The Hiding Place from the Wind
By G. T. Haywood
Written November, 1923
It is blessed to know where we are in these perilous times. One night there was a woman in one of our meetings who left the church for home, when pains seized her head, and in a few days there was a crepe on the door of her house. It is not a light thing to sit in a meeting seeing the glory of God, hearing the gospel and then walk out without yielding to God.
A Man as a Hiding Place
In the thirty-second chapter of the book of Isaiah, we find this remarkable statement, “A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” It is claimed in this passage that “a man” shall fill these positions. The “Wind” spoken of here is not the atmosphere which shakes the trees, but we read in the seventh chapter of the book of Daniel, that “the four winds strove upon the great sea.” The conflicts among the nations of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome being here spoken of as the “striving of winds upon the great sea (many waters)”. Also in the book of Revelation, the seventh chapter, we are told that “four angels stood on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth.”
This Scripture in Isaiah tells you that a “man” is going to rise up and become a hiding place broad enough to protect you from the “wind”. Also, he will become a “covert” from the tempest. In another place it says that we should “sanctify the LORD of Hosts himself: and let him be our fear, and let him be our dread. And He shall be our “sanctuary” in that He shall become a special abiding place wherein His presence shall continually swell with them that put their trust in Him. You well know that no moral man can hide you from the coming tests. But there is a “man’” who is destined to fulfill this prophesy and that is the “man Christ Jesus”. By this I mean, the God-Man: He who was manifested in the flesh more than 1900 years ago.” 1 Tim 3:16.
You had better be sure you have found your hiding place from the destructions, sorrows, and woes which are coming upon the earth. Yea, there is a “tempest of hail” coming!
A few years ago, the whole world was caught suddenly by the terrible plague of influenza, and in it mothers, fathers, and children were swept away. Crepes upon the door abounded on every side. The people died by the thousands. But God said, “I will deliver you in the hour of temptation.’” Rev. 3:10. The man that knows the Name of Jesus Christ is safe. “The Name of the Lord is a strong tower into which the righteous runneth and is safe.” He does not lose any time either, but RUNS into it. It is a mysterious abiding place: and although you cannot see it, yet it is there.
Why did so many die when the influenza plague came? Because they were frightened, and killed themselves by fear. Many of the remedies that were resorted to for healing only hastened their death. Judgment is in the land, and because of its awakening influence on the people many throughout the world are shouting the victory in the name of the Lord. Medical science is unable to cope with the new diseases breaking out upon the inhabitants. The florists are still making wreathes and bouquets. But I have found a friend, indeed! His medicine is always on hand, and it is not some sort of bitters or dry powders, but it is joy and a “merry heart which doeth good like a medicine.” Prov. 17:22.
Happy Resting Place!
God fills our hearts with joy! When you get happy your whole being becomes filled with light. Praises to the Lord drives away gloom and sickness. When Christ comes in your life, He makes you a new man or woman. When the demons are raging, and when your friends have turned their backs upon you, you can still give glory to God. If you love the Lord, you cannot go back on Him. What profit is there in drawing back from God, the >Lord? He cannot deny Himself, and though we prove untrue, yet He abideth faithful.
God meant every word that He spake, and for that cause I believe that the real life of Christ is able to quicken any mortal today. The question that confronts us, no matter where we came from, “Do you know where you are going?” I have no fear concerning the future since I have become aquatinted with the Lord of life, whom to know is life eternal. John 17:3. I love God, and He loves me – and He knows that I love him! You cannot separate us. My life is in a bundle with my Lord’s. Whenever a man strikes me, he strikes Jesus, too. That person who kicks and opposes holy living or the speaking in tongues, is mocking the Christ that authorized the same. There are some people who speak as though they know more than God, and as much as say, “Had I been God- I would not have done this or that thinking”. But those who love Him will obey Him. They will stand up for Him, and Follow Him all the way. He stood by us when the forces of hell were endeavoring us to overcome us. I believe in living for Him who died for me! He took my place in sorrow, suffering and death that he might give me life and joy He bore all my pains and gave me His health. I am determined to stand up boldly for Jesus.
It is written, “whosoever will may receive of Him, freely.” Will you let God have his way in your life? It is your interest to know.
Who shall be a “hiding place from the wind,” and so to be a mightily and wonderful man who, when He walked on earth many centuries ago, declared, The Father dwelleth in me”. “He was in the Father and the Father in Him”. And He further said that “in the Father’s house are many mansions”. To confirm this, He promised, “I am going away to prepare a place for you.” Many people look upon the literal side of this saying, but there is the spiritual phase also, and if you fail to see it. “Only believe.” Jesus Christ, the Man, was nothing more, nor less than “the Father’s house,” even the temporary dwelling place and tabernacle of God. He went “away” from this natural, visible, form of a man, and made a way for us to come into the spiritual body of Christ.
I am “in Christ” now. I know where I dwell. You cannot overthrow a man who gets inside of Christ and knows where he is. But you might daunt one that is not sure of his dwelling place. You cannot overthrow the name of JESUS, in which we make our refuge. Though some may ridicule our experience in salvation, yet I expect to abide in Christ and finish my sojourn here below with joy. That man or that woman, who has heard the voice of God, settle it today in your heart to go through with Jesus. I never shall regret the day when God’s Spirit moved on me to accept the Gospel.
When the children of Israel came out of Egypt, the blood was shed down in the land of Ham; but remember, they did not escape Pharaoh until they had crossed the water. Christ was crucified near 1900 years ago, but you cannot escape according to God’s word until you cross the waters of baptism in Jesus” Name. (See John 3:5; Acts 2:38; Mark 16:16). I will guarantee you that if your heart is honest and you really repent with a determination to ever after live for God, when you are immersed in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, heaven will open unto you immediately and the voice of God shall be heard in you. Every ambassador of God will tell you what God has commanded him to say. If I were your place, I would obey the voice of God.
How does a man get in Christ? In the third chapter of Galatians, the Apostle of Paul said, twenty-sixth verse, – “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Note that this says “by faith”, and not by keeping of days, months, new moons, or the Sabbath. And the next verse goes on to say, “For as many of you as have been BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST have put on Christ”. You do not get into Christ by shaking hands, or joining some system, nor by feeling sorry that your mother is dead. You must be baptized in that “Man’, who shall be a hiding place. The method which God has laid down for us to get into Christ is through immersion in water in Jesus” Name and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Note that Romans 6:1-2 states “so many of us are baptized in Jesus Christ, WERE baptized into His death.” But how am I to be baptized “into His death?” Whenever a man acknowledges that he is a sinner before God and sees himself doomed to destruction, and then accepts Christ as his sacrifice, recognizing himself dead indeed, he is already to be “buried with Him by baptism into His death.” And the latter having been done, the converted one is to be quickened by the life (the Holy Ghost) which is in Christ Jesus, for the scriptures saith, “In Him is life”, and “life more abundantly”.
Nothing less than God’s own plan will satisfy, or avail. You know that the Word of God is true. There is no other book than the Bible that shows you the true way to God and heaven. The old Bible is the book of books! It declares that if you are baptized into the body of Christ, He will protect you from the storm, which is coming. He shall be unto you as the “shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” For they who trust in the Lord shall never be confounded?
The sermon “The Rest and the Refreshing” by G.T. Haywood was taken from the book The Lost Works of Bishop G.T. Haywood: Unpublished Anthologies from Bishop Haywood’s Early Years, written by J. Laverne Tyson, Volume 1, 1914-1926.
