”My City of Refuge” | Pastor John Tilley Jr | Joshua 20

Well, praise the Lord. Take your Bibles

and find your place in the book of

Joshua this morning.

[clears throat]

Joshua chapter 20.

Joshua 20 · chapter mention

Joshua chapter 20. This morning, I'm

Joshua 20 · chapter mention

going to pray and ask the Lord to help

us and then we'll jump right into the

word of God for a few minutes today.

Father in Jesus name we come and we say

thank you that you are alive.

Lord the grave could not defeat you.

Death could not hold you. Lord you have

defeated them both. You have risen in

victory. And the same power that

resurrected you from the grave lives on

the inside of each and every one of us

here this morning who are saved by the

blood of Jesus. And we say thank you and

we give you the praise and the glory

this morning. We exalt your name and we

lift you up. You alone are worthy of the

worship. Help us now as we open the word

of God. Lord, there are so many things

that could be said from this passage

this morning.

But I only want to say the things that

you would have me to say to your people

today. And so, Father, I pray that you'd

guide my mind and my heart this morning

as I preach. And may we be exactly where

you want me to be today. Help me to say

only what you would have me to say. Help

me not to say anything inaccurate or

confusing, but may we illuminate and

expound the Bible that you have given us

and apply it to our lives right where we

live. Help me as I preach today. I pray

help those who are listening to receive

the word with gladness and apply it to

their heart. We'll give you the glory

and the praise for it. We ask these

things in Jesus name. Amen.

Joshua chapter 20. This morning I want

Joshua 20 · chapter mention

to preach on this title, my city of

refuge. My city of refuge. And we're

going to look at one of the most

interesting Old Testament practices that

creates a picture for you and I of the

mercy and the grace of God. This is a

wonderful, wonderful picture of the Old

Testament process called the city of

refuge and how they had their judic

their their law system set up and how

that applies what it pictures for you

and I living in the New Testament. It's

a wonderful wonderful picture. When you

got in your vehicle this morning to come

to church, you most likely

you should have put on your seat belt,

right? Why would you put on your seat

belt? Well, because in the United

States, we have a civil law that says

you have to buckle your seat belt. And

that's to protect us. When you came to a

stop sign on your way here, you should

have stopped because we have a civil law

that commands us when you come to a stop

sign, put the brakes on and stop. Not

rolling stop. Don't roll through as

you're looking. But the law says whether

we obey it or not is up for debate. But

the law says a stop, right? You come to

a stop sign, you stop. If you came

toward a red light, you stopped. Why?

Because we have a civil law in the

United States that says when it's red,

you stop, and when it's green, you go,

and when it's yellow, you speed up and

get through it before it gets red.

Right? That's what the law said. A civil

law. We don't only do this in traffic

laws, but we also have laws that govern

our marriages and our land and our

building codes and our finances and our

workplace conduct, investments and

mortgages and every virtually every area

of our daily life, there are civil laws

that are in place that we abide by in

our culture. Right? Y'all with me? in

ancient civilization, in the ancient

Jewish culture, uh, where the nation of

Israel is, when they're getting the book

of Joshua, when that's being written,

they did not have law enforcement

departments at the state and the county

and the city level like we have today.

They didn't have people driving in

patrol cars making sure everybody obeyed

the civil laws.

They did have established civil laws,

though. That has not changed throughout

history. Every culture, every

civilization has had a group of civil

laws that they abided by. Though they

may have looked different for different

cultures and at different times, our

culture has the laws that that manage

and keep us safe in this culture, in

this busy culture that we live. Well, in

ancient Jewish culture, it was very

different. So, they had very different

civil laws.

When we come to Joshua chapter 20, we

Joshua 20 · chapter mention

are introduced to one of those civil

laws of the Old Testament period.

We're familiar with the Ten Commandments

that God gave Moses. Everybody remembers

the Ten Commandments. But did you know

that the Ten Commandments were not God's

only commands? In fact, there are over

600

commands that God gave to the nation of

Israel to govern their civilization in

the land of the promised land in the

land of Canaan. Now, those laws that God

gave to the nation of Israel were for a

specific time and for a specific purpose

and for a specific culture. So, you and

I do not have to abide by all 600 of

them. In fact, they're broken up into

three categories. Now, I'm laying

foundation. Y'all with me so far? We're

going somewhere here. There are three

categories of God's laws to the nation

of Israel in the Old Testament. The

first category is what we call the moral

law. The moral m o r a l, the moral law.

What is the moral law? It's the ten

commandments. The ten commandments are

God's law. They reveal God's character

and they are true and to be obeyed by

all people, all places, all times.

Everybody who's ever breathed God's air

has a a responsibility to live up to the

moral law. Now, we understand that's

impossible, right? We need a savior. We

need somebody to pay to pay our debt

because we could never live up to the

moral law, but God's expectation is that

everybody does. Does this make sense to

everybody? That's the first category,

moral laws, the ten commandments. The

second category that you will find in

the Old Testament is ceremonial laws.

These laws were very specific to the

nation of Israel and they had to do with

how you were to offer sacrifices and

behave yourself in the Old Testament

tabernacle or temple. They had a very

different sacrificial worship service

than we have now. They had to make

sacrifice for their sin. In the Old

Testament, you and I, the sacrifice has

already been paid, right? Jesus has been

our sacrifice. Jesus paid it also. We

just come and we worship him for what he

has already done. But in the Old

Testament, they set out a lot of laws, a

lot of things that it had to be done.

God wanted his worship to be done a

certain way, which that, by the way, has

not changed. God still expects worship

to be done his way, not our way. But in

the Old Testament, it was very

different. And so, God gave them a set

of specific guidelines, specific things.

These laws are ceremonial laws. Now, let

me tell you something. You and I do not

live under the ceremonial laws of the

Old Testament. We do not have to abide

by them. Can I tell you why? When Jesus

came and offered himself as the

permanent ultimate final sacrifice, he

completely fulfilled every single one of

the ceremonial laws in the Old

Testament. So, they have been completed.

There's no need to go back and perform

these rituals any longer. Jesus on the

cross said, "It is finished." He

completed it all. So, you and I, we come

and we worship our savior. So, but when

you're reading the Old Testament, you'll

find moral law, ten commandments, that

applies to everybody. You'll find

ceremonial laws that was for the temple.

And then you will find a third category

of law, and that is the civil laws.

That is the the laws that governed the

daily activity in ancient Israel. The

the laws that told you, "Hey, put your

seat belt on when you're in your car."

the laws that protected them and guided

them through their daily life. And this

morning we come to one of those civil

laws in the book of Joshua and chapter

20. And it's a wonderful exper. You say,

"Why would God include this in the

Bible?" Because when we're getting ready

to read these verses, we're going to

read them and you're going to think,

"Great. What does that have to do with

me?" And hopefully by the end of this

morning, I can I can do a an adequate

job of communicating God's word to us

and applying it so that you understand

why God included the civil laws,

specifically this one into your Old

Testament so that you and I can learn

from it. Are you ready to go? All right.

The city of refuge, Joshua 20, look at

verse number one.

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

kleth any person," this is key. Now,

watch these words, unawares or

unwittingly, that is unintentionally or

accidentally may flee thither, and they

shall be your refuge from thee. This is

a key, avenger of blood. Verse four. 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 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 up the slayer up

into his the avenger of blood's hands

because he smoked his neighbor

unwittingly or accidentally and hated

him not before time. Verse six, 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 and come unto his own city

and unto his own house unto the city

from whence he fled. And they appointed

Cadesh in Galilee in the mount napali

and Sheckchham in Mount Ephraim in

Kirjba with Kirj Arba which is Hebron in

the mount of Judah. And on the other

side Jordan by Jericho eastward they

assigned Beaser in the wilderness upon

the plain out of the tribe of Reuben and

Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad

and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of

Manasseh. These were the cities

appointed for all the children of

Israel, and for the stranger that

sojourned among them, that whosoever

kleth any person unawares might flee

thither, and not by die by the hand of

the avenger of blood until he stood

before the congregation.

Wow. What in the world does all that

mean? I'm going to do my best to explain

it. I'm going to give you just some

points, and you can write these down,

and we're just going to work through

this passage. Okay? The first thing you

can write down if you're taking notes is

the picture of the city of refuge. Right

from the beginning, before we get too

deep into this, I want you to understand

what is taking place in the Old

Testament and how it specifically

applies to us in the New Testament. That

way, as we work our way through this

passage, we can make applications as we

go. All right, here's the picture of the

city of refuge. The city of refuge in

the Old Testament is a picture of our

refuge in Jesus Christ in the New

Testament. Did you get that? The Old

Testament city of refuge is a picture

for you and I today of what Jesus

provides for us in the New Testament. We

could say it this way. Jesus is my city

of refuge. I have refuge in the person

of Jesus Christ. Now, the way that that

works and all of the similarities are

there are a vast amount of similarities

and we're going to work through them

here this morning. And and by the way, I

don't I don't I'm going to be very

careful. I don't want us to overallize

scripture this morning. But the picture

is clear. Okay? So, we're going to look

at what they did. We're going to apply

it to what Jesus did and we're just

going to take it at face value. One

other thing that to note is that every

picture is incomplete. You understand

that? If you dig too far into any

picture, you're gonna find flaws. This

morning, I came out of my house very

early in the morning and I came walking

over and the sun was just I the sky was

just getting pink. I mean, it was just

barely getting daylight this morning and

our we have the our flag out front here

and it just looked beautiful. The sun

comes up right over here and it was just

getting light on the horizon back here

and the flag was flying and it was just

enough light to see the flag and it had

its little solar light illuminating it a

little more and it was just a beautiful

picture. The steeple was there and so I

thought, my goodness, I'm going to pause

right here and take a picture of this.

So I stopped halfway between my house

and the church, the long walk that I

have every morning. I stopped right

there to take this picture and I I

pulled out my phone and I snapped the

picture and I looked at it and I said,

"That looks terrible.

I'm standing here looking at it and it's

beautiful, but on the picture just

doesn't do it justice. Have you ever

done that? Have you been in that place

where you thought, man, I've got to

record this. I've got to capture this

image, but it's just not complete. Okay,

understand that all pictures are

incomplete. When we come to this

passage, if you dig too deep into it and

you start nitpicking every single tiny

detail, you're going to be like, "Well,

this doesn't work and that doesn't."

Okay, understand it's a picture. It's

not the real thing. It's just giving us

an image that we can look forward or

look towards Jesus with. Does that make

sense? So, let me explain it to you. The

Old Testament, they didn't have a court

system like we understand in our

American mindset, but instead they would

have sought justice primarily through

retribution. They didn't have a court

system with a judge who would who would

execute judgment and and perform

justice. So in the case of a murder, the

closest male relative of the one who has

been murdered, the one who has been

killed would be in charge of performing

or satisfying justice for his family. So

if someone were to kill a family member

of mine, I would be called, the Hebrew

word is the goel. It's the same word

used of Boaz in the book of Ruth, the

kinsman redeemer, the next of kin. his

job would be to go perform justice for

his family and and it was capital

punishment. So if someone kills a close

family member of mine, it is my

obligation then to go slay them so that

justice can be performed in my family.

Now please, this does not apply to

today. Y'all understand this was for a

specific time. Go talk to Jason. We have

a court system today. Don't do this

today. But back then this is how it

worked. And so the avenger of blood,

that is the Hebrew word goel, the

kinsman redeemer, would be in charge of

pursuing justice for his family. Now

what about in the case where it is an

accidental killing, involuntary

manslaughter is what we would call it

today. You're you're working in the

field. In fact, there's a story in the

Bible that this exact thing happens.

They're they're working in the field and

the the head of the axe flies off and it

hits somebody in the head and kills him.

So, what do you do in that case? You're

buddies. You're working alongside each

other. Something happens and all of a

sudden you have killed your best friend

completely by accident. Well, there's

still an avenger of blood because

there's been a death and it's the

avenger of blood's job and and probably

his natural tendency now to pursue you

and slay you. But it was an accident.

You didn't mean you're as hurt as they

are, but now you're running for your

life. Do you see the dilemma? Well, God

is going to provide for this dilemma.

He's going to provide six cities of

refuge where this person who has

accidentally killed someone else can run

to this city of refuge and as long as

they're in the city, they'll be safe

from the avenger of blood. That's the

picture. Does this make sense so far?

What does it what does it picture then?

Okay, here's here's what we believe.

First of all, you have the city of

refuge. What is that picture? Well,

we've already stated the city of refuge

pictures the new is a new test uh

pictures the New Testament of Jesus

Christ. He is our city of refuge. We've

run to him and we are safe. All right,

does that make sense? What about the the

one who has slayed? Who is the guilty in

the picture? Well, the guilty is you and

I. We are the ones who have committed

crimes whether on purpose or accidental.

We are the one who is guilty and we are

the one who who judgment is coming for.

Now, this is really interesting. Who is

the third party then? The goel.

Who would be the one who is the avenger

of blood?

You and I guilty of sin. We'll just call

it sin. You and I guilty of sin. And so

we need a place of refuge to hide from

the avenger of blood. Who is the avenger

of blood? Well, you might be thinking

right away that it's Satan. That might

have been the first one that popped in.

It's the devil. He's the one who's after

us all. And there is a devil who is

after us all. But he's not the avenger

of blood in the picture. You know who

the avenger of blood is? It's God.

God is the avenger of blood. Because God

is the only one who can judge for sin.

God is the only one who is holy. Don't

give Satan the power to hurt you. He has

no power outside of what God gives him.

So in our picture, you have and this

will we're going to explain all this,

but you have to understand you have the

city of refuge. That's Jesus. You have

you and I who are guilty and you have

God who is the avenger of blood whose

holiness demands that he judge sin. So

if you come face to face with almighty

God outside of the person of Jesus

Christ, you will pay for your sin in an

eternity called hell. Does that make

sense to everybody? But if you run to

our city of refuge and you find rest in

the person of Jesus Christ, then Jesus

literally sealed you with his own blood

from the wrath of a thrice holy God.

That is the picture of the city of

refuge. Now let's look at how it works

very quickly this morning. I'll give

these to you very very quickly. Number

one, the plan. Write down the plan for

the city of refuge. I think that this is

number two. Number one was the p excuse

me, number one, the picture. Number two,

the plan for the city of refuge. This

wasn't something that they thought up

just, you know, one day Moses and Joshua

are thinking and Moses thinks, well, you

know what? This might be a problem.

Let's just throw this out there. This

might we'll just try this. Let's just

try the city of refuge system and see if

it works. And it wasn't something that

that was reactive. Often times, uh, I

will pre I've had this happen multiple

times in my preaching. I will preach a

sermon that is preached proactively,

meaning I'm trying to get ahead of a

problem. I'm trying to tell you what the

danger is before you do the problem. And

somebody in the audience is already

having a problem with the thing that I'm

talking about in the sermon. And they

think I'm preaching the message

reactively because somehow I found out

what they're struggling with and now I'm

out to get them in this morning's

sermon. Right? It happens more than you

would think. And I'm just preaching

proactively saying, "Hey, don't do this

because there's dangers involved." Okay?

When you come to this passage, the city

of refuge was not reactive. It wasn't

like, "Oh no, we have a dilemma. we've

got to hurry up and fix this or come up

with a lastm minute solution. No, it was

proactive.

Here, here's what I'm telling you. God

had a plan long ago for how he was going

to orchestrate this dilemma. Look, look

at some passages. You can write these

down. Exodus 21 12 and 13, years and

years before they ever crossed the

Jordan River, God has prescribed what's

going to happen. He said he he that

smiteth a man, excuse me, he that

smiteth a man so that he die shall be

surely put to death. That is capital

punishment. You kill a man, you die for

his life. The next verse says, "And if a

man lie not in weight, but God deliver

him into his hand, then will I appoint

thee a place whether he shall flee."

Okay, so if you kill somebody in cold

blood, you will pay your life for their

blood. But if it's an accident, God

said, "I'm going to prepare a place that

you might run where you'll be safe."

There's other passages. Numbers chapter

Numbers 35 · chapter mention

35, Deuteronomy chapter 4, Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 4 · chapter mention Deuteronomy 19 · chapter mention

chapter 19, all speak of the city of

refuge that is to come. It's prophetic.

I'm going to establish these places for

you that is a refuge. What does that

mean for you and I? I'm thankful this

morning that God had a plan for my

deliverance.

He had a plan for my place of refuge

before the foundations of the world

began. Let me read a few verses to you

this morning in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and

2 Timothy 1 · chapter mention

verse number nine. The Bible says, "Who

hath saved us and called us with a holy

calling, not according to our works, but

according to his own purpose and grace,

which was given us in Christ Jesus

before the world began."

God said, "I've got a plan for your

redemption. I've got a plan for your

safety. I've got a plan for your

eternity. I know how I'm going to fix

all this." Before the world began, how

about this one in 1 Peter 1 19 and 20?

but with the precious blood of Christ as

of a lamb without blemish and without

spot who verily was fore orained before

the foundation of the world but was

manifest in these last times for you.

Jesus was not the backup plan. Jesus

dying for our sins was not a reactive

event in God's calendar where he's

thinking, I got to come up with

something to fix the mess that they're

in. No, no, no. Before God ever created

Adam, he knew that we were going to mess

it up. And he already had a plan on how

he was going to fix it through Jesus

Christ. Revelation 13 and verse number

eight. And all that dwell upon the earth

shall worship him whose names are not

written in the book of life of the lamb

slain before the foundations of the

world. You see g sometimes we think that

oh Jesus came to this earth and and and

and they rejected him and they killed

him and oh poor Jesus. No, it's not poor

Jesus. He had a plan from the beginning.

God knew what was going to happen in his

sovereignty and he had a plan for you

and I to be redeemed through the blood

of Jesus Christ. I'm thankful there was

a plan for my city of refuge. But put

down number two,

the purpose of the city of refuge. Look

at verse number three.

Chapter 20 verse number three. that the

slayer that kleth any person unawares

and unwittingly may flee thither and and

they shall be your refuge from the

avenger of blood. The purpose of the

city of refuge was to provide a place of

protection for the one who is guilty of

killing another person accidentally.

And I used two words in that statement

on purpose. the word guilty and the word

accidentally

because both can be true.

Even if it's an accident,

you're still guilty,

right? Even if it's unintentional,

you're still guilty. And so, the purpose

of the place of refuge was to provide a

place of protection for the one who is

guilty of killing another person

accidentally. Now, who's going to decide

whether he was guilty or not? Well, it

tells us in verse four, we'll get here

in a moment, that the the people, the

elders within that city are going to

meet him at the gate and he's going to

tell them his side of the story and then

they're going to they're going to be the

judge essentially and decide whether it

was accidental or intentional. And if

they deem it was accidental, then

they'll let him into the city. We'll see

that in in verse number four.

But but stated plainly before we get to

that part, we can say that the city of

refuge was a place of safety for the man

who had committed a crime.

Whether it was accidental or or on

purpose, somebody's life has still been

lost. Somebody's family is still

hurting. Some somebody has still lost a

family member. You're still guilty.

A place of safety was necessary because

of at the end of verse three, the

avenger of blood. We've already

explained him. This is the Hebrew word

goel. It's used of Boaz in the book of

Ruth. It means the kinsman redeemer. Now

in the book of Ruth, we see the Goel and

he's doing his job of redeeming the land

and redeeming the seed of his his

brothers and he's raising and God uses

that wonderfully. But in this case, we

see the Goel as the kinsman redeemer as

the avenger of blood, the one who is to

cast judgment. And by the way, God God

does both. God is always the goel and he

accomplishes both. He is the one who

redeems us through the blood of Jesus

Christ, but he is also the one who is

just and holy and must judge sin.

So God is the picture or the the the

avenger of blood is a picture of God.

So the avenger of blood pictures for us

that judgment must be passed upon those

who have committed whether intentional

or accidental God must pass judgment on

somebody.

How many of you know that some probably

before you were saved and before you got

in church and before you started

studying your Bible, you did things that

were wrong, but you did them in

ignorance.

Paul talks about this. Paul said, "I did

things. I sinned against God, but I

didn't know I was sinning. I didn't know

any better. I did things that were

wrong. And and we could even say it

maybe this way. I did them on accident.

If I had known better, I probably

wouldn't have done it. Have you been

there? Before you were saved, before you

studied your Bible, before you knew what

God expected of you, you did things and

and you didn't know you were sinning. It

wasn't intentional.

But the fact of the matter is that

thrice, holy God must judge sin, whether

it was accidental or intentional. The

avenger of blood had a a a job. He had

to avenge the blood of his family.

And so God must avenge the sin of

people.

The wrath of God, the holiness of God

demands judgment for sin. We cannot say

God is holy and then make arrangements

for him to excuse sins. Oh no, how often

do we do this, right? Well, God is love

and God is grace and God just wants

everybody to go to heaven. And listen,

all three of those statements are

absolutely true. But you cannot have

those three statements and exclude from

the character of God his holiness at the

same time. There's a dual character. He

is both the kinsman redeemer and the

avenger of blood. His holiness demands

judgment for wrongdoing. So whether you

mean to be a bad sinner or not, you have

committed sin. And because we have

committed sin, judgment from a thrice

holy God must come down. Otherwise,

justice cannot be served.

So the avenger of blood is out to get

the slayer even though it was

involuntary.

So God then if if we believe that Jesus

is God and we believe that God is God,

God is the kinsman redeemer and he is

the goel. Let's put it in our passage.

God then is both the avenger of blood

and the city of refuge because in his

holiness he has to judge sin but in his

grace and his mercy he provides Jesus as

our safety. Is this making sense to

everybody? Don't you see the wonderful

picture? Okay, let's move on. Let me

give you a verse and then we'll move on.

Psalm 46 and verse one says, "God is our

refuge and strength, a very present help

in trouble.

God is holy. God is also loving. And

those two work together perfectly in

God's plan through the redemption of

Jesus. Write down number four. I think

this is number four. The process of the

city of refuge. The process. How did it

work? Well, let's notice verse number

four. Now 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 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. So

here's what has to happen. When the man

who had committed the involuntary

manslaughter comes to one of the cities

of refuge, he would be met at the gate

of the city by the elders of the city,

which was common in that day for the

elders, the leaders of the city to sit

at the gate. And so here he comes and

he's running. Uh notice the word in the

beginning of verse number four. And when

he that doth flee, you see that word

flee. He's in a hurry to get there and I

would be too. When he arrives, he comes

running up to the gate of the city. He

would present his case and and they

would decide if he was eligible to be

protected in that city. If they deemed

that the murder was done intentionally,

then they would receive him into the

city. If they if they deemed the murder

was or excuse me, if they deemed it was

intentionally, they would not allow him

into the city. But if it was deemed an

accident, if it was involuntary, then

they would receive him into the city and

provide him a place of protection.

However,

every picture is incomplete. And this is

one of the ways that this picture is

incomplete because you and I are guilty.

Sometimes we may sin on accident, but

most times we sin on purpose,

right?

And we can come before the the judge and

we can try and plead our case all we

want, but at the end of the day, we are

guilty of on purpose sin. But you know,

the good news is that nobody is turned

away from the gate of Jesus Christ. We

are all guilty of sin, but we are all

invited to come inside through the blood

of Jesus and find a place of protection.

All you've got to do is come through

Jesus. John 14 and verse 6, Jesus said,

"I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No man comes to the father but by me."

Jesus said, "I am the only way to stand

before a thrice holy God and all are

welcome to come." Romans chapter 10 and

Romans 10 · chapter mention

verse number 13. Whosoever

shall call on the name of the Lord shall

be saved. You know what whosoever means?

Anybody, everybody, whoever wants to can

come into the city of refuge called

Jesus and find safety and protection

from the wrath of God.

And by the way, if you have never

received Christ as your savior this

morning,

then you ought to flee.

Flee to the arms of Jesus Christ today

and allow him to protect you from the

wrath of God. If you are outside of

Jesus, there is absolutely nothing

separating you from the judgment of a

thrice holy God except his mercy to let

you breathe his air. That's the only

thing at any moment. God is just and

righteous in knocking you out and

causing his judgment to fall upon you.

He's just in doing that because you have

sin and he is the avenger. His holiness

demands he judge sin. You are walking on

thin ice. You ought to run as fast as

you can to the altar to the arms of

Jesus Christ and said, "Please protect

me. I'm trusting in you to do what I

cannot do. No baptism can protect you.

Money can't protect you. An offering

plate can't protect you. A pastor can't

protect you. There is nothing that

stands between you and the judgment of

God. So you ought to flee to the arms of

Jesus this morning and receive him as

your savior.

So the process,

there's no safety outside of Jesus. They

would come and decide what's the what's

the ruling. I'm so thankful with Jesus.

He's already made the ruling and he

said, "Whosoever will may come. Anybody

guilty or not, on purpose or on

accident, you just come and let me cover

your sin." Now, there's a few more

things we've got to notice very quickly.

Number five, there's the protection of

the city.

The protection of the city in verse

number five. And if the avenger of the

blood pursue after him, then they shall

not deliver the slayer up into his hand

because he smoked his neighbor

unwillingly unwittingly and hated him

not before time. So here's the picture.

If the avenger of blood follows the one

who has killed his family and he follows

him up to the gate of the city of refuge

and the rulers of that city have already

deemed that it was an accident and it

was unintentional and they have allowed

him to come into the city and now the

the avenger of blood arrives at the city

in hot pursuit to cast judgment on this

one who has wronged his family which is

his his his job and he says let me have

him I've got to I've got to perform

perform justice on behalf of my family.

Then the elders of the city would say

no. As long as he is in our city, you

can't have him. As long as he is within

these walls, you can't access him. He is

safe. There is protection in the city.

So it is with you and I and our

salvation. When we come to Jesus and we

call on the name of the Jesus Christ and

he saves us from our sin there. The

wrath of God cannot access you. He is

not going to turn you back over. This is

one of the big problems with with people

who teach that you can lose your

salvation because the image is you've

run into the city and Christ has

embraced you and Christ has protecting

you and then you that Christ decides

that you can't stay there any longer. So

he throws you out over the wall into the

wrath of God. What foolishness. Jesus

would never. The Bible teaches from

cover to cover that once you are saved,

you're always safe. He's not going to

turn you back loose and let let the

wrath of God affect you. No. If you are

in Christ, you are safe in Christ

forever. You are protected by the blood

of Jesus Christ. Notice number six,

the permanence of the city of refuge.

It's a permanent deal. Look at verse

number six. And he shall dwell in that

city until he stand before the

congregation for judgment and until the

death, this is so amazing, until the

death of the high priest. shall be in

those days. Then shall the slayer return

and come into his own city and unto his

own house, unto the city from whence he

fled. So there is a clause here in which

he would be able to exit the city and

live freely. What is the clause? When

the high priest

when the high priest has died,

who is our high priest?

Come on, don't go sleep on me now. Who's

our high priest? When the high priest

has died, you may now go free because

your penalty has been paid. Now, this is

an Old Testament picture, but it's

pointing us to something very valuable

that's going to come in the New

Testament. When Jesus Christ, who is our

high priest, gave up his life on the

cross, he paid the penalty for our sins

so that we can now go free. Isn't that

wonderful news? There's a second aspect

of it, though. Not only did our priest,

our high priest die for us, but our high

priest lives forever. Our high priest

did not stay dead. So, he's accomplished

the death part. Hey, I'm going to die

and pay the penalty of the sin. So, now

you can go free if you want to, but I'm

going to come back to life so that I'm

always alive and I'm never going to die

so that you're always protected and the

the avenger of blood can never access

you. Notice what it says. Let me let me

explain it just a little more detailed.

Here we In verse number six, he shall

dwell in that city and stand before the

congregation for judgment until the

death of the high priest. That shall be

in those days. Okay, that's that's

penalty paid. You're free to go now.

Then shall a slayer return and come to

his own city and his own house.

But but if the high priest, the

indication then is that as long as the

high priest is alive, he's protected

within the city.

Here's the image for you and I. Jesus

Christ is alive and well today. He's not

going anywhere. He's seated at the right

hand of God. He's ruling and reigning in

all sovereignty and all power. And as

long as Jesus is alive, listen very

carefully. As long as Jesus is alive,

the wrath of God cannot access the child

of God. And Jesus will never die. So for

all eternity, you and I are safe under

the blood of Jesus Christ, our high

priest. The book of Hebrews talks about

our high priest and how great of a high

priest we have in the person of Jesus.

So Jesus fulfills both the role of the

high priest and the role of the city of

refuge. He has accomplished it all. He

has fulfilled it all. That means your

eternal security is in Jesus.

Put down number seven. And this is where

we'll end this morning. We're done.

Number seven is the placement of the

city of refuge. These last verses are

going to point out six locations,

specific locations where the city of

refuge would would be placed. The

placement of these cities of refuge.

Now, it's interesting that these six

cities, you can come whenever you're

ready, dear. The six cities that are

spaced throughout the land are spaced

evenly.

There's three on that side of Jordan.

And there's three on this side of

Jordan. We have six cities. And what's

interesting is that no matter where you

are in the land of Canaan, you are no

more than one day's journey to the city

of refuge. You are always within reach.

They were very strategic in where they

placed them. They wanted this city and

that city. And you can look at a map and

it'll show you where the in fact the map

I printed for you last week will show

it'll highlight the city of refuge. And

you can see how they spaced them out

through the land of Canaan on that side

of Jordan and this side of Jordan. So

that no matter where you were, no matter

where the accident happened, no matter

where the crime took place, you were no

more than one day away from a city of

refuge. What's the picture? What's the

image?

Jesus is always available.

It does not matter who you are or where

you are or what you've done or where

your p what your past looks like or or

the things that you want to hide and not

let anybody know. Jesus is available to

everyone. You are no more far you are no

farther away from Jesus today than you

have ever been. You are within a reach

of Jesus Christ. Now to stay outside of

Jesus

is to put yourself at the mercy of God

who at any moment could take your breath

from you and cast you [music] into an

eternal hell. And he's just and

righteous in doing so. He has an

obligation to do so. And the only way

you escape that wrath is to flee. Run

into the arms of Jesus who died on

Calvar's cross. And with his arms spread

open wide and blood running down his

body and off of his face, he proclaimed,

"Father, forgive them. I'm dying in

their place. With my blood, I will pay

the penalty of their sins, the penalty

of their crimes. Everything they've done

wrong, I pay for it in full. It is

finished. I fulfilled the Old Testament

picture. I am the ultimate sacrifice.

And anyone who finds refuge in Jesus can

go to heaven and spend eternity in the

presence of God. You can't earn your way

there. You can't buy your way there. You

can't you can't do enough good things to

get yourself there. Oh, but if you will

just run to the city of refuge that we

have in Jesus, you will find peace and

comfort and eternal security. And you

will be saved for all of eternity. Jesus

is available to all, rich and poor,

black and white. Those who have money

and those who don't. Those who have cars

and those who don't. Those who wear nice

clothes and those who don't. Jesus is

available to all. He's available to the

Catholic and the Presbyterian and the

Methodist and the Baptist. He's

available to all people. You just got to

come into the city of refuge and trust

that the blood of Jesus is enough to

protect you from the wrath of a thrice

holy God. What an image. What a picture.

My city of refuge. Here's my question to

you. Is he your city of refuge?

Has there been a moment in your life

where you have asked Jesus Christ to

save you from your sin?

If you don't have a moment in your mind

where you have asked Jesus on purpose,

said God, I know I'm a sinner and I know

because of my sin, I am doomed to face

the wrath of God. And so I'm asking,

would you please forgive me? Please save

me.

If you've never done that, then this

morning is a great morning for you to

run into the arms of Jesus. And I

promise it does not matter what you have

done or where you have been. He will

gladly receive you into himself. And he

will be your city of refuge. And your

eternal security will be a stamp in

stone, never to be removed. And we will

rejoice with you this morning over a new

soul, a new name written down in the

lamb's book of life.

For many of us, you probably do have a

moment in your life. You remember the

time where you asked Jesus to save you.

You could tell me about it if I asked

you. Say, "Yeah, in that moment, I ran

into the city of refuge. I didn't know

it was my city of refuge. I probably

didn't know a whole lot of things, but I

knew I needed Jesus to get to heaven."

And so, I asked him to be my savior this

morning. If that's where you are, you

say, "I know I'm saved. I'm 100% sure

I'm saved. I'm confident that if if I

passed into eternity today, I know I

would go to heaven because I am inside

of the finished work of Christ." [music]

Hey, wonderful.

Wonderful.

When's the last time you told Jesus,

"Thank you for being my city of refuge.

Thank you for giving up your life and

paying my penalty with your own blood so

that I could go free." We'll take just a

few moments here this morning. Those of

us who are saved, I'm going to invite

you to just come and pray and say,

"Jesus, thank you.

Thank you for the blood. Thank you for

the sacrifice. Thank you that I can go

free. And if you're not saved, while

Christians are coming to pray, I'm going

to ask you to come. And I'm going to

make myself available this morning.

Would you just come down here and wave

at me or grab a hold of me and allow me

to take a Bible and show you how you can

be saved, how you can run into the city

of refuge this morning. Would you stand

while she plays?

Let's take a moment and respond to the

beautiful picture of the word of