Our Father, in the precious name
of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, we come, as we always do, thankful,
so thankful for your mercies for the day, your grace for the
day. You said our strength would be
for the day, and Lord, you've done it again another day. Gave
us strength for the day, grace for the day, bread for the day,
blessed mercy for the day, A good hope you've given us for another
day. And we thank you for it. And we thank you for those that
are out tonight and pray that you would bless them in the gospel. Bless them with the word of God
tonight. Lord, make the word effectual,
make it prosperous, make it real and alive and effectual to our
hearts and our understanding. And Lord, we pray now for those
who are sick, weary, sick in body, sick in mind, sick in so
many ways. But we pray for Larry and Lola
that you would continue to uphold them and give them grace as their
frail in body. And we pray for Shelby. God help
her. Lord be her strength, be her
comfort. And oh Lord, we just pray for
her. Pray for Bruce and Sandy who
cannot come be with us. And Lord Jesus, we pray for others among us. And Lord, if
I forgot anybody, please forgive me. And Lord, meet our needs
tonight. Give Andrew and Roderick and
the kids traveling mercies. God, keep your hand on them.
Go before them. See them safely where they go. Provide for them
where they go. Keep them where they go. Keep
them in their going out and their coming in. And Lord use them
where they go. God bless them. God strengthen
them. God encourage them. And oh Lord
keep them for Christ's sake. Amen. You know when we talk about the
cities of refuge, we talk about Christ our refuge. And you know
in these cities of refuge, and I want you to turn back over
here with me to keep Joshua 20. And look in Numbers 35. You know
the cities of refuge were for people who slew somebody and
didn't intend to. Say this, out chopping wood or
doing some kind of a job and say they were chopping wood and
the axe head fell off and hit a fellow in the head and killed
him. That man didn't have no malice in it, didn't have no
hatred for him. It was purely, purely, he didn't
have no malice for him. So that's where this city of
refuge is referred. And why they came into those
city of refuge, because the avenger of blood, whoever person who
died, the person that's brother to them, Father to them would
go after that person who killed their loved one. And so God appointed
six cities of refuge for those people who slew somebody unaware
without any malice. And they went in there for judgment
and justice. And when they met together, the
elders heard their plea, they let them into the city, then
they would judge them and render justice. Now if a murderer come
in there, who actually killed somebody deliberately out of
malice and out of hatred they would take him, they would put
him on trial and then they would send him back out to that avenger
of blood and that avenger of blood was able to kill him but
if you done it unawares and you got in that city of refuge they
wouldn't send you out that avenger of blood could not touch you
could not touch you and I want you to look here I think it is
in verse 11 with me and numbers 35 speak unto the children of Israel
say unto them when you come over Jordan into the land of Canaan
then you shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you
that the slayer may flee there which killeth any person unawares
and then go down and look what it says in verse 16 now this is a and if he smite
him with an instrument of iron so that he die he is a murderer
the murderer shall surely be put to death and then down in
verse 24 look what it says then the congregation shall judge
between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments
so they were the judge the whole congregation was the judge the
judge And the man who committed murder after trial, he had to
go out and face the avenger of blood. He had to. But if it was
an accident, there was no malice involved in it, he was allowed
to stay in the city. Now the Hebrew word for refuge
means hope, a safe dwelling place, a person or a place. When we
get to it, we feel safe and we still feel secure. Now I tell
you the only safety and security and place where there's any safety
and security and refuge for God's people is only in Christ Jesus. He's the only refuge we've got
where we can flee into Him and we're safe and we're secure.
We're secure. And all these cities, first thing
I want to tell you about about these cities was the cities were
appointed by God. God you know I read over in Numbers
35 where it says God said He appoints six cities for refuge
and here it says the Lord in verse 2 here chapter 20 of Joshua
speak to the children of Israel appoint you cities of refuge
God appointed these cities of refuge God did this He provided
this and these six cities were sanctified by God set apart by
God for the sakes of those people according to God's will would
go into those cities to find refuge and you know the scriptures
tells us since God appointed these the scriptures tells us
plainly that by two immutable things in which it was impossible
for God to lie we have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope
which is set before us even Jesus our forerunner who has entered
into heaven for us and our Lord himself said I sanctify myself
I sanctify myself that they might be sanctified by that truth.
Now when Christ says he separates himself and sanctifies himself,
does that mean he's going to make himself more holy than he
is? Is he going to make himself more perfect than he is? More
sinless than he is? Of course not. It means that
I'm setting myself apart as a sacrifice. as an atonement, as a mediator,
as a blood offering, as a sin offering, and as a sacrifice,
so that when you're set apart by that, then you'll be sanctified
by the truth of what I did and accomplished on that cross. And
I tell you what, when a man entered any one of these cities, what
a comfort it was for him to know he was where God appointed for
him to be. And you know God appointed one
man, one man, to be a surety, to be a representative, to be
a savior, to be a mediator, and one man for the shedding of his
blood to save his people from their sins by the sacrifice of
himself. God appointed one man, one savior. That's not half a dozen saviors.
Though there were six cities, but Christ is only one. And all
these cities will tell us about Christ. But I tell you what,
God appointed Him. He said, this is my beloved Son.
Hear Him. This is my beloved Son. Believe
on Him. This is my beloved Son that I
gave a work to do. And He finished that work. And
I'm going to glorify Him with the glory that He had before
the world ever was. And not only were these six cities
appointed of God, And I tell you, if you were where God appoints,
if you were where God appointed for you to be, you could not
be more safe and more secure than where God appointed you
to be, couldn't you? God said, this is where I want
you. Where do you want me at? In Christ. And then these were merciful,
not only on God's appointments, but they were merciful appointments.
How merciful, how merciful is God that God himself would have
a place, a place where men could go for a refuge from the avenger
of blood. And you know they knew that they
needed a place to hide. They knew they needed some place
to get away from the avenger of blood. And they needed present
mercy and a righteous, righteous protection. And when they got
in that city, righteousness would not let them go back out. Righteousness
would not let them go back out that gate unless there was a
murderer and then righteousness Demanded that they go back out,
but if you didn't kill a person Because you hated him or something
happened, then you was welcome in that city and you had righteous
protection Righteous protection and that's listen to me you talking
about righteous protection We've got righteous mercy and righteous
protection in our blessed son. I God is righteous and just in
all that he does. The judge of all the earth must
do right. And if He provided us an appointed
place and the appointed refuge, and we come where God appointed
for us, where God told us to come, and that was to come to
His blessed Son, then God in righteousness cannot never put
us out of His Son. You know why? Because the Son
has already faced what God required of us. And this is why universal
atonement and that Christ died for all men will not stand. It
just cannot, you cannot, you can't hold that. And I'll tell
you why. If Christ died for every man, then without a doubt God
being a righteous God and a just God would have to justly save
every single one for whom Christ died. Ain't that right? So that's how
righteously we're going to stay based on the righteousness of
Christ and the righteousness of God. And all those persons
for whom those sins were appointed, it wasn't a place for a willful
murder. But if it was a willful murder, if he was a murderer,
he must be dragged out and given over to the avenger of blood
after he was tried and then he'd be executed. But those, in case
of accident, without malice or forethought, when he came, he
could dwell safely in that. But now listen, this is where
the tide breaks down, right here. Christ our Lord is not a refuge
for innocent people. He's not our refuge for somebody
who made an accident, and had an accident, and his life is
an accident, and he made some few mistakes in his life. This,
our Lord, this is what type brings down. That's what all the types
that they are, they all break down somewhere. But this is what
the type brings down. Christ is not a refuge for the
innocent, but for the guilty. Not for those who accidentally
transgress, but for the willful transgressors. You know our Lord,
Bruce mentioned this Sunday morning. Our Lord Jesus, you know, He
said, I'm a physician. And they that are whole don't
need the physician. They don't need a doctor. But
they that are sick, I don't go to the doctor because I'm not
sick. And I tell you what, and that's what you know, but here's
the thing, when you are sin sick, really sin sick, top of your
head to the sole of your foot, from the inside of your heart
to the outside of your skin, mind, body, soul, and spirit,
sinful. Then our Lord says, then I, I'm
the doctor for you, I'm the physician for you. He said, I'll have mercy. That's what I'm going to give
you. Mercy is what I've got to do. Mercy will heal you of your
sickness. Mercy will cure you of your disease.
Those lepers that came down off the mountain, they said, Lord,
if you will, you make us clean. You make us clean. He said, I will. And how many
people come to Him for mercy? Bartimaeus said, Oh Lord have
mercy! And that's what happens whenever
you willfully transgress. That's why Christ, you know,
He's an advocate. Jesus Christ, if any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father. And you know our advocate,
our lawyer, the only cases he takes is people that are absolutely
guilty of whatever they're accused of. And God stopped our mouths
and we're guilty before Him. And I tell you, beloved, that's
what the Lord Jesus... As guilty sinners, as guilty
sinners, we need more than just a shelter. We need righteously
justified in God's sight. You go through the New Testament
sometime and go through the Old Testament and look about in God's
sight. Paul was more interested in how
he was in God's sight than he was in anybody else's. He said,
be judged of you, that don't make nothing, that don't matter
nothing to me. Oh, to be judged of God. To face God. To be in the place in Christ.
To face God. You can judge me all you want
to, but I judge before God. And we've already been judged
in Christ. And I tell you, Christ is our
justification before God, before law, before sin, before angels,
before justice, before anything that there could be charged against
us. Christ. Christ is our justification for
anything that could accuse us. And I tell you, in these cities
of refuge, Christ our refuge, is a place in every city of justice
and judgment. He said, you know, the congregation
makes a just judgment according to what God appointed. And I
tell you, beloved, our Lord, now you listen, I tell you this, Two things that will destroy
us. Two things. Because of what we are by nature.
God's justice and God's judgment. When God finds you guilty, then
nothing but judgment and condemnation. Well, our Lord Jesus Christ,
He faced both of them. When that avenger of blood, that
avenger of blood came, Our Lord was given up to that avenger
of blood. When God said, the soul that
sinneth this shall die, Christ said, I'll die. When God said, our justice demands
the death and the punishment and the judgment, Christ said,
I'll pay the punishment. I'll face the judgment. Well,
I got to pour my wrath out on her. I'll take your wrath. And our Lord Jesus Christ, when
they come after Him, when justice and judgment come after Him,
He went out there and He went out there willingly. He went
out there by His own will, by His own volition, by His own
love, by His own power, by His own... and He went out there
and faced it! Faced it! In order to be what? Our hiding place, our refuge.
Oh my! And I tell you that trial, when
they had us in that place, that trial found us guilty. And if we stood outside of Christ,
and we was outside that refuge, God's justice would stand out
there, and His law would stand out there, with a sword drawn,
saying, you come out of here, I'm going to kill you. I'm going
to slay you. And our Lord went forth, and
He faced it. He said, smite the shepherd.
Smile at him, where at? Right in the heart. Right to
where he'll die. Where the blood will flow. Oh now, now, now. We have a just place to hide
exactly where God said to. And I tell you, beloved, for
those who don't flee to Christ for refuge, the avenger of blood
will one day execute judgment. and justly so now I want to look
at the names the names of these cities here and however one of
them are significant for you and me as Christ our refuge now
look here in verse 7 and we'll go through these six cities and
the names and what they mean and what Christ is to us verse
7 they appointed here's one of the cities they appointed Kadesh
in Galilee Kadesh. Oh my, they tell some particular
view of our Lord and they real estate our suffering master and
all we need and he's all we need but first of all there's Kadesh.
You know what Kadesh means? It's a holy place. The word Kadesh
means a holy place. It's a place for men and women
who have no holiness of their own. Nothing to commend them
to God no place to hide no refuse to be in and the Lord is holy
We are sinful and it's his holiness His holiness that becomes the
hope of us as sinful people and unclean because you know he God
made him our righteousness and our sanctification in Christ
we're holy as holy as we'll ever be and you know Job asked this
question, can a clean thing come out of an unclean? No, it can't
do it. But I tell you what, someone
who is clean can cleanse someone who is filthy. And that's what
Christ does by His blood. He cleanses us who are unfilthy. And His holiness And I tell you
what, that's what the scriptures tells us. That our Lord is holy. And I tell you Christ is a holy
place for us to refuge in. One of my neighbors told
me that, I don't know why I didn't say something about it, but it
kind of caught me off guard. He was over talking to me and
he He talked about, you know, and he was pretty upset about
some things. And he was talking, talking.
He said, you know, he said, salvation is easy. It's the sanctification
part that's hard. I should have told him right
then and there. I said, well, it's not hard for me because I don't
have no sanctification. You'll be around me for just
a little while and you'll find out I ain't got none. But if
Christ ain't my holiness, then I'm a gone Jesse. Ain't that
right? Oh my. And then look what else
another word is here. The next one is down there in
Shechem. Shechem. I have to get that.
Shechem in Mount Ephraim. And you know what Shechem means?
It means shoulder. It means shoulder. Shoulder. Now what in the world do we need
a shoulder for? To carry us? To lead on? to trust. You know, when our Lord went
to find his sheep, you know where they found safety and rest at
and security at? On the Savior's shoulder. You
know, when our Lord went out seeking the lost sheep, it says
when he had found it, he laid it upon his shoulder and carried
it back to the sheepfold. And over, you know, Our Lord
Jesus, you know in Isaiah 9.6 it says the government, the government,
not governments, government. A lot of governments in this
world. We don't want to get into that, but our government is all
over the place. Everybody wants to govern somebody.
But I tell you what, the government is upon His shoulder. Not government,
it's government. That means He governs everything.
One thing, He governs all the nations on this earth that people
are trying to govern. Christ governs the whole world. And men are going to go just
as far as He says to go and then they're going to be cut off.
And I tell you what, beloved, and you know, he carries the
government upon this shoulder and his sheep on this shoulder.
Do you think he can handle them both? I got to show you something. Keep Joshua. Look in Isaiah 43.
Love this first scripture. I showed it to you before but
oh, it's such a blessing I read it this afternoon this evening
sitting out on the back porch and oh my goodness. It just blessed
my heart Isaiah 46 it just blessed my heart. I just I got happy
reading about it look what it said here and Isaiah 46 in verse
3 Harken, or listen to me, O house
of Jacob." Who's the house of Jacob? People that God loves. People that's in his house, descendants
of Jacob. And all the remnant of the house
of Israel, now listen to this, are born by me from the belly. Paul said, God separated me from
my mother's womb. He told Jeremiah, before you
was formed in the belly, I knew you. And you was born by me and
from the belly, which are carried from the womb. We got out of
the womb, God started carrying us. We didn't have a clue that
He was carrying us. But He was watching over us and
keeping us. Now listen to this. And He said,
I've carried you from your womb. You know how long I'm going to
carry you? Until you're old age, I am He. Well, that's where I'm
at. Ain't that where you're at, Joe?
We're at old age. Even do your whore hairs, that's
grey hairs. And I'm going to carry you. I have made you and
I'm going to bear you. I'm going to carry you. And I'm
going to deliver you. I'm going to do it. That's what
He said. I'll tell you one thing. If He
ever sets us down, be no hope for us. If He ever sets us down. You say walk by yourself. Can't
Lord. Can't. I can't walk by myself. I can't go by myself. Please
don't set me down. We don't think it's a burden
to carry our little old babies that can't walk. They can't walk. And we don't think it's a burden
to carry them. Well you think it's a burden to our Lord to
carry us? When he said without me you can do nothing? Oh, we're
not no burden to Him. Oh, don't set me down, Lord.
Don't set me down. And I know this. I don't find
no government ruler myself. We trust Him. Not only His merit,
but His almighty merit. When you're on somebody's shoulder,
when you're on somebody's shoulder, they're underneath you. And you're
above them and they're carrying you. And Christ is underneath
us. Can we fall? No. This is what's so glorious
about our Savior. Do you know how many people He
has in this world? And how many He's had over the
centuries? And over the millennia? And I
tell you what, He's carried every single one of them. That gives
you some idea of how great and how glorious and how mighty our
Lord Jesus Christ is. That He deals with every one
of us like He ain't got nobody to carry but us. And then look, here's another
one. There in verse 7. So then there's Kirjathabir which
is Hebron in the mount of Judah. Hebron. Do you know what Hebron
stands for? Fellowship. Union. Communion. And when you, you know when you ain't got nobody
to fellowship with and don't have no union or anything, there
was a time we didn't have any union or communion or fellowship
with the Lord Jesus Christ, with God Himself. And I tell you,
man is spiritually homeless. He's got to have some place to
go. And like Noah's dove, when he left that ark, he never found
a resting place. No fellowship, no safety, no
place for him to go. And it's like that prodigal,
he says, you know, when he left home, he said this, he said,
I'm going to return unto my father's house. And that's what we do. We have
been brought into fellowship, union and communion with the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself. John said it like this, truly
our fellowship is with the Father. Our union, our fellowship is
with the Father. And with His Son, Jesus Christ
our Lord. God is faithful who's called
you into the fellowship of his son. David said this, he said,
when my father and mother forsake me, you know what he said? Then
the Lord will take me up. When my father and mother shook
me, they done that when I was just a little boy. Ten years
old, put everything I owned in a bag. Me and my little brother,
he was nine and I was ten. Walked out to the end of the
road, my sister picked us up, took us south. Michael David
went one way, I went the other. But the Lord, I didn't even know
it, but He had already took me up. Oh my. So I'll tell you. And here's the next one. Here's
the next one, down in verse 8. Now getting on the other side
of Jordan by Jericho eastward they assigned Bezer Bezer and
look what it says in the wilderness Oh my a refuge in the wilderness That Bezer mean a stronghold
a stronghold You know man is not only a sinner he's helplessly
sinful And the manslayer knew no such thing as self-protection. Oh no, he didn't try to protect
himself. And we can no more protect ourselves
from the avenger of blood. And so we need a stronghold.
I've quoted this verse, I don't know how many times, but I thought
today I'm going to look at it. Proverbs 18 and verse 10. I've quoted this to you all,
and quoted it to you, but you need to look at it yourself.
and look here in Proverbs 18 10 and I know when you read it you're
going to know exactly what it means oh my we didn't have any
strength we needed a stronghold a stronghold look what it said
here in verse 10 Proverbs 18 the name of the Lord is a strong
tower Oh my, great old big tower, strong tower. And listen to this
now, the righteous run into it and they're safe. See what it says in the margin?
Settle off. We've got a stronghold. David
says, you know, he went to his stronghold. They couldn't find
him. Well, I'll tell you one thing. We in Christ, He's our
stronghold and He keeps us from the avenger of blood and we're
set so high in Him that the avenger of blood can't get up there. Can't get up there. And the mercy
of God in Christ is the only stronghold that can never, never
give way. Christ is our Beezer. In fact,
when He comes after us, the Avenger of Blood, He can't get to that
stronghold. He turns away, He even stops
looking, and He stops waiting. You know, here's the wonderful
thing about it. Once you're in Christ, Everything about him
is keeping. And then let me give you the
next one here. Bezer in the wilderness upon
the plain out of the tribe of Rudin and Ramoth in Gilead out
of the tribe of Gad. And this Ramoth, it means exalted. Exalted. You know, we was born
way down here. I mean, we was born low. Low. We's low. born in bad shape. But God gave Christ a name that's
above every name. And by nature we're without strength
and without hope in this world. But we've got one, he says, at
God's right hand that's exalted. And you know what God did for
us? He made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ. God
set Him high, exalted Him, and you know He exalted us with Him. Whatever Christ has is ours. Whatever Christ gives to us,
He gives to us. In this world here, we have no
hope. In this world here, there is no hope at all. Do you know
where our hope is at? It is in God's right hand. oh you know when there wasn't
no mountain listen to me now wasn't no mountain high enough
to save anybody from the flood only the ark could bury it up
above all those mountains and above all that water And they
was lifted up. And God in Christ lifted us up
together with Him. And we're sitting together. You
know, that's what God says. I'm sitting with Christ in glory
right now. Though I'm standing here preaching.
That's what faith is all about. Faith, we hear this stuff and
say, oh, but that's what we believe. It's real. It's not a fairy tale. I'm sitting down in heaven. And when Christ gets off His
throne and calls us all to glory, we'll still be just exactly where
we always was in Christ. oh my well let me give you the
last one here the last one down there in the last part of verse
8 it says Golan you probably hear about this stuff in the
news Golan invasion of the tribe of Manasseh this word Golan means
separated separated separated out and when God separated us
he separated us under Christ He sanctified us by the truth
unto Christ. Set us apart in Christ even before
the world ever began. And here's one thing I'll tell
you. Now sometimes we get tempted. We have some awful temptations.
But whatever that temptation is to get you outside that refuge. To get you away from Christ who
separated you. Don't go. Don't get outside that
city of refuge. No, don't do it. Well, if you
could, would you? No. You say, well, I've grown, you
know, and I've grown and I have some strength. I believe I can
kind of make it. Well, that's a lie the devil
told you. You ain't got no strength. And
I tell you what, the longer I've been a believer, the less I I
get smaller. I know less. I get less. I know less. And so He is our
city. He is our refuge. He is our separation. And you know how He separated
us? With the truth and with His blood. He bought us with His
blood. Separated us from the rest of
this world. Separated us from our families. Separated us from our brothers
and sisters and our mothers and fathers. Separated us to Himself. Separated us to Himself. And
from these names, let me give you this, we learn that what
we have in Christ, who is our refuge, we have holiness, We
have rest, we have fellowship, we have safety, we have exaltation,
and we are separated to God. Paul said, God separated me from
my mother's womb. That's when he said, pray for
us. There were six cities, no more than a half a day's distance.
but there's not six Christ's one Christ one Lord and the word
is nigh thee what is that word that's nigh thee even in thy
mouth the word of faith which we preach believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and these cities were abiding places now I want
you to see this look down here in verse 6 of chapter Joshua
20 look what it says here and he shall abide in it till the
death of the high priest and he shall dwell in that city until
he stand before the congregation for judgment and until the death
of the high priest that shall be in those days then the slayer
shall return and come to his own house under his own city
and under the city from which he fled. Now I tell you that
man who fled to the city of refuge his life was connected with that
life of that high priest And as long as that high priest lived,
he lived. And as long as our high priest
lives, you reckon we're going to be alright. You know, they
said after the high priest dies, then he can go home. Well our
high priest ain't going to die. So I'll tell you what,
you know when we're going to go home? When our high priest
tells us to. Amen? Amen. Christ our refuge. Beautiful picture of our Old
Testament picture of our Lord. I pray this blessing to you. Father, thank you. Thank you
for allowing us to meet here again tonight. To be with the
children of God. To be with those who rejoice
in our Lord. Who find refuge only in Him.
Refuge from the cells. Refuge from sin. Refuge from
death. Refuge from condemnation. Refuge
from guilt. Refuge from shame. Oh Lord, You're our refuge. We
hide ourselves. Oh Lord, we hide ourselves in
You. And we thank You for it. In Christ our Lord's name. Amen. Amen.