Would you turn to Numbers 35? Verse nine. And this is what Moses was speaking of in Exodus 21 when he said, you will appoint a place. Here it is.

Verse nine, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and 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 thither, which killeth any person at unawares. And they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer die not until they stand before the congregation in judgment. And of these cities which you shall give six cities you shall have for refuge.

Now look in verse 20 of the same chapter. If the slayer, the man who was guilty of manslaughter and had sought refuge in the city of refuge, if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whether he was fled, and the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. This act of vengeance He shall not be guilty of blood because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the slayer shall return unto the land of his possession. He's free to return without fearing the manslayer after the death of the high priest.

I'm going to try to preach on the cities of refuge, and I hope that the Lord will use this particular message to teach us something about what it means to abide in Christ. We have that exhortation over and over again in the New Testament. The Lord said, abide in me. And I want to know what it means to abide in Christ. And we have a real clear example of what it means in these cities of refuge.

Now, what a mercy of the Lord to give these six different cities in the land of Israel. If a man accidentally killed somebody, it was not premeditated murder, but it was a manslaughter. He killed him by accident. If the nearest of kin wanted to, he could have vengeance on that man and he would not be guilty of shedding blood. That's what the law said. He could do this without guilt. And in one of the accounts, it says, if he stays hot for a long time, angry over this, and if he finds you, he'll kill you, therefore you better get in the city of refuge.

But what a mercy of the Lord to provide these six cities And anywhere you were in Israel, because of the proximity of one of these six cities, it didn't matter where you were, you would be within a half a day's flight to get into that city. It didn't have to be days and days. You had these six different cities. And I think it's also very interesting, Jew or Gentile. Welcome in these cities. You didn't just have to be an Israelite. This is for Jew or Gentile.

Six cities, Kadesh, Shechem, Hebron, Bezer, Ramoth, and Galen. The six cities of refuge. And the Hebrew word translated refuge is only used with regard to the cities of refuge. And the modern-day counterpart would be an asylum. You seek political asylum. The people in your country will kill you. You're looking for asylum. The only time this word is used is with reference to these six cities of refuge.

Now, if you're guilty of premeditated murder, the cities would not give you protection. But if you were guilty of manslaughter, an accidental murder, You were welcomed and protected in these six cities of refuge. Now, if you weren't in the city. The scripture says, life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and the avenger of blood would not be considered a murderer if he destroyed you and killed you. So the only place of safety was in the city of refuge.

Now, Deuteronomy 19.21 speaks of a way being prepared into these cities of refuge. And this is not in the Bible, but it is in ancient rabbinical literature where the Hebrews spoke of these, that these roads had to be maintained constantly. They had to be at least 32 cubits wide. And that's a pretty wide road from there. And all impediments had to be taken away. You were to make this road clear and plain, all the signs pointing, this is to the city of refuge. And they would go out and maintain these very often because somebody, through vandalism, they might switch the sign. City of refuge that way. Boy, if that happens, you're in trouble. So they always kept this road clear.

As I just read, if you're outside the city, the men slayer could slay you, but you had protection in the city. And I love to picture in my mind one of these six cities of refuge, and there's a man running. He's running as fast as he can. And off in the distance is the avenger of blood. And if he gets him before he gets into that city, he has every right to kill him. And I love to think of this man running, running, running, and getting into the building, stating his case, and them giving him refuge. And the city would protect him from the avenger of blood, the manslayer. And then upon the death of the high priest, he had to stay in that city until the death of the high priest. And when the high priest died, he was then free to go back to his homeland. And the manslayer was not allowed by law to touch him. If he did, it would be murder. reach freedom back to his hometown after the death of the high priest.

Now, I've thought about this before. I've looked at the cities of refuge. Probably in 20 years I've attempted to preach on it, but the thing that always bothered me about the cities of refuge is that it was for the man who accidentally killed somebody. And I thought, well, my sin's not accidental. My sin's my fault, so how can this be for me? Well, what if the law said if you murder somebody, you can get into the city of refuge and everything will be okay? Well, that wouldn't be right. It wouldn't be just. God is so merciful in giving us this picture to teach us where safety is and to stay in the place where safety is. And how merciful to teach us that it's only upon the death of Christ that we're set free. But there's absolute freedom caused by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not enough for him to live for us. When the great high priest dies, then I'm welcome to go back home.

Now, you were not kept safe by knowing the way to the city of refuge. That was not safe. You might have known all the details about the city. That wouldn't bring you safety. It's only being in the city that you found safety. You were only protected while you were in the city. And if you went outside the city, the manslayer had the right to kill you.

Now that is what abiding in Christ looks like. In him. My city of refuge is the only place of safety and security. There is no other place of safety or security. Only in Him. Not knowing it's in Him, but being in Him. and not going outside.

Now what it is to abide in Christ, I'm saying I don't want God to judge anything I do. I don't want him to judge my preaching, I don't want him to judge my motives. I don't want him to judge my giving. I don't want him to judge my praying. I don't want him to judge my efforts against sin or my striving to be good or whatever it is. I don't want to stand before God on my own for God to judge me in any way, under any condition, at any time. All I want to be is in Christ. There is no safety anywhere else.

David said, enter not into judgment with thy servant, For in thy sight shall no man living be justified. I simply want God to see me in Christ. I don't want him to see me in Christ. I want him to see Christ. And that's all he sees. And I am in him. I don't want to stand before God in any other way, but simply in him.

If you were that manslayer that had murdered this man accidentally. It wasn't murder, it was manslaughter. You were safe only as you were in the city. If you went outside of the city, you're fair game. Now this is what it means to be in Christ. I don't want to be judged on the basis of my growth, my maturity, my mercifulness, my fruit. I want to simply be found in the city of refuge. At no time do I want to be found anywhere else. I don't want to be judged for my soundness of doctrine. I don't want to be judged for anything. Just want to be found in Jesus Christ.

Now, let me ask you a question. Is that your desire? You don't want God to look at you in any way except seeing his son. Nothing else. Well, that's the way I want to be seen. Only in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I love what. Paul said, I reckon I can quote this, at least two out of three sermons I preach. Oh, that I may win Christ and be found in him. Not having my own righteousness. I don't want to stand before God in my own righteousness in any measure to any degree. When God comes looking for me, and I've said this before, I'd like to die preaching. Wouldn't that be something? If I was preaching the gospel and just dropped dead, that'd be a good way to die, wouldn't it? Or reading the Bible. or praying or witnessing, I'd like to be found when the Lord comes back doing, no, no, I want to be found in Christ. That's all I want. Nothing else. That's what it means to abide in Christ. And if you can stand before God in any other way, but in Christ, you've never been in the first place. If you're in him, you'll want to stay in him. You'll want to abide in him and you won't want to be found anywhere else.

Now, if you leave that, the city of refuge, you were never there in the first place and you are on your own.

Now, I love this detail that we just read. The only time you could leave the city of refuge and go back to your homeland is when the great high priest died. The only way that I can have liberty and freedom is through the death of my great high priest, Jesus Christ. God, through his death, making the way for him to be just and justify me.

I love what Paul said when he said, who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that dies. What good would His life be to you if He didn't die? It wouldn't be any good to you at all. All it would do is condemn you. Here's someone who did keep God's law perfectly. All it does is expose you as being nothing but sin. All it does is expose me as being nothing but sin if He didn't die. But it's His death. Who is He that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. If when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son. You know, one of the things I love about the Lord's table is Paul tells us every time we take the Lord's table, you show forth the Lord's death till he come. We're not trusting him who is still dead. We're trusting him who died and is raised from the dead. But what would it mean if he stays dead? It would mean God was not satisfied with what he did, but because he was raised from the dead, that says God is completely satisfied with what he did.

Reconciliation takes place because of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love the scripture, 1 Corinthians 15, three, that the gospel is how about? Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. And there's my hope. What is my assurance? Christ died and was raised from the dead. And right now he's seated at the right hand of the Father. And as long as he's seated at the right hand of the Father, which is eternally, I'm safe because he is my great high priest.

The life, the death, the burial, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, you stay in the city, that's very similar. When God flooded the world, where was the one place of safety? In the ark. There was no other place of safety. And would you want to have gone outside of the ark? It would have been sure death. When God passed through the land to smite the firstborn, where was the one place of safety? In the house with the blood over the door. And this I know, if I was in one of those houses, I don't know what all I would have been thinking, but I know this, I wouldn't have stuck a finger outside the window. I would have stayed in the house with the blood over the door.

Now turn to Numbers, I mean Joshua chapter 20 for a moment. Joshua chapter 20. The Lord also spake unto Joshua, this is after they're already in the promised land, The Lord also spake unto Joshua, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for your cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses, that the slayer that killeth any persons unawares and unwittingly may flee thither, and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. And when he that doth flee into one of those cities shall stand at the entering end of the gate and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of the 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 up the slayer 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. Until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days, then shall the slayer return and come into his own city and into his own house, into the city from whence he fled.

And they appointed, and he names the six cities, and they appointed Kedesh in Galilee, in Mount Naphtali, and Shechem in Mount Ephraim, and Kirjeth Arba, which is Hebron in the Mount of Judah, and on the other side of Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer, in the wilderness upon the plain, and of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth and Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribes of Manasseh. These were the cities appointed unto all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any man or person that unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation.

Now, the names of these cities, Kadesh means holy place. In Christ, I'm in a holy place. In Christ, I am holy. He's made unto us sanctification. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 10 says, by the witch will we are sanctified. We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Now I quote this quite often, near, so near to God, near I cannot be. For in the person of his dear son, I'm as near to God as he. Dear, so dear to God, dearer I cannot be, for in the person of His dear Son, I'm as dear to God as He. Let me add one. Holy, so holy to God, holier I cannot be, for in the person of His dear Son, I'm as holy to God as He. Kadesh, the holy place.

Shechem means shoulder. It's a symbol of strength and the government shall be upon his shoulder. Oh, the strength of my hiding place, the strength of my refuge. He's so strong that nobody can get to me. You see, he takes full responsibility for my salvation and no one can get to me because of the strength of my hiding place.

Hebron means association or fellowship. Where do I have fellowship with God? In Christ. And in Christ, I actually have fellowship, communion with God. Where do we have fellowship with one another? In Christ. That's our fellowship. Our fellowship isn't sitting around drinking coffee, talking, that's fine to do that. But our fellowship's in the gospel, in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, there's something, your heart goes out to somebody who finds their only safety in Christ, isn't there? You can have fellowship with that person. That person's not looking you over and judging you. They know the same hope you have is their only hope, being found in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Bosar means remote fortress. Our fortress is inaccessible to our enemies. You're not going to have any sins come back and bite you. Our fortress is inaccessible to our enemies.

Ramoth means heights. How high is our city? Ephesians 2, 6, were seated together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. Now that's how high this city is. Nobody can get into this city.

And Golan means rejoicing, how we rejoice in our great city of refuge, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, fleeing. into the city. We see the glory of this city, the perfect salvation of this city, but fleeing into this city is the act of faith. You were not safe knowing about the city. You had to run into the city. You didn't lollygag. You wanted to be in that city right now. You didn't want to wait for the avenger of blood to get to you. You didn't put it off till tomorrow. You didn't wait to learn more about the city? Well, I want to learn more about the city and the people there. No, with the avenger of blood on you, you simply rushed into the city, and you weren't even thinking whether or not you were qualified. All you wanted to do was get in the city. That's it. There might have been other things that might rush through your mind temporarily, but you knew the one thing you needed to do is get in the city.

In the Deuteronomy account, in Deuteronomy 19, it said, prepare you a way, and this was talking about the road into that city. Now, like I said, and it talks about roads going to each city. And this is before the roads we have in our day, obviously. But these roads were maintained. All impediments were to be taken away. And like I said in the biblical literature, make sure they're 32 cubit or 48 feet wide. Well, this is 40 feet wide, so that tells you how wide this road is. Repair all the bridges. Make sure the signs are pointed in the right direction.

Christ is the way into the city. I am the way. Christ is the city. He's the way into the city. So that if you're in the way, you're in the city. I am the way, the truth and the life.

Now, may I be enabled to clear any impediments that we make in our mind, which are so numerous as to the way into this city. How can I know that I am in the city? What is the way into the city?

Now, listen to this question. This is a question we're all familiar with. It's what the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas. Sirs, what must? Don't miss that word. What must I do to be saved?

Now in making that statement, he demonstrated so clearly that he knew he couldn't save himself. Not what must I do to save myself? He was very clear that that could not happen. Here was his question, what must I do to be saved.

Now, I can imagine some theologian saying, well, don't you understand there's nothing you can do to be saved? You must believe in salvation by works. Now, somebody that would handle a passage of scripture like that's a fool. Think of the question. What must I do, me, right now, what must I do to be saved?

And I love the simplicity of Paul's answer. He said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Any other answer is wrong. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. and thou shalt be saved.

Now, here's the most important part of this. You know he's Lord. You know he's Jesus. You know he's Christ. You know who he is. Isn't that what the thief knew? Lord! Remember me when you come into your kingdom. The Lord revealed to him who he was is knowing who He is. And if you know who He is, you will believe on Him. You won't decide to believe on Him. You will believe on Him.

Believe on the Lord. Oh, I love to think of His lordship, Lord of creation. He spake the universe into existence. Do you believe that? Do you believe He's the creator? Lord of providence. He controls everything and everybody. He's the first cause of everything. Do you believe that? I do. He's the first cause. He's Lord of salvation. What that means is if I'm saved, it's because he saved me.

The leper understood that. Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. Do you see there's an understanding of who he He's the Lord, I love his name of Jesus. Thou shalt call his name Jesus. Four, he shall save his people from their sins. Do you love his name Jesus? Because you find that the only way you can be saved is if he saves you from your sins.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. God's Christ. God's prophet. The very word of God. He's all God has to say. God's priest. If he represents you, you must be saved. God's king. The reason he can do it is because he really is king. He's lord of lords and king of kings. He is the one whose will must be done.

Rely on the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't look for a thing from yourself. Don't look for a thing from anybody else. Rely on him alone. Rely on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.

I think of what the Ethiopian eunuch said, here's water. What hinders me from being baptized? Well, Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may. Now I can remember a time where I got kind of stuck right there. What's it mean to believe with my heart? Do I believe with all my heart? What if I only believe with 90% of my heart? What if I'm not sincere enough? What if I'm not this? What if I'm not that?

The heart is the understanding, the will, and the affections. When you start thinking, am I believing with all my heart? And you start thinking like that, we're looking in the wrong direction.

I believe in my heart with my understanding. With the heart man believeth under righteousness, with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. With my understanding, I do understand as much as I can, that the righteousness of Jesus Christ is the only righteousness I have. I understand that. Do you understand that? There is no other righteousness.

Not only do I understand that, the heart has to do with the affections. I love it being that way. I mean, this is what I love. I don't want it to be any other way. I love this. And my will, if I'm given the choice, would you rather be saved by the righteousness of Jesus Christ or by your own righteousness? I know what I'm selecting. His righteousness, because I know mine's no good.

Now that is believing with the heart. Now that Ethiopian eunuch, sir, or he said, see here's water, what hinders me in being baptized? Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your affections, with your will, that Christ's righteousness is the only righteousness there is, if you believe with all your heart, you may.

And I love what he said. I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, the God of scripture, the God of the old Testament, the second person of the blessed Trinity, the creator, the absolute sovereign of the universe. Do you believe who he is? If you do, you will trust Him only. You won't have any other choice. You won't have any other option. You'll look to Him and Him alone.

And if you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, not only are you in the way, you're in the city of refuge. I put this in the bulletin this morning. I love this, but let me read it to you.

Not saved are we by trying. I'm going to try to do better. Don't do it. Don't do it. Not saved are we by trying. From self can come no aid. Tis on the blood relying once for our ransom paid. Tis looking unto Jesus, the Holy One, and just. Tis His great work that saves us. It is not try, but trust. No deeds of ours are needed to make Christ's merit more. No frames of mind or feelings can add to His great store. Tis simply to receive Him. The Holy One and just, tis only to believe Him. It is not try, but trust.

If I believe that Christ is all in my salvation, and by the grace of God, I do, I'm in the city of refuge. And guess what? By his grace, I'm staying there. And I'm not getting out. This is a conscious desire to not be anywhere else. I don't want to be anywhere else. Why would I? There's nothing but destruction outside of that simply being in him. It's a conscience desire. I'm staying right here. Don't want to be anywhere else. It's the only place of safety and security.

And I'm so thankful that the Lord included in this, um, story with regard to the seas of refuge, the fact that once the high priest died, you're set free. When Christ said, it is finished, set free.

Trust the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray.

Lord, we ask that you would give us the grace to be in the city. of refuge, our Lord Jesus Christ. We ask that you would give us the grace to not stand away, but enter the city, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. And how we thank you that because of his death, we have immediate access into your presence because he didn't stay dead. Not only did he die, but he was raised from the dead. accomplishing salvation. Lord, how we thank you for what a city of refuge he is.

Now, would you bless this message for your glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.