Pastor and janitor in Lexington
for a few days visiting with the girls Let's open our Bibles to Isaiah
53 Again in verse one Who hath believed
our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For
he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root
out of a dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness,
and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He
is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief, we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised,
and we esteemed him not. Surely, he hath borne our griefs,
carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten
of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him and with his stripes. We'll end our reading there.
Sean, go. Okay, if you would, turn to song number
17, Come Thou Fount. Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above, Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon
it, mount of thy redeeming love. Here I raise mine Ebenezer, hither
by thy help I'm come, and I hope by thy good pleasure safely to
arrive at home. Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God. He, to rescue me from danger,
interposed His precious blood. Oh, to grace how great a debtor,
daily I'm constrained to be. Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel
it, prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, O take and seal
it, seal it for Thy courts above. Okay, if you would now turn to
song number 176, Break Thou the Bread of Life. Break thou the
bread of life, dear Lord, to me. as Thou didst break the loaves
beside the sea. Be on the sacred page, I seek
Thee, Lord. My spirit bends for Thee, O living
Word. Blest Thou the truth, dear Lord,
to me, to me! As Thou didst bless the bread
by Galilee, If in her bondage cease all fetters fall, and I
shall find my peace by all in all. Thou art the bread of life,
O Lord, to me. Thy holy word, the truth that
saveth me. Give me to eat and live with
Thee above. Teach me to love Thy truth, for
Thou art love. O send Thy Spirit, Lord, now
unto me, that He may touch my eyes and make me see. Show me the truth concealed within
Thy Word, And in my book revealed I see
the Lord. Open your Bibles to Psalm 46. Psalm 46, we'll just read the
first two verses. God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though
the earth be removed, though the mountains be carried into
the midst of the sea. We'll end our reading there.
Let's go to our word of prayer. Our God and Father in heaven,
we thank you for this day. Lord, we thank you for this opportunity
to gather together as a people. Lord, we pray you bless us. Bless
us with your presence. Lord, grant it that we've not
met in vain. Lord, we pray you said where
two or three are gathered in your name that you'd be in the
midst of them. Lord, we pray for your presence here tonight. Lord, that you bless the preaching
and hearing of thy word. Lord, we thank you for your many,
many blessings upon us. Lord, above all, we give you
thanks for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We desire to know
more of him. Lord, cause us to rest in the
Savior. Lord, for those of our number
in a time of trouble and difficulty, we pray you'd be with your people
to comfort, strengthen, Courage is only you can. And Lord, in
all things, teach us to look to thee. Lord, not to this arm
of flesh, not to the things of this world, but to look to thee
and rest in thee alone. Again, we thank you for this
time of worship. Lord, we pray that in all that's
said and done, Lord, that it might be to thy glory. Now again,
set aside the thoughts and cares of this world. Let us see Christ. In his name we pray and give
thee thanks. Amen. Hail sovereign love that first
began The scheme to rescue fallen men Hail matchless, free, eternal
grace That gave my soul a hiding place Against the God that rules
the sky I fought with hand uplifted high Despised his rich abounding
grace Too proud to seek a hiding place Enwrapped in thick night
and fond of darkness more than life. Madly I ran the sinful
race, secure with But thus the eternal counsel
ran, Almighty love arrest that man. I felt the arrows of distress,
And found I had no hiding place. Indignant justice stood in view
To Sinai's fiery mounts I flew But justice cried with frowning
face This mountain is no hiding place Along a heavenly voice
I heard, And mercy's angel form appeared, Who led me on with
gentle pace. To Jesus Christ, what a hiding
place! Should storms of thundering vengeance
roll, And shake the earth from pole to pole, No flaming bolt
shall dawn my face For Jesus is my hiding place A few more
rolling suns at most Will land me safe on Canaan's coast Where
I shall sing the song And see, Lord Jesus, my hiding
place. We must have a hiding place.
Aren't we thankful? Open your Bibles again to Psalm
46. Here in verse 1, we read, God is our
refuge, and strength, a very present help in trouble. I can't think of a time when
that text isn't appropriate. God is our refuge, a shelter,
a shelter from the rain, from a storm, from danger, a refuge
from falsehood. It can mean a place of hope,
a place of safety. There's only one. God is our
refuge. In times of danger, in times
of distress, in times of trouble, we flee to him and him alone. God is our refuge. The Lord Jesus Christ, who is
God, and yet man, is the sinner's refuge. Now there is another
refuge mentioned in Scripture. After reading of this refuge,
I don't know why we would ever flee to another, but we're warned
There's more than one refuge. And this other, it's truly no
refuge, but it's mentioned in God's Word. In Isaiah 28, 15,
the prophet Isaiah writes, because you have said, we have made a
covenant with death, and with hell we are in agreement. When
the overflowing scourge shall pass through, It shall not come
unto us, for we have made lies our refuge. And under falsehood,
we've hid ourselves. Many have a false refuge. I would say many religious folks,
probably more so. have a false refuge. And one
day, those under that false refuge will perish under the wrath and
justice of Almighty God. In Matthew 7, we read this, and
this is our Lord speaking. He said, many shall say unto
me in that day, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in your name cast out devils?
And in your name done many wonderful works? That sounds pretty good, doesn't
it? And he says this, then, then shall I profess unto you, I never knew you. Depart from
me, you workers of iniquity. In Isaiah 29, verse 13, we read
this. Wherefore, the Lord said, for
as much as this people draw near to me with their mouth and with
their lips, they draw near with their mouth
and with their lips they do honor me. Oh, they talk. about God, they talk about a
man named Jesus, maybe they even talk a little bit about sin, but it's just lip service. He said, they've removed their
heart far from me and their fear is taught by the precept of man. That word precept, it means law
and ordinance. Taught by law, not by love, but
by law. A false refuge, a hiding place
of lies. See, though they talk about sin,
they have the wrong idea about what sin is. It's much more than
our actions. It's much more than our deeds,
what we do. It's our nature. It's who and
what we are. I once had a friend tell me this,
and he was as sincere as he could be. He said he had went seven
years without committing sin. And we laughed, we know that's
just impossible. He believed that to be truth. How can that be? He knew nothing
about what sin was. Listen to what David said. The scriptures say David was
a man after God's own heart. And he said this about sin, he
said, my sin is ever before me. A wrong idea about sin, a wrong
idea about the love of God. We put it on T-shirts. We put
it on bumper stickers. Put it on billboards. God is
love. And He is love. No mistaking
that. God is love. But God is also
just and holy and righteous. He's going to punish sin. He's
absolutely going to punish sin. His law is going to be honored. His justice is going to be satisfied. That's why Christ was made a
man. That's why Christ was made sin
for His people. Almighty God is love in Christ. He's merciful in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We have peace with God in one
place, in one person, in the Lord Jesus Christ. But men follow that false refuge, a religious profession that doesn't
produce fruit. Men say they're saved. How can
that be? Yet they hate God's Word. They hate what the Scriptures
say. They say they're saved, but they refused to bow to the
sovereign God. They claim to love God, yet they
hate their neighbor. They hold to a profession, an
experience, walking down an aisle, saying a so-called sinner's prayer. That isn't a refuge. That isn't
a refuge. Holding their hand up to the
TV screen. I suspect if they felt anything,
it was static. Right? A false refuge. Turn to Isaiah chapter 28. beginning with verse 14 of Isaiah
28. Wherefore, hear the word of the
Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because you have said, we've
made a covenant with death, and with hell we are at agreement.
When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall
not come unto us. We've made lies our refuge, and
under falsehood have we hid ourselves. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried
stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation, He that believeth
in me shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the
line, righteousness to the plumbing, and the hell shall sweep away
the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place." A refuge of lies is not going
to stand. Not a false refuge. Thank God we have this refuge
spoken of over in Psalm 46. God. God is our refuge. That same refuge typified back
in those Old Testament cities of refuge. Turn with me back
to the book of Joshua. Joshua chapter 20, beginning
in verse 1. The Lord also spake unto Joshua,
saying, speak to the children of Israel, saying, appoint out
for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand
of Moses, that the slayer that killeth any person unawares and
unwittingly may flee thither, and they shall be your refuge
from the avenger of blood." If two men were out in the woods
chopping down a tree, cutting firewood. And that axe, the head
of that axe flew off and hit the other man in the head and
killed him. He'd killed a man. He hadn't
done it. He hadn't intended to do that. He had a purpose to
kill that man, but that had happened. And a member of that man's family
could come after him, the avenger of blood. Kind of settle the
score. He could kill that man. Somebody needed refuge there,
didn't they? And that's what we read up here. Look at verse
4. And when he that doth flee unto
those cities shall stand at the entering of that gate of the
city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of
that city, they shall take him into the city unto them, and
give him a place that he may dwell among them. And if the
avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the
slayer up into his hand, because he smote his neighbor unwittingly
and hated him not before time. 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 shall
the slayer return, come to his own city, and to his own house
and to the city from whence he fled. Now, just a few points,
a few familiar points, I hope, from this passage of scripture
this evening concerning a refuge. More importantly, not just any
refuge, Christ, our refuge. Now, the Lord instructed Israel
to designate these cities of refuge Again, a refuge, a hope,
a safe habitation, a place or a person to whom they could flee
and be safe and secure from danger. Again, God. What did the Scripture
say? God is our refuge. And these cities of refuge, they
point to the Lord Jesus Christ. The cities of refuge, first,
they were appointed by God. We just read that there in verse
1 of Joshua 20, if you still have it. The Lord also spake
unto Joshua, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying,
Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I have spoken
to you by the hand of Moses. By God's decree, by God's will,
by His word, these cities of refuge were appointed for one purpose, as a place of
safety, a place to flee from the avenger of blood. And the Lord Jesus Christ, his
only begotten son, that one beloved of the Father, it was by God's
will and by God's appointment that He was made our surety. He was made our high priest. He was made our righteousness.
He's the Lord our righteousness. He was made our Redeemer. He was made our Savior. Look over in John chapter 3. What does the scripture say?
Look at John chapter three. Look at verse six, beginning
with verse 16. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son
into the world to condemn the world, but the world through
him might be saved. Call his name Immanuel, for he
shall save his people from their sin. He was appointed. The Lord Jesus Christ was appointed
of God. These cities of refuge, they
were located so it was always convenient for
somebody to flee to them. They were close enough There
was always a city of refuge close by. You could get there without
much difficulty. There were signs showing the
way. The trails were to be kept clear
at all times. No obstructions. Well, Christ
our refuge. is near unto his people. That's
what the scriptures say. Listen to Acts chapter 17. It says, God that made the world
and all things therein, seeing that he's Lord of heaven and
earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worshipped
with men's hands. as though he needeth anything,
seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things, and
hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on the face of
the earth. He's determined the times before appointed and the
bounds of their habitation for this purpose, that they should
seek him, that they should seek the Lord, if happily they might
feel after him. and find Him. He's near. He's near unto His people. What
does it say? Though He be not far from any
one of us. Scriptures say this, for in Him
we live and move and have our being. And the Scriptures, like
guideposts, they all point the same direction. They all point
to Him. Old Testament to New Testament.
They point to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord is speaking
in John 5, 24. He said, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth in him that
sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, and taken from life, from death
to life. The scriptures, all of God's
word, point to the Lord Jesus Christ. And listen, though we
fail at it miserably, those of us who preach his word, our desire
is to move all obstructions. To not confuse folks with anything,
but to have but one message. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
To preach Christ and Christ alone. To declare with boldness, yet
with compassion, Him who loved us and gave Himself
for us. Well, the manslayer was to flee
immediately. Why would you, if you knew what
was coming, you just killed someone's brother, and he's coming. He's coming to even the score.
There's a place of safety. Why would a man linger? Why would
a man stand around and wait? Why would anyone delay? Paul,
writing to the Corinthians, he said this, now. Now is the accepted
time. Behold, now. When? Now. Now is the day of salvation. Why would we wait? Why would
we linger? Well, to be safe, the manslayer
had to be in the city. You had to be in the city. Now, knowing about the city would
be good. Standing near the city, I guess
that would be good as well. Reciting facts about the city,
knowing every detail about it. That's not what saves a man.
You had to be in the city. The manslayer would listen. He
didn't have time to go home and pack his bags and check on things
at the house. He was to leave all and flee,
flee to the city of refuge. Listen to what the scriptures
declare. But of him are ye in. Where? in Christ Jesus, who has made
unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. And that's the same picture that's
painted throughout scriptures. Back in Noah's time, there was
one place of safety. It didn't matter if you knew
all the measurements or the blueprint of the ark. You had to be in
the ark. that manslayer, one place of
safety in the city of refuge. And listen, for the sinner, one
place, one place in Christ to be found, to be found in him. Just as the manslayer had to
be in the city, he had to stay in the city. There was no, there
was no, spending a few days there and then heading back out. To
leave meant one thing. It meant death, certain death. Turn to Numbers 35, Numbers chapter
35. Be surprised how encouraging
it is to hear pages turn. Look at Numbers 35. Look at verse
26. If the slayer, if the slayer
shall at any time come without the border of the city of his
refuge, whether he has fled, and the revenger of blood find
him without the borders of the city of his refuge, then the
revenger of blood shall kill the slayer, and he shall not
be guilty of his blood." Listen, to deny Christ, to depart from
Christ, is to perish. To perish. The believer, here's
what's encouraging, the true believer, he cannot and he will
not depart from Christ. He said, of all that the Father's
given me, He said, I won't lose one of them. Turn to Colossians
1. Look beginning with verse 21. and you that were sometime alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight if you continue
in the faith. There's the evidence his people
will continue. Continue in the faith, grounded
and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel
which you've heard and which was preached to every creature
which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made a minister. And last, those who made it to the city
of refuge, those who made it there before the avenger of blood
overtook them, they were completely saved and delivered from death. Turn back to Joshua again. Joshua 20. Look at verse nine. These were
the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, stranger
that sojourneth among them, that whoso killeth any person that
unawares might flee thither, and not die. And not die by the
avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation. That man was safe, safe and secure. And all that come to God by Christ,
by his righteousness, by his blood, all that come to him before
death and wrath overtake them, are forever and eternally saved,
free from condemnation. Scriptures declare this, there
is therefore now. When is that? Now, right now. No condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after
the spirit. Nada, listen. Not a refuge of
lies. Not a false refuge, but a true
refuge. One that delivers. He delivers
His people from spiritual death and gives them eternal life in
His Son. Why would a man linger? Why would
a man not flee right now? Right now to Him? Turn back with
me quickly to Psalm 46. I find it difficult to just read
one verse of this passage. With this in mind, with Christ
our refuge in mind, let's read this. Verse 1, God is our refuge
and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will
not we fear though the earth be removed, though it be changed,
however it might be changed, though the mountains be carried
into the midst of the sea, everything we know and familiar with carried
into the very midst of the sea. Listen, if everything's removed,
God's still present. He'll never leave or forsake
his people. Verse 3, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled. Those noises that cause the heart
to fail for fear. Though the waters there roar
and be troubled. Though the mountains shake and
the swelling thereof. Confusion and disorder in this
world. Isn't that what we see every
day? But listen, by His Word there's
no cause to fear. There is a river. The streams
thereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the
tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. He said, I in them, thou in me. God's in the midst of her. She
shall not be moved. God shall help her in that right
early. The heathen raged and the kingdoms
were moved. He uttered his voice and the
earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us. David said that to Goliath. He said, you come to me with
a sword and a spear. He said, I come to you in the
name of the Lord of hosts. The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Come behold the works of the
Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh
wars to cease until the end of the earth. He breaketh the bow
and cutteth the spear in sunder. He burneth the chariot in fire. Those things that are designed
to harm, he destroys them. Be still. Be still and know that
I am God. Be still. I can remember as a kid being
told that a lot. I can remember us telling our
boys that a lot. Be still. Just sit and wait with
patience. Be still and know that I am God. I'll be exalted among the heathen.
I'll be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. The God of Jacob, think about
that. What do we do? Jacob was horrible,
wasn't he? He was a supplant or he was a
thief. Our pastor, we've heard much about Jacob, but he wasn't
Jacob forever. I've changed his name to Israel,
Prince. That's our God. The God of Jacob
is our refuge. Aren't we thankful? for such
a refuge. And then it ends with that word,
sila. Nobody knows what that means,
but everybody says it means this. Stop and consider what's being
said there. All right. May God be pleased
to bless his word. Calls us to rest in Christ our
refuge. All right, Sean. Okay, if you would stand and
turn to song number 209, Grace Greater Than Our Sin. Marvelous grace of our loving
Lord, Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt! Yonder on Calvary's path Thou
pour'dt, There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled. Grace, God's grace, grace that
will garden and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace
that is greater than all our sin. Sin and despair, like the
sea waves cold, Threaten the soul with infinite loss, Grace
that is greater, yes, grace, I'm told. points to the refuge,
the mighty cross. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace
that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace,
grace that is greater than all our sin. Dark is the stain that
we cannot hide. What can avail to wash it away? Look, there is flowing a crimson
tide. Wider than snow you may be today. Grace, grace, God's grace, Grace
that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sins. marvelous, infinite,
matchless grace freely bestowed on all who believe. You that are longing to see His
face, Will you this moment His grace receive? Grace, grace, God's grace, Grace
that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, that is greater than all our
sins