with me again to Exodus chapter
21 if you would please. Last week we talked a great deal
about God's holy justice. Matter of fact, we always talk
a great deal about God's holy justice because it's the holy
justice of God that has to be satisfied in order for sinners
chosen of God to be redeemed. And I purposely said sinners
chosen of God because we need to remember that election is
not salvation, election is unto salvation. The elect child of
God has to be called by the Spirit of God and they will be. The
elect child of God has to be taught of God. And they will
be. And the elect child of God has
to be justified by God's Spirit. And a sinner's not just saved
because they're elected. The elect have to hear the gospel.
The elect have to have the gospel revealed to them. They have to
believe the gospel. They have to trust in Christ
alone. The elect has to rest in His
finished work of righteousness. That's what believing in Christ
is. Did you know that to rest in
Christ is a very hard thing to do? Actually, it's an impossible
thing to do apart from God's grace and keeping power. If God
removed His hand from us for a second, we'd be consumed in
our own lust, we'd trust in our own righteousness, and we would
quickly become our own God. And that'd only bring about eternal
death. The real issue of life is this. How can He, how can man, born
of woman, this born of woman, how can he be clean? How can He, man, speaking of
fallen sinful man, how can He be righteous? And right off the
bat in the giving of the law here in Exodus chapter 21, God
deals with murder in a holy and just way. We know that God's
law and God's justice is unflexible, unbending when it comes to God
doing what's right. We've made that very clear. God
never does anything because it's right. Things are right because
God does them. He's the final judge on the matter
of what's right. None can question Him. None can
ask God, do us that. God does that which is holy,
and God does that which is right. And only the Gospel deals with
how a man that is born of a sinful woman and born of sinful parents
can ever be anything but sinful. How are we going to be holy and
righteous before God Almighty? Only the Gospel reveals how God
can be just and still justify the ungodly. How God can remain
just, punish our sin, and still justify the likes of you and
I. the sinners that we are. The
Lord's righteous in all His way. The Lord is holy in all His works. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? Yes, he will. And in verse 12,
God said, He that smiteth a man so that he die shall be surely
put to death. No exceptions, no reformation,
no prison, no safety at the altar, Verse 14 says, take him from
my altar and put him to death. And I've heard it said that the
wheels of justice grind slowly, but they grind surely and all
sin is going to be punished. It must be in order for God to
be just. Well, if men do what God ordained,
and what God purposes them to do, and if God only has mercy
on who He wants to have mercy, then why does God find fault
for who's resisted His will? We've all heard the arguments,
if God loves one and not another, is there not unrighteousness
with God? God forbid it falls there. Whatever
God does is right, holy, and just. And for us, being guilty,
that's bad news. Why is that bad news for us?
Because God will by no means clear the guilty, and we're guilty.
The soul that sins, it shall die. We're sinners and we're
gonna die. The wages of sin is death. So what hope do we have? Only that God might show mercy. Now I know that there's no gospel
without justice, but I'm telling you there is definitely no gospel
without mercy. God delights to show mercy. Justice is essential to a deity,
but so is mercy. God has declared it so in His
Word. God, from the foundation of the
world, in mercy and grace, provided Christ as the Lamb of God. Before there ever was a sinner,
there was a Savior. You can go through your concordance,
and you can see that His mercy is so. God is plenteous in mercy,
Psalm 85. God delights to show mercy. God is rich in mercy, Ephesians
2.4. God is great in mercy, Psalm
50.17. God's mercy is everlasting, Psalm
100 verse 5. His mercy is enduring, Psalm
118.1. His mercy is tender mercy. His mercy is abundant mercy. And this is really what it comes
down to. We're family, we can talk direct,
right? If you and I are ever saved,
it'll be God that saves us. And we shake our head and we
give mental assent to that, but that's really the case, and it's
by His mercy that He does so. It'll be in, by, and through
the grace that we have in Christ alone. Child of God, if you and
I are to endure to the end, it'll be God in Christ that keeps us. So, if I believe that's so, and
I do, and if you believe that's so, and I believe you do, we've
heard this message for a long time now, and we still believe
it. And if we believe it like we say we do, then we ought to
be begging God for mercy. Mercy for ourselves, mercy for
our family, our loved ones, for our children, mercy for everyone. If God's mercy is found only
in Christ, then we should be begging God for more knowledge
of Christ. How do we get this mercy that
we so need? Well, it's really quite simple.
God has to give it to you. Look at verse 13 again. And if
a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand. Then
I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee. Here we have the
first mention in scripture of the cities of refuge and what
a picture of Christ they are. I would have you notice that
right after the giving of the law regarding the strict justice
of God and how the law was in strict justice to deal with one
who maliciously with premeditated intent, purpose to, and carried
out murder on someone. God's holy justice declares they
shall surely be put to death. But notice also that immediately
in the very next verse, in the very next breath, God makes a
statement regarding His mercy. God here shows us a picture of
the gospel. And He shows us a beautiful type
of Christ who is our eternal security and refuge. And friends, it's God's nature
to be merciful. I've gotten lost in the thought
of this, thinking about God's mercy. You think about it. I
believe it was Brother Todd I heard saying a message not long ago
that God is more willing to show you mercy than you are to receive
it. Our problem is that we think
God to all together be one such as ourselves. I don't know why
people think that a sovereign God is somehow a mean God. Why do men and women associate
God's omnipotence and sovereign control over all things with
somehow being uncaring and unmerciful? God somehow finds pleasure in
the death of men and women. The truth of the matter is that
God should have passed over all of us. The fact that He's merciful
to some of us is great grace, because God is a merciful God. God finds no pleasure in the
death of the wicked. God's long-suffering, and He
bids men to come and reason with Him. That's what He said, come,
let us reason together. He said, though your sins be
as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. This is God talking. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. Anyone that thinks God finds
pleasure in sending men and women to hell don't know God. God asks,
why will you die? Why would God ask a question
to someone that He cares nothing about like that? Why will you
die? Well, if God doesn't care, why
would He ask? Yes, God is a just God. But God's not only a just God.
He's a just God and a Savior. Don't ever forget that. As a
Savior, God shows mercy. God has appointed a place where
the sinner can flee. Are you interested? Turn with
me to the book of Numbers chapter 35, if you would. Let's find
out a little bit more about these cities of refuge. Numbers 35. Numbers 35. Beginning in verse nine. Numbers 35, nine, and the Lord
spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel,
and say unto them, When ye be come over Jordan into the land
of Canaan, then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge
for you, that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any
person it unawares," or unintentionally is what that means, and they,
"...shall be unto you cities of refuge from the avenger. Let
the manslayer die not until he stand before the congregation
in judgment. And of these cities which ye
shall give, six cities shall ye have for refuge. Ye shall
give three cities on this side, Jordan, And three cities shall
ye give in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge. And these six cities shall be
a refuge both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger,
and for the sojourner among them, that every one that killeth any
person unawares may flee thither. Now the first thing I want us
to see here is that the cities of refuge were appointed by God. And again, I can't help but to
ask, in doing so, isn't God merciful? He appointed these cities so
a man who unintentionally killed someone, that they might flee
there until their case was heard. They could stand trial. And the
Lord Jesus Christ, my friends, is appointed by God to be a Savior
for His people, refuge for chosen sinners, for those that God gave
Him. And our Lord, He didn't come
to condemn men and women. I don't know why folks think
that. They think that somehow a sovereign God came to just
send people to hell and save only those that He chose before
the foundation of the world. Men are condemned already. He
that believeth not on the Son of God, condemned already. We're
by nature condemned. We're born condemned. And that's
why Christ came. He came in the world to save
sinners. He came to save His people from
their sin. He came to save them from the
avenger of blood, which was the law of God. It was God who appointed
the cities of refuge. And it was God who appointed
Christ to be the chosen sinner's refuge, and it's God that put
you in Christ. Now, the avenger of blood was
usually the next of kin to the one who had been slain. For example,
if someone unintentionally killed a Clayton, it'd be Jeff or Danny's
duty to avenge his blood. If possible, right then, when
the manslaughter occurred, when it happened. And from what I've
read and researched about the Avenger of Blood and the Cities
of Refuge, It'd be the Kavanaugh's family business as the victim's
brothers and actually the duty of every male member of their
family to hunt and pursue that man or that person that put their
brother to death. Can you imagine being sought
by the Kavanaugh claim? Hatfields and McCoys have nothing
on you guys, do they, Jake? This still goes on today in some
remote parts of the world. The law of God allowed it, according
to God, strict justice. But God also, in mercy, provided
a place of refuge. That's what I want you to see.
For that man who had unintentionally murdered another, there was a
place, there was a city. There are cities. of refuge if
he could just get there before the avenger of blood got to him. There were six cities of refuge,
but none of these cities were designed for a willful murderer,
only one who had unintentionally committed homicide without malice,
without forethought, what men would call an accident. And I
know we say this all the time, and let me reiterate on it just
for a moment. There are no accidents with God.
Some things happen, we call them accidents because there's nothing
else to call them. Unfortunate occurrences. I don't
know. God allowed them. God does all
things on purpose. And if you remember back in Exodus
21, God described what men called accidents. In Exodus chapter
21, He said the one that murdered the one that God delivered them
into the manslayer's hands. In other words, God simply used
that man as an instrument to end another's life. And it was
done without malice or without any evil intention. God made
provision for that man in the law and in the giving of the
cities of refuge. But as we know, there's no perfect
type of Christ or picture of Christ in the scripture. And
Christ is not a refuge provided for men and women who are innocent.
But Christ died for those who are guilty. And that's where
the type is not perfect. Christ was not sent for those
who have accidentally or unintentionally transgressed. Actually, there
is no such thing. No one's ever accidentally sinned. Christ came into the world to
save those who have and do willfully commit sin. He came to save those
who have followed the sinful dictates of their own free will. And there's nothing, I'm telling
you, that will lead men and women to rebel against God more than
man getting his own way or doing his own will. Yeah, there's a
way that seemeth right. But it's the wrong way, and it's
the way that leads to death. You've got to get into the city.
You've got to get in Christ. The law of God, I believe, pictures
the avenger of blood. The avenger of blood's on our
trail. We've killed God's commandments. We've trodden them under our
feet. God's law said there's none righteous,
no, not one. There's none that doeth good,
not a single one. God's justice says the soul that
sins, it shall die. But God's mercy says, I will
appoint thee a place where you shall flee. I wonder how many
are interested in it. Who do you suppose were the most
interested in the cities of refuge? I know there were people among
them that knew all the names of the cities. I know there were
people there knew how to get to those cities no matter where
they were at. I know there were some people
who thought this was all useful information. That's the way today
that many think of Christ. They say, well, it's good to
know these things. Never know when you might need
God. But do you know who these cities of refuge were of great
interest to? To the ones who were running
for their lives. for the ones who fled from the
avenger of blood. When you see that God's law condemns
you, and when you see that God's holy justice is coming for you,
when you truly understand that there's only one place of refuge,
one place for you to hide, one place for you to run, you'll
want to know where it is. And you'll want to know how quickly
you can get to it. Which brings me to the next thing.
Secondly, I'd have you notice that these six cities were appointed
by God and by God strategically located where they could be easily
reached. There was a city conveniently
located no matter where you were in the country. There were six
of them. What mercy there is in that.
Christ our Lord and Savior is not far from any of us. What
a picture this is. The Word is nigh thee, even in
thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the Word of faith which
we preach. What do we preach? We preach
Christ. We preach the Word of faith.
We preach faith in Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Faith in Christ is a gift. I
guarantee you those cities of refuge, they were a gift to the
guilty of Israel. They were a gift of God given
to them. The avenger of blood is going
to right this wrong. God's law is going to do the
same with us. You see, it's got to because
God's justice is on its side. There's no refuge but the place
that God has appointed. We've got to come to Christ.
The refuge of our soul. It's time to believe. It wasn't
enough to know the names of the cities, it wasn't enough to know
how to get there. It didn't matter how close you
were to the cities, you had to be in the city, or you were gonna
die. Are you in the city? Are you
in Christ? That's the question. To know
His name won't help you. To know about Him won't profit
you. To not be far from the Kingdom is not to be in the Kingdom.
So what good is that going to do you? You've got to be in the
city of refuge to be safe and find refuge. That's just the
truth of the matter. You've got to be in Christ. And
there's not six Christs. Just one. Are you in Him? That's God's appointed place.
You gotta be in the city. On that night of the Passover,
was it enough to be in a house next door to a house that had
the blood posted on the door and the lamp? You had to be in
the house, and you had to be under the blood. What did the
spies tell Rahab the harlot? They said, stay in the house.
Stay in the house with the scarlet cord in the window. That's the
cord that draws a wretch like Rahab to Christ. You suppose
holding on to the outside of the ark did any good when that
water came from the ground and from above? No, sir. You had
to be inside that ark. You had to be under the pitch,
under the blood. There's but one door to get inside. That door was Christ. There's
but one window to see out. If you're going to see God, You're
going to see Him one way, and that's through Christ. He and
His Father are one. If you've seen Him, you've seen
the Father. Where was the refuge found for Noah? It was found
in the ark, not outside the ark. It's in the city that rest is
achieved, and our only hope is being in the city of refuge.
Our only hope is being in Christ. Look down at verse 26. I'll wrap
this up. But if the slayer shall at any
time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whether
he was fled, and the revenger of blood find him without the
borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill
the slayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, because he should have
remained in the city of his refuge. Now listen, there's no life outside
of Christ. There's no mercy outside of the
city of refuge. There's no mercy outside of Christ.
That's where God's love, mercy, and forgiveness is. In Christ
Jesus. In God's appointed place for
us to flee. In Joshua chapter 20, the names
of the cities of refuge are given. I won't turn you there, but I
do want to give you the names, and I don't know if I'm pronouncing
them correctly. It doesn't matter, but I want to give them to you
and what they mean. The first was Kadesh. Kadesh means holiness. Jesus Christ is our holiness. Jesus Christ is our holy place,
our appointed place of rest and refuge. The second was called
Shechem. Shechem means strong shoulder. The government shall be upon
His shoulder. Our Lord bore the cross on His shoulders. He hung
on the cross. He died on the cross. The cross
that He carried on His shoulders, on His back to put away our sin.
The Great Shepherd, He finds the wandering sheep and He puts
them on His shoulders and carries them home. Christ is our Shechem,
our strong shoulder. Hebron. Hebron means fellowship. It means communion. Apart from
Christ and our being in Him, there's no fellowship or communion
with God. There's one mediator between
God and man. What does a mediator do? What
did Moses do for Israel? He spoke to God on their behalf,
and God spoke to Israel through Moses. How does God speak today? Through His Son. In these last
days, God has spoken to us by Son. We have but one mediator. If we're going to continue to
communicate and fellowship with God, it's going to be through
Jesus Christ. Then there's Bezer. It's a fortified
place, a strong hiding place. That's what Christ is. The psalmist
said, the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous
runneth into it and is saved. Then there's rameth. It means
high place. It means God's glory. Christ
is God's glory. Christ is our high place. Moses
said, Lord, show me your glory. God said, there's a place by
me. That's Christ. Thou shalt stand upon a rock,
he said. Christ is that cliff of the rock
where we stand. And God covers us with His hand,
and He keeps us from being consumed by His glory, His holiness, and
His justice. Christ is our cover. Then the
sixth city is Golan, which means enclosure for captives. When
Christ ascended, He led captivity captive. And when we were freed
from sin and death, we became captive to Him. Willing bond
slaves, I might ask. Look at verse 28, and I'll finish. Here in Numbers 35, if the manslayer
got caught outside the city of refuge by the avenger of blood,
verse 28 says, that because he should have remained in the city
of his refuge until the death of the high priest, but after
the death of the high priest, the slayer shall return into
the land of his possession. Now, if the manslayer remained
in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest, He
could then return home without any fear of the avenger of blood. I was thinking of that passage,
for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made
me free from the law of sin and death. That's what we do in preaching. We point sinners to God's refuge. Christ is that refuge. We point
men to Him. And I know that if God sent me
to hell, He's just in doing so. But friends, my hope is that
God is merciful. And God delights to save sinners.
When that prodigal son came home, do you remember what his father
did? He killed the fatty cat. And he said with joy in his heart,
let us eat and let us be married. My son, who I thought was dead,
is now alive. And he put a ring on that boy's
finger, and he put the best robe he had on him, and he put shoes
on his feet. Does that sound like a father
that had no pleasure in the return of one of his lost products?
Especially when it was God the Father who was the One all along
that was providentially drawing and causing everything to come
to pass in that boy's life that would cause him to think about
the kindness and the treatment and the provisions that the servants
in his father's house got. He said, I'm going home. My servants
have it better off than I do. So, would spending and losing
everything you've got be a good thing? Would getting kicked out
of your apartment and having to start living with pigs, would
that be a good thing? Would getting so hungry that
you're forced to eat pig food, would that be considered to be
a good thing? Well, yes it would. It would
if those were the things that God used to bring you home to
your Father. They would be if that was the
case. And that was the case. I think back on all the things
in my life I thought, oh my, woe is me. And I see how God
used those things providentially and sovereignly to bring me to
Christ. And it was all good. All of it. In Deuteronomy chapter 19 we're
told that the priest kept the road to the cities of refuge
clear and marked. That's what preachers endeavor
to do. We try to keep the road clear. We try to keep the signs
pointed in the right direction which say refuge. Refuge. Straight ahead is the city of
refuge. That's my message. That's my
message to you and my message to me. Get in the ark. Get in the city. Stay in the
house. Rest in Christ Jesus. He's God's
refuge. He's the only refuge we have.
May God enable you and I to get to Him.