Blessed is that man, that woman,
who knows his steps are ordered of the Lord, and the Lord upholds
him in his path. How blessed, how blessed. Turn
with me, if you will, to Leviticus chapter 25. Leviticus chapter
25. The year of Jubilee was established
by our God at the time he gave the law to the children of Israel
on Mount Sinai. As we have seen, it was distinctly
given as a picture of God's great grace in Christ, a picture of
God's free salvation accomplished for us, wrought in us, and given
to us by the Lord Jesus Christ. The blowing of the Jubilee trumpet
symbolized the preaching of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jubilee itself portrayed the grace and the glory that God
has promised to chosen sinners in Christ Jesus. As Jubilee began
on the Day of Atonement, the whole of God's salvation comes
to chosen sinners by and because of the sin atoning sacrifice
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the shedding of his blood for our
sins at Calvary. All the blessings of grace, all
the blessings of heavenly glory, all the blessings of God's salvation,
both in this world and in the world to come, come to us as
free gifts of God's grace. Free gifts of God's grace. free
gifts of grace flowing to us through the merit and efficacy
of Christ's shed blood. Every sinner for whom Christ
died at Calvary shall enjoy all the blessings of God's free grace
given us in him before the world began. And these free gifts of
grace coming to us through the blood of the Lord Jesus. come
to us, are brought to us, are bestowed upon us by the demands
of God's holy law. By the demands of holiness, righteousness,
justice, and truth. Because Christ has earned these
gifts for us. Because Christ has purchased
these gifts for us. Justice demands that they shall
be ours. Neither the blessings of grace
that we enjoy now in the experience of salvation, nor the blessings
of our God that shall be ours in heavenly glory, depend in
any way or they're not conditioned in any way upon our works, our
experience, not even our faith. Our faith itself is the gift
of God. Salvation in its entirety is
God's free gift. Now let's look at this law as
it's given here in the scriptures with regard to God's people who
are described here as strangers and sojourners with God. First,
let me show you the reason for establishing this year-long Jubilee
Sabbath that's described in Leviticus 25. We have seen in this chapter
that in the year Jubilee, all debts were immediately canceled. All who had been in bondage were
immediately set free. Every man who had lost his inheritance
had his inheritance returned to him. and all the children
of Israel were required by God to keep a year-long Sabbath. That's exactly what Christ has
done for us in salvation. And that's exactly what we shall
enjoy in heavenly glory because he redeemed us with his precious
blood. Oh, if you're yet laboring in
the bondage of sin, under the curse of the law, in unbelief,
in darkness and death, hear the jubilee trumpet and walk in liberty. After giving the jubilee law
and declaring what was to be done in the year of jubilee,
the Lord God explains his reason in verses 23 and 24. He tells us why he gave such
a specific strict law about this great year of liberation And
we'll begin in verse 23. The land shall not be sold forever,
for the land is mine. For ye are strangers and sojourners
with me. Strangers in this land and pilgrims
in this land with me. Strangers to the people who live
here. Pilgrims, sojourners, you're
passing through this land with me. Verse 24, and in all the
land of your possession, you shall grant a redemption for
that land. Then after briefly mentioning
the law of the kinsman redeemer, which we'll come back to another
time in verses 25 through 28, Moses continues talking to us
about houses and lands by the word of God that was given to
him. Verse 29, and if a man sell a dwelling house in a walled
city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold. Within a full year, may he redeem
it. And if it be not redeemed within
the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled
city shall be established forever to him that bought it throughout
his generations. It shall not go out in the jubilee. But the houses of the villages, which have no wall round about
them, shall be counted as the fields of the country. They may
be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubilee. Verse 32,
notwithstanding, the cities of the Levites and the houses of
the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any
time. And if a man purchase of the Levites, then the house that
was sold and the city of his possession shall go out in the
year of Jubilee. For the houses of the cities
of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.
But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold,
for it is their perpetual possession. As the ceremonial institution,
the year of Jubilee, completed the picture of the sabbatical
laws. all those laws given concerning
the Sabbath keeping in the Old Testament. The seventh day Sabbath,
the seventh year Sabbath, the seventh week Sabbath, all spoke
of rest. the blessed rest of faith in
Christ Jesus. They were all connected with
the various institutions of worship during the Mosaic Age, all portraying
our present enjoyment of life and grace and salvation in Christ. We come to him and rest from
our own works. We come to him ceasing from our
works. We come to him for rest, rest
before God, satisfied in our souls with his obedience unto
death. The Jubilee, the 50th year Sabbath,
was different. Now God clearly commanded this
Sabbath. Every 50th year, the children
of Israel were commanded to observe this year-long Jubilee Sabbath. Brother Todd Nobbitt and I were
talking today, he called me this morning and asked me about this
very thing. I can't find any place, neither in scripture nor
in history, in which the Jews ever even once observed the Jubilee
year. No indication they ever made
an effort at it as far as I can find. But this Sabbath portrayed
that great salvation that yet remains. The everlasting Sabbath
of everlasting glory in heaven. It was God's promise in type
to those who were strangers and sojourners with him in the earth. It was a type and picture of
a better Sabbath beyond this veil of tears. A Sabbath yet
awaiting us when we leave this land of sorrow. Now look at verses
23. The Lord states emphatically,
the land shall not be sold forever. Why? What was his reason for
this? It is just this. The land of
Canaan represented our heavenly inheritance. the gift of God's
free grace in Christ. The inheritance that God gave
us cannot be lost. It cannot be forfeited. It cannot
be taken away, neither by the act of our enemies, nor by our
own failures. Oh, wondrous grace. Our Savior
said, my sheep hear my voice. I know them, they follow me,
and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Let me add a word to that. These are Fortner's words, words
Fortner derives directly from that statement. They shall never
perish, No matter what, no matter what, no matter what
hell throws at them, no matter what their flesh demonstrates,
no matter how they fail, no matter how they sin, no matter how miserably
they exist in this world, they who are gods shall never perish. for the gifts and callings of
God are without repentance. Then in verses 29 and 30, God
makes a specific exception. He says, and if a man sell a
dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within
a whole year after it is sold. Within a full year, may he redeem
it. And if it be not redeemed within
the space of a full year, that is a house in a walled city,
a house sitting on a wall, a house attached to a wall, a house surrounded
by a wall, if it's not redeemed in a full year, then the house
that is in the walled city shall be established forever to him
that bought it throughout his generations. It shall not go
out in the year jubilee. You buy this house during the
time a man's in trouble and he comes and sells you his house.
And if the man comes to redeem it within 12 months, he can't.
If a relative redeems it within 12 months, he can't. But if it's
not redeemed within 12 months, this house sitting on the wall,
within the walled city, surrounded by a wall, that house stays in
the hands of the one who bought it, generation after generation,
no matter what. Then in verses 31 to 34, he declares
that the houses in the country villages, the houses of the Levites,
were to be counted as part and parcel with the land. Being built
upon the ground, joined to the ground, they were counted as
one with the ground. They couldn't be sold forever.
The houses in these country villages Among the vines and figs were
considered part and parcel with the land. The houses of the Levites
were the same way. They could never be taken away
permanently. If they happened to be lost by
forfeiture, by some mistake, by some error, by some loss on
the part of the man who once owned them, in the year Jubilee,
they returned back to the family to whom they were given. But
the houses of the walled city were looked upon differently.
They could be bought and sold repeatedly. Why the difference? It's just this. The land of Canaan,
we're told in verse 24, was the heritage of redemption and grace
by covenant promise. It was a grant of redemption. But the walled cities of the
land, And the houses built on those walls were things that
men erected, things that men built, things that men did, the
works of men. No matter how impressive, no
matter how noble they were, no matter how much they cost, they
were just the works of men. And those houses in no way portray
God's grace, God's salvation, or God's gift. You see, the works
of our hands contribute nothing to God's grace. The works of
our hands contribute nothing to God's salvation. The works
of our hands contribute nothing to heaven's glory. The works
of our hands add nothing to what God gives us in his grace. Now,
go back to verse 23. Here the Lord ascribes another
reason why the land was not to be sold forever. God's Israel
was a nomadic nation of strangers and sojourners. Strangers and
sojourners with him through the land. He owned the land. They were only temporary tenants. The land shall not be sold forever,
for the land is mine. For ye are strangers and sojourners
with me. Again, the land of Canaan was typical of our eternal inheritance
with Christ. It was still but earthly parcel
of ground, though it was typical of that inheritance. It was no
more permanent than any other piece of ground, no more holy
than any other piece of ground, no more sanctified than any other
piece of ground, except as it was used for the worship of God
and for the benefit of God's people. And the Lord reminded
Israel of this by declaring that so long as they lived on this
earth, they were just strangers and sojourners. What a lesson. They're just strangers and sojourners. All the time they lived in the
land, just strangers and sojourners. But most importantly, they were
strangers and sojourners with Him. O Spirit of God, write this
lesson on our hearts. You and I who are gods, you and
I who are in Christ, you and I who trust the Son of God, are
strangers and sojourners with God in this world. David said,
hear my prayer, O Lord. Give ear unto my cry, hold not
thy peace at my tears, for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner,
as all my fathers were. We're pilgrims here, passing
through the earth, pilgrims but for a brief time. Here we have
no abiding city, but rather everything is temporal. Everything in that
land to which we are going is permanent and eternal. Turn with
me to a couple of passages of scripture. Second Corinthians
chapter four. Second Corinthians four. In verse
17, after describing his trials. And if you think you've had some
trials, read 2 Corinthians chapter four. After describing his trials,
imprisonments, shipwreck, abandonment, heartache, trouble, one on the
heels of another, Paul says, our light affliction, our featherweight
affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. That is the things
that cause us pain here. These things that we would never
choose here. These trials and temptations
and troubles, heartache and sorrow, our light affliction, they are
working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
Heaven would not be near so glorious were it not for these things.
Verse 18, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not
seen. Oh, children of God, turn your eyes away from the things
you can see. Turn your eyes upward to Christ
in heaven. For the things which are seen
are temporal. For the things which are not
seen, they're eternal. For we know that if our earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building
of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Turn, if you will, to Hebrews
chapter 11. Hebrews, the 11th chapter. See an example of some
of these who were strangers and pilgrims even before Moses' time. Hebrews 11 verse 8. By faith
Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he
should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed. And he went out not knowing
whether he went. By faith he sojourned in the
land of promise. As in a strange country, dwelling
in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of
the same promise. For he looked for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Through faith
also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered
of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful
who had promised. therefore sprang there even of
one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky
in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable,
verse 13. These all died in faith, not
having received the promises, but having seen them afar off,
that is they walked here all these years, all these years,
all these years, beyond a hundred years they walked here, Not having
received the promises, but seeing them far off, they walked by
faith. Read on. And were persuaded of them, and
embraced them, and being persuaded of them, embracing them, seeing
them afar off, They confessed that they were strangers and
pilgrims on earth. For they that say such things
declare plainly that they seek a country. Now, I'm a stranger
here. This is not my home. No, I'm
not from this part of the world. Shelby and I watch Andy Griffith
once in a while, and I remember they had a butler come. I forgot
the particular program's name, but had a butler come. He was
from Ireland, I think it was. And Barney said to him, said,
you're not from these parts, are you? He recognized right
off he wasn't. You're not from these parts.
We go to England and everybody there thinks if you got a Southern
accent, you're from Texas. Folks ask you, you're from Texas?
No, I'm not from Texas, but I'm not from here. My accent gives
it away. We confess we're strangers and
pilgrims. And we look for a city, a country. Verse 15, and truly, if they
had been mindful of that country from which they came out, They
might have had opportunity to have returned. No reason why
they couldn't go back home if they wanted to. But that's not
home anymore. But now they desire a better,
a better country. That isn't heavenly. Wherefore
God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared
for them a city. The figure of the stranger that's
applied to the child of God here on this earth is Just full of
instruction. The analogy between one who is
a stranger in a foreign country and the believer in this world
is striking. In a strange land, a man is not
appreciated for his birth, but rather avoided. The inhabitants of a strange
land are strange to him And he is to them. He has to be content
with a stranger's fare, with such things as he has. That's
all he's got. He doesn't own any property.
He's a stranger there. Down in Mexico, the one benefit
of NAFTA, and I think probably the only benefit, Our missionaries
down there were allowed now, they can't buy property, they
can't even buy a grave plot. They just have to rent them.
Somebody comes by later on and rents it for more money, they
dig them up and throw them on the side. But they can't buy property,
but they could lease property for 99 years. Before that, they
had to move just whenever the landlord said, I can get more
money for the house. And they moved frequently. But
the strangers can't expect any better. They're strangers there.
They're strangers there. And the man who lives there in
a strange land has got to be careful that he doesn't give
a fix to the government because he's a stranger. He's got no
rights. He's got no rights. He has to continually inquire
after his way. Unless he conforms to the ways
of that foreign country, He will always be identified as that
stranger, a stranger. Some of you know something about
mountain people and mountain ways. I happen to like mountain
folks and mountain ways. My father's family's all from
the mountains of North Carolina. When Shelby and I moved to Lookout,
we moved from Winston-Salem to Lookout, West Virginia. That's
in the mountains. Diane's family's from up there.
I thank you abouts for this. It doesn't matter if you and
your family came there 100 years ago, they're those strangers
from down in North Carolina. They're not part of the company
here. They're from outside. They're
not of us. That's the way it is in a strange
land. And the stranger is often assailed,
often assailed in his heart with homesickness. because his heart is not where
his body is. He's homesick. All the while,
these described in Hebrews 12 are seeking a better country.
They that say such things declare plainly they seek a country. The word translated country might
better be translated fatherland. That's it. We're not just looking
for another country. We're not just looking for another
city. We're looking for fatherland,
where our father dwells, where our family resides. The fatherland
is where the children want to be. Because they were strangers
and pilgrims in the earth, they chose not to go back to Caledon. If they wanted to, we're told
in verse 15, they could add opportunity to. It's the land they had left. It was never far away. It's right
here. It's just right there. It's just right there. But we
left it, and we don't want to return. Have no desire to return. There's nothing missing, nothing
lacking, nothing there I want, nothing there that can satisfy
me. See, God's people in this world are just that, strangers. a person away from home, a sojourner,
moving through the lands. I'm but a stranger here. Heaven
is my home. Earth is a desert drear. Heaven is my home. Dangers and
sorrows stand round me on every hand. Heaven is my fatherland. Heaven is my home. That's where
the father is. That's where our elder brother
is. That's where most of our family is. That's where our inheritance
is. Soon we too shall be there and
we seek no satisfaction here. Seek nothing for our souls here. Seek nothing to give us contentment
here. Seek nothing to fill our minds
and hearts here. We're headed somewhere else.
A stranger is a man or a woman who never quite fits in with
the people around him. He's a stranger. He can never
be really comfortable in their company and they can never really
be comfortable in his company because the world knoweth us
not. That may seem a little sad to
some, to those who do not know our God and do not know our Savior. We're strangers and sojourners
in this world, but that's not the end of the sentence back
here in Deuteronomy, or in Leviticus 25, 23. No, no, no, no, no. God says ye are strangers and
sojourners with me. That makes all the difference
in the world. ye are strangers and sojourners with me. That
means that we're always under our Heavenly Father's watchful
eye, his omnipotent protection and his tender care. We're ever
in his company, in the company of God our Savior. We live in
Christ and Christ lives in us. Our life is hid with Christ in
God. More than that, Christ is our
life. And when Christ who is our life
shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory. Now, turn if you will to John
chapter 13, and I'll wrap this up. John chapter 13. I want you
to look at just a couple of scriptures. Verse 36. Simon Peter said unto him, Lord,
whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, whither I
go, thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me
here afterwards. You can't go with me right now,
Peter, but you're coming. Peter said unto him, Lord, why
cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy
sake. Now, I know Peter probably spoke too quickly, probably spoke
too proudly, probably spoke too rashly, but he spoke the truth.
He did lay down his life for Christ's sake. But he needed
to learn something about himself. Jesus answered him, wilt thou
lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
the cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice. And
you know Peter argued with the Lord back and forth, defended
himself, but before the next morning, he denied him three
times. And the Lord's next word is,
let not your heart be troubled. In spite of all you are, in spite
of all the blackness and darkness and hell that's in you, in spite
of all the evil you do, in spite of your weakness and failure,
let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my father's house and many
mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. That
where I am, there ye may be also. Turn to one more text, Psalm
39. I read a portion of it earlier, Psalm 39. Verse one. I said I will take heed to my
ways that I sin not with my mouth. That's a good thing to do when
you're a stranger and sojourner. I will keep my mouth with a bridle
while the wicked is before me. I was dumb with silence. I held
my peace even from good. and my sorrow was stirred. My
heart was hot within me while I was musing. The fire burned,
but then spake I with my tongue. Lord, make me to know mine end
and the measure of my days. I want to know both what awaits
me after I quit this world. And I want to know the measure
of my days. I want to know how frail I am,
what it is. that I may know how frail I am.
Behold, thou hast made my days as in handbreadth, and mine ages
as nothing before thee. Verily, every man, me included,
at his best state, is altogether just a puff of wind, vanity. Surely every man walketh in a
vain show. Surely they are disquieted in
vain, He heapeth up riches, gathers all the gold and silver he can,
foolish man, and knoweth not who shall gather them. And now,
Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee. Deliver me
from all my transgressions. Make me not the reproach of the
foolish. I was dumb. I opened not my mouth
because thou didst it. My trouble, my heartache, My
foes, the cursing of my enemies, you did it. Remove thy stroke
away from me. I'm consumed by the blow of thy
hand. When thou with rebukes dost correct
man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like
a moth. Surely every man, myself included,
is just a puff of wind, vanished. Hear my prayer, O Lord. Give
ear unto my cry. Hold not thy peace at my tears,
for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner as all my fathers
were. This is how God's people have
always lived here. O spare me that I may recover
strength before I go hence and be no more. What do those things tell us
about God's people? How do they apply to us? We have Christ our Savior who sets before
us a hope, a good hope through grace of everlasting glory. He's going to prepare a place
for us. and having gone to prepare a
place for us, he will come again at his appointed time and receive
us unto himself. That where he is in the fatherland,
where there is inconceivable greatness and glory, there we
shall be also. I travel, as you know, across
to different countries at least a time or two a year. And I've
crossed the borders of our nation, north, south, east, and west,
a bunch of times over the years. When you do, you've got to have
three things. You've got to have, used to be a birth certificate,
now it's a passport, giving proof of citizenship. And you've got
to have a visa from the country receiving you. And you have to
have a clean record. No criminal record. Several years
ago, Sheldon and I going down to Australia, and I had forgotten
that you have to get the visa before you go. Most places you
get it on the plane going over, but in Australia, you gotta get
the visa before you get there. Otherwise, you gotta shell out
some bucks when you get there, or get back on the plane, one
of the two. But you got to have proof of citizenship, You got
to have an invitation to come from that country, and you've
got to have a clean record. Soon, I will leave this land
of sin and sorrow, and I hope to enter my father's land with
my savior. To do so, I have to have proof
of citizenship. And that proof of citizenship
is that new nature given me by God the Holy Spirit, creating
faith in me, created in righteousness and in true holiness. Not only
that, but I've got to have a visa. I've got to have a right to enter
the country. And that which gives me right
to enter is the blood of Christ. And I've got to have a clear
record. Bless God, the precious blood
of Christ gives me a clear record. He, by the sacrifice of himself,
has put away our sin. Here we are but strangers and
sojourners with God our Savior. Let us ever live as strangers
and sojourners with God, our Savior, on the tiptoe of faith,
anticipating the moment when our Savior shall come for us
and take us with Him to glory. It's been a while since I told
you a story. You'll remember it. The preacher
got on a plane, and sometimes you get on a plane, folks want
to talk a lot. He sat down beside a fellow who
seemed to be all excited and introduced himself, got up talking,
and the preacher was trying to get some rest, but he kept talking. He said, he said, I'm out here
on business. And the preacher thought to himself,
well, me too. He said, me too. And the fellow
said, my father and I, we're in business together. And the
preacher looked at him and he said, my father and I have business
together too. The man quietened up for just
a minute and he said, he said, my father and I are in the jewelry
business. And the preacher smiled at him
and he said, me too. And the fellow looked at him
and said, we only deal in the rarest of jewels. And the preacher,
realizing what he was doing, smiled at him again, and he said,
the same is true of my father and I. We're only dealing the
rarest of jewels. Finally, the fellow looked at
the preacher, and he said, I sure hope my father will be pleased
with what I've done when I see him. And the preacher said to
him, me too. Me too. Me too. Oh, may I have an assurance.
He will, because he has said himself, God now accepteth thy
works. He has declared, he will look
at me and you, you who are his, and he will
say, well done, thou good and faithful servant, amen.