‘We might have a strong consolation’ – that presupposes you are in trouble. You have been plunged down; you have difficulties and Satan tempts you. There are stresses and difficulties, persecutions, griefs, temptations and problems. One day perhaps we will be on our deathbeds and Satan will come. ‘How do you know you are a child of heaven?’ You have the promise and the pledge of God that, in Christ, your soul is safe. Calvary is all sufficient; it covers all your sins, so that we might have a strong consolation. Who are we, who have this strong consolation? We are those who have fled for refuge. What have we fled to for refuge? What did you run to when you were saved? This is a reference of course to the cities of refuge in the Old Testament, in the land of promise: three on one side of the Jordan, three on the other side. If there was a terrible accident, and as a result of that accident a death occurred – perhaps the tool you were wielding as you worked in the field came apart and a sharp part struck your colleague and he was killed. If that happened and the next of kin of the dead man were angry people, and they thought you had killed him, and they came after you, which was their right in those far-off days, to take life for a life, what would happen to you? There would not be a pause, while a court hearing and a trial took place. No, there would be vengeance against you and your life would be sought. Ah but there were the cities of refuge, signposted with clear roads, three on either side of Jordan. You would flee whether you had a mount or whether you went on foot; you would not stop to collect your belongings, or to pack case. You would go as you were and run to the city of refuge, because your life was about to be taken violently. If you could get to that city of refuge appointed by God, they could not take your life. Then there would be a proper trial, there would be fair hearing, you were in the city where there would be justice and mercy shown and you would be vindicated. The writer of the epistle presses this illustration into service; we are saved people because we fled for refuge to him, to Christ. But it is more than that: ‘to lay hold upon the hope set before us.’
When you came to Christ you didn’t say, Lord save me so that I may be happy here on earth. You didn't say to Christ, Lord save me so that everything may work out, and I should pass my exams, or get the job I desire, or have a good marriage and have a happy time here on earth. You didn't come to ask for blessing here and now. Of course you do get blessing here and now when you find the Lord, but you also get many hardships because you have got to represent him. People will be against you, and hard things will happen to Christians and you prove the Lord in them. But you do get his guidance and you do get enormous happiness. That was not why you came to the Lord. You came to the Lord because you realised you were a lost soul, that you were under condemnation because of your sin. You saw that you would go to hell everlastingly when you die. So you do not just come lightly and say, ‘Give me this; give me that.’ You flee to Christ, and you flee to him because you need pardon, a new life, and eternal security. You need that great sword of Damocles hanging over you to be removed. So assurance is based on hope rooted in his promise and these are the words at the end of the verse: that ‘we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.’
The perseverance of the saints is part of our assurance; it is a comforting doctrine, is a certain Scriptural doctrine. It is a sad thing for believers to be taught to live in fear of the loss of salvation. It is a perfectly valid thing for us to be exhorted to live holy lives, and to be warned that if we do not live holy lives or strive to, it may very well be an indication that we were never truly saved in the first place. That is valid; that is a valid warning. But to those who are truly saved and have been striving, they may be certain that they are under the promise that God will see them through to the end.
‘We might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge’ – very significant language. I have no righteousness to qualify for these things, or to deserve them. For me it's just a matter of fleeing to God for refuge. ‘To lay hold upon the hope set before us’, the anticipation set before us – eternity and glory.