Joshua 20, verses 2, 3, and 4
will be our text this morning. Speaking to the children of Israel,
saying, I point 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. And when he that doth
flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of
the gate of the city, and shall declare his calls in the ears
of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city,
and give him a place that he may dwell among them." Now, these
six cities of refuge typified and portrayed our Lord Jesus
Christ and the grace of God that is in Christ for sinners. These
cities of refuge represent to us the love, mercy, and grace
of God for guilty sinners. The word refuge has with it the
idea of hope. It is used in just that way in
the scriptures. If you want to turn to Hebrew
6 for a moment, a refuge is a place or a person something to whom
or to which we flee in time of danger, when we sense danger
coming or trouble about us, and we flee to that person or to
that thing for safety and security. Here in Hebrews 6 verse 18, the
apostle writes by inspiration and says that by two immutable
things, God's oath and God's covenant, in which it was impossible
for God to lie, we might have strong consolation. that's comfort,
peace, consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon
the hope set before us, which hope we have, look at this now,
as an anchor of the soul. The hope that we have in Christ
is that anchor which holds our soul steady and firm in the midst
of trouble and storm, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul,
both sure and steadfast. which entereth into that within
the veil, whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus,
made an high priest after the order of Melchizedek." Now, these
cities of refuge were typical of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
that's the thing I want you to see this morning and show you
how they were typical of Him. According to the law of God,
any man who killed another man was a man under the sentence
of death and must die. that man who sheds blood, that
man's blood must be shed. According to the justice of God,
an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life. Even
in the case where a man accidentally killed another, when a man was
just Perhaps, as we read earlier, out in the woods working with
his neighbor and an axe head fell off, hit him in the head
and killed him. Even then, that man was subject to death because
of the avenger of blood. The avenger of blood was obliged
to avenge his brother's blood under the law of God. And so
he would go after the one who had even accidentally killed
his brother or his next of kin and would slay that man unless
he was found in safety in the city of refuge. Now, these cities
of refuge were six. They were appointed three on
one side of the Jordan, three on the other side of the Jordan,
and they were appointed throughout the land of Israel so that the
manslayer might easily flee to one of those cities of refuge
within just a half day's journey. The way to these cities was always
kept clear. It was regularly maintained and
repaired. The roads were kept in such a
condition that they could constantly be easily traveled. Now, this
is something we have to look to a little bit in history, though
it's certainly implied in the scriptures we read earlier, but
the Jewish rabbis inform us that at least once every year the
magistrates in those cities of refuge were responsible to send
out road crews to repair the way. They were to go out and
remove any fallen debris, any trees that may have fallen across
the way or any rocks that were in the way. Every high place
would be brought down, every low place would be lifted up
so that the way to the city of refuge would be leveled out and
easily travelable. Not only that, but there were
signs all over the land of Israel pointing to the cities of refuge.
So that when you were going down the road, the manslayer fleeing
for his life with the avenger of blood hotly pursuing him,
he would run to a crossroad and see a sign, but he wouldn't even
have to stop and hesitate. Immediately he'd see a sign with
bold letters, REFUGE, and he'd run to the city of refuge and
thus find safety. These cities of refuge were such
that the manslayer That one who was guilty of manslaughter had
the right under the law, now listen, he had the right under
the law to flee to the city of refuge and was guaranteed safety
if he fled to that city. Oh, listen to me before I proceed
further. Every sinner, every guilty soul,
You who today sits the wrath of God upon you and are guilty
before God. Every guilty soul has a right
under God to flee to Christ for refuge and everyone who flees
is guaranteed safety in Him. You say, Pastor, how can you
say a man has such a right? God gave it and God promised
it. He commands you to come, and
if He commands you to come, you have a right to come. And coming,
you're guaranteed safety and eternal life in Him. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the refuge for sinners. All who come to Him
are saved from the wrath of God. The way to Christ is as plain
as the nose on your face. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Our Lord Jesus Christ, by his
blood and by his righteousness, has removed all the obstacles
which might keep a sinner who seeks him from finding him. He
even sends forth his Spirit to reveal the way, to lead us in
the way, and to bring our souls safely into the refuge. Now let
me show you three things this morning. First, we all need a
refuge. A refuge is what we need in time
of trouble, when we sense that we're in danger, when storms
are brewing. We've all taken refuge in the
midst of a storm, under a tree, or in the cleft of a rock, or
under a shelter of some kind. The Lord Jesus Christ is just
that for our souls. He is the great friend to whom
sinners may and can and should turn in time of trouble. He is
our strong castle. He is our mighty fortress. He
is our high power. He is the ark of safety to shield
us from wrath and impending judgment. Just as Noah fled into the ark
and was saved from the flood of God's wrath, so we must flee
unto Jesus Christ and find safety in the time of trouble in him.
Listen to the scriptures. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be moved. In God is my salvation and my
glory. The rock of my strength and my
refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, ye
people. Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. Did you hear me? God is a refuge
for us. Turn to Isaiah 32. The eternal God is thy refuge. That is, the eternal God in Christ
is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Here in Isaiah 32, the prophet
Isaiah gives us a prophecy concerning Christ, our exalted King. Having
accomplished redemption for us, now he's seated upon the throne
of glory, King and Lord of the universe. And this is what the
prophet says concerning him. And a man shall be for a hiding
place." It's marvelous that God should be for a hiding place.
But God is beyond us. God is beyond our imagination. God is beyond our reach. God
is beyond our comprehension. Oh, but when God assumes human
flesh, now He who is God Almighty in human flesh, seated on the
throne of glory, is not beyond us. He's not beyond our reach.
He's not beyond our comprehension. He's touched with the feeling
of our infirmities. And this God-man is for a refuge,
a hiding place to our soul. He's a cover from the tempest,
as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock
in a weary land. Let me address you first. who
are under the wrath of God. Oh God help you to hear me. You
need refuge. Every son and daughter of Adam
by nature stands before God guilty of sin, condemned by God's law. And you are right now in immediate
danger of God's wrath. There's not something going to
happen tomorrow. You weren't born in a state of innocence.
We didn't come into this world on probation. We were born guilty
and we were born condemned. We come into this world under
the wrath of God and we are all by nature children of wrath.
That's the nature of humanity and that's your nature. because
of sin, because you willfully rebel against God, despise his
gospel, despise his word, despise his grace, despise his son, because
you've taken the son of God and nailed him to the cursed tree
and spit in his face, and laughed in death while he died, because
you so despise God, you are by nature under the wrath of God.
You may think, well, the pastor is just going to this old-fashioned
stuff trying to scare us into the kingdom of God. I wouldn't
have thought I could scare you into the arms of Christ, but
I know that can't be done. But I want you to understand
that if you're without Christ, you are right now under the wrath
of God. That wrath which burns the fires
of hell is the same wrath that's on you. And God has set his bow
set his arrow in his bow, he's unsheathed his glittering sword
and there is but a breath between you and eternal damnation. The scripture says God has set
you in slippery places and your feet are going to slide
into these places. There's nothing keeping you out
of hell right now but the sheer mercy of God. God help you to hear me You deserve to be damned right
now You deserve to be damned forever
right now right now there's no exception there's no exception And yet God Almighty is so merciful
So magnanimous so gracious so great that he whose justice we
offend constantly has made his own darling son to be a sin atoning
refuge for guilty men. I can think of nothing more astounding.
I want you to turn for a moment to Isaiah 28. Some of you here,
perhaps many, but some of you, I'm certain, are self-sufficient. and self-righteous. You have given yourself peace
and security by fleeing to and building for yourself a refuge
of lies. And that refuge of lies which
you have built for yourself is that which you constantly turn
to and you say, now, this is my peace, this is my security,
this is how I will stand before God. Everything's all right with
me. Now, preachers, you don't have to worry about me. I'll
be all right. Look here in Isaiah 28. The Lord God speaks. And he tells us how men speak
to him. Verse 15, because you have said, we have made a covenant
with death. You know, when you were a little
boy, you went to Sunday school and Sunday school teacher got
you to say, I believe in Jesus. And you made a covenant with
death. You knelt in front of the church and you said the sinner's
prayer and preacher said, now you're saved. You made a covenant
with death. I know I was saved. I was there when it happened.
You made a covenant with death. And with hell are we at agreement.
And the overflowing scourge shall pass through. God says it shall
not come nigh unto us. So you say it shall not come
nigh to us? For we have made lies our refuge. Not Christ,
our experience, our notion, our prayers, our feelings. We made
lies our refuge. And under falsehood have we hid
ourselves. Now listen to what God says in
verse 17. Judgment also will I lay to the
lions, and righteousness to the plumbers. Let's test your refuge. God says, I'm going to drop the
plumb bobble and see how straight your wall is. I'm going to lay
judgment to the lion. We'll find out whether your refuge
of lies will do you any good. The hell shall sweep away the
refuge of lies, and the water shall overflow the hiding place.
Sooner or later, God's going to destroy your refuge of lies.
I pray it'll be today. Some of you, I hope, know your
guilt before God. That's no common mistake. Or to be made aware of your guilt.
Few people ever experience that. But knowing your guilt is not
salvation. Salvation's fleeing to Christ. You who are believers, my brothers
and sisters in Christ, We also need a refuge. We need Christ
our refuge constantly. Our Lord Jesus bids us come to
him and find mercy and grace to help in time of need. He urges
us to use him as a refuge. He is our refuge to preserve
us in time of temptation. The apostle says, there is no
temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. But God
is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that
you're able, but will with the temptation also make a way to
escape that you may be able to bear it." What's the way to escape? Oh, what temptations come our
way. The temptations of the world, the lust and cares of the world,
and the riches of the world. But in the context of the temptations
are the temptations to forsake the gospel. The temptation is
to take the religion of the world, which gives us acceptance with
the world, to embrace the teachings of the world, which will cause
the world to smile at us and embrace us. It's weary, weary,
weary, all the day long, constantly, to be the brunt of the world's
opposition. But there's no temptation taken here, but it's common demand.
And God has made a way to escape. What is it? Look to Christ. Look
to Christ. Constantly look to Christ. Your
sons and daughters come along and they say, but Dad, you know,
I've been thinking about this. I respect you and I don't want
to hurt you, but this is just too straight. This is too narrow.
This is too straight. Don't you look in that daughter's
eyes. She'll take you to hell. Don't you look in that son's
eyes. He'll take you to hell. Look to Christ. Keep your eyes
fixed on Christ. The same for a mother and father. We need a refuge in time of trouble. Oh, when God's children are in
trouble. The Savior says, cast all your
care on him, for he cares for you. These days, preachers everywhere
try to get church folks to come cast their care on them. and
self-righteous, egotistical maniacs think that they can carry the
burdens of the world and they try to be counselors and psychologists
and social workers and all this nonsense and you come to me,
I'll take care of your troubles. Come talk to me. Heavy-hearted child of God. Cast
your care on him. He's got shoulders broad enough
for him to take care of your troubles. And he's the only one who can.
He's the only one who can. Let not your heart be troubled,
our Savior says. You believe in God, believe also
in me. That's what it is to cast your
care on us, to believe in. The Lord Jesus Christ is a refuge
to protect us from every danger. The psalmist said, what time
I am afraid, I will trust in thee. He speaks to the believer and
says, concerning those who look to Christ, he shall not be afraid
of evil tidings. His heart is fixed, trusting
in the Lord. We need a refuge. Now, let me
show you this. The Lord Jesus Christ is exactly
the refuge we need, exactly the refuge we need. He's the refuge
God appointed. These cities of refuge were not
devised by men, they were not concocted by men, but rather
the Lord God said, when you come to possess the land, you mark
out these cities, and He named six of them, and these shall
be your cities of refuge. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
a refuge for our souls that God Almighty has appointed, as the
Lord God anticipated a crime being performed. And before ever
the crime was performed, provided refuge for the criminal. So before
the fall ever took place, back in eternity, God Almighty appointed
His darling Son to be the refuge for our souls. The cities of
refuge were given to provide shelter, safety, and life. for
people who justly deserve death. So Christ Jesus was given so
that we who justly deserve to die might never die, but have
safety, security, and eternal life in him. If the avenger of
blood caught the manslayer outside the city, then justice demanded
that he die. The law required the avenger
of blood to slay that man who slayed his brother. The soul
that sinneth, it shall die. If God catches you out of Christ,
if justice finds you out of Christ, justice will slay you. God's
obliged to do so. But that man who fled to the
city of refuge found safety and life and protection and was guaranteed
those things by the very law of God. God said, now when a
man comes into the city of refuge, let him declare his cause. Let
him stand before the elders of judgment, and the elders of judgment,
hearing his case, shall receive him into the city, and there
he shall dwell. You and I, in Jesus Christ, are
totally free from all possibility of condemnation. The law of God
can do us no harm. The justice of God can exact
not even one tithe of an ounce of satisfaction from us. Indeed,
the law of God and the justice of God being fulfilled and satisfied
by Christ are on our side and demand our everlasting salvation. Christ is the ark who has borne
all the furious fullness of God's wrath for us, and we in Him are
never, never, never to experience God's wrath. payment God cannot
twice demand first at my bleeding surety's hand and then again
at mine and therefore we sing with the apostle there is therefore
now no condemnation no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus
these cities of refuge were cities easily seen from anywhere in
the city they were always built on a hill set up on a mountain
top, so that the man-slayer might immediately look at, there's
the city, and off he runs to the city of refuge. Our Lord
Jesus Christ is evidently set forth, crucified among you, every
time the gospel is preached. The Lord God says, I've set my
king upon my holy hill of Zion. Look to me and be saved. He's
the refuge. The road to the cities of refuge,
as I said earlier, was always clearly marked. In Deuteronomy
19.3, God said, thou shalt prepare the way that every slayer may
flee thither. Those signs posted pointing,
refuge, refuge. And the way cleared up so that
everybody was constantly made aware of the way to the city.
In the gospel of Christ, turn to Romans chapter 10, let me
show you. In the gospel of Christ, the way of life is so plainly
marked so clearly set before you, so plainly declared, that
the scripture says, the wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not
err therein. This is not deep, profound, mysterious
stuff. This is plain as nose on your
face. Romans 10 verse 6. The righteousness which is of
faith speaks on this wise. Say not in thine heart who shall
ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down from above,
or who shall descend into the deep, that is to bring up Christ
again from the dead. The law of faith doesn't say
what shall we do, no that's the law of work says that. Self-righteousness
says what shall we do, the law of faith doesn't say what shall
we do, but rather it speaks on this night, this wise the word
is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart, that is the
word of faith which we preach. That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
under righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
under salvation." These cities of refuge, all six of them, were
easily accessible, plainly marked out, so that the manslayer who
would run for refuge might fly to that city with greatest of
ease. So too it is with the Lord Jesus Christ. Every obstacle
has been cleared out of the way. Sin had to be removed. Christ
did it. Justice had to be satisfied.
Christ did it. The law had to be fulfilled. Christ did it.
Satan had to be banished. Christ has done it. And now the
way is open. Here it is. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. type in the scriptures as a perfect
picture of Christ. And here is one place where the
city of refuge, cities of refuge fall down. In the cities of refuge,
men had to run. Sometimes had to run a pretty
good distance. Sometimes as much as a half a day's journey. And
they had to run with all speed to the refuge. The Lord Jesus
Christ bid you run to him, but run with your heart. He bid you
come to him, but come with your heart. You have to come to Him
not by doing something, but by believing. Believe in Him. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. These cities
of refuge were by the command of God open to both Jews and
Gentiles. Now I don't want you to miss
this. The cities of refuge were provided only for those men who
were guilty of manslaughter. But Christ is refuge. for sinners
guilty of every crime. Pastor, can I come to Christ's
will? Will He receive me? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Come to the Son of God and find
refuge in Him. These cities of refuge Or cities
in which those criminals who fled would find complete safety. But their safety was wrapped
up all together in two things. The life and death of God's high
priest. The cities were all built, are
established among those cities that were given to the Levites
for an inheritance. How come? God gave the Levites
48 cities. Six of their cities were cities
of rest years. because there's no way of acceptance
with God. There is no refuge for your soul
except in God's high priest whom he has appointed, the Lord Jesus
Christ. There's a double reference here.
When the high priest died, the man who came to the city of refuge,
he'd come in, and there he'd abide until the death of the
high priest. And what we read in Numbers 35, when the high
priest died, that man could go home He was totally free and
there was no possibility that the avenger of blood had any
right to touch him. When the Lord Jesus Christ died,
God's justice was satisfied and God declared sinners to be free
to trust in him. God's people freed from all condemnation
forever because Christ died. But there's another significance
here, another picture in the text. So long as the high priest
was living, No harm could befall that sinner, that manslayer,
that guilty criminal who dwelled in the city of refuge. Now listen
to that. The Lord Jesus Christ, our great
high priest who died for us, lives forever. And he intercedes
at the right hand of God Almighty for guilty sinners. And there's
no possibility, as long as Christ lives, that one sinner for whom
he makes intercession shall ever perish. He finished his work,
sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, and now
makes intercession for us according to the will of God. Here's something
else. Only those cities appointed by
God were cities of refuge. No other. It wouldn't do a man
any good to flee to any other city and say, let me have refuge
here. He said, but I'm not guilty of anything. I just accidentally
dropped a stone and it fell on a man's head and he's dead. I've
got to, I've got to have refuge. And the elders say, this is not
to be refuged. We can't help you. We can't help you. But the
manfire is pursuing after us. We can't help you. Well, that's
not very kind. That's not very loving. Surely
you ought to tell the boy, come on in. We'll make refuge for
you. No, there's only one refuge. And the best thing we can do
for you is say you've got to get to the city that God's appointed.
Now listen to me. There's only one refuge for your
soul. And that refuge is Jesus Christ the Lord. It won't do
you any good to look to your feelings, your works, the church,
your goodness in the eyes of men, your emotions. The only
refuge for your soul is Christ the Lord, His blood and His righteousness. There's one other thing here.
The manslayer had to dwell within the city. Wouldn't do any good
to look at it. Gotta come in. And having come
into the city, he stayed there. Stayed there. As long as he dwelt
in the city, life was easy. We come to Christ and dwell in
him. For he is our refuge. And everything
we need is in him. Everything we want is in him.
To forsake him is to forsake life. To forsake him is to perish. Abide in me. Abide in me, the
Savior said. If you don't abide in him, every
branch cut off from him withers and dies. God help you to flee
to the refuge, Christ Jesus, and abide in the refuge. for
Christ's sake. Amen.