[0:00] Take your Bibles again and turn to the book of Numbers, the fourth book in the front of your Bible.
[0:10] ! Chapter 35 is going to be at the end of Numbers right before Deuteronomy. Numbers chapter 35. I'm going to begin reading at verse 9 to the end of the chapter.
[0:39] Then the Lord said to Moses, Speak to the Israelites and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, select some towns to be your cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone accidentally may flee.
[0:59] They will be places of refuge from the avenger, so that a person accused of murder may not die before he stands trial before the assembly.
[1:09] These six towns you give will be your cities of refuge. Give three on this side of the Jordan and three in Canaan as cities of refuge.
[1:24] These six towns will be a place of refuge for Israelites, aliens, and any other people living among them, so that anyone who has killed another person accidentally can flee there.
[1:40] If a man strikes someone with an iron object so that he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death.
[1:51] Or if anyone has a stone in his hand that could kill, and he strikes someone so that he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death.
[2:04] Or if anyone has a wooden object in his hand that could kill, and he hits someone so that he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death.
[2:18] The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death. If anyone with malice, a forethought, shoves another, or throws something at him intentionally so that he dies, or if in hostility he hits him with his fist so that he dies, that person shall be put to death.
[2:45] He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him. But if without hostility someone suddenly shoves another or throws something at him unintentionally, or without seeing him drops a stone on him that could kill him, and he dies, then since he was not his enemy and he did not intend to harm him, the assembly must judge between him and the avenger of blood according to these regulations.
[3:24] The assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood and send him back to the city of refuge to which he fled.
[3:35] He must stay there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. But if the accused ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he has fled, and the avenger of blood finds him outside the city, the avenger of blood may kill the accused without being guilty of murder.
[4:03] The accused must stay in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Only after the death of the high priest may he return to his own property.
[4:20] These are the legal requirements for you throughout the generations to come wherever you live. Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses.
[4:38] But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. Do not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who deserves to die.
[4:51] He must surely be put to death. Do not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge and so allow him to go back and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.
[5:09] Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land. An atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed except by the blood of the one who shed it.
[5:29] Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell for I the Lord dwell among the Israelites. Let's hear the word of the Lord.
[5:41] Children, when I was a young boy we had a Bible storybook just a small Bible storybook and with every story there was one picture and one of those pictures from that Bible storybook has so etched itself into my memory that though I didn't see it I haven't seen it since or it was 60 years plus ago I can still see it and here's what it looked like.
[6:16] A man was running but he was clearly not out for a jog. No, he's running as fast as he can and he's terrified.
[6:27] His eyes are like saucers and there's a reason because just a few paces behind him is another man running and he has a knife in his hand.
[6:38] And they're just about to the gate of the city. Now what was that Bible story about? Have you children read that Bible story I wonder? Well, it's in our Bibles not only here but three other places as well.
[6:55] But we're looking at Numbers 35. And what we see is that bloodshed pollutes the land. And so as the Israelites were ready to go into the land of promise God gives them this law concerning the cities of refuge to keep them from polluting the land with bloodshed.
[7:16] The land where God, the Holy One, will dwell in their midst. But first let me give you some important background to the story. God Almighty is the creator and giver of life.
[7:30] If you're alive this morning, you have that gift from God. That is his prerogative and his alone, both to give that life and to take it.
[7:42] Therefore, if it is his right to give and to take, if a man intentionally and wrongfully takes the life of another man, well, that is very offensive to God.
[7:59] Because that would be acting like he was in the place of God. Taking the prerogative that is God's alone. Genesis 6 tells us that in the days of Noah, the earth was so full of violence and bloodshed that God drowned the whole human population except for eight people, Noah and his family.
[8:21] God so hates the sin of murder that after the flood, he gave this world a new law in Genesis 9-6. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his life be shed.
[8:38] For in the image of God has God made man. So human life is different from all other forms of life on the planet. It's different because man, both male and female, were created in the image of God.
[8:55] They bear something of the likeness of God. And so, if someone takes the life of another man made in the image of God, they are striking out at God in His image bearer.
[9:14] And because of it, they forfeit their own life and shall have their life taken by man. So, God is the author of capital punishment.
[9:24] Genesis 9 and verse 6. And in this way, He is putting a high value upon human life. He is protecting it.
[9:34] If you're considering murdering someone, you must know if you take the life of another, your life will be taken. It was meant to discourage people from murder.
[9:47] And this capital punishment was carried out by one who was called the Avenger of Blood, usually a family member of the one who had been murdered.
[9:59] And he would hunt down the murderer and take his life as God had commanded over and over in this chapter. You heard it just read, the murderer shall be put to death, the avenger of blood shall put him to death.
[10:13] But now, due to man's fallen nature and propensity for revenge, this practice was easily abused and could lead to the further polluting of the land by unwarranted bloodshed.
[10:28] You see, the death penalty was never meant by God for the accidental taking of life, but only for the intentional premeditated murder. So let's say, in one of the other passages, bring this scenario up.
[10:45] Let's say I go into the forest to chop some firewood and another man is there chopping wood and as I'm chopping, the head of my axe flies off the handle and hits him and kills him.
[10:58] Well, I was not to be put to death since it was an accident with no ill will toward that man. But the avenger of blood, one of his brothers perhaps, may not know that it was accidental or what's worse, he may not care if it was accidental but may be so hot with anger that he's pursuing me to kill me.
[11:30] Well, that could trigger a whole slew of revenge killings. I would hope my brothers would go after that guy that killed me and on and on it goes back and forth, you see.
[11:43] The killing of each other, much like the bloody feuds of the McCoys and the Hatfields at the end of the Civil War. So here in Numbers 35, as Israel's ready to go into the Promised Land, God adds another law through Moses to keep the avenger of blood from wrongfully killing another.
[12:03] And that is the law of the cities of refuge that we just read about. Now, kids, you know what a refuge is. A refuge is a safe hiding place, a protected place, a shelter from danger.
[12:22] Maybe you've heard of animal refuges in the African countries and there's lions and elephants and all kinds of animals.
[12:33] And you can go there with your camera but you've got to leave your gun at home because it's on a refuge. You can't kill an animal on the refuge.
[12:45] It's protected there. It's a safe place for them. That's what a refuge is. Even so, these cities of refuge were safe places.
[12:58] But now notice four things about these cities of refuge. A city of refuge in the first place was a place of safety for those who had accidentally taken the life of another and that's important.
[13:12] It was not a place of safety for murderers. Ten times in this section we read of murderers, they shall be put to death. There's no protection for them anywhere, not in the city of refuge either.
[13:27] Rather, that was just for those who had accidentally killed. Verse 9 to 12, the Lord said to Moses, speak to the Israelites, say to them, when you cross the Jordan into Canaan, select some towns to be your cities of refuge to which a person who's killed someone accidentally may flee.
[13:44] They will be places of refuge refuge from the avenger so that a person accused of murder may not die before he stands trial before the assembly. He must appear before the assembly to be tried.
[13:58] Was it accidental or was it intentional? In other words, he was innocent until proven guilty.
[14:10] Where have you heard that before? Many of our legal codes go back to what is found in our Bibles here 3,500 years ago in the words that God gave to the Israelites concerning murder.
[14:28] The courts in our land still distinguish between accidental murder and intentional premeditated murder. And they actually have some of the very words of Numbers 35, that first degree murder is the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought.
[14:46] Verse 20. Intentionally. Verse 20. With hostility. Verse 21. And so, if it's first degree murder you must be able to prove it was intended to kill.
[14:59] You must be able to prove it was on purpose whereas second degree murder or manslaughter was not on purpose. It was an accident or not premeditated.
[15:11] So, for one who had accidentally killed another this was a place of safety if they could get there before the avenger of blood got to them.
[15:22] So, that's the first thing about a city of refuge. It's only for those who accidentally killed another. Secondly, a city of refuge was to be accessible to all. Easy to get to.
[15:35] Now, you know that in the promised land if you had a sacrifice an offering to make to God it could only be in one place. You had to go to Jerusalem.
[15:46] No matter where you lived in all the promise you had to go to Jerusalem. But if you needed a city of refuge you didn't have one place to run. You had six towns set aside as safe places for you.
[16:01] Verses 13 to 15. These six towns you give will be your cities of refuge. Give three on this side of the Jordan and three in Canaan as cities of refuge. These six towns will be a place of refuge for Israelites, aliens, and any other people living among them so that anyone who has killed another accidentally can flee there.
[16:21] God wanted ease of access. Three on each side of the Jordan River. The Jordan runs right down the middle. Three on this side, three on that side. You shouldn't have to swim to get to safety is what God is saying.
[16:35] You've got one on your side of the Jordan. Deuteronomy 19, 2 and 3 says that these were to be centrally located in the land. And they were to build roads to them.
[16:50] They weren't to let them get overgrown with brush and trees that would hinder someone who's fleeing there. They're to be kept clear. And all of this was due for ease of access for the innocent to run there for safety.
[17:08] Now, if you look on your maps at the end of your back of your Bibles, you can find that these six cities were centrally located and equally spaced apart.
[17:21] They're about 50 miles between them. So wherever you lived in the land, you would be within 25 miles of a city of refuge.
[17:33] That's the furthest you could ever be from a city. It was accessible. Not everybody going down to Jerusalem. Now, to be sure, 25 miles is more than a jog.
[17:47] It's one mile short of a marathon, isn't it? So you might want to live close to a city of refuge. Or stay in shape. Because you were only safe inside the city.
[18:02] So you needed to get there before the avenger of blood got to you with his knife. It was to be accessible. Thirdly, a city of refuge.
[18:14] We learned that the innocent person must remain within the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. So let's say he gets to the city, safely.
[18:25] They protect him from the avenger of blood. Avenger of blood can't come into the city until this man gets to go to a fair trial before the assembly to determine if it was accidental or intentional.
[18:40] Verse 24 and 25, the assembly must judge between him and the avenger of blood according to these regulations that we just read. who is it to the assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood and then send him back to the city of refuge to which he fled.
[19:01] That's assuming he was found innocent. Verse 25, he must stay there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.
[19:12] So though there were not at least two witnesses to say he intentionally killed this man. He was found innocent of murder. It was accidental.
[19:24] They were to send him back to that city of refuge to which he had fled and he was to stay there until the death of the high priest. Verse 26, but if the accused ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he has fled and the avenger of blood finds him outside the city, the avenger of blood may kill the accused without being guilty of murder.
[19:54] The accused must stay in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Only after the death of the high priest may he return to his property.
[20:06] All loss of life was taken very seriously. So he was to stay there. Now how are we to apply this part of God's word? This sounds so foreign to us, doesn't it?
[20:20] Why is it in our Bibles and what are we to learn? Well we obviously see the high value God places on human life. How murder pollutes the land and what must be said of our land and all the murders of the unborn much less to speak of the murders done every day in our cities.
[20:38] It surely teaches us how offensive murder is to God that he says where the murderer takes the life of another his life must be taken.
[20:51] And then we see the important distinction between accidental and intentional killing of innocence before proven guilty. These are lessons that are for us but beyond these there's an even bigger lesson.
[21:05] Because a city of refuge was an Old Testament type. It's a shadow. It's a symbol pointing to something future. Pointing to someone future.
[21:18] Jesus Christ who would be the refuge. The one safe hiding place in all the universe. And so there are many Old Testament types and symbols that pointed to Christ.
[21:33] They're found throughout the Old Testament. And which is better? The type and shadow the symbol or the reality? Well let's take the lambs the lambs that were slain by the thousands and tens of thousands throughout the Old Testament on Jewish altars.
[21:49] Those were symbols. What were they pointing to? They pointed to the Lamb of God Jesus Christ. Well which is which is better? It is impossible for the blood of lambs and goats to take away sin.
[22:07] Hebrews 10 1 to 4. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus is a better lamb than those Jewish lambs of the Old Testament.
[22:22] And it's the same thing when we come to the cities of refuge. Indeed the whole book of Hebrews emphasizes that Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant.
[22:33] It's founded on better promises. His ministry is superior to the Old Testament high priest. He brings in a better hope with better sacrifices better possessions.
[22:45] Indeed brings us to a better country and we obtain a better resurrection and the blood of Jesus speaks a better word than the blood of Abel and so on. So in the same way Jesus is a better refuge than those Old Testament cities of refuge.
[23:05] You know even in the Old Testament God held out himself as a refuge a safe protection a place to go and be safe a shelter.
[23:17] You know Psalm 40 6-1 God is our refuge and strength and ever present help in trouble.
[23:29] Psalm 16 and verse 1 keep me safe oh God for in you I take refuge I run into you you're the safe hiding place and there are dozens of such passages in the Old Testament that are teaching us that the ultimate safety is not to be found in these cities of refuge but in God himself and then when we come into the New Testament Jesus is held up as the safe refuge the one safe place in all the universe to run to Hebrews 6-18 he's the one to whom we have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope offered to us.
[24:11] so Jesus is the fulfillment of the city of refuge to which a man might flee and be safe forever. He's far better than the type and shadow.
[24:24] I want to give you four ways that Jesus is a better refuge than these cities of refuge. First of all Jesus saves us from the coming wrath of God. Those cities of refuge they could only keep a man safe from the avenger of blood who was just a mere man like himself with limited speed who would get tired himself chasing him down.
[24:52] Oh but Jesus is the safe refuge from God the avenger. The safe place from God's wrath.
[25:03] You see you might be able to outrun man and get into the place of refuge. You cannot outrun God. It's God himself who's the divine avenger of those who have sinned against him.
[25:15] That's what the Bible says from cover to cover. You're familiar with Romans 6 23 that the wages of sin is death and that includes the second death the lake of fire forever and ever.
[25:31] So God is far more holy and sin is far more serious than what our world realizes. And we don't sin accidentally.
[25:43] We sin on purpose. And sin is why there is a hell. Colossians 3 6 because of these things the wrath of God is coming.
[25:56] Because of these things called sin the wrath of God is coming. Oh that those words could be written on every billboard in our land.
[26:09] This world does not believe that. They believe it's just going to keep on rolling like it has since the beginning. No the Bible says over and over the wrath of God is coming.
[26:23] There's a hell to pay for sin and God says vengeance is mine. I will repay. Be sure of this. Your sin will find you out.
[26:34] You can run but you cannot hide from God. No one is getting away with anything in the whole universe. Can you imagine that? God is a God of justice and vengeance.
[26:46] And those who do not repent are right now storing up wrath for the day of God's wrath. Just like you store up money in a bank account. Those that are continuing in their sin without Jesus as the refuge are storing up and what they're storing up, what they're saving up is wrath for the day of wrath, for the payday when the righteous judgment of God will be revealed.
[27:13] Romans 2, 4, and 5. But just as God is the divine avenger for sin, so Jesus is God's own provision as the safe place from his wrath.
[27:31] Isn't that good? He's the one who sent Jesus to be the safe place from his infinite wrath. For all who flee to him for refuge will find in him eternal safety.
[27:49] And so we hear the father speaking of his son in Psalm 2 and verse 12, kiss the son. That means worship the son. fall on your face and kiss his feet. Worship the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little.
[28:08] Blessed are all those who take refuge in him. That's the one safe place. And to be found in him is to be kept safe forever.
[28:23] forever. So God's wrath is coming for sinners tracking you down. You can't outrun God so stop running from him and turn and run into the arms of Jesus. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
[28:38] So there is a city of refuge but only one. One safe hiding place from the wrath of God and his name is Jesus Christ. Outside of him God is but a consuming fire to you and his fire will find you out.
[28:57] But in him is refuge, safety, and protection. Blessed, happy, to be envied are those who take refuge in the Son of God.
[29:11] Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 1.10 He says this about God's Son. He is Jesus who rescues us from the coming wrath. So yes, there's a wrath to come, but here's one who rescues us if we will take refuge in him.
[29:29] Are you in him? That's the most important question you can answer. Are you in the refuge, the safe place? You know how you get into Christ? You get into him by faith.
[29:41] Not trusting in anything you've done, but what he has done for helpless sinners, living a perfect life for us, dying and atoning death on the cross in our place.
[29:54] Whoever comes to me, Jesus says, you come running into my city, you won't find the gates closed. Whoever comes to me, I will in no eyes cast out. Well, is Jesus not a better refuge than the cities of refuge?
[30:12] That kept you from a human avenger of blood. Jesus keeps us from the vengeance of God's wrath forever. And how did he do that?
[30:22] How does Jesus do that? Well, he goes to the place of punishment and he takes the wrath of God in our place. Hell came to Calvary that day and he took the wrath of God.
[30:36] He drank the cup of God's wrath until there was nothing left to drink for all of those who take refuge in him. That's the good news. That's the gospel. He suffered what we had coming that we might enjoy what he had coming for his perfect life of obedience.
[30:56] He's a better refuge. Secondly, Jesus is a refuge for all kinds of sinners who take refuge in him. Remember the Old Testament cities are refuge?
[31:07] They were only for those who had accidentally murdered. If you were guilty of murder, you'd be kicked out of the city of refuge and you would be killed by the avenger of blood. Verse 31 says there's no ransom for the murderer.
[31:21] So that's the Old Testament city of refuge. Only for those with accidental taking of life. But Jesus saves all, all who take refuge in him, including murderers.
[31:37] you know some of them. Moses wrote the first five books of our Bible. He goes out and he sees an Egyptian slave master abusing one of the Israelites and he looks both ways and he kills him and he hides him in the sand.
[32:06] Murder, murder, David commits adultery with a woman named Bathsheba and in order to hide his sin, he plots, premeditates intentional death of her husband Uriah, a murderer.
[32:29] The apostle Paul. when they stoned Stephen, they laid their coats at the feet of one Saul of Tarsus, thought to be the ringleader and indeed the very next day he starts a campaign breathing out slaughter against the church.
[32:53] Murderers. Do you know how much of our Bibles is written by murderers? Moses, David, Paul?
[33:06] Hmm. They must have found refuge. The Old Testament city of refuge was not for intentional murderers.
[33:16] Jesus, the refuge invites all to come to him. And though they lived before Jesus, they had the prophecies, the lambs, the pictures, and they put their faith in the coming Savior.
[33:32] And so they took shelter in Christ. And if you're going to heaven, you'll meet Moses, the murderer, David, the murderer, and Paul, the murderer, and many others like them.
[33:45] But what about you and me? They said, well, I've never committed murder. Is that what the Bible says? You read Matthew chapter 5, and the Pharisees were taking comfort in the fact that they had not stuck a knife in anyone's back.
[34:07] But Jesus says that to be sinfully angry at another is to be guilty of murder and in danger of the fire of hell. 1 John 3, 15 says, anyone who hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
[34:26] So before we dismiss ourselves, we need to read again what the Bible says about hatred. And oh, it makes me happy to know that Jesus is not like those Old Testament cities of refuge.
[34:41] He's a better refuge because he welcomes one and all to come to him, murderers included, like me. The blood of Jesus God's Son cleanses from all sin, every transgression.
[34:56] The vilest offender who truly believes that moment from Jesus forgiveness receives. The vilest offender. Come you sinners lost and hopeless, Jesus' blood can set you free, for he saved the worst among us when he saved a wretch like me.
[35:13] And I know, oh yes, I know, that Jesus' blood can make the vilest sinner clean. How do I know? Because he says so.
[35:26] His blood cleanses from all sin. So Jesus is a better refuge than the city of refuge. Thirdly, because in Christ there's no waiting to begin a new life.
[35:39] We just saw how that even if you weren't found guilty of murder and were returned to the city of refuge, you had to stay there until the death of the high priest. You couldn't go back to your wife and children and live on your land and your business and be in your home.
[35:56] No, you had to stay in that city of refuge until the death of the high priest. It's enough to tempt a man to pray for the death of the high priest, isn't it?
[36:07] That could be 20, 30, 40, 50 years, couldn't it? And if the avenger of blood ever found you wandering outside of the city, he could kill you and not be guilty of murder.
[36:28] But Jesus, our high priest, has already died as a ransom to set us free from sin and from the avenging wrath of God. And if the son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed.
[36:42] He sets us free immediately from God's wrath. As soon as we take refuge in Christ and restores us to himself, we were banished, outcast, exiled sinners because of our sin.
[36:54] But the moment we take refuge in Jesus, it's all patched up. We're reconciled to God. Christ died for sins once for all time, the righteous for the unrighteous.
[37:06] To do what? To bring us to God. And that bringing us to God is not just by and by when we go to meet him. Right now we've been reconciled to him.
[37:17] He's no longer our enemy. We're no longer his enemy. We've been brought to him immediately. That's why the Bible can say, if you're in Christ, there is now, therefore, no condemnation left for those who are in Christ.
[37:34] Right now, reconciled, redeemed, nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
[37:47] And then lastly, Jesus is a better refuge than the Old Testament cities of refuge because he's far more accessible to all than those cities of the Old Testament.
[38:00] Yes, there were six. Yes, they were spaced out evenly. Yes, you only had to go 25 miles at the most to get to them and the roads were made clear for you. But Jesus is far more accessible to get to.
[38:14] You don't have to run 25 miles to get to Jesus. You don't have to run 25 steps down to the altar of some church to get to Jesus. You don't have to do anything in the way of penance to pay back.
[38:31] You can get to Jesus right where you are right this moment. You're only a prayer away from Jesus, the great high priest.
[38:41] There's no intermediary priest you need to go through. You can go to him right now as he welcomes you. What an accessible refuge is Jesus, our Lord.
[38:54] We think of that thief on the cross. He's not coming down alive. He's there for good until he dies and goes to meet his maker. And in the kind providence of God, he finds himself hung on a cross beside the only Savior of sinners.
[39:11] And when nobody else saw Jesus as a king that day and mocked the sign that said King of the Jews, God gave eyes to see in this man. And he looked over and said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
[39:27] You are a king. You have a kingdom. Have mercy. Remember me. And immediately that man took refuge in Christ and he was safe and secure from all alarm.
[39:40] As Jesus says, today you will be with me in paradise. It's that quick. You might have come in an enemy of God. you go out in the refuge. Reconcile with your life to live to his praise.
[39:55] He's just that accessible. So in every way, Jesus is a much better refuge for sinners. So there's a question that really pops up.
[40:05] If he is so accessible and is able to save us from the coming wrath, why aren't people running to him? Kids, I told you about this guy running for all of his worth to get inside the city gate just to keep from being killed.
[40:22] But why when it's the wrath of God that's bringing everlasting punishments, aren't people running into the one safe place? And it certainly must be that they don't realize their danger.
[40:36] Our world does not believe that the wrath of God is coming and coming for all of those who are outside of Christ. whether they be Muslims, Buddhists, Protestants, or Catholic Christians who have not taken refuge in Jesus, he's coming.
[41:00] He's coming in judgment. And that's why people yawn at the gospel. That's why people are not flocking to get into Jesus through a repentant faith.
[41:13] They don't see their need. They don't see a storm of God's wrath. They don't see an avenger of blood chasing them down. And so they don't think there is such a thing.
[41:23] That's the devil's lie. The Bible tells us it's real. Where are you going to learn this? The world won't tell you. The devil won't tell you. Your own flesh won't tell you.
[41:34] But Jesus loves you enough to tell you. I'm the only refuge there is. Get in me. And I'll keep you safe and secure. Many years ago when the sky...
[41:48] When do people get into the tornado shelters? Praise God. He delivered us this last week, didn't he? We're thankful. We pray. We seek him. And he was kind to us. Others are needing help.
[41:59] But when do you get into a safe place? Not on a day when the sun's shining and nothing threatening is in view.
[42:10] And that's the way. That's the reason people aren't getting into Christ. They see no wrath of God. No avenger. No, it's when you see the storm is coming that you run for shelter.
[42:23] Many years ago we were in our home and such a day happened. The tornado sirens were screaming. The sky was twisting and funny yellow and dark.
[42:36] And the doorbell rang. A mother and her daughter were driving from South Bend back to Bourbon. And they saw their danger. And they rang the doorbell on someone they never knew and said, could we take refuge in your basement with you?
[42:54] We said, sure, come on in. But unless you know there's danger, you will not. Seek the refuge. And I'm thankful that we have a Savior who's come and he's announced, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.
[43:14] And unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Jesus loves us that much to tell us our danger. and then to hold himself out is the only safe place to find refuge.
[43:33] You know, one day we're all going to stand before God in judgment. And he's going to be able to say to you, I sent a refuge.
[43:44] I sent my own son at the cost of his own bearing of sin's punishment on the cross to be a refuge for any sinner who gets under him.
[43:55] I sent him down for the world. What did you do with my son? What did you do with the refuge I sent? What will you say in that day if you're found outside of Christ?
[44:10] I this, I that, I the other. There will be no excuses. You will rightly deserve the separation from God. That's what you chose. That's what you did with the refuge.
[44:23] So there's an urgency about this matter. We dare not delay because until you get into Christ by faith, you are exposed to the wrath of God.
[44:35] Remember, there's only one safe place, it's in Christ. And if you're not in him, you are exposed to the wrath of God. And the only thing between you and eternal hell is the breath in your nostrils.
[44:47] And God has the next one in his hands. It is urgent. Get into Christ today. Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.
[45:02] The reason there's refuge in him is because he bore the wrath. He took the punishment that brought us peace. Rabbi Duncan was a Scottish preacher and seminary professor.
[45:18] father. When they were studying the cross of Christ, he said it was damnation and he took it willingly. And that's why there's no damnation for those who take refuge in him.
[45:32] And then he quoted not some theologian, but a simple American Indian. This is back, I think, in the 1800s from the United States, who said, Mino die because he died.
[45:53] Bad English, but rich theology. That is the gospel. Substitutionary curse bearing. Mino die.
[46:05] Why? Because he's already died. He's already borne the punishment. What a savior. If you get into Christ, you're able to say what Paul says of Jesus.
[46:20] Galatians 3.13 Christ redeems us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. Get into Christ.
[46:30] And if you'd like to talk further, we'd love to do that with you. But seek him. Get into him. By faith. Amen.