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Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Good evening everyone. Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. You can find your seats. Turn your hymnals to song number 173, Love Lifted Me. Song 173, Love Lifted Me. 173, Love Lifted Me. Music On the first. From the waters lifted me. Now say, Ma'am I. Love Lifted Me. Love Lifted Me. When nothing else could help, Love Lifted Me. Love Lifted Me. Love Lifted Me. When nothing else could help, Love Lifted Me. All my heart to Him I give ever to Him a clean. In His blessed presence live ever His praises sing. Love so mighty and so true merits my soul's best songs. Faithful loving service to Him belongs. Love Lifted Me. Love Lifted Me. When nothing else could help, Love Lifted Me. All my heart to Him belongs. Faithful loving service to Him belongs. Faithful loving service to Him belongs. Jesus completely saves. He will lift you by His love out of the angry ways. He's the Master of the sea. Pillows His will obey. He your Savior wants to be saved today. Love Lifted Me. Love Lifted Me. When nothing else could help, Love Lifted Me. When nothing else could help, Love Lifted Me. All right, let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for all the opportunities to go out soul winning. Please bless those souls that were saved today. Thank you for Steadfast Baptist Church and help the man of God preach the great sermon today for your honor and glory. It's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. All right, for our second song, we're going to turn to song number 335, If Jesus Goes With Me. 335, If Jesus Goes With Me. 335, If Jesus Goes With Me. It may be in the valley where countless dangers hide. It may be in the sunshine that I in peace abide. But this one thing I know, if it be dark or fair. If Jesus is with me, I'll go anywhere. If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere. Tis heaven to me where I may be if Jesus is there. I counted a bridge here, his cross to bear. If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere. It may be I must carry the blessed word of life across the burning deserts to those in sinful strife. And though it be my loss to bear my colors there. If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere. If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere. Tis heaven to me where I may be if he is there. I counted a bridge here, his cross to bear. If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere. But if it be my passion to bear my cross at home, while others bear their hurt, lives beyond the billows' home. I'll prove my faith in him, confess his judgment fair. And if he stays with me, I'll go anywhere. If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere. Tis heaven to me where I may be if he is there. I counted a bridge here, his cross to bear. If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere. All right, one more, one more verse. Here we go. Everybody sing it out real loud together. If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere. Tis heaven to me where I may be if he is there. I counted a bridge here, his cross to bear. If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere. All right, great singing. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. Thank you for being here this evening. This time we're going to go through our bulletins. If you don't have one, go ahead and raise your hand and an usher will bring you a copy. We have there on the front our verse of the week. This is the grace week for Psalm chapter 58. So this is the last week for you to be able to quote this whole chapter. And if you do that by Saturday, Saturday is the last day of this week to be able to do that. On Sunday, you will get a prize. We'll have a couple of nice King James Bibles for girls and for guys and also some gift cards as well. So make sure to try to memorize this chapter by this week. On the inside, we have our service times on the left there. Sunday morning at 10 30 a.m., our Spanish service at 4 30 p.m. Looked like a pretty good Spanish service crowd this evening. So that was encouraging to see for sure. Also our Sunday evening service at 5 30 p.m. and our Wednesday evening Bible studies every Wednesday at 7 o'clock p.m. Also is listed our church wide soul winning times that meet here at the building there and our regional times meet at various locations at various times. So be sure to get with one of those respective leaders if you are interested. We also have our stats for the month of September for salvation and baptisms as well as our year to date stats. And on the right there is our prayer section. We have our expecting ladies list. Make sure to keep all those ladies in your prayers. Definitely a lot to be praying for right now. And also just our weekly prayer list listed there. If you have anything that you'd like to add, please send that into the email. Let us know if it's a public or a private prayer. It's a public prayer. We'll be happy to put that in the bulletin for you guys on the back. Real quickly, we have our upcoming events. September twenty third is our fall swap. Miss Natasha's or Meno is leading that. If you have any questions, you can go ahead and speak with her. But if you have anything of value at home that you want to bring, please do bring that. Or if you just want to check out what other people are bringing and want to take something home, please do that as well. Mr. Meno's baby shower is going to be on September thirtieth from nine a.m. I'm sorry, from twelve thirty p.m. to two thirty p.m. at the church building. And you could RSVP to Miss Lauren Milstead for that. October first is our neighborhood barbecue where we just are inviting everyone to come to church for that evening. And we're going to have some guys helping out barbecuing hamburgers and hot dogs that we just want to serve the community to after. And it's a great chance to get to know people and also to preach the gospel. October twelfth through the fifteenth is our fire-breathing Baptist fellowship. Like I mentioned this morning, if you're interested in more details on that or what the itinerary is going to be for that week, we do have some printouts on that front table that have a detailed explanation of everything that's going on during that conference. We have a lot of events planned, so it should be a really fun time coming up just in a couple of weeks. October thirty first is our Texas chili cook-off. If you don't know the rules for that by now, then anything I say is pointless because you don't listen to the announcements anyways. We all know the rules for that, right? No beans. November fourth is our Abilene, Texas soul-winning marathon. That's our next soul-winning marathon we're doing. We're giving West Texas a little bit of love this time. I've never been out there, never did any soul-winning out there, so looking forward to see how receptive Abilene is. If you're going to that, please do sign up on the sign-up sheet at the front there. That is pretty much it for announcements. Let's go ahead and go to Psalm 148. Psalm 148. Psalm 148. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord from the heavens. Praise Him in the heights, praise Him. All His angels praise Him. All His hosts praise Him. Sun and moon praise Him. All He stars of white praise Him. He heavens of heavens and He waters that be above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord. For He commanded and they were created. He hath also established them forever and ever. He hath made a decree which shall not pass. Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons and all deeps. Fire and hail, snow and vapor, stormy wind, fulfilling His word mountains. And all hills, fruitful trees, and all cedars peace. And all cattle, creeping pigs, and flying fowl, kings of the earth. And all people, princes and all judges of the earth, both young men and maidens, all men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lord. For His name alone is excellent, His glory is above the earth. And heaven He also exalted the Lord. Of His people the praise of all His things, even the children of Israel. Of people near unto Him praise He the Lord. As the offering plates are being passed around, please turn in your Bibles to Numbers chapter 35. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Numbers chapter 35, Numbers chapter 35, the Bible reads, And the Lord spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, Command the children of Israel that they give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in, and ye shall give also unto the Levite suburbs for the cities round about them. And the cities shall they have to dwell in, and the suburbs of them shall be for their cattle and for their goods and for all their beasts. And the suburbs of the cities, which he shall give unto the Levite, shall reach from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round about. And ye shall measure from without the city on the east side two thousand cubits, on the south side two thousand cubits, on the west side two thousand cubits, on the north side two thousand cubits. and the city shall be in the mist. This shall be to them the suburbs of the cities. And among the cities which he shall give unto the Levites, there shall be six cities for refuge, which he shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither. And to them ye shall add forty and two cities. So all the cities which he shall give to the Levites shall be forty and eight cities. Them shall ye give with their suburbs. And the cities which he shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel. From them that have many ye shall give many, but from them that have few ye shall give few. Every one shall give of his cities unto the Levites, according to his inheritance which he inheriteth. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come over into the land of Canaan, then ye 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 he stand before the congregation in judgment. And of these cities which ye shall give, six cities shall ye have for refuge. Ye shall give three cities on this side, Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge. These six cities shall be a refuge both for the children of Israel and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither. And if ye smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. And if ye smite him with a throwing of stone, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. And if ye smite him with a hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer. When he meeteth him, he shall slay him. But if he thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying of weight, that he die, or an enemy, enmity, smite him with his hand, that he die, he that smote him shall surely be put to death. For he is a murderer. The revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him. But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him anything without laying of weight, or with any stone, or with a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, that he die, and was not his enemy, neither saw his harm, then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood, according to these judgments. And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled, and he shall abide in it, unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil. But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he 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, 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 into the land of his possession. So these things shall be for a statue of judgment unto you throughout your generations, and all your dwellings. Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses, but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die. Moreover, you shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. And you shall take no satisfaction for him that has fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land until the death of the high priest. So you shall not pollute the land wherein ye are, for blood it defileth the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it. Defile not therefore the land which he shall inhabit wherein I dwell, for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel. Let us pray. Father thank you for this great chapter and we just thank you for brother Ben and his family. I pray that you the power of the Holy Spirit will rest upon him tonight and that you would help him to expound in this chapter. Lord help us to take away something new and help us to apply ourselves tonight and renew our hearts and our minds. And we just pray that you would bring Pastor Shelley and his family safe home to us. And we ask these things in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. I want to start by thanking Pastor Shelley for the opportunity to fill in for him this evening and I look forward to him coming back on Wednesday night continuing our Roman series. Numbers chapter 35, we'll start in verse number nine where the Bible read, And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, When ye become over Jordan into the land of Canaan, then ye 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 man-slayer die not until he stand before the congregation in judgment. Now ancient Israel had in the land certain cities of refuge. These are cities that are designated as a place for a man-slayer to go and be protected from what the Bible refers to as the avenger of blood. Now the individual who gets a chance to utilize these cities of refuge is someone who committed what we would say in our modern times manslaughter or it was some sort of incidental or accidental rather killing that they didn't mean to do. It's not like they slayed a man purposefully. It wasn't like they orchestrated a premeditated assault or murder. They didn't commit murder against an innocent person, but this individual who gets a chance to use the city of refuge committed manslaughter, like we would say in our modern times, an accidental killing. And in verse, one other thing I wanted to mention before we move on is that the cities of refuge, they give us an insight into God's morality. And what I mean by that is it shows you just how much God values balancing the scales of justice. God wanted very clearly in the scripture we see this in multiple places to balance the scales of justice to make sure that innocent blood was atoned for in some way. This is why the phrase is used life for life and I'll get into that in just a few moments, but this system it was not for all crimes. This is not prison either. People get confused. This is not prison. It's not describing prison. It's for a specific scenario in which someone accidentally kills another person and they get a chance to receive physical salvation, a sanctuary refuge in specific cities that are outlined for Israel. Let's look at verse 18 here in Numbers chapter 35 and verse 18 where the Bible read or if he smite him with an hand weapon of wood wherewith he may die and he die he is a murderer the murderer shall surely be put to death the revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer when he meeteth him he shall slay him. Here we have a case where it's obvious that this was intentional and what's the consequence for an intentional killing murder the avenger of blood meets him and takes care of the problem he legally slays the murderer and you have life being given for life the innocent blood is atoned for if you will or there's life for life here in the land there is no blood guiltiness placed upon the land and that's so important God and his nation did not want innocent blood to go without to be killed to be slain without ramifications and I wish that the United States was like this today I think of what's going on in America and the innocent blood being shed every single day whether it's a more quote traditional form of murder one person slaying another or what's going on in the abortion factories across this country there's a lot of innocent blood being slain in America and nothing is being done about it so like I said when we look at this system it teaches us about the moral precepts that God advocates for which is that if innocent blood will be shed if it's going to be shed in his nation something is going to be done about it and in verse 18 and 19 what I read for you there there's an avenger of blood there's a revenger of blood that's another word that the bible uses to describe this now I would surmise that it's probably a family member or or friend or maybe it's someone who obviously is heavily motivated to act as an avenger of blood I don't believe the text tells us explicitly but I would surmise I would theorize that it could be someone who at the very least is heavily motivated to execute vengeance and play this role now if one of my close friends or family members was slain I would appreciate a system that allows me to act as an avenger of blood and allows me to then take that murderer's life in a life for life system let's look at verse 20 it says but if he thrust him of hatred or hurl at him by lying of weight that he die or an enmity smite him with his hand that he die he that smote him shall surely be put to death for he is a murderer the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer when he meeteth him so again premeditated murder an outpouring of hatred on another person I mean I don't know how much more hatred you have to demonstrate than taking another person's life and in that case the avenger of blood now is deputized to take care of that and to slay the murderer verse 31 let's skip down to verse 31 in other words murder is a capital crime in God's chosen nation of Israel murder is a capital offense it is a capital crime verse 31 in this chapter it says moreover you shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer which is guilty of death but he shall be surely put to death so in the case of a murderer who's guilty of taking someone else's life a premeditated a calculated killing the bible is saying hey don't take satisfaction for that so what does that mean it's saying you can't if you're guilty of this horrible crime this capital offense you can't buy your way out of it it's not like well I can just pay a fee or some kind of you know monetary compensation to get away with it without losing my life that would be a corrupt system and we see this happening where judges are bribed and things of that nature the bible is saying no satisfaction that person must be put to death no questions asked that's what he's saying can't buy his way the individual guilty the person who's guilty of murder cannot buy his way or her way out of that predicament he shall take no satisfaction for the murderer it's not like you can just give compensation to get out of that situation all right no compensation is acceptable let's head over to deuteronomy chapter 19 now what are the quintessential chapters about the cities of refuge deuteronomy chapter 19 is the chapter we're going to look at next what are the quintessential chapters dealing with this concept well you have the chapter that brother nick just read for us there numbers 35 you have deuteronomy 19 that we're going to look at next you also have joshua 20 that we'll be looking at later on in the sermon and so these are the places if you want to study this for yourself those are the chapters you can go to to figure out what god says about this and look don't just let this go through one ear and out the other just because it's old testament you know the new the neo-evangelical mentality that says the old testament doesn't matter is complete garbage we can take lessons from the old testament we can see what god's morality is we can learn about his character and we can also learn spiritual truths about essential doctrine from the old testament now deuteronomy chapter 19 it goes into some more things it says in verse 11 but if any man hate his neighbor and lie and wait for him and rise up against him and smite him mortally that he die and fleeth into one of these cities then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood that he die so to clear the land of guilt a murderer should be put to death now if someone were to do an intent were to commit an intentional killing and then tries to flee to the city of refuge that person would not be allowed to use the city of refuge for protection because they committed murder they intentionally in a premeditated fashion took another person's life what would happen then is the person would be delivered to the avenger of blood they don't meet the qualifications for the city of refuge some people they think that the death because this is the death penalty that we're talking about and some people they think well the death penalty is not humane they'll make that argument which is not biblical and here's what they'll say they'll say here's what i'd rather have let's instead lock people in a box or lock people in a cage and throw away the key until they die now tell me how that's better it's like well i don't believe in the death penalty i think we should just lock people in cages that's not what the bible says that's not what the bible says and it doesn't make you a more moral person if that's what you believe now where do we derive our doctrine where do we derive our morality from a standard that goes beyond humanity that's right no matter what our opinion is and that's the word of god so i really just want to make it clear i believe in the death penalty that's all i really wanted to say there deuteronomy chapter 19 so to utilize the cities of refuge there's a condition that has to be met and i wanted to start off with this to make sure no one's confused the condition is in order for you to gain access to a city of refuge you must have killed somebody by mistake or unintentionally verse 13 it says deuteronomy 19 in verse 13 this is talking about somebody who did an intentional committed intentional killing murder thine eye shall not pity him but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from israel that it may go well with thee what are we seeing here just how zealous god is for putting away blood guiltiness the guilt of innocent blood from israel he wanted to make sure that the nation that he was ruling over didn't just allow innocent people to die without any ramifications whatsoever this is why he makes it so clear and he says in fact thine eye shall not pity it's really a shame that so many so-called christians out there apparently are a lot more loving than the god they claim to worship because he said thine eye shall not pity didn't he let's look at verse four skip up to the beginning of the chapter if you would and verse number four so let's talk about an unintentional killing you didn't mean to take this person out you didn't mean to kill this person perhaps you were a little bit negligent whatever the case may be but it wasn't something that you planned verse number four addresses this it says and this is the case of the slayer which shall flee thither that he may live whoso killeth his neighbor ignorantly whom he hated not in time past as when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbor to hew wood and his hand fetches the stroke with the axe to cut down the tree and the head slippeth from the health and lighteth upon his neighbor that he die he shall flee unto one of those cities and live if you're using a tool to hew wood and for whatever reason it ends up killing another person you didn't mean to do that and so what happens is you now have the right to flee to and utilize the city of refuge to be protected from who the avenger of blood because the avenger of blood wants to execute vengeance that's why he's called the avenger of blood and he's coming after the person who killed an innocent man or woman and so if you want to evade the avenger of blood your option is to flee to the city of refuge where you will receive protection this is not premeditated what we read here in deuteronomy 19 in the beginning of the chapter it's not premeditated it wasn't a deliberate act right here this was a mistake so what should happen well flee to the city of refuge so that you're not slain by the revenger of blood god put in place a system for such a person so that they don't die they get a second lease on life if you will let's head back over to numbers chapter 35 numbers chapter 35 and we'll read about another case of inadvertent killing i just want to lay the bedrock down about this concept first and then i'll give you the title of the sermon don't worry and we'll talk about some spiritual truths associated with the moral precepts described in numbers 35 in deuteronomy 19 and joshua chapter 20 as well but for now let's look at numbers chapter 35 let's see what god says about this system in verse 22 he says but if he thrust him suddenly numbers 35 verse 22 but if he thrust him suddenly without enmity or have cast upon him anything without laying of weight or with any stone wherewith a man may die seeing him not and cast it upon him that he die and was not his enemy neither sought him harm so again you kind of have arguably some negligence here but it's an accidental killing he's cast upon him the victim if you will this was not a calculated killing so now what well there's no other option in this circumstance although there might have been some negligence arguably in this circumstance what the killer now has to do is immediately flee to a city of refuge to procure protection from the revenger of blood joshua 20 you don't have to turn there it says this it talks about the manslayer and says that the manslayer 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 so these cities of refuge which by the way also are an area where the levites live an individual can go there a person who committed manslaughter or an unintentional killing can go there plead their case and if everything checks out they're allowed access they gain access to that city not prison like i said this is not prison a person who flees to the city of refuge they can build a life for themselves there they can go they can get a job they can live their life amongst the levites and they can continue until a certain point which we'll get to later numbers 35 it says in verse 24 then the congregation so the manslayer flees declares his cause relays what happened he enters in look what it says in verse 24 then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments and the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge so what are we seeing here the congregation basically adjudicates between the slayer who unintentionally killed someone the manslayer and the avenger of blood and if everything checks out that individual he has access to the city of refuge and he's safe in the city of refuge and cannot be killed by the avenger of blood in the city of refuge hopefully this is making sense to you i'm just trying to make sure that we hammer this to start now i want to get my buddy alex up here come on up and ethan urbanic we're going to do a little demonstration go ahead and stand right here to the right of the pulpit stand right here we do the sign later stand right here okay so these two guys stand next to them these two guys are in the nation of israel now he is a stranger right of chinese descent so he's not he's not like a native person of israel and he's native all right now ethan and alex they're going soul winning in the nation of israel and as they're going soul winning picture this ethan trips over a rock or a stick and accidentally clips alex here alex then in just horrible luck or maybe god really wanted to take him out i don't know but my point is in horrible luck he gets alex gets clipped he falls and somehow falls off a cliff and dies you're now dead go ahead and sit down i'll bring you back up in a minute but just sit down for now all right so ethan just did an accidental killing here he didn't mean to slay my buddy alex he didn't that was a total accident it's not like he hated him they were going soul winning together in israel they didn't have any feud they didn't have any bad blood between each other at all it was an accident it was unintentional didn't mean to do it so what does ethan need to do now though because there's an avenger of blood coming for him and that's me and i love my brother alex and you know what i want to take ethan out this sounds bad ryan i hope you're okay with me saying this but this parable all right i want to take him out for what he just did to alex i have hot blood and i want to avenge the innocent blood in israel so here's what ethan has to do ethan why don't you go and stand right here ethan now has entered we're pretending folks all right he's entered the city of refuge to my left of the pulpit is a city of refuge to my right is just the rest of the land so he's now entered the city of refuge and now ethan did you mean to kill alex or was it an accident it was an accident right now he's going to declare his cause to the congregation do you guys believe that it was an accident all right thank you thanks for playing along some bows are like no so you're just you're just ruining the whole thing okay anyway so you believe him right it was an accident so he declared his cause you believe him so now ethan he has access to the city of refuge now as the avenger of blood i cannot touch him i can't do anything to him he's in the city of refuge he has safety if hypothetically i violated that and took him out then you know what my blood would be on my head at that point i would be a murderer at that point i would need to be put to death for taking innocent blood for shedding innocent blood ethan is safe as long as he's right here in the city of refuge you kids i'm sure you've played tag before and when i was a kid i don't know how kids do it in 2023 but when i was a kid there was something called base and when you you're when you're in base when you're at base you're touching base whatever the case may be nobody can tag you you have immunity right and in that case you cannot be tagged well ethan cannot be tagged right now he's in the city of refuge nobody can touch him legally and he has safety from the avenger of blood the avenger of blood cannot do anything to hurt him and he will be he has to stay here if he wants protection until the death of the high priest the death of the high priest enables ethan to leave the city of refuge without the threat of the avenger of blood killing him because at that point the death has been atoned for all right and i'll get into more detail on that but ethan can get a job he can live he can provide and he's he's very advanced this is a young man and he's getting a job already you know what i mean this is a great ethan you know he's he's doing some great things here in the city of refuge he's amongst the levites but here's the thing he can leave whenever he wants even before the death of the high priest ethan can wander anywhere he wants to hypothetically and if he did if he left the city of refuge before the death of the high priest well guess what the avenger of blood now actually has the legal authority to slay him so he has to stay exactly where he's at until the death of the high priest he has to stay where he's at if he takes a jog someplace outside the city or he goes and sojourns somewhere else he's putting himself at risk of getting excuse me of getting slain by the avenger of blood does that make sense all right you can go and sit down thank you so where are these cities we'll talk about that i made a chart here that i thought might be useful of my homeland all right maybe it's somewhere up here i don't know but anyway so here are the 12 tribes and i'll get alex up here in a second you can stay down but you have the pink dots representing the cities of refuge all right so this is the nation of israel what it looked like during these this time here numbers chapter 35 deuteronomy 19 etc so we'll get back to this but let's look at numbers 35 verse 26 numbers 35 verse 26 but 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 so this is what i described that if ethan were to leave the city of refuge at any time and be slain well the avenger of blood actually had the right to do that because the slayer left the protected zone that he was supposed to be in this is similar you see similar concepts in the bible to this think of in first kings when solomon warned shimmy i don't leave jerusalem don't pass over the brook kydron or you're done and he did anyway to chase some servants think of the fall of jericho what did the spies say to the house of rehab they said look if any of you leave your home at any time during our takeover then you know what their blood's on their own head they shouldn't have left the house but if for whatever reason they die while abiding in their own home then you know what that blood is on our head we're guilty so sort of a similar concept there but here's the whole point of the sermon there are several parallels between what i just described for you and the gospel of jesus christ and so the title of my sermon is the cities of refuge in light of the gospel the cities of refuge in light of the gospel i want to demonstrate how certain elements of the cities of refuge are analogous to or symbolize very important aspects of the gospel of jesus christ turn if you would to joshua chapter 20 joshua chapter 20 and first i want to call your attention to the accessibility of the cities the accessibility of the cities of refuge and we'll read in joshua chapter 20 starting in verse 7 joshua chapter 20 starting in verse number seven it says there in joshua 20 verse 7 and they appointed kadesh and gallily in mount neftalai and sheikim in mount ephraim and qidar tharba 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 tribe of rubin and ramoth and gilead out of the tribe of gad and golem and bayshan out of the tribe of manasseh alex if you don't mind go ahead and come back up here he has been resurrected folks and alex is going to hold this painting right side up all right and just stand right here if you would so everybody can see it okay i made this as a visual aid don't freak out if something small is inaccurate all right somebody's like well i don't know this river should have been a little bit thicker or something it's like calm down just a visual aid okay but we see that these cities of refuge are located in the nation of israel obviously and they're spread out evenly distributed cadetia neftali which constitutes the northern part of the land right over here this region you have sheikim and mount ephraim which covers the central portion of the nation of israel sort of in the west manassa area you have hebron in judah which covers the southern region of the nation of israel where the tribe of judah was allotted their land then you have bezer which is rubin's territory of course you have the jordan river and you had two and a half tribes that preferred to stay on the east of the jordan river this was more suitable land for them they didn't cross over and so these tribes right here you have a nation i'm sorry you have a city of refuge located in the northern part of the allotment belonging to the tribe of rubin you also have a city of refuge in gads territory which is located right here symbolized by this pink dot and then finally in the northern portion of the land located to the east of the jordan river is this city of refuge right here in the northern section of east manassa is what i feel like we can call it so what's the point these cities are evenly distributed you notice how they cover the entire land allotment they're evenly distributed right here you don't have to travel very far to reach a city of refuge they're evenly distributed the bible says in verse 9 joshua 20 in verse 9 these were the cities appointed for all the children of israel and for the stranger that sojourneth among them that whosoever killeth any person at unawares might flee thither notice this and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation so if you're someone who accidentally killed another person you have the ability to travel to a city of refuge which is in your region you don't have to travel very far to get to one and you can get there before the avenger of blood gets to you first that's the reason why these cities are evenly distributed in the nation of israel if the slayer hypothetically had to travel a great distance to get to a city of refuge then the avenger of blood can take him out before that person reaches the city and it renders the entire system useless so the idea is god wants to give the man slayer an opportunity to flee an opportunity to run before getting slain so basically a slayer is always within a reasonable proximity of a city of refuge turn you can you can sit down you're good thank you alex is a good helper isn't he i kill him then i tell him to come back up it's like so hopefully this was useful for you and just sort of visualizing here it is for those of you on this side of the church just sort of visualizing the land and and how everything was laid out so let's turn if you would to romans chapter 10 romans chapter 10 the way these cities were strategically placed made it so that they were within reach no matter where you dwelt in the nation of israel basically enabling the slayer to reach one of these cities and be safeguarded from the avenger without having to travel a a great distance now what is this picture for us in the new testament when you read your bible and you're going through from old testament to new testament you have to understand there's nothing incidental accidental or coincidental in the bible and that's why even the so-called drier chapters that maybe don't have all the action that you're looking for can still be very intriguing because what you ought to do and what a mature christian does is look for spiritual pictures where there's a spiritual picture associated with the allotment of the cities of refuge and i want to show you what that is the cities of refuge were accessible that's why they were located strategically in areas within a close proximity of pretty much all the tribes of israel the cities of refuge were accessible well guess what the gospel is accessible look at romans chapter 10 if you would romans chapter 10 the cities of refuge were accessible the gospel is accessible romans 10 it says in verse 6 but the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise say not in thine heart who shall ascend into heaven that is to bring christ down from above or who shall descend into the deep that is to bring up christ again from the dead but what sayeth it the word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart that is the word of faith which we preach that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the lord jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that god hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved what's he saying he's making a comparison to what moses had already talked about through the inspiration of the holy spirit that the commandments of god are not unobtainable you don't have to travel up to heaven to get it and similarly in romans chapter 10 what he's describing is that salvation the knowledge of salvation the knowledge of how to get to heaven it's not something you have to travel a great distance to procure you don't have to go all the way up to heaven to know how to get to heaven and you certainly don't have to go to the deep to know how to get to heaven he in fact says the word is nigh thee just as sure as those cities of refuge were always near a man slayer who needed one in the same way paul says to his audience the word is nigh thee and he goes as far as to say hey it's even in your heart it's in your heart now how could that be possible because i don't think the audience is speaking to is saved so how is this possible for the knowledge of salvation to be in someone's heart and yet they're not saved yet and i'll tell you how it's called an intellectual ascent to the gospel an intellectual ascent to jesus and yet not placing 100 of your faith in jesus that's the difference i believe the parable of the sower actually gives us an explanation about this where you have the knowledge in someone's heart and yet they're not saved it says and i'll just quote this for you those by the wayside are they that hear then cometh the devil and taketh away the word out of their hearts lest they should believe and be saved what does this look like imagine you give the gospel to someone they intellectually assent to the truth of the gospel yeah that is what the bible says but i don't believe it they don't want to call on the name of the lord well that knowledge is now in their heart yet they're at a tremendous risk and what is that risk of satan taking away the word that was in their heart lest they should believe and in the same way these manslayers in the old testament they have the cities of refuge in their vicinity but if they don't actually enter they run the risk of the avenger of blood killing them before they can enter in the same way somebody who has the knowledge of the gospel but isn't believing on the gospel believing on the lord jesus christ runs the risk of dying and going to hell before they get a chance to finally make a decision which is why if you're not a hundred percent sure that you're saved and you're sitting in the room tonight go talk to someone as soon as the sermon is over and get that straightened out lest satan take that knowledge you have and make it so that you end up not believing and you die and you go to hell nobody wants that to be their predicament so he's saying to his audience hey look the righteousness of faith it's not unobtainable and in the same way the cities of refuge they weren't unobtainable people can enter them they didn't have to travel a long distance you know long distance travel not required to enter the city of refuge and in the same way long distance travel it's not required to figure out how to be saved how to go to heaven in many cases people are having soul owners knock on their door and bringing the gospel to them it's right there you just need to actually enter the city to get physical salvation in the same way the gospel for many people it's right there they just have to actually believe on jesus christ they just have to actually receive it they have to receive it let's go back to deuteronomy chapter 19 if you would deuteronomy chapter 19 you know in many ways the knowledge of jesus and who he is it's ubiquitous around the world i don't buy into this idea that there's some sort of jungle man or jungle boy or something like that who's never heard of christ or think and if it does exist hypothetically and that person dies well they're going to end up going to hell so that underscores the importance of missions and reaching people and things of that nature but i believe an unsafe person has a minister by whom that person can get saved and if they seek the lord and they ask for truth and they want to know sincerely how to go to heaven i believe god will send them someone to teach them how to go to heaven so what do we have next well the cities of refuge they were the man slayers only legal means of avoiding death the only legal means of avoiding death were the cities of refuge look at verse three deuteronomy 19 and verse 3 thou shall prepare thee away and divide the coasts of thy land which the lord thy god giveth thee to inherit into three parts that every slayer may flee thither and this is the case of the slayer which shall flee thither that he may live whoso killeth his neighbor ignorantly whom he hated not in time past there was a way prepared for the slayer to flee and if you fall under the category of someone living in israel at this time who committed manslaughter you didn't mean to kill someone you have one legal sanctioned option go flee to the city of refuge go procure refuge that's your option that's what god has dispensed to you go to one of the cities of refuge now turn if you would to acts chapter four acts chapter four just as these people the man slayers one legal option to avoid the avenger of blood the gospel is the only means to escape or to avoid spiritual death it's the one option that a sinner has to avoid spiritual death you say well what about the law that'll lead to inevitable failure they won't be able to they can't keep the law nobody can keep the law you say well couldn't they try sure they'll try they'll fail and they'll end up in hell there shall no flesh be justified by the law the bible couldn't be more clear about that and so those who attempt to be justified by the law will fail in the same way a man slayer who decides you know what forget about the city of refuge i'll just hang out outside of it regardless of what i did that person i believe will also inevitably fail i think the avenger of blood will end up meeting him and taking him out so in the same way if you don't want to do it god's way you're going to fail if you don't want to get physical salvation through the cities of refuge the way god outlined it you're going to be slain and if you don't want to be saved spiritually the way god outlined it you're going to be slain spiritually you're going to end up in hell you will not be saved ax chapter 4 it says in verse 12 ax chapter 4 and verse 12 neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved there's one name under heaven whereby we are saved the bible is saying in ax chapter 4 this is the most basic doctrine i could possibly talk about here in this sermon which is what one option for you as a sinner to get to heaven it's through the lord jesus christ that is the only means of salvation that is the only hope for sinners and is the reason why we go with a tear in the eye to knock on their door and give them the good news of the gospel that's their only hope that is their only hope jesus himself reiterated this truth when he said i and the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father but by me but by me he says so he speaks to the exclusive method of salvation dispensed by christ it's through him it's through jesus there's no other way you won't make it to heaven any other way there's one sanctioned way to evade physical death in israel if you're a man slayer get into the city of refuge and there's one way to avoid spiritual death as a sinner believe on the lord jesus christ believe in the gospel unfortunately though there have been false prophets out there who have disputed this very basic fundamental truth of the bible they have they're out there some are still alive some are dead here's one that's dead billy graham he said this that's what god is doing today he's calling people out of the world for his name whether they come from the muslim world or the buddhist world or the christian world or the non-believing world they are members of the body of christ because they're called of god they may not even know the name of jesus but they know in their heart that they need something that they don't have and they turn to the only light that they have and i think they are saved and they are going to be with us in heaven direct quotes from your hero billy graham that's your hero right there seriously is that what we read in acts chapter four is that what we what i quoted for you in john chapter 14 is that the truth reiterated in scripture over and over and over again no that's not at all what the bible teaches he says i think they're saved they turn to whatever light they have wicked liar why would he lie about this to tickle the years of a great multitude for filthy lucre's sake this is the most hateful thing you could possibly say to someone is to downplay or even completely contradict the necessity of jesus for salvation hey if you're a man slayer you better get to the city of refuge or else the avenger of blood when he meets you will take you out and in the same way if you're a sinner if you're not saved you've got one option believe the gospel there's nothing more merciful than that jesus provided you with a way the free gift of salvation take it or leave it and if you leave it john 336 says hey the wrath of god abideth on him let's move on here let's go back to joshua chapter 20 the cities of refuge provided security the cities of refuge provided security and in joshua 20 in verse 4 we see this outlined joshua 20 and verse 4 it says and when he that doth flee under 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 under them and give him a place that he may dwell among them the elders of that city they hear the cause of the man slayer and since he meets the conditions necessary to enter the city of refuge he is given access to it look at verse five and if the avenger of blood pursue after him then they shall not watch this they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand because he smote his neighbor unwittingly and hated him not before time so a man slayer who meets the conditions to enter the city of refuge cannot be delivered to the man slayer from the city of refuge that's illegal they wouldn't do that he has security he receives a sanctuary to abide in and he's received security he's received physical salvation he will not be delivered up from that city to be slain by the avenger of blood that's what the bible is teaching and it says explicitly they shall not deliver the slayer up will not be delivered to the avenger of blood so what's my point the cities of refuge they provided physical salvation the gospel provides spiritual salvation but it's eternal it's eternal what do i mean by that you can't lose your salvation and it's so funny people want to debate one saved always saved do you realize the definition what is what does saved mean to you it has a d at the end debate over the debate is done there's a d at the end you lose the bible wins first corinthians 15 tells us moreover brethren i declare unto you the gospel which i preached unto you which also you have received and wherein you stand by which also ye are saved that's how we are slave so the the slayer he's delivered from physical death by the cities of refuge just as believers delivered from spiritual death by the gospel itself now look at john chapter six john chapter six salvation implicates it is a done deal it's not something you have to work a lifetime to obtain and it's not something you have to worry about losing it is a done deal once you have eternal life eternal life lasts forever which means you cannot lose it john six verse 37 it says in john 6 verse 37 all that the father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me i will in no wise cast out what's christ saying here he will never cast out a believer he will never cause someone to lose their salvation they cannot be cast out in the same way when a man slayer flees to the city of refuge they can't be cast out from that city of refuge despite meeting the qualifications to enter they cannot be cast out from the city of refuge and delivered to the avenger of blood and the avenger of blood you could argue pictures god himself and the wrath that he pours out for the unsafe turn to hebrews 6 if you would hebrews chapter 6 they shall not the bible says cast out the slayer into the hand of the avenger and in the same way jesus said although the father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me i will in no wise cast out we see a picture of eternal security is my point through the system outlined the cities of refuge now hebrews 6 talks about the nature of god's promises and it says in verse 17 we're in god hebrews 6 17 we're in god willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his council confirmed it by an oath the word immutability it means that it doesn't change it cannot be changed verse 18 that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for god to lie we might have a strong consolation and watch this part who have fled for refuge isn't that what the whole sermon is about who have fled for refuge guess what if you're saved you have fled for refuge spiritually so what is this whole thing talking about what's the point of the bible telling us about the cities of refuge to teach us a very important lesson about many different things one of them being salvation and it says who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us what are the two immutable things described in hebrews chapter number six well first of all that god swore the promises you find in scripture and second god cannot lie he cannot lie which is why when we go out soul winning and we explain eternal security to people we make sure to hammer in god can't lie when he says you're saved he means it when he says eternal life he means it he's never going to take it away from you in hope of eternal life which god that cannot lie promised before the world began he swore that bible says who have fled for refuge losing your salvation that would be the equivalent of someone in the old testament being delivered out of the city of refuge a man slayer being delivered out of the city of refuge for no reason and just tossed to the avenger of blood in spite of the promise made to him the promise of security was made to him hey you enter this city you will not be slain hey god promised eternal life you will not be spiritually slain you're not going to go to hell you're not going to die experience death spiritually in hell that has been paid for it's done it's finished look at numbers 35 again numbers chapter 35 and i realize we're kind of flipping back and forth to it but it's a bible study what do you want me to tell you numbers chapter 35 the cities of refuge here's an important point the cities of refuge were available for both the israelite and the stranger the cities of refuge were available for both the israelite and the stranger god's not a respecter of persons is the point i'm trying to make these weren't just for like a specific tribe god didn't allot the cities of refuge for just specific for a specific tribe or ethnicity it was for everyone look at verse 15 numbers 35 and verse 15 the bible says these six cities shall be a refuge both for the children of israel and for the stranger and for the sojourner again the children of israel and the stranger and the sojourner among them that everyone that killeth any person unawares may flee thither remember how i said alex in the illustration wasn't from the land he was a stranger a sojourner well my point is obviously he died so i guess that doesn't necessarily fit what i'm trying to say but my point is a stranger can access the cities of refuge just like anyone else both an israelite and a stranger can utilize the cities of refuge how does this compare to the gospel well the cities of refuge are for all people the gospel is for all people this is why the bible says in romans chapter one for i am not ashamed of the gospel of christ for it is the power of god unto salvation to everyone that believeth to the jew first and also to the greek it's not based on your ethnicity god doesn't care what color you are i shouldn't have to explain that god does not care what color you are romans chapter 10 you don't have to turn there i'll quote this for you it says for there is no difference between the jew and the greek for the same lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him no difference between jew and greek regarding salvation god doesn't favor one over the other and in the same way there's no difference between the jew and the greek when it comes to the cities of refuge both can utilize it whether they're a foreigner or not let's look at numbers 35 again numbers chapter 3 i think you might still be there but if not turn back over to numbers 35 so whosoever jew or greek can place their faith in the gospel and that leads me to my final point the city of refuge system provides an atonement it provides an atonement look what it says in verse 25 numbers 35 and verse 25 and the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge whether he was fled notice and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest which was anointed with the holy oil the holy oil is symbolic of the holy spirit and the high priest here is he's ordained to engage in several different practices regarding the temple of god and the worship of god back under the old testament but the city of refuge essentially is a safeguarded area for a man slayer that he has to stay in until the death of the high priest after that point guess what a man slayer can now leave the city of refuge with no consequences with no risk associated with leaving with no ramifications and if he's killed after that point well then the avenger of blood would be guilty of slaying an innocent person so once that high priest dies the person who's in the city of refuge or the people in the city of refuge can leave freely without having to worry about it why because that death the innocent blood that they shed has been atoned for by the high priest that death has been atoned for by the high priest in joshua 20 you don't have to turn there it reiterates this and it says he shall dwell in that city until he stand before the congregation for judgment and until the death of the high priest 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 under his own house under the city from whence he fled so a man slayer when they take another person's life accidentally they leave everything behind and they move to a city of refuge after the death of the high priest they can go back to where they came from without any risk without any consequence this is sort of like a punishment because you have to leave everything start brand new in the city of refuge but once that high priest dies well guess what that innocent blood that was shed by the man slayer it's atoned for it's atoned for and now the man slayer can go back to where they came from let's look at romans chapter 5 romans chapter 5 the high priest pictures jesus the bible says so also christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest jesus christ didn't glorify himself to be exalted into that position but rather that came from god the father and just as sure as the high priest was anointed with the holy oil the bible says about christ that god giveth not the spirit by measure unto him so you see that parallel but in addition to that just assures the death of the high priest atoned for the innocent blood shed by the man slayer in the same way it's the death of jesus christ that atones for sinners that atones for sinners the death of the high priest atones for man slayers that entered the city of refuge and the death of jesus atones for sinners romans 5 it says in verse 11 romans 5 and verse 11 and not only so but we also joy in god through our lord jesus christ by whom we have now received the atonement the death the burial the resurrection of jesus christ that purchased our salvation but he did that for all of mankind the atonement is available for all of mankind it is available for all and it was that death that enables us that death that burial that resurrection that enables us to go to heaven one day not because of our own righteousness not because we atone for our own sins but rather because jesus atoned for our sins on our behalf that man slayer who decides not to enter the city of refuge they have to well meet the avenger of blood and die so that the scales of justice are balanced but you know what's a lot better than staying out of the city of refuge than rejecting that way of physical salvation is actually entering it in the same way it's a heck of a lot better to accept the free gift of salvation the atonement though of the lord jesus christ so the skills of justice are sort of balanced by the death of the high priest which enables that innocent blood to be atoned for just as the death of christ our high priest it atoned for the sinner let's look at hebrews chapter 9 and we're almost done hebrews chapter 9 it says in verse 26 hebrews chapter 9 and verse 26 it says in verse 26 hebrews 9 verse 26 for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself that put away your blood guiltiness you sinned against god and it was the sacrifice of himself the bible referring to jesus that paid for your sins and he obtained eternal redemption for us now here's what i think is an essential point remember how i talked about how the cities of refuge they weren't limited to just israelites they were for all people foreign stranger or a native person well guess what if everyone can utilize the city of refuge and enter in there and get security and have their sin in a sense atoned for by the high priest what does that tell you it tells you the high priest's atonement it's not limited it's not limited to just an israelite and in the same way the atonement of the lord jesus christ for sinners it's not limited to the elect there's this false doctrine out there that comes from calvinism it's called limited atonement the idea that jesus he only died for the chosen people of god who god chose to be saved you know just arbitrarily without their free will playing any part whatsoever this is a perverted doctrine and limited atonement is the achilles heel of calvinism it is very easy to debunk and just as sure as this high priest well his atonement it counts no matter where you come from jesus his death his atonement it counts for all people the thing is you have to actually receive it you have to actually enter spiritually the city of refuge you have to receive it spiritually by believing the gospel but the bible says in first john chapter two and he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world it also says who will have all men to be saved all men it says all means all jeff burbon all means all james white all means all who will have all men to be saved and so we see that his atonement is not limited it was made for everyone they just have to actually receive it so that it applies to them but it was made for everyone go to psalm 62 and we'll be done psalm chapter 62 and we'll be done so what did i say i say the cities of refuge i said the cities of refuge were accessible and in the same way the gospel is accessible i said the cities of refuge they were the only legal means of avoiding the avenger of blood just as the gospel is the only means of avoiding spiritual death i said the cities of refuge provided physical salvation and the gospel obviously provides spiritual salvation i said the cities of refuge they're not limited by ethnicity and in the same way the gospel is not limited by ethnicity i also ended by talking about how the cities of refuge they provide an atonement just as the death of jesus christ provides an atonement for sinners psalm 62 is the last place we're going to go to and we'll wrap it up i just want to make a quick application for us and then we'll go home psalm 62 it says in verse 7 psalm 62 verse 7 says and god is my salvation and my glory the rock of my strength and my refuge is in god trust in him at all times ye people pour out your heart before him god is a refuge for us we've been talking about spiritual truths over the course of this sermon we've been talking mostly about spiritual salvation the importance of spiritual salvation pictures of spiritual salvation fleeing for refuge in the context of spiritual salvation but here we see i believe an exhortation for us to trust in flee for refuge to and abide in and rely on god for physical salvation as well and it's unfortunate but a lot of christians they had enough faith to flee for refuge to procure spiritual salvation to get and obtain spiritual salvation but apparently not enough faith to go to god to get physical salvation instead of fleeing to god as our refuge like the bible is talking about here in psalms chapter number 62 where are they fleeing for refuge today they're fleeing to the republican party aren't they they're fleeing to donald j trump who they think will single-handedly save america not gonna happen they're fleeing to fox news they're fleeing to their favorite radio talk show host they're fleeing to sean hannity the lame fake conservative they're fleeing to all these different carnal sources for refuge instead of fleeing to the very same source that gave them the spiritual refuge they were looking for that gave them the spiritual salvation that they enjoy every single day instead of fleeing to that source to that god the lord jesus christ instead of fleeing to the very same man who gave them eternal life they're fleeing to this world and they're looking for refuge from this world they're looking for refuge from places and people that cannot offer them an effective refuge they can't do it and you know as america continues to descend further and further into degeneracy and it it becomes the complete opposite of everything that made it great it becomes the complete opposite of everything that put it on the map to begin with and just becomes more and more satanic by the day let us be the people out there let us be a remnant let us be a light shining bright in the darkness that says hey no matter what happens no matter how badly this world this nation is burning around me no matter what civil unrest is coming in the future no matter what the globalists have in mind next to try and take us out or afflict us or persecute us no matter what it is that is in store for us coming in the very near future we are going to flee for refuge not to the political establishment not to a bunch of people who don't want anything to do with us anyway but rather to god let us be a people who choose that for our physical salvation let us be a people who trust in the lord no matter what danger is coming no matter what danger is eminent let us be a people who flee for refuge the very same place the very same person who gave us the spiritual refuge we enjoy right now you say well man it's getting scary out there i realize that but god is a refuge for us god is a refuge for us you trusted him to get saved spiritually how would you trust him with your flesh how would you trust him to get to be saved physically from the harm that's coming our way let us flee for refuge also for physical salvation as well that's what i really wanted to hammer and apply here a lesson i think all of us can learn from this message let's bow our heads now and pray father in heaven we thank you so much lord for the truths that are outlined the spiritual pictures that are outlined in your word and i just pray lord that you help us we we fled for you to get spiritual salvation relying on the gospel for that but help us lord to flee for refuge in many other ways as well and trust you with our lives and not all the other influences out there that are competing with you for our attention for our trust for our faith we love you in jesus name i pray amen okay all right sorry about that uh turn in your uh hymnals to song number 411 hold the fort it's 411 hold the fort let's 411 hold the fort oh my comrades see the signal waving in the sky reinforcements now appearing victory is nigh hold the fort for i am coming jesus signals still wave the answer back to heaven by thy grace we will see the mighty host advancing satan leading mighty men around us falling courage almost gone hold the fort for i am coming jesus signals still wave the answer back to heaven by thy grace we will see the glorious banner waving near the trumpet in our leaders they will triumph over every fall hold the fort for i am coming jesus signals still wave the answer back to heaven by thy grace we will fierce along the battle ranges but our help is near onward comes our great commander cheer my comrades here hold the floor for i am coming jesus signals still wave the answer back to heaven by thy grace we will great singing you are dismissed thank you