Deuteronomy chapter 19. three cities, and on the west
side they were to separate three more cities. Thou shalt separate
these cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the
Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it. Thou shalt prepare thee a
way, and divide the coast of thy land, which the Lord thy
God giveth thee to inherit into three parts, that every slayer
may flee there. And this is the case of the slayer
which shall flee there, that he may live. Whoso killeth his
neighbor ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past, as when
a man goeth into the wood with his neighbor to hew wood, and
his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree,
and the head slippeth from the hath, and lighteth upon his neighbor
that he die, he shall flee into one of these cities, and live.
Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer, while his
heart is hot, and overtake him because the way is long, and
slay him, whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as
he hated him not in time past. Now let's stop right there for
a minute because we'll come back to this in just a minute. And
we looked last week at what this city of refuge taught us. And
what it teaches us is it teaches us of Jesus Christ, our refuge. All through the Bible, God in
Christ is our refuge. Now let me read you some passages.
some passages of Scripture that refers to this. And you can get
your concordance sometime and look at this. The Scripture is
just loaded with this thing about the Lord being our refuge. He
says, The Lord will be a refuge for thee oppressed, a refuge
in times of trouble. God, that is God in Christ, is
our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. One of the things that you'll
notice as you read about refuge is it's always for the oppressed,
and it's always in the time of trouble and in the time of the
storm. I am as a wonder unto many, thou
art my strong refuge. And the fear of the Lord is strong
confidence, and his children shall have a place of refuge. And there shall be a tabernacle
for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of
refuge, and for a shelter from the storm and from the rain.
For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the
needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from
the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against
the wall." And then when we come over to the New Testament we
find this in Hebrews 6.18, we have fled for refuge to lay hold
upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor
of our soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth unto that
within the veil, whether the forerunner is for us entered,
even Jesus, made the High Priest forever." So the Lord is our
refuge. He is a refuge for the distressed.
He is a refuge in the time of trouble. And there are two things
that we learn from this slayer about his fleeing. Two things
we can learn from this man. First of all, we learn this,
that he fled from something. He fled from something. He fled
from the avenger of blood. We just don't flee to somebody,
we flee from something, don't we? And that's what the Scripture
teaches us, that we flee. This word flee, it means to put
in flight or to escape. And that's what the angel told
Lot and his family when he got them by the arm and said, Stay
not in this city. Escape for your life. And that's
what it is when we escape, isn't it? We escape for our life. We
escape for our lives. John the Baptist when he was
preaching to those Jews, he said, Who hath warned you to flee from
the wrath to come? We flee from something, don't
we? That's one of the ways you and I know that we came to Christ
because we fled. We fled from death. We fled from
the judgment of God that we felt upon our sins. We fled from the
wrath to come. When the Lord Jesus told us about
that publican standing in the temple, smiting on his chest,
what was he doing? God be merciful to me, a sinner.
He was fleeing, wasn't he? He was fleeing from the wrath
to come. Those Jews in Acts chapter 2 when they said, men and brethren,
what must we do to be saved? What were they doing? They were
fleeing from the wrath to come. When that jailer said, what must
I do to be saved? He was fleeing from the wrath
to come. You have turned to God from idols
to serve the living and true God and to wait for His Son from
heaven who delivered us from the wrath to come. So this fleer
was fleeing from something. The second thing we learn about
him, he was fleeing somewhere. He not only was fleeing from
something, he was fleeing to something. And verse 5 said,
He shall flee unto one of these cities and live. He fled unto that city. He escaped
into the city. Our awakened conscience is troubled,
isn't it? Our awakened conscience is burdened.
until we find salvation, until we find life, until we find rest
in Jesus Christ the Savior. He is our city of refuge. When
the man said, What must I do to be saved? Paul was saying
this, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Salvation from sin. Salvation
from the curse of the law. Salvation from the wrath to come. The Lord is my strength and my
song, and He is become my salvation. We flee to the Lord Jesus Christ
for our salvation. Moses lifted up that serpent
in the wilderness, and here is the way the Lord Jesus interpreted
that. He said, As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish, but have life eternal. We flee to Christ for life, for
salvation and for life. The Lord Jesus said, If any man
thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believes on
Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water. We come to Christ for life. And we come to Christ for rest,
don't we? We flee to Him for rest, for our burdened conscience. Come unto Me. all you that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest for your souls."
Jesus is our place of salvation. He's our place of life. And He's
our place of rest. It's in Him, isn't it? Until
we're in Him, there's no salvation for us. Until we're in Him, there's
no life or no rest for us. And Christ is our safety and
He's our security. from those who would avenge us
and do us harm. Avenging justice. If we fled
to Christ, then we are in Him and we have eternal life. And
listen, this life that we have is the very life of Christ Himself. He gives it, but that life is
Christ Himself. And we shall never perish, and
neither shall any man pluck us out of this city of refuge. It was a strong and sure refuge
for our souls. We have fled for refuge to lay
hold upon the hope set before us, and listen to this, which
hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. Where is Jesus Christ? He is
in heaven, isn't He? And if we are in Him, than to
drag us from Him, you're going to have to drag Him back down
to this earth to do Him any harm. I don't think anybody's going
to do that, do you? Our refuge is in Heaven, and we're in Him,
so we're safe and we're sound in Him. If after fleeing to the
city of refuge, this slayer had doubts and fears arise in his
heart as to his safety and security, where would those doubts arise
from? You ever have any doubts or fears about your safety? You're
in the city of refuge. And if a man fled to that city
and he had doubts concerning his safety and security, where
would those doubts arise from? Well, think of this. It might
rise from some voice outside the wall. Can't you imagine this
happened? Use your imagination with me.
When some poor fellow had fled to the city, And the avenger
was on his trail. And he hated this man. He wanted
vengeance so bad he stood outside the wall and screamed, I'm going
to get you! I'm going to get you yet! Oh,
that would be enough to make you doubt, wouldn't it? Have
you ever heard a voice? Have you ever heard these voices
from without saying, I'll get you yet. I'll get you yet. Have they ever came to you in
such a way that it makes you doubt and fear? Oh, we've all
had that happen. The devil sometimes sets himself
up as the avenger. He sets himself up sometimes
as God and as the wrath of God in our minds. And he says, I'll
get you yet. Your religion ain't going to
stop me from getting you. You're subject to the wrath of
God, and I'm going to get you yet. Have you ever had that to
happen to you? Oh, I've had Satan sometime to whisper in my conscience,
and at first I thought for sure this is the voice of God. God
is out to get me. If any doubt or fears arose,
he may have got up on that wall and there he could see the venge
of blood out there. And he's still raising that sword.
I'll get you, yeah, boy. I'll get you, yeah. But it came
from outside the city, not inside the city. That's the first place. His fears and doubts as to his
safety could have arised from his wild imagination. Yeah, laying
there thinking. That avenger could get through
an open window in these walls. He could slip through a door
that's left open and cry. And he'll get me yet. You ever
had your imagination to run wild with you? Start imagining these
things? That's where your fear and your
doubts could arise. His fear and his doubts could
have arose out of this. He could have been tempted to
leave the city of refuge. And if he began to entertain
doubts about leaving the city of refuge, you could have fears
and doubts arise from that, couldn't you? Have you ever been tempted
to leave Christ? Don't entertain such a thought,
dear soul. That's just the door for the devil to get in. And
the temptations then will become much stronger. And out of that,
doubts and fears will arise. What was the source of his assurance? that man who had fled to the
city of refuge. What enabled him to lay his head
down of the night and to rest secure in this city of refuge? His assurance came from this.
Here is his assurance. It came from the word and command
of God. That is where he got his assurance.
The avenger was forbidden by the word and commandment of God
to come into this city. He was forbidden to do it. And
the rulers in this city were forbidden by the same word and
commandment to deliver the slayer up to the avenger of blood. Therefore,
the Word of God ruled those outside the city, the avenger of blood,
and He ruled those inside the city, the authority over this
man. Satan desired to slay Job, didn't
he? It is our displeasure. Job, you've got a fence around
you. You've got a hedge about you.
And the Lord says, He's delivered into your hands. You try Him. But there was a commandment.
Spare His life. Could Satan take His life? No. He's subject to God's command. Not willingly, but he is. He cannot go beyond what God
has commanded him. He could not do it with Job,
and he cannot do it today. The dear children of God have
many enemies in this present world, and they are deadly enemies
too, brothers and sisters. But they are all ruled by the
Word and the commandment and the providence of God. They cannot
go beyond that commandment. Neither can justice. justice
that's within, deliver up a man to death who is truly in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Justice can't even do it. Why? Because justice has already
been satisfied on His behalf. And for justice now to deliver
up that man who is in Christ would be to deliver up an innocent
man. That cannot happen, can it? Look
here at what he said in the last portion of verse 5 again. Here
is where he got his assurance. Look at the very last sentence
in verse 5. He shall flee unto one of these
cities, and live. He shall flee, and fleeing he
shall live. He shall live. Now that means
something, don't it? Look in verse 7. Wherefore I
command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate these cities for thee."
This was a command. It wasn't a suggestion. This
was commanded of God to separate these cities. Look in verse 9.
If thou shalt keep all of these commandments to do them, which
I command thee this day, and this was concerning the city
of refuge, to love the Lord thy God, and to walk ever in His
ways, Then shalt thou add three cities more for thee besides
these three, that innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which
the Lord thy God giveth thee for inheritance, and so blood
be upon thee." See this? If those authorities inside that
city delivered that man up to the avenger of blood, he said,
blood shall be upon thee. That was that man's assurance.
The avenger could not get into him. He wasn't allowed to come
in. The authorities inside the city was not allowed to deliver
him up. He said, if they do, blood shall
be upon them. If you and I have fled to Jesus
for our refuge, that is a clear and certain evidence that He
bore our sins and all the consequences of them in His own body upon
the tree. And justice cannot payment twice
demand. First at our bleeding charity's
hands and then again at ours. The curse of the law and the
wrath of God have no just right to anyone who is in Christ. Because He satisfied the law's
requirements in the days of His flesh. He fulfilled its demands. And in His death He bore the
penalty. Therefore, the curse of the law
and the wrath of God cannot have anything to do with you who are
in Christ and with me who are in Christ. You drag a man out
of Christ now and God suffers it to happen, then justice has
been perverted because that man is an innocent man. He is a just
man. Not for his sake, but for Christ's
sake. who has made a curse for us to
deliver us from the curse of the law. Therefore, our text
over in Hebrews 6.18 says, our hope is both what? Sure and steadfast. It's sure. Our hope is sure. The object of our hope is sure.
Is heaven sure? Are we going to be with Christ?
Is that sure? Are we going to be glorified someday? Is this
sure? Are we running in an uncertain
way? Are we just beating the air?
It won't be long before all of us are going to be laying gasping
for breath, and we're going to be dying, aren't we? Is our hope
sure? It's sure, isn't it? It's as sure as the Word of God
can make it. And not only is it sure, it's
steadfast. It will never be moved. It never
will. You say, Bruce, can we have the
assurance of that? The assurance that we have, brothers and sisters,
is the same assurance these slayers had when they went to the city
of refuge. The Word and commandment of God. If we rest there, we
can have assurance. It doesn't matter what sounds
we hear outside the city, does it? It doesn't matter how we're
tempted and tried and tested. The Word of God, that's the foundation
for our assurance. Let's look quickly at something
else concerning this city as a refuge. Here in verse 4. And this is the case of the slayer
which shall flee thither that he may live. Whosoever killeth
his neighbor ignorantly whom he hated not in time past. And in chapter 4, I think, it's
in verse 42 of Deuteronomy, the parallel passage says, If he
kills his neighbor unintentionally, if he kills it unawares, he can
flee to this city. But if you slew somebody willingly,
if you did it knowingly, this city of refuge wasn't for you.
If you killed somebody out of hate and with the intent to do
it, and you fled to this city, They examined the evidence, and
if they found you guilty, they took you outside and let the
slayer of blood have you, and he killed you. Now, what can
we learn from this? Well, first of all, we learn
from this. These cities literally were not to protect willful murderers. They weren't to protect willful
murderers. If you willfully killed somebody, it was your life. You
forfeited your life. This is the way the Lord had
it to punish murderers. He wasn't open for someone who
willingly and deliberately killed somebody. That's the first thing
we learn. Look here what he says in verse 11. But if any man hate
his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against
him, and smite him mortally that he die, and fleeth into one of
these cities, then the elder of his city shall send and fetch
him hence. and deliver him unto the hand
of the avenger of blood, that he may die. 9 Thou shalt not
pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood
from Israel, that it may be well, and go well with thee." So that's
the first thing we learn. Literally, this was true. But knowing that, then how do
we apply this spiritually? I don't think you can press these
pictures and types of Christ too far. It's just like parables. You can't squeeze them too tight.
You know, you get in trouble doing that. You can't establish
doctrine by them, but you can take these over to the New Testament
and you can prove what these say. So what can we learn and
how can we apply this in a spiritual sense? Well, let's say it like
this. Willfully sinning against the truth is a dangerous thing. It's a dangerous matter. Knowingly
walking against the light one has may bring judgment upon a
poor soul. What is it that keeps men from
seeking Christ for the most part? It's two things, isn't it? Three
things, really. It's ignorance, and it's unbelief,
and it's deception. The things that keep men from
seeking Christ and coming to Him is usually ignorance and
deception. Listen to how Paul says it. He
said, I was before my conversion, before I fled to Christ, I was
a blasphemer, I was a persecutor, I was injurious, but I obtained
mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. He was ignorant
of Christ. ignorant of his need of salvation. He did not know the truth. And
listen to what he said about being deceived. We ourselves
were sometimes foolish, disobedient and deceived, serving divers
lust and miracles, hateful, he said, hating one another. But
after that, the kindness and love of God towards man appeared. He was deceived, ignorant, unbelieving
and deceived. But a sinner and for a sinner
to be given light and to be given knowledge and willfully and knowingly
hate it and turn from it. That is a deadly thing. And I
think maybe we learned that from this. It is a deadly thing. You can leave that passage and
turn with me to a couple of passages of Scripture. Look over in 2
Peter 2. 2 Peter 2. One of the reasons I think it
scares us to look back upon our lost sinful lives is because
we were deceived, weren't we? I spent, and I've told you this
so many times, I spent all through my teenage years, I was ignorant
of salvation that was in the Lord Jesus Christ. I thought it had mainly to do
with me saving myself. And the Lord brought me to the
knowledge, He brought me to the light where I wasn't ignorant
anymore. I wasn't ignorant. But look here
at these people. Look here at what He said about
these people in 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 20. For if after they have escaped
the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, They are again entangled therein and overcome. The latter end is worse with
them than the beginning. For it had been better for them
not to have known the way of righteousness, than after they
have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto
them. But it has happened to them according
to the true proverb, the dog is turned to his vomit again,
and the sow that was washed to her watering in the morrow."
Here is knowledge. They're not believers. They're
not true children of God. But they were brought to this
knowledge, this light. And they sinned and hated this
knowledge and was entangled and overcome by the world again. And he said it had been better
off for them to have never even known than after they'd known
it to despise it and turn from it. And look at that scripture
that we often think about in Hebrews chapter 10. And it has
created so much affliction to the conscience of God's children
and their hearts, especially in times of their dark trials.
But look here at what he says in Hebrews chapter 10. Look in verse 25. Not forsaken of the assembly
of yourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting
one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.
For if we sin willfully," now this is not talking about sinning
willfully, any sin. I wonder sometimes how willfully
we do sin. But this is talking about a specific
sin. And we wonder sometimes how somebody
could commit this sin until we begin to search our own hearts.
Look at this sin. If we sin willfully after we
receive the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more
sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful looking for judgment
and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversary. He that
despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses.
Now here is this sin. Here is the sin that they willfully
committed. Of how much sore punishment,
suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot
the Son of God." Now, that has to be done willingly, knowingly. "...and hath counted the blood
of the covenant wherewith he," and I think this is speaking
of Christ Himself, "...was separated, sanctified." And He's counted
it in an unholy thing. He's done despite unto the Spirit
of grace. For we know him that saith, Vengeance
is mine, I will recompense saith the Lord, and again the Lord
shall judge his people." Ignorant sins. You will notice two things
in your own heart, two things about your sinning. One is you
do it ignorantly or sin deceives you. We commit sins, but we really
don't realize in our heart of hearts sin deceives us as to
the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Remember what David did? He fell
into adultery with Bathsheba, and for a whole year he lived
in adultery with that woman, had her husband killed, and only
at the time that the prophet came and said, You're the man,
did David awake and said, What have I done? I am going to die. Why did Peter deny the Lord Jesus
three times? It deceived him, didn't it? Sin
is a deceptive thing. It can deceive us. We do it through
our ignorance or we do it through being deceived by it. And something
else you can notice about sin, when the children of God sin,
is this, there is always a resistance. Unless sin deceives us, And we're
ignorant of it. There's always a resistance to
sin in your heart. Is there not? When you think
about sinning or you're tempted to sin, there's this resistance
that rises against it. When I would do good, I would
do good. That's my desire to do good.
Evil is present with me. The flesh lusteth against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these two are
contrary. There's a battle going on within
your heart. Paul said you've not yet resisted
the blood striving against sin. But you strive against it, don't
you? You put up a front against it. You put up a battle. So that's
what we do with sin. It either deceives us in our
ignorance, or here we are willingly standing against it. But to go
on willfully sinning, to sin willfully, to sin against light,
is a very It's a dangerous thing. Here's what David said, "...keep
back thy servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion
over me, O Lord. Then shall I be upright, and
I shall be innocent from the great transgression." Boy, it's
a dangerous thing to present presumptuously. And I think that's
one of the things we learn from this slayer. If he did what he
did knowingly, He did it willingly. There was no city of refuge. And those who knowingly despise
Christ, they've had some light given to them and they walk contrary
to that light, that is a dangerous thing, brothers and sisters.
It's a dangerous thing. If you know your need of Christ,
then flee to Christ. Flee to Christ. If He gives you
light, then pray and ask Him for grace to walk in the light. that He gives. I hope that's
a blessing to you. May the Lord bless you to your
heart.