. I said, “Mr. Pomeroy, they tell me you probably cannot live through the night.” “No’ he said; “I suppose this day is my last.” I said, “Are you afraid?” He said, with a smile of perfect peace, “Not at all.” I said, “Mr. Pomeroy, Are you ready to go?” He said, “I shall be glad to depart, and be with Jesus Christ.” When Mr. Moody was facing the other world there was no fear. At six o’clock in the morning his son was by his bedside and heard him whisper, “Earth is receding; Heaven is opening; God is calling.” Then later, “Is this death? This is not bad, this is bliss, this is glorious.” Still later, someone began to cry to God to raise him from his bed of sickness, and he said, “No, do not ask that. This is my coronation day; I have long been looking forward to it. Don’t call me back; God is calling me.”
Oh, friends, a living faith in Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Saviour, will stand the test of the dying hour. It will stand the test of the judgment day. If it is the will of God, I am ready to go and meet Him at the judgment bar to-night, and, when He asks me to answer, I have but one answer, the all-sufficient answer, “Jesus.” That will satisfy God.
Christ Our True Refuge by R. A. Torrey
LIFE ON THE ALTAR 