Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;
Turn to the stronghold means turn to Christ as God, the refuge, safety and Fountain of life who advocates for His people and walks among His churches. Prisoners of hope are those held by trouble, hardship and perplexity yet sustained by hope, still on probation through Christ's sacrifice which bridged the gulf sin made, unlike the fallen angels reserved unto judgment. Even today God declares He will render double to those who so turn, a double blessing of abundant restoration. For those living in the last days that double is the latter rain of the Holy Spirit, more abundant than the former rain at Pentecost when thousands were converted in a day. It is received by asking the Lord for rain in faith, laying hold of the promises, putting away dissension to be of one accord, and giving self to God for the saving of the lost, fleeing at once to the place of safety with confession and forsaking of sin and unwavering humble faith in His power to save.
Stronghold and Prisoners
The stronghold to which the prisoners of hope are called to turn is Christ Himself, in whom is strength, refuge and safety. He is God, the living God, the Fountain of life and source of all power, from whom flows the living stream of salvation. He is the believer's Advocate before the Father, who walks among His churches and holds their stars in His hand to sanctify, elevate and ennoble His followers and shine His light through them to the world. Turning to Him calls for unwavering, humble faith in His power and willingness to save, taking hold of Christ's strength, and when His people do this He overcomes the enemy and wonderfully changes the most hopeless, discouraging outlook for the glory of His own name. Faint and feeble faith in the churches is without excuse, for strength is found in Him, and that turning leads to worshiping God in holiness and entering His sanctuary with praise and thanksgiving instead of depending on human counsel and wisdom. There is strength in Him for His people to rely on as they faithfully work to save others.
Prisoners of hope are those who remain prisoners, held captive, yet still have hope, and who are called to take refuge in God as their stronghold and turn to the Lord for strength. They are those held by trouble, hardship, distress and perplexity but still sustained by hope in God, and by trusting His power and willingness to save even the bleakest outlook can be transformed for the glory of His name. They are to stand before God humbly, without self-esteem, trusting in hope joined with earnest, persevering desire for eternal life, not serving God only when convenient, and to remain held secure by that hope. For honest-hearted people among the nations this points to hope in God's help and His leading them out of darkness into light by unknown ways.
Those without that hope have no refuge or consolation when distress and fear come. In times of distress and perplexity those who have not made God their refuge have nowhere to turn, are left to fear, but those who humble themselves and turn to Him wholeheartedly find acceptance and pardon. The unbelieving world is not among the prisoners of hope who turn to Him.
People are prisoners of hope because through Christ's sacrifice they are still on probation and have hope of salvation, with Christ as their only hope through whom by faith sins are pardoned and loyalty to God restored. Men separated from heaven by sin are exiles made prisoners of hope because Christ with His own body bridged the deep and impassable gulf that sin had made, providing a way to be united with heaven again and giving help and strength to every soul that desires to cross it. Unlike the fallen angels who are reserved in darkness unto judgment and will not enter heaven nor comprise the family of God, God's people on earth have a ransom found for sinners, and thankfulness is due to God for this hopeful condition sounding down from generation to generation.
A sinner becomes a prisoner of hope by understanding the law in connection with Christ and receiving Him by faith as substitute and surety. Disconnected from Christ, the law would have crushing power upon sinful men and blot the sinner out of existence. Understood with Christ it gives hope, because Jesus died to save men and thereby demonstrated the immutability of the holy, just and good law of God. To be a prisoner of hope is to know the truth as it is in Jesus, which is acquaintance with that law as elevated in Christ, who magnified it, expanded its every precept, and in His obedience left man an example that he also may meet its demands.
Double Blessing Promised
Even today the declaration stands that prisoners of hope who turn to the stronghold will be rendered double, which is a double blessing and abundant restoration. The promise belongs to those living in the last days and embraces the whole world in the great plan of redemption. It was given in connection with Israel's appointed work of bearing fruit in self-denial, goodness, mercy, compassion, love for God, obedience to all His commandments, and faith in Jesus Christ, so that their light would shine in good works, many Gentiles would be converted, and God would be glorified for His great love and rich blessings, while the darkness of the Gentile world is due to neglect of that work. It means God's work is to go from city to city and from country to country, and though enemies lay plans to defeat it, Jehovah will remove all obstructions to its progress and make strong the hearts of His people as they go forward. It means God's mighty hand is still stretched out to save all who come to Him, receiving the repentant when the world is given evidence and convinced of sin and condemning those who despise mercy, while those who know the truth about past and future events receive of Christ and, filled with His Spirit, work in unity as lightbearers cooperating with God.
For the last days the double is the latter rain of the Holy Spirit, more abundant than the former rain given in apostolic times. The former rain was the outpouring of the Spirit in the days of the apostles, when power was given on Pentecost and thousands were converted in a day. The promise of the Spirit belongs to believers today as truly as to the first disciples, and God will now endow men and women with power from above as He endowed those who heard the word of salvation on the day of Pentecost. At this very hour His Spirit and His grace are for all who need them and will take Him at His word.
The double is received by asking the Lord for rain in the time of the latter rain, when He gives showers to everyone and to every grass in the field. Those who ask in faith for the promised blessing will receive it, taking Him at His word and seeking the promised blessing with confidence as prisoners of hope trusting His declaration to give double. It comes as His people talk faith, work in faith, advance in faith, lay hold of the promises, and go forward, so that obstacles are removed and their hearts are made strong. It comes when Christians put away all dissension and are of one accord, and give themselves to God for the saving of the lost.
Last-Days Mission and Prophecy
The promise belongs to those living in these last days, calling the prisoners of hope to turn to the stronghold with the assurance that even today double will be rendered to them. It means the work is to go forward from city to city and from country to country, and though enemies lay plans to defeat it, Jehovah will remove every obstruction to its progress. As His people talk faith and work in faith and advance in faith, laying hold of the promises and going forward, obstacles are taken away and their hearts are made strong.
The mighty hand of God is still stretched out to save all who come to Him. When the world is given evidence and convinced of sin, the repentant are received while those who despise His mercy are condemned. Those who know the truth concerning past and future events receive from Christ and, filled with His Spirit, cooperate with God as lightbearers to the world in unity of action to do the truth.
Israel was given the work of bearing fruit in self-denial and goodness and mercy and compassion, in love for God and obedience to all His commandments and faith in Jesus Christ. Their light was to shine in good works so that many Gentiles would be converted and God would be glorified for His great love and rich blessings. The darkness of the Gentile world is due to neglect of that work, and the promise of double blessing embraces the whole world in the covenant of the great plan of redemption.
Taken with the verses that follow, the call to turn to the stronghold means God will bend Judah and fill the bow with Ephraim and raise up the sons of Zion against the sons of Greece and make them as the sword of a mighty man. He will be seen over them with His arrow going forth as lightning, and will blow the trumpet and go with whirlwinds of the south. He will defend them and save them in that day as the flock of His people, as crown stones lifted up as an ensign upon His land. That defense and saving is the coming of Christ with the resurrection of life and of damnation, the judgment given to the saints and their possessing the kingdom, and the final judgment, and this gives the reason for the Advent hope.
Hope for Sinners and Heathen
The honest in heart in heathen lands who are upright before heaven are prisoners of hope whose hope is in the Lord. In turning to God as their stronghold they receive deliverance from idolatry and darkness, light arises for them, and God leads them by ways they have not known, making darkness light before them. The call is to all such to turn to God as their stronghold and take refuge in Him and His help.
The sinner is not an outcast or a hopeless sufferer but one who can be brought back to faith in God and restored to allegiance to Him. The trembling sinner can hope in Jesus because Jesus lives and therefore the sinner may live, and Christ's blood has power to remove sin. Even the desperate and discouraged sinner should be urged not to regard himself as cast off by God but to look to Christ, who alone can heal the soul from sin, confessing and forsaking sin with wholehearted purpose, for there is no other hope or remedy.
Even those sunken in the lowest depths of degradation are still prisoners of hope to be labored for and laid hold of and compelled to come in. Many once possessed wealth and some were highly educated, but were brought low by the pollutions of the world, strong drink, and indulgence in the lusts of the flesh. They cannot restore themselves, for they are dead in trespasses and sins, and though they may hear the call their ears are too dull to take in its meaning and their eyes too blind to see any good in store for them.
Schools and institutions that have drifted toward worldly conformity are not trapped beyond recovery but are prisoners of hope who can still turn to safety and to a secure position. If they heed God and follow His ways He can correct and enlighten them and restore them to a distinct and upright position separate from the world.
One whose sun has passed its meridian and is now rapidly declining, with evening come and lengthening shadows and only a little time left to work for self, for humanity, and for the Master, is still a prisoner of hope. Hope still remains, calling for a special work for his own soul if he is ever to be numbered with the overcomers. He must examine his life-record, answer God's long forbearance with repentance and humiliation of soul before Him, and not leave Jesus pleading in his behalf in vain nor disappoint Him, since companions already summoned away prove that eternity will reveal whether he was bankrupt in faith and failed to secure eternal life or was rich toward God and an heir of the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
Those in bondage to sin and Satan are still prisoners of hope, with deliverance still possible, but freedom requires determined personal effort to break from sin. Daily sins in word and action are evil fruits revealing the corrupt character of the tree, nothing can be hidden from God who sees each person exactly as they are, and release requires a new moral taste to be created within. Christ gave His own life because He knows the human frame and loves, bearing in His own body the strokes that fell because of transgression of God's law, so that people might become prisoners of hope. Becoming prisoners of hope means no longer dishonoring Him by turning away to seek wisdom from finite human beings, but casting away the weight of unbelief and coming to Him as the source of strength, believing pity and compassion will be received from Him.
Turning in Daily Life
In distress and perplexity those who have not given themselves wholly to the world can humble themselves and turn to God with the whole heart and find acceptance and pardon, for those who have not made Him their refuge otherwise have nowhere to turn. Turning is reaching for help with unwavering humble faith in God's power and willingness to save and taking hold of Christ's strength, who is the living God, the Fountain of life and source of all power from whom flows the living stream of salvation. God has power in reserve, and when His people exercise faith in Jesus He overcomes the enemy who seeks to destroy them and wonderfully changes even the most hopeless and discouraging outlook for the glory of His own name. Turning requires confessing and forsaking sin with wholehearted purpose, for there is no other hope or remedy.
It means making peace with God, opening the door for Jesus to abide in the soul, losing sight of all else to bind to Him by living faith without delay because life's record may soon close, looking to Calvary to see His suffering love, and by beholding becoming changed in character so as to be acknowledged among the faithful. It means ceasing self-trust, heeding correction and the warning signals lifted in the Word, fearing the Lord and walking humbly before Him, and coming into harmony with brethren instead of demanding they adopt one's own ideas and work and refusing to counsel with them, since harmony with God is impossible while out of harmony with brethren. A foe is on the track, and trusting in self and refusing sent admonitions leaves one far from safety, while God who calls is too wise to err, present on every occasion, and knowing every imagination of the heart. Those who turn unify and blend together and draw in even cords while Satan seeks to divide and Christ works to unify, and they will see God's salvation, speak more of Jesus, be imbued with His Spirit, have Him formed within as the hope of glory, and be cleansed from sin by His power alone.
That turning leads to worshiping God in holiness and entering His sanctuary with praise and thanksgiving instead of depending on human counsel and wisdom. It is constant study of the plan of salvation and of God's Word with earnest prayer rather than turning to human agencies, for the trembling believer turns to the Stronghold instead of remaining earthly and carnally minded, and grace dwelling in the heart makes manners gentle and subdued and subdues and expels every vestige of self-love, self-seeking, and idolatry of self. Christ clothed divinity with humanity to call every soul to flee to Him for deliverance from bondage, since after the fall man had no power in himself to keep from sin; the Father and Son undertook to redeem the fallen race, the Son leaving heaven's courts, laying aside crown and royal robe, giving His life as propitiation, passing through test and trial and overcoming through divinity to show every son and daughter of Adam can resist Satan and overcome through faith by the same power. The call is to flee at once to the stronghold as the place of safety because peril is greater than is known to oneself and to connected followers, and there is no time to lose.
There the soul temple is cleansed from all moral injustice, diseased spiritual perception is healed, and Christ's righteousness is received instead of worthless self-righteousness, making one fit to enter the abode of the righteous when the Lord appears in the clouds, since outward religion and a church name cannot prepare for the final reckoning, for He lives, has conquered, and will be the defense of those who make Him their refuge. Fleeing to the Stronghold is the appeal to urge upon those in danger of perishing and ready to perish, and patient faithful labor to bring souls to the Saviour will be rewarded when the redeemed stand before God, though tears and confession alone are not proof of salvation. As prisoners of hope believers look beyond time to eternity to live so as to hear Well done, grasping and gathering God's rich promises, taking Him at His word without distrust or doubt, and growing daily more trustful and reliant on Jesus, advancing today beyond yesterday. Though they make mistakes and err and sin they have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who will not leave them in error, since perfection is not reached at one bound but sanctification is the work of a lifetime.
The call applies as turning to Christ in trial and amid pain and discouragement to seek His help, peace, and rest by relying on Him, remaining captive to hardship yet held secure by hope with assurance of abundant restoration. For physicians and managers it means turning back to keeping the fear of the Lord ever before them, so that sanitarium work is carried on correctly to God's glory instead of in a way that displeases Him and injures a neighboring institution. Christ is that stronghold, and there is strength in Him for His people to rely on as they faithfully work to save others.
Turn to the stronghold means turn to Christ as God, the refuge, safety and Fountain of life who advocates for His people and walks among His churches. Prisoners of hope are those held by trouble, hardship and perplexity yet sustained by hope, still on probation through Christ's sacrifice which bridged the gulf sin made, unlike the fallen angels reserved unto judgment. Even today God declares He will render double to those who so turn, a double blessing of abundant restoration. For those living in the last days that double is the latter rain of the Holy Spirit, more abundant than the former rain at Pentecost when thousands were converted in a day. It is received by asking the Lord for rain in faith, laying hold of the promises, putting away dissension to be of one accord, and giving self to God for the saving of the lost, fleeing at once to the place of safety with confession and forsaking of sin and unwavering humble faith in His power to save.
Stronghold and Prisoners
The stronghold to which the prisoners of hope are called to turn is Christ Himself, in whom is strength, refuge and safety. He is God, the living God, the Fountain of life and source of all power, from whom flows the living stream of salvation. He is the believer's Advocate before the Father, who walks among His churches and holds their stars in His hand to sanctify, elevate and ennoble His followers and shine His light through them to the world. Turning to Him calls for unwavering, humble faith in His power and willingness to save, taking hold of Christ's strength, and when His people do this He overcomes the enemy and wonderfully changes the most hopeless, discouraging outlook for the glory of His own name. Faint and feeble faith in the churches is without excuse, for strength is found in Him, and that turning leads to worshiping God in holiness and entering His sanctuary with praise and thanksgiving instead of depending on human counsel and wisdom. There is strength in Him for His people to rely on as they faithfully work to save others.
Prisoners of hope are those who remain prisoners, held captive, yet still have hope, and who are called to take refuge in God as their stronghold and turn to the Lord for strength. They are those held by trouble, hardship, distress and perplexity but still sustained by hope in God, and by trusting His power and willingness to save even the bleakest outlook can be transformed for the glory of His name. They are to stand before God humbly, without self-esteem, trusting in hope joined with earnest, persevering desire for eternal life, not serving God only when convenient, and to remain held secure by that hope. For honest-hearted people among the nations this points to hope in God's help and His leading them out of darkness into light by unknown ways.
Those without that hope have no refuge or consolation when distress and fear come. In times of distress and perplexity those who have not made God their refuge have nowhere to turn, are left to fear, but those who humble themselves and turn to Him wholeheartedly find acceptance and pardon. The unbelieving world is not among the prisoners of hope who turn to Him.
People are prisoners of hope because through Christ's sacrifice they are still on probation and have hope of salvation, with Christ as their only hope through whom by faith sins are pardoned and loyalty to God restored. Men separated from heaven by sin are exiles made prisoners of hope because Christ with His own body bridged the deep and impassable gulf that sin had made, providing a way to be united with heaven again and giving help and strength to every soul that desires to cross it. Unlike the fallen angels who are reserved in darkness unto judgment and will not enter heaven nor comprise the family of God, God's people on earth have a ransom found for sinners, and thankfulness is due to God for this hopeful condition sounding down from generation to generation.
A sinner becomes a prisoner of hope by understanding the law in connection with Christ and receiving Him by faith as substitute and surety. Disconnected from Christ, the law would have crushing power upon sinful men and blot the sinner out of existence. Understood with Christ it gives hope, because Jesus died to save men and thereby demonstrated the immutability of the holy, just and good law of God. To be a prisoner of hope is to know the truth as it is in Jesus, which is acquaintance with that law as elevated in Christ, who magnified it, expanded its every precept, and in His obedience left man an example that he also may meet its demands.
Double Blessing Promised
Even today the declaration stands that prisoners of hope who turn to the stronghold will be rendered double, which is a double blessing and abundant restoration. The promise belongs to those living in the last days and embraces the whole world in the great plan of redemption. It was given in connection with Israel's appointed work of bearing fruit in self-denial, goodness, mercy, compassion, love for God, obedience to all His commandments, and faith in Jesus Christ, so that their light would shine in good works, many Gentiles would be converted, and God would be glorified for His great love and rich blessings, while the darkness of the Gentile world is due to neglect of that work. It means God's work is to go from city to city and from country to country, and though enemies lay plans to defeat it, Jehovah will remove all obstructions to its progress and make strong the hearts of His people as they go forward. It means God's mighty hand is still stretched out to save all who come to Him, receiving the repentant when the world is given evidence and convinced of sin and condemning those who despise mercy, while those who know the truth about past and future events receive of Christ and, filled with His Spirit, work in unity as lightbearers cooperating with God.
For the last days the double is the latter rain of the Holy Spirit, more abundant than the former rain given in apostolic times. The former rain was the outpouring of the Spirit in the days of the apostles, when power was given on Pentecost and thousands were converted in a day. The promise of the Spirit belongs to believers today as truly as to the first disciples, and God will now endow men and women with power from above as He endowed those who heard the word of salvation on the day of Pentecost. At this very hour His Spirit and His grace are for all who need them and will take Him at His word.
The double is received by asking the Lord for rain in the time of the latter rain, when He gives showers to everyone and to every grass in the field. Those who ask in faith for the promised blessing will receive it, taking Him at His word and seeking the promised blessing with confidence as prisoners of hope trusting His declaration to give double. It comes as His people talk faith, work in faith, advance in faith, lay hold of the promises, and go forward, so that obstacles are removed and their hearts are made strong. It comes when Christians put away all dissension and are of one accord, and give themselves to God for the saving of the lost.
Last-Days Mission and Prophecy
The promise belongs to those living in these last days, calling the prisoners of hope to turn to the stronghold with the assurance that even today double will be rendered to them. It means the work is to go forward from city to city and from country to country, and though enemies lay plans to defeat it, Jehovah will remove every obstruction to its progress. As His people talk faith and work in faith and advance in faith, laying hold of the promises and going forward, obstacles are taken away and their hearts are made strong.
The mighty hand of God is still stretched out to save all who come to Him. When the world is given evidence and convinced of sin, the repentant are received while those who despise His mercy are condemned. Those who know the truth concerning past and future events receive from Christ and, filled with His Spirit, cooperate with God as lightbearers to the world in unity of action to do the truth.
Israel was given the work of bearing fruit in self-denial and goodness and mercy and compassion, in love for God and obedience to all His commandments and faith in Jesus Christ. Their light was to shine in good works so that many Gentiles would be converted and God would be glorified for His great love and rich blessings. The darkness of the Gentile world is due to neglect of that work, and the promise of double blessing embraces the whole world in the covenant of the great plan of redemption.
Taken with the verses that follow, the call to turn to the stronghold means God will bend Judah and fill the bow with Ephraim and raise up the sons of Zion against the sons of Greece and make them as the sword of a mighty man. He will be seen over them with His arrow going forth as lightning, and will blow the trumpet and go with whirlwinds of the south. He will defend them and save them in that day as the flock of His people, as crown stones lifted up as an ensign upon His land. That defense and saving is the coming of Christ with the resurrection of life and of damnation, the judgment given to the saints and their possessing the kingdom, and the final judgment, and this gives the reason for the Advent hope.
Hope for Sinners and Heathen
The honest in heart in heathen lands who are upright before heaven are prisoners of hope whose hope is in the Lord. In turning to God as their stronghold they receive deliverance from idolatry and darkness, light arises for them, and God leads them by ways they have not known, making darkness light before them. The call is to all such to turn to God as their stronghold and take refuge in Him and His help.
The sinner is not an outcast or a hopeless sufferer but one who can be brought back to faith in God and restored to allegiance to Him. The trembling sinner can hope in Jesus because Jesus lives and therefore the sinner may live, and Christ's blood has power to remove sin. Even the desperate and discouraged sinner should be urged not to regard himself as cast off by God but to look to Christ, who alone can heal the soul from sin, confessing and forsaking sin with wholehearted purpose, for there is no other hope or remedy.
Even those sunken in the lowest depths of degradation are still prisoners of hope to be labored for and laid hold of and compelled to come in. Many once possessed wealth and some were highly educated, but were brought low by the pollutions of the world, strong drink, and indulgence in the lusts of the flesh. They cannot restore themselves, for they are dead in trespasses and sins, and though they may hear the call their ears are too dull to take in its meaning and their eyes too blind to see any good in store for them.
Schools and institutions that have drifted toward worldly conformity are not trapped beyond recovery but are prisoners of hope who can still turn to safety and to a secure position. If they heed God and follow His ways He can correct and enlighten them and restore them to a distinct and upright position separate from the world.
One whose sun has passed its meridian and is now rapidly declining, with evening come and lengthening shadows and only a little time left to work for self, for humanity, and for the Master, is still a prisoner of hope. Hope still remains, calling for a special work for his own soul if he is ever to be numbered with the overcomers. He must examine his life-record, answer God's long forbearance with repentance and humiliation of soul before Him, and not leave Jesus pleading in his behalf in vain nor disappoint Him, since companions already summoned away prove that eternity will reveal whether he was bankrupt in faith and failed to secure eternal life or was rich toward God and an heir of the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
Those in bondage to sin and Satan are still prisoners of hope, with deliverance still possible, but freedom requires determined personal effort to break from sin. Daily sins in word and action are evil fruits revealing the corrupt character of the tree, nothing can be hidden from God who sees each person exactly as they are, and release requires a new moral taste to be created within. Christ gave His own life because He knows the human frame and loves, bearing in His own body the strokes that fell because of transgression of God's law, so that people might become prisoners of hope. Becoming prisoners of hope means no longer dishonoring Him by turning away to seek wisdom from finite human beings, but casting away the weight of unbelief and coming to Him as the source of strength, believing pity and compassion will be received from Him.
Turning in Daily Life
In distress and perplexity those who have not given themselves wholly to the world can humble themselves and turn to God with the whole heart and find acceptance and pardon, for those who have not made Him their refuge otherwise have nowhere to turn. Turning is reaching for help with unwavering humble faith in God's power and willingness to save and taking hold of Christ's strength, who is the living God, the Fountain of life and source of all power from whom flows the living stream of salvation. God has power in reserve, and when His people exercise faith in Jesus He overcomes the enemy who seeks to destroy them and wonderfully changes even the most hopeless and discouraging outlook for the glory of His own name. Turning requires confessing and forsaking sin with wholehearted purpose, for there is no other hope or remedy.
It means making peace with God, opening the door for Jesus to abide in the soul, losing sight of all else to bind to Him by living faith without delay because life's record may soon close, looking to Calvary to see His suffering love, and by beholding becoming changed in character so as to be acknowledged among the faithful. It means ceasing self-trust, heeding correction and the warning signals lifted in the Word, fearing the Lord and walking humbly before Him, and coming into harmony with brethren instead of demanding they adopt one's own ideas and work and refusing to counsel with them, since harmony with God is impossible while out of harmony with brethren. A foe is on the track, and trusting in self and refusing sent admonitions leaves one far from safety, while God who calls is too wise to err, present on every occasion, and knowing every imagination of the heart. Those who turn unify and blend together and draw in even cords while Satan seeks to divide and Christ works to unify, and they will see God's salvation, speak more of Jesus, be imbued with His Spirit, have Him formed within as the hope of glory, and be cleansed from sin by His power alone.
That turning leads to worshiping God in holiness and entering His sanctuary with praise and thanksgiving instead of depending on human counsel and wisdom. It is constant study of the plan of salvation and of God's Word with earnest prayer rather than turning to human agencies, for the trembling believer turns to the Stronghold instead of remaining earthly and carnally minded, and grace dwelling in the heart makes manners gentle and subdued and subdues and expels every vestige of self-love, self-seeking, and idolatry of self. Christ clothed divinity with humanity to call every soul to flee to Him for deliverance from bondage, since after the fall man had no power in himself to keep from sin; the Father and Son undertook to redeem the fallen race, the Son leaving heaven's courts, laying aside crown and royal robe, giving His life as propitiation, passing through test and trial and overcoming through divinity to show every son and daughter of Adam can resist Satan and overcome through faith by the same power. The call is to flee at once to the stronghold as the place of safety because peril is greater than is known to oneself and to connected followers, and there is no time to lose.
There the soul temple is cleansed from all moral injustice, diseased spiritual perception is healed, and Christ's righteousness is received instead of worthless self-righteousness, making one fit to enter the abode of the righteous when the Lord appears in the clouds, since outward religion and a church name cannot prepare for the final reckoning, for He lives, has conquered, and will be the defense of those who make Him their refuge. Fleeing to the Stronghold is the appeal to urge upon those in danger of perishing and ready to perish, and patient faithful labor to bring souls to the Saviour will be rewarded when the redeemed stand before God, though tears and confession alone are not proof of salvation. As prisoners of hope believers look beyond time to eternity to live so as to hear Well done, grasping and gathering God's rich promises, taking Him at His word without distrust or doubt, and growing daily more trustful and reliant on Jesus, advancing today beyond yesterday. Though they make mistakes and err and sin they have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who will not leave them in error, since perfection is not reached at one bound but sanctification is the work of a lifetime.
The call applies as turning to Christ in trial and amid pain and discouragement to seek His help, peace, and rest by relying on Him, remaining captive to hardship yet held secure by hope with assurance of abundant restoration. For physicians and managers it means turning back to keeping the fear of the Lord ever before them, so that sanitarium work is carried on correctly to God's glory instead of in a way that displeases Him and injures a neighboring institution. Christ is that stronghold, and there is strength in Him for His people to rely on as they faithfully work to save others.