As the Lord may be pleased to
help us this evening, I'd like to invite your prayerful
attention to the book of Proverbs and our text. You'll find in
verse 10, Proverbs chapter 18 and verse 10. Proverbs 18, verse
10. And if you're using the chapel
Bible, That is page number 629. Page 629, and we read there,
Proverbs 18 and verse 10, the name of the Lord is a strong
tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe. We read from the book of Numbers
how that the children of Israel were safely brought according
to God's will and purpose out of Egyptian slavery across the desert where they
were condemned to wandering for 40 years. And of course, We have a true
record of it in Holy Scripture that they could have entered
into that promised land quite soon after they left Egyptian
slavery. They sent the spies out to spy
out the land. Most of the spies came back with
a fearful and frightening report. They said, we're not able to
overcome this land. They said there are giants, there
are all sorts of problems and they came back and there was
a great disturbance among the people. We read of one man who
was one of those spies. His name was Joshua. He believes
that they were able to enter in and he had a friend, a young
man by the name of Caleb and When the people were in a riotous
situation, we read that, to his honor, we read Caleb stilled
the people. He said, we are well able to
overcome this land in the strength of the Lord. But because the people sided
with those who were fearful and did not believe they could enter
in, they were condemned to wander in the wilderness. I remember
the lines of a poem, it's just come back to me, that we taught
the children in Sunday school years ago regarding this situation. And someone had put it into verse
like this. They could have reached the promised land much sooner,
but we read, they disobeyed the Lord's command, his word they
would not heed. They wandered on from day to
day, Israelites of old through wilderness and desert land for
many years we're told. And so the poem goes on. And
all that generation who did not believe did not enter in. They perish in the wilderness
in unbelief, how solemn. But God had a purpose of grace
and the next generation entered in. and where we read from the
book of Numbers the people were divided into their 12 tribes
and each tribe was given a lot of land to dwell in and of course
God in mercy was constructing a place for them to dwell in
in the same way that God through our Lord Jesus Christ We read
of the Lord Jesus, he says, I go to prepare a place for you. That
is, he's gone to heaven to prepare a place for you. And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
you to myself, that where I am there, you may be also. What a prospect, what a promise. But here we have it in type that
God had prepared a place for these people, and also he had
constructed a law whereby life might be preserved and law and
order might be kept. The Ten Commandments, of course,
were in the Ark of the Covenant, which traveled with them. That
was preserved. And so when they set up their
place of worship in the tabernacle, they had God's law with them. But of course, God is a God of
mercy and justice, and he had established a way whereby most
of their work, and I expect there was a lot of work at that time
in construction, and they didn't have the equipment we've got
today, but they were still able to build, and build they did. But of course, the tools were
homemade, and if, for instance, a head came
off an axe when they were cutting wood, and the head flew and hit
someone dangerously and it cost them their life, that would have
been classed as quite an accident, and God had made provision whereby
that person would not be pursued by the manslayer, which would
be his next of kin, who would have gone after that man and
taken his life, a life for a life. Whosoever shedeth man's blood,
by man shall his blood be shed. But God put a provision there
whereby if that was accidental, that man who committed that injury
would not die. God had prepared and protected
this situation. And as the law may help us, I
would like to direct your attention this evening to four headings. It is a A blessing that God has
provided these cities of refuge, provided, prepared, protected,
and they shall not perish. The Lord spoke, we read. The Lord spoke and God in mercy
provided this form of protection for those who unintentionally
cause the death of another person. And with a sense of responsibility
and fear, we read that Joshua said that they
could flee to a city of refuge and there they
will be protected. We have here A clear picture
of a person made aware that they have a soul that's in danger
of being completely lost without our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord
Jesus is that refuge for sinners which the Gospel makes known.
It is found in the merits of Jesus alone. The weary, the tempted
and burdened by sin were never exempted from entering therein. And we read here that the name
of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it
and is safe. Whoever had taken life, it is reckoned that these six
cities of refuge could be reached by someone running at a reasonable
pace. In half a day, they could find
the nearest city of refuge from wherever they were in the land
of Israel. But you may be sure that as soon
as they set off to find that city of refuge, they wouldn't
be looking back. They would be looking and the
road had to be kept clear. Our Lord Jesus himself is that
place of refuge and the road to our Lord Jesus is made clear
to us through the Holy Scriptures. And to those who seek him, he
has said they shall find him. What a blessing it is, those
that seek shall find. God himself gave the orders to
appoint these cities of refuge, and God himself has given to
us the refuge of our Lord Jesus Christ. I think we can understand from
scripture that they were Levite cities, ensuring under God's
direction that the law was adhered to. They didn't wander from it
because the Levites, of course, detailed by God to hold fast
to the law of God. Also these cities of refuge clearly
typify the gospel of God's wonderful grace and mercy to those with
an awareness of their felt need. And those who are aware of their
need have no comfort until they find peace in our Lord Jesus
Christ. And therefore, this blessing
is provided. And that providing is the security
of the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who came to
this earth was born as a little baby He was conceived by the Holy
Spirit, by his Heavenly Father. And therefore, it is good for
us to look just quickly this evening at the, we have it in
the first part of the New Testament. We
come to the Gospel of Matthew, We read about Mary and Joseph. You can imagine Mary as a young
person, and she was espoused to be married to Joseph. And there you can understand
Joseph's great concern. But what we read is, In Matthew's first chapter in
verse 20, while Joseph thought on these things, behold, the
angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph,
thou son of David, remember, Joseph and Mary were of the tribe
of Judah, which became the royal line of David, fear not to take
unto thee Mary for thy wife, For that which is conceived in
her is of the Holy Ghost, and she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus." What a responsibility
Joseph had as his natural father, the husband of Mary, Jesus' mother,
and he had to make sure and call his name Jesus. It's in capital
letters. for he shall save his people
from their sin. Now all this was done that it
might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,
saying, behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring
forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which is being
interpreted as God with us. God with us. What a blessing it is that we
have these wonderful words of Scripture, and how secure they
are. That our Lord Jesus came to this
world, He gave His life at ransom for many, and that number which
no man can number, they are the people of God. The epistle to the Hebrews was
written to New Testament believers who were in danger of slipping
back into the Old Testament. And time and time again, the
Lord Jesus Christ is highlighted. And we read in Hebrews 6, these
words. that by two immutable things,
means things which cannot change, two immutable things, and those
immutable things I think we find in the context a few verses earlier,
verse 14, saying, surely in blessing I will bless thee, in multiplying
I will multiply thee. This is to do with God's sure
promises. By two immutable things in which
it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation
who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before
us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure
and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil. Whether
the forerunner is for us entered Even Jesus made a high priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek, of course, was a
priest and a king. He lived at the same time as
Abraham. He showed to Abraham much kindness.
And we have no record of when Melchizedek was beginning his
ministry and when it ended. Of course, The Lord Jesus Christ
is the eternal, the eternal son of God. He ever lives and he
ever lives to make intercession for us. The security, surely
in this wonderful refuge which our Lord Jesus Christ is and
God has provided us with should encourage us to love and serve
him more and trust in him at all times. It is also a prepared refuge. We have in God's word so much
to teach us that God goes before his people in preparing for them
in every way. We only need to think of creation.
God planted a garden. He put Adam and Eve in that garden. Sadly, and even though surprised
to God, sin came into the world and death by sin. And it's worth remembering that
before Adam and Eve were cast out of that garden of paradise,
God came into that garden When Adam and Eve had run away and
hidden up and God said to her, Adam, Adam, where art thou? It was God who came looking for
Adam. What mercy, what favour. And before they were cast out
of that garden, God gave to Adam and Eve that they might hear
it, the promise of the coming Lord Jesus Christ. The seed of
the woman shall bruise the serpent's head, and he shall bruise his
heel. The Lord Jesus will come to this
earth. Yes, Satan might bruise his heel,
but the Lord Jesus has bruised Satan's head, because he has
won the battle over sin. having conquered sin and death
and hell, which came as a result of sin. God prepared when the flood came
onto the earth, when God looked on the world
that he had made, And we read that he repented that he had
made mankind because he was so sinful. And then there's a but. We must always notice the buts
in the Bible. It's so often when God comes
into the situation and gives to us a refuge. But Noah, we
read, found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And Noah was instructed
by God to prepare an ark, a boat, a container wherein mankind and
animal life and bird life would be preserved. What a refuge this
was. And more than that, I think we
can safely say that what a refuge that ark was because Adam and
Eve were put in the Garden of Eden. They were there in their
own strength, but they fell out of that Garden of Eden. When
God spoke to Noah, Noah would have known the Ark. He built
it, 120 years he was building that Ark. And he was a preacher
of righteousness. If ever there was a demonstration,
a visual aid for people to see, that God was going to send a
flood. Noah was preaching and teaching the
word, but what did they do? They laughed at him. The apostle
Peter writes about it. But the flood came, and what
happened to Noah and his family? God didn't tell them to go into
the ark. No, God was in the ark, and he said, come. What a blessing. And God was
with Noah in that ark for the duration of the flood. And not
only that, Noah was instructed by God to
make a door. It must have been a big door.
Imagine two elephants walking into the side of the ark. God shut him in. He didn't secure
himself into the ark. No, God shut him in. Now what
a blessing it is that to those who enter into the city of refuge
of the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ are those whom
God has secured, he has shut them in. They're not there in
their own strength, they're there by the wonderful grace of God. By grace, through faith, in our
Lord Jesus. It's all of him. Ours is to believe what the wonderful
gospel instructs us in. We read that it was accounted
to Abraham because he believed that what
God had promised, he was able also to perform. And so here
is given In this miraculous entry into
the promised land, areas of land for each tribe and the six cities
of refuge prepared. And all this God had prepared for
his people on their entry into the promised land. And they could
run to the nearest city of refuge And in their fear of what they
had done, they would find peace and refuge. They'd be made welcome
there. They could stand at the entrance
of that city of refuge and tell of their deep distress, and the
priests would welcome them in. And they would be provided with
food and shelter, and they would be cared for until the death of the high priest
and then they could safely return home and no one was able to touch
them because that place of refuge had secured them because of the refuge that it
is. And of course in the case of
the believer They are secured because of who they trust in,
our Lord Jesus Christ. These people seeking refuge were
not able to dwell in their own home or worship in God's house,
yet they could be instructed and they could pray and be prayed
for by the Levite priests. God saw fit that time spent in
the city of refuge prepared people for their future days. And what
a blessing it is that God calls his people to seek for refuge. I remember years ago when I was
a young seeker And I've been brought to a realisation that
eternity was before me and I needed to know the way of salvation
through our Lord Jesus. And a visiting minister came
and spoke from these words, Psalm
65 and verse 4. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell
in thy courts, which will be satisfied with the goodness of
thy house, even of thy holy temple. And what's in the holy temple?
It is the mercy seat. And what did God say regarding
the mercy seat? He said, I will meet with thee
and commune with thee from above the mercy seat. What a promise. Surely this teaches us that these
places of refuge are so important. And most important, of course,
is our Lord Jesus Christ in all his wonder and his finished work
on this earth. These cities of refuge, I was
most interested to find in the book of Joshua, they're
named. And all these names have a gospel
meaning. One is called Kadesh, that signifies
holy, and of course, our refuge is in the holiness of the Lord
Jesus. Another is called Shechem, and
Shechem means a shoulder, And we read in the Holy Scriptures
of our Lord Jesus, the government shall be upon his shoulder. Another one is Hebron, which
speaks of fellowship. And believers are called into
the fellowship of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Another one is called
Beza, and that means a fortification. For our Lord Jesus is a stronghold
to all those who trust in him. Another one is called Ramoth,
which means high and exalted. For him, we read, God has highly
exalted and given him a name which is above every name. He
is exalted with his own right hand. And the sixth one is called
Golan, which means joy and exaltation. For in him, all the saints are
justified and shall glory. What a blessing it is that in
God's holy word, there are so much to instruct and lead and
teach us. And just as When we hold a compass
in our hand, whichever way we turn, the needle instinctively
points to the magnetic north. It can do no other. That's how
God has remarkably made this world. So it is with the Holy Scriptures.
Whichever way we turn, we are pointed to our Lord Jesus Christ. And the name of the Lord We read,
is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe.
The name of the Lord. And how many names are there
for the Lord? I think we can find about 300 if we keep looking. But just to name a few. The name of the Lord whereby
he has made himself known to all that loves him because, why? Well, because he first loved
them. And he becomes, to those who seek him, their savior, one
who saves. He is their strength, therefore
able to protect. He is their refuge, their place
of safety. And he is a god of covenant.
A covenant is that which a promise which cannot be overthrown. Covenant
is a promise which is established, and God's eternal promises are
established by the Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
in the eternal counsel of the Godhead, had established a plan
of salvation for lost souls. And this strong tower is impenetrable. No one can break in and enter
in. The enemy of souls, the devil,
cannot enter. And the foundation of this tower
is God's eternal love. And all these titles and these
attributes surely are of God and go to build this strong tower
of safety, which is the Lord himself, where those who are aware of
their need of being saved from the punishment for sin will be
safe. The righteous runneth into it
and is safe. Righteous, yes, they're made
righteous, by the perfect righteousness
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The picture that we see in the
return of the prodigal son is very graphic, isn't it? There was the prodigal son. He
came to himself. He came to a sense of his real
need. And he said to himself, how many
hard servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare?
and I perish with hunger. I will arise and go to my father
and say to my father, Father, I have sinned against heaven
and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
Make me as one of thy hired servants. Well, he came to his father,
didn't he? When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him. He wouldn't have looked as smart
as when he sat out, would he? He would have been ragged and
torn and worn and dirty and dusty. But his father had compassion,
ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. He brought him home. What a blessing it is that God
rescues those that come to him. And this prodigal son who came
with his confession, he began to tell out to his father what
he had rehearsed. He said, Father, I have sinned
against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called
thy son. We don't read in that account,
in Luke 15, how that he got as far as saying, make me as one
of thy hired servants. What we read is his father said bring forth the best robe
and put it on him. Put shoes on his feet, a ring
on his finger. It's the ring which determined
that he belonged to his father. The shoes on his feet. He wouldn't
be a slave, a servant, no, they went barefooted. He would have
shoes. The preparation of the gospel
of peace. And that blessed robe The best robe we read, what is
that? That is the perfect righteousness
of Christ which covers our sin. When God looks at a person who
trusts and has found refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ, God is
looking at that person through the perfect righteousness of
Christ. What a comfort, dear friends. What a blessing. May we be true seekers, and if
any are listening online, I know not what your current condition
is, but if you're a seeker with a sense of your sin, dear friend,
the Lord bless you. Plead the promise that God has
given, that those that seek shall find, and they will find in Him,
all their salvation, all their desire because of that refuge
in our Lord Jesus Christ which God has given through the finished
work of our Lord Jesus. Blessed is the man, we read,
whose sin is covered. The Lord Jesus himself took on
himself the full weight of all sin and he bore it on that cruel
cross paid the price that souls might be saved and a place secured
in heaven with Him forever and ever. The perfect righteousness of
Christ, those who by the wonders of grace have been brought to
trust in Him by the gift of faith, and the gift of prayer, and the
gift of total dependence in the finished work of the Lord Jesus,
they run into this tower, this strong tower, and find comfort
to their eternal soul. Because God has made known to
you, dear friend, the blessing of an interest in the preciousness
of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. We read in the scriptures
that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of
sin. The Lord Jesus Christ has suffered. He has shed his blood. He has paid the price. And we
know that God's righteous justice is completely satisfied because
the Lord Jesus rose again from the dead. The sentence for sin
is served. When he rose again from the dead,
it was a demonstration of God being satisfied that the effect of sin, which
is death, has been conquered. And what does the Lord Jesus
say to those who, by the wonders of grace, have come to trust
in him? He says, because I live, You shall live also. And God will dwell in you. Because God dwells in you. Because your faith is in him. In your very heart and soul. Where else will you know safety?
God's word says, the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it
and is safe. May the Lord bless his own word
this evening.