Jesus Christ is presented as the ultimate city of refuge, offering divine provision, protection, and position for all who flee to Him. The sermon draws parallels between the Old Testament cities of refuge, appointed for those who killed unintentionally, and the salvation found in Christ for all sinners. Key passages from Joshua 20, Psalm 49, and other scriptures highlight that while earthly riches cannot redeem, Christ provides eternal security and a sanctuary. The sermon emphasizes the importance of maintaining fellowship with God, symbolized by the names and meanings of the cities of refuge like Kiddish (sanctuary), Shekin (shoulder), Hebron (fellowship), Bezer (stronghold), Ramoth (high place), and Golan (joy), to experience His power and peace.
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God sent his son him Jesus he came to love heal and forgive he lived and died to born my pardon an empty grave is there to prove my savior is because he lives i can say tomorrow he lives.
Oh, fear is gone, because I know I'm the only host of future, and life is worth living just because he lives. How sweet to hold. Oh, never may he be. And feel the pride and joy he gives. But play to steal So come assured, This child can save a certain day, Because he leaves.
And in one day, I'll cross my river, I'll fight like final war with pain. And in a death, His way to victory I'll see the light of glory And I'll know he reigns because he lives tomorrow because he lives oh fear is gone because I know I know my future and life is where the living just because he lives Life
is worth the living just because we live. Turn with me, if you please, to Joshua chapter twenty. The book of Joshua chapter twenty. The Lord also spoke unto Joshua saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I speak 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.
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 were few after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand, because he smote his neighbor unwittingly, and hated him not before time. 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 Kedish in Galilee, in Mount Neftali, and Shikim in Mount Ephraim, and Kiriat Arba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah. And on the other side, Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness, upon the plain out of the side of Ruben, and Ramos. in Gilead, out of the tribe of Gers, and Golan Basin, out of the tribe of Manasseh. These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourners among them, that whosoever killeth one person, any person, as unaware as might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.
Lord will bless Christ the reading of his word. We read here about the cities of refuge appointed unto the people of Israel. And as I read this passage, I must have read it thousands of times, but very recently it was all new to me. For every people in the world, there are certain characteristics and traits. For the people of the Middle East, these people are not Any exception? There are a number of characteristics. For instance, they are hospitable. They are good to deal with if you know the ways of their hearts. But one very outstanding trait, one very outstanding characteristic of the people of the Middle East, and I'm one of them.
I'm talking about the persons who don't know Jesus Christ as their Savior. They are very revengeful. They will not forget an evil done to them. It may last with them for years. And the Basus feud, which lasted for forty years, and thousands of people fell victims to the war. And the feud that has lasted for forty years is a witness to what I'm saying. They are revengeful. Now, here is a case of a person. who killed another person unwittingly unawares. He was falling a tree, for instance, in the axe head, flew and killed a person, unawares.
What would you do there? The avenger of blood will not forget it. He would try to get even with the slayer, but he killed him unawares. God said that they would appoint six cities, cities of refuge. And here we see a number of things that are noteworthy concerning those cities of refuge. First of all, they were divine provision. Divine provision for the man who killed another man unawares. But what about people who transgressed willingly? Who and are we like sheep?
All we like sheep have gone astray. Why? We committed murder. No, not necessarily. We have turned everyone, we have turned willingly, willfully, everyone to his own way. But praise God for his divine provision. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He, Jesus Christ, our Lord, is our city of refuge, and we flee there too, and are safe. And our safe friend who do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior, now is your opportunity.
Today is the day of salvation. He is our city of refuge. Turn with me please to Psalm forty nine. We're going to read a tremendous statement there. In Psalm forty nine, I like to speak out of the word of God out of the scriptures. Because they really show you the mind of God. Look at verse six, please. They that trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.
For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceases forever. It's impossible for any man to redeem another man. Who can redeem me, therefore? Who can save me? How do I know that my sins are forgiven? We praise God for him who was made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. In the city of refuge, in Jesus Christ our Lord, you find divine provision for all our sins. Secondly, we find there divine protection.
Divine protection. In Second Samuel chapter three, we read of a tragedy, a great tragedy. Joab killed Abner. Why? Because of a feud. Revengeful. He was the adventurer of blood. But David mourned the death of Abner. And he said in his lamentation, Abner died like a fool. Why? Why did Abner die like a fool? because he died at the gate of Hebron. And Hebron was one of the six cities of refuge. He was just one step away.
He could have taken a step inside Hebron and would have been utterly safe, completely safe, protected. But he died like a fool because just one step short of safety. Is there anyone here, Justice Akhenoun, who just one step away Christ is standing here pleading with you. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and stop with him and he with me. Come unto me only that labor and that heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Divine protection. You are safe forevermore.
My seat hear my voice, and I know them. And I give unto them what kind of a life? Eternal. everlasting life and they shall never perish neither can any man pluck them out of my hand my father who gave me is greater than all and no man can pluck them out of my father's hand I and the father are one praise God for this great fact of the eternal security of the believers I was telling someone who did not believe in it one day about the eternal security of the believer and he said yes brother Adley it is true that no man can pluck me out of my cry out of Christ's hand But I can choose to jump out of his hand. I said, Teller, I am a member of his body.
How can a member of my body choose to jump out of my body? Let me try. Please jump. Please jump. For my sake, jump. For my wife's sake, jump. Would it jump? Am I glad it does not obey me? It would not jump. I am a member of His body. We are members of His body. And His body is a living organism, the church of God. How can a member of my body jump out of my body? My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and I give unto them eternal life. Divine protection. Praise God, I am saved forevermore in the hand of Jesus Christ my Lord.
Thirdly, I can see their divine position, not only divine provision and divine protection, but divine position. Those six cities were to be accessible, so located that they would be absolutely accessible throughout the land of Israel. As the slave who killed anybody unwittingly could flee to one of them very easily without much effort. And today... Jesus Christ is calling to you, come unto me, but not only come unto me. Behold, I stand at the door. At the door.
And knock. Behold, I stand at the door. And knock. Friends, be wise today. And come to the Savior. But, you know, we people of the Middle East attach great, great importance to names. Names are very important to us. They really summarize the ambitions and the aspirations of the parents for this child. Before the child is born, we think of the name that we give to him, to it, to him or to her. And this name would summarize the hopes we have for the child.
I would ask you to pardon a personal experience. We were married in forty-five, the first child arrived in fifty-five, a girl, and followed by a girl, two girls. But Lily, the first born, when she was five and a half years old, came to us one day from school, and she was most unhappy. She wouldn't talk. But Lily? Why? What's the matter? No. What's the matter? Oh, no. She wouldn't talk. She was pouting. She wouldn't talk. At last she opened up, she said, every girl in the class has a brother. I don't have one. I said, bless your heart. Didn't say bless your gutter this time.
Why don't you pray? And the Lord will give you a brother. Really that? If I pray, would the Lord give me a brother? What would I say there? I said, well, yeah, yes. Yes, if it is God's will, he will give you a brother. But pray. And you know, she started praying. God Please, give me a brother to be a friend to me. As simple as that. Give me a brother to be a friend to me. So we decided, if it were a son, we'll call him Samir, S-A-M-I-R, which means brother, good friend, good brother, good friend. And when my wife was expecting, we had no shadow of a doubt that he was going to be a Samir, a boy.
And he was a boy. He's still a boy. And we called them Samir, S-A-M-I-R, which means good friend. So we think of the name that would summarize the hopes and the aspirations of the parents for the child. Those cities were not chosen at random. There was not an accent. They have names, and the names mean a lot to you and to me. Let us study the cities and the names of those cities. Look at verse seven please. They appointed Kiddish. Kiddish is an Arabic word. And I'm glad it is. And the Hebrew word too.
Which means sanctuary. Sanctuary. And what a tremendous message there is. In this name for you and for me. I really pity the people who call the chapels or the churches they go to the sanctuaries. There is no sanctuary on earth built with hands now anymore. There are many sanctuaries. You, I, every believer in Christ, every type of God is a habitation of God by the Spirit. God lives in me, in you, through his Spirit.
Know ye not that your bodies are temples for the Holy Spirit? And that not you are own? You are not your own? Yes, friend, it is a tremendous privilege. and a tremendous responsibility. Know ye not young man, know ye not so young, that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. This is the kittish. This is the sanctuary. This is the holy place where God dwells. See to it that God's temple is holy. Yes, my house is the house of what? Prayer.
My house is the house of prayer. How much time do you spend in prayer every day? How much time? Yes, friends, this is the need of the hour today for the child of God. Do you believe really that prayer changes things? The Holy Spirit wrote the biography of Elijah, the man of God, in two words, only two words. You know what the words were? He prayed. Elijah was a man subject to such lack passion that you and I are, and he preached the great sermon on Mount Carmel, right? No. And he prayed.
He prayed. It is no more pews we need in the church. It's no more money we need in a church. There's plenty of money. It is filling of the spirit of God in the people who pray to God. Yes, we are fond of organization these days. We have many organizers, but few agonizers. We want people who agonize in prayer. If you are right, where is the God of Elijah today? But where are the Elijahs of God today? Where are the people who know the mind of God and bent the knee before God and changed the course of nature? He has not changed.
He is the same yesterday. Today and forever. And I believe in the God of the impossible. I believe in the God of the impossible. Friends, pray. Pray. Keep the temple of God holy. Separate unto him. Kiddish. Secondly, second city mentioned in verse seven also. It is called chicken. And chicken means shoulder. Chicken means shoulder.
And this brings a message of consolation and comfort to my heart. In the Old Testament, the high priest bore the names of the children of Israel on his two shoulders and on his breast. On the shoulder pieces. of garments and on the breastplate. And he bore the names of the children of Israel before God in the sanctuary. And I praise God I have a high priest. Not after the order of Aaron. But after the order of Melchizedek he does not die, he ever liveth.
To make intercession for me. And make intercession for you. Friends, take courage. Never give up. Your Savior is living today. He's alive. He knows your difficulty. He knows the circumstances you're passing through. He knows the need you have. He knows the want you have. He knows all about you much more than he knows it yourself. And he's not only knowing, but he's all powerful. He knows and he loves and he cares. Yes, second, You are carried not only on his shoulder but on the palm of his hand in his heart.
He appears before the throne of grace for you and for me. Thirdly, I cannot stop too long on each one. But the third city is also mentioned in verse seven. Hebrew. Hebrew. And Hebrew means fellowship. Made of two syllables. Love. and Ron, Hebrew on fellowship. What is fellowship? As I said some time ago, it's one of the richest words in Christian literature. Fellowship can be defined best in this way. It's a common joy in a common object shared by God speak.
Common joy in a common object shared by God's people. And what is the common joy for you and for me? We have fellowship with God, and we have fellowship with each other. And see to it, friend, that this greatest, highest privilege of yours is maintained unbroken. Fellowship with God, therein lies the secret of your power. Therein lies the secret of my power. If this fellowship is maintained, I know you are saved. I know nobody can take your salvation away from you. But someone can take that fellowship away, break it.
And when the fellowship is broken, the power is gone. Do you remember what happened in John chapter thirteen when the Lord came to wash the feet of his disciples? He came to Peter. And Peter said, you wash my feet? No. I wash yours, not you wash mine. What does the Lord say to him? If I don't wash you, You have no portion, what? Not in me. With me. Portion in him we have. Nobody can take it away from us. But portion with him should be maintained all the time. If something comes in between, this portion with him is forfeited.
Yes, as you walk and as I walk day by day in this world, we get dirted and we need to be washed, not washed from my sin, not washed by regeneration that cannot be repeated, but washed day by day to maintain the fellowship with the Lord. You remember what happened in the life of David? One day when he was in fellowship with the Lord, he was so sensitive, he was alert. He wanted to have this fellowship always maintained. And he cut off part of the hem of the cloak of souls when he was chased by souls.
What happened? His heart beat him, smote him. He felt convicted. I touched the Lord's anointed. Even it was only a bit, a very far away bit, from the cloak of souls. But later on, He killed and he committed a heinous sin. And there was no conviction. Why? Because he was out of fellowship with the Lord. The trouble with you. Maybe it is that you are out of fellowship with the Lord. See to it, friend. Come back to fellowship with the Lord so that you may be able to enjoy the blessings of God that he has in store for you. Yes, or think of the life of Jacob.
Yes, he was coming back to meet Esau, his brother. The Lord told him to go back to his own land. But he knew what awaited him. He knew what he had done to Esau, his brother. And he dreaded the encounter very much. And he thought his need was for more tactics. So he laid some tactics. How to meet Esau. He thought he needed some wisdom. And why? He depends upon his own wisdom. You know Jacob, again names. Jacob is Yaqob in Arabic. And Yaqob is taken from the root Aqob. Aqob means heal. Yaqob is a person who takes people by the heels.
A healer, not H-E-A, H-E-E-E. It's a person who takes people by the heels. Actually, it is now idiomatic in our language. A person who's given the trickery is a Yaqob. It's a Jacob. It's not a good name. We choose good names for our children. You do too, don't you? Iris, Margaret, Rose, Violet, forget me not, and all these good names you choose for your children. But Yaqub is not a good name. It's not a good name. And on in Genesis thirty-two, he was left alone.
And a man with a capital M wrestled with him all night. You know who the man with the capital M was? He came to show Jacob his need. And he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh. And the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint. And all his plans tumbled to the ground. He cannot run anymore. And he held on to this man. I will not leave the except thou bless me. You cannot get away. Now I cannot run. I will not leave the except thou bless me. Then came the most Critical question, far-reaching, far-searching in Jacob's life.
What is your name, Jacob? What is your name? Well, that opens a very big topic. He could have answered, according to our custom, in the Middle East, I am the son of Isaac. You know, if you ask me my name, if you were seven thousand miles away, what's your name I say? Bin Fem. Bin Fem means the son of Fem. Bin Bela. Ben Gorion. Ben Gordon. Son of, son of, son of. Ben is son. And son of Ben Gordon. Ben Gorion. He could have said son of Isaac. Ben Isaac. And that was glory to him. And really the truth. But he understood the meaning of the question.
What is your name? Ah. My name is David. Swindler. Trickers. Tricky person. Ah, your name shall be no more Jacob, but Israel. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just. To forgive us our sins and cleanse us from how many? All unrighteousness. Friends, the man with a capital M is standing in our midst this evening, and he's asking you the same question. What is your name? He wants a blessing, I'm sure. He don't want to leave this conference without the blessing.
And he is more willing to give the blessing that you are more willing to receive it. What is your name? What is your name? In the quietness, in the silence, in the hush of this hour. Answer it before the Lord, between you and him. Lord, my name is prayerless. My name is gossip. My name is sluggish. My name is lawful. My name is stingy. My name is cold-hearted. If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just.
And if you don't confess your sins, he abides faith and can never deny himself how? How? We misinterpret this. We misunderstand it. He can never deny his holiness. He can never deny His holiness. It's a fearful thing to fall in the hand of the living God. He is willing to give you the blessing now. If you are willing to receive it in the right way, yes, Hebrew means fellowship. And you can keep this fellowship unbroken, maintained unbroken between you and the Lord.
You can do it right now. We come to the fourth city in verse eight. On the other side, Jordan by Jericho, eastward they assigned Beezer. And Beezer means stronghold. Stronghold. We say Beezer in Arabic now, but Beezer or Beezer is the same word, stronghold. And Jesus Christ our Lord is my strength, is my strength. He is your strength and weakness. He protects, he keeps, he gives you the power. He gives you the power, but on condition, keep the fellowship maintained, unbroken.
I don't know whether I told some of you about the experience I had back in Lebanon. I had bought a beautiful tape recorder, four tracks, stereophonic, or it was just beautiful. One of my brothers came from East to visit me. My son then was about three years old, three and a half years old. And he believed me was very, very interested in putting his hand to everything. Right. And I wanted to show my brother what the beauty of a tape recorder I had bought. And I got it for him. Put the tape. Jim Reeves pushed the button. Nothing happened. I pushed all the buttons. Nothing happened. Nothing happened.
I'm no mechanic. And I'm not electronically binded. So I tried to fidget with it, you know, so I began to perspire and feel too small. Oh, this son of mine, he spoils everything. He spoils everything. Of course, it's good to have escaped those. And the poor boy could not justify himself. And then we wanted to dismiss it this way. But I just by accident looked behind and I discovered the secret. It was not plugged in. not like no power no fellowship no power why is it that our Christian today that are living a defeated life no power because fellowship is not maintained with the source of power there is something called sin S-I-N in between in between Is there anything in between?
Be there. Stronghold. And he has not changed. He is my strength. The Lord is the strength of my salvation. He is my stronghold. Let me continue on. The city number five. Ramos in verse eight. Ramos in Gilead. And Ramos means high place. Ramoth means high place. Rama or Ramoth means high place. And brother and sister, as I said this morning, you and I are seated together with Christ in the heavenly places. If ye therefore be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above. Seek those things which are above.
Seek the will of God for your life, for anything, for everything you do. You say, well, I have been praying for the will of God. I don't know. It is most difficult to know the will of God. Listen, friend. It is not most difficult. It's not easy, but it's possible if the fellowship again is maintained between you and all. Let me give you a few experiences of mine. In these years I have known the Lord. How do I know the will of God? Here it is. Should I travel or not travel? Should I marry her or marry him or not marry her or marry him? Why? How? How can I know God's will? Let me give you a few principles that may help you to find out the will of God in a number of matters in life.
A. God never leads contrary to his word. No. Never. It's a principle that can never be changed. God said, thou shalt not tell lies. You will not tell lies. Don't pray and say, no, shall I tell lies or not. God never leads contrary to his word. Secondly. God does not lead all his children alike. There is a special leading for every person. It depends upon fellowship, as I said, maintained between you and the Lord day by day. Tune your ear to his voice.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them. Thirdly, God does not always lead us In the same way in every circumstance, there is a special leading for special circumstances that therefore keep the fellowship unbroken. Fourthly, don't trust your emotions. Emotions are very subtle and deceptive. Very often because you want something, you think this is the leading of the Lord. He does not, don't trust your emotions.
Number five, number five, there will be a deep peace when God's leading is given. A deep peace when his leading is given. Number six, when peace is given, don't doubt the leading. Shut the door. Take it from the Lord and act upon it. Yes, this is a help. to know the Lord's leading in the circumstances of life. But remember, general principles for knowing the will of God, this is the will of God for you, even your sanctification, in all things.
And this is the will of God for you that you give thanks. In all things, giving thanks for this is the will of God for you. What I said about the principles are principles for his leading, for God's leading. Number six, City number six. In verse eight, Golan of the tribe of Manasseh, invasion. And simply Golan means joy. Golan means joy. Yes, there is joy for you today. And always, and at all times, the joy of the Lord. Your strength, it does not depend upon circumstances.
His joy and his peace, not as the world gives. Give I unto you. My peace I give unto you. Think of Philip, or rather Stephen, a bigger father, the first martyr in Christianity. He stood before those people. He knew exactly what was going to happen. It was a foregone conclusion. He could see the stones. He knew the verdict. He knew the outcome. But he was not shaken. Why? His face sounded like the face of an angel. Why? Because he could see the Lord Jesus in front of him. I see heaven open. And Jesus standing, not sitting, standing at the right hand of God. Why? Welcome home, Stephen.
Welcome home. Therefore he was filled with joy. He could even pray for the enemies. Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. Filled with joy. Filled with peace. Why? Fellowship with the Lord. He could see the Lord Jesus. Yes, Moses could see him too. And he was not afraid of the wrath of the king. He despised the treasures of Egypt. Because he looked at the recompense. And he went undaunted. Not afraid. Because he knew before whom he was going. Think of Elijah before Ahab. Physically speaking, he was standing before Ahab.
But what did he say? I'm not afraid of you. As the Lord liveth before whom I stand. As the Lord liveth before whom I stand, standing before I have. But he was really standing before the Lord. Talking to the Lord. And hearing the Lord talking to him. Friends. Fellowship with the Lord. Go land. The joy of the Lord is your strength. All these are possible. because Jesus Christ is my city of refuge to me. Are you living in Kiddish? Are you living in Shekin?
Are you living in Bezer? Are you living in Hebron? Are you living in Golan? Are you in Jesus Christ? Then you are in the source of peace. and joy. Shall we pray? Our loving Heavenly Father, we praise and we thank thee. For the Son of thy love, Jesus Christ our Lord, he who spared not his son, but delivered him up for us all.
How shall he not with him also freely give us all things. We thank you that all things are mine in Christ our Lord. Father, in the quietness of this hour, speak to each heart and help us to be in the center of thy will for us. Until the journey is done, until the race is run, until the crown is won, For Christ we pray. Amen.