City of Refuge (4-9-11)

Psalm 99:8 - "O LORD our God, Thou didst answered them; Thou wast a forgiving God to them, and yet an avenger of their evil deeds."

In Numbers 35, Deuteronomy 19 and Joshua 20 God tells Moses and Joshua to set aside cities of refuge in Israel. A city of refuge was a place to which someone could flee when they had killed someone accidentally. In those days if someone had killed someone else, even by accident, a relative of the person murdered could chase the killer and avenge the blood of his relative. So there were six cities designated as cities of refuge in order that the manslayer could flee there and as long as he remained in the city he was free from the avenger of blood. Deuteronomy 20:4-6 says - "Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live: when he kills his friend unintentionally, not hating him previously-- as when a man goes into the forest with his friend to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down the tree, and the iron head slips off the handle and strikes his friend so that he dies--he may flee to one of these cities and live; otherwise the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer in the heat of his anger, and overtake him, because the way is long, and take his life, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated him previously."

So any person who killed another person unintentionally was free from the avenger of blood as long as he remained inside the city of refuge. But as soon as he ventured out he was in danger of losing his life. However, we're told in Joshua 20:6 that - "He shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the manslayer shall return to his own city and to his own house, to the city from which he fled." And in Numbers 35:26-28 we read - "But if the manslayer at any time goes beyond the border of his city of refuge to which he may flee, and the blood avenger finds him outside the border of his city of refuge, and the blood avenger kills the manslayer, he will not be guilty of blood because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return to the land of his possession. After the death of the high priest the manslayer is free to return to his own land and the avenger of blood can no longer take vengeance on him." There was no sacrifice that could be made on behalf of the manslayer. The only thing that could set him free was the death of the high priest.

In Psalm 99:8 God is referred to as "an avenger of their evil deeds". All humanity is guilty before God and deserving of His wrath. All sin, ultimately, is an act of rebellion against God. After David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and killed her husband Uriah he said in Psalm 51:4 - "Against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned." So all humanity has sinned against God, and God has said "Vengeance is mine, I will repay." But just like the Old Testament Israelites, we have a refuge to which we can flee and escape the wrath of God. Hebrews 6:18-19 says - "In order that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement, we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."

Jesus is our refuge. He has saved us from the wrath of God, and Romans 8:1 tells us - "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." All who have entered into Jesus as their city of refuge will not come into condemnation. But we must enter. All who remain outside will pay the penalty for their own sin. There is no sacrifice we could make to set ourselves free. Just as it was only by the death of the high priest that the manslayer could be free from the wrath of the avenger of blood, it is only by the death of our Great High Priest that we could be set free from the wrath of Almighty God. All of us who enter into Jesus as our refuge shall not come into judgment. And even though we may wander outside the border of the city from time to time, we will never be condemned. We can never lose our salvation because our Great High Priest has died. And "After the death of the high priest the manslayer is free to return to his own land and the avenger of blood can no longer take vengeance on him." This is such a complex picture. We are the manslayer, God is the avenger, the city of refuge and the high priest.

Hebrews 7:23-27 - "The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself."

To all those who are in Christ Jesus, He ceases to be the Avenger and He becomes both our City of Refuge and our Great High Priest.

April Fools (4-1-11)

Psalm 14:1 - "The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God ""

The Bible begins with the words "In the beginning God". There is no philosophical argument for His existence, just God creating. It's as if it is assumed that the people are aware of Gods existence. Because it would be foolish to deny the existence of God. God has given ample proof for His existence in His creation, and He has made that which is known about Him evident in every human being. But because of the wickedness and foolishness of the natural man, he has hardened his heart and declared that there is no God, and he has put created things in place of the Creator. This is talked about in Romans chapter 1 verses 18-25 which says - "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen."

There are several verses throughout scripture that talk about fools and the foolishness of sinful men. I think this one from Isaiah pretty much sums it up. Isaiah 32:6 - "For a fool speaks nonsense, And his heart inclines toward wickedness: To practice ungodliness and to speak error against the LORD, To keep the hungry person unsatisfied And to withhold drink from the thirsty." People will come up with all sorts of ridiculous ideas in order to deny the existence of God. Because man tends toward wickedness, and if there is a righteous God then they will eventually be judged for their wickedness. So people come up with all kinds of nonsense, and speak evil against the Lord. Every good thing that the Lord has made, sinful man has found a way to pervert. So, because men do not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to their sinfulness.

But even so, God loved us. And He demonstrated His great love for us "in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." Despite our foolishness in denying the existence of our Creator, He still loved us and died for us. In Gods eyes, those who deny Him are fools, though they see themselves as wise. But, ironically enough, those who confess with their mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead, are considered fools in the eyes of the world. The message of the gospel, the way that God provided for foolish man to get back to Him is considered foolishness to the world. This is what we read in 1 Corinthians 1:18 - "For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:21-24 says - "For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God."
The message of the gospel makes no sense to those who are perishing because, chapter two goes on to say - "The natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually concerned."
So we who have been given the Spirit of God must do away with worldly wisdom and become foolish in the eyes of the world. 1 Corinthians 3:18-19 says - "Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God."

Every person has a choice. Either we can be a fool in the eyes of God, which has eternal consequences, or we can be a fool in the eyes of the world, which has eternal rewards. I gladly stand up beside the apostle Paul and proclaim, "We are fools for Christ's sake."

Rest (3-31-11)

Matthew 11:28-30 - "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

In this passage Jesus offers rest to all those who have labored under the heavy burden of sin. Through His death on the cross, Jesus abolished sin and now offers peace and rest to all those who will come to Him, confessing themselves as sinners. It is a rest in the finished work of salvation.
Apart from Christ people will be judged based on their works. We're told in Revelation 20:11-12 that everyone who's name was not found written in the book of life was judged "according to their deeds". And everyone who expects to be saved according to their works will be cast into the lake of fire. There are so many people in the world today that are depending on their works to save them. Ever since the garden of Eden man has had a knowledge of good and evil, and man, in general, strives to do the right thing, and all religions in the world are based on this kind of thinking. It all comes down to a bunch of rules, do this, or, don't do that. And trying to live according to rules and regulations, whether those rules are a part of mans religion or his own self righteous standards, is very tiresome and exhausting. And even we as Christians sometimes can get into a legalistic mindset, in which we think we have to do certain things at certain times in order to obtain Gods favor.
But Christ offers a solution to this. "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Jesus wants us to rest in Him constantly. We don't rely on what we say or do in order to obtain Gods favor. We simply rest in Christ and His finished work. And that's not to say that we never do good works, we do. But we do them, not out of fear of consequences, but out of our love for Him. The love of Christ controls us, and it's Him who is working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Hebrews 4:1-3 - "Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, "As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest," although His works were finished from the foundation of the world."

Hebrews 3:10 - "For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His."

Peace - Sermon (3-27-11)

John 16:33 - "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

In this verse Jesus tells us that in Him we can have peace. both believers and unbelievers have troubles in this world, but only Christians can have inward peace in the midst of tribulation. Because inward peace, the peace of God, only comes when we have peace with God, and peace with God only comes through Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 48:22 says - "There is no peace for the wicked," says the Lord." Since there is no peace for the wicked, that means only the righteous can have peace. And like we talked about last time, "There is none righteous" (Romans 3:10). But by faith we are made righteous through the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore, by His blood and righteousness, everyone who puts there trust in Him has peace with God. Romans 5:1 says - "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
In Ephesians 2:12-18 Paul talks about this and says - "Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father."
So when we were separate from God, while we were yet sinners, enemies of God, alienated in our minds by wicked works (Colossians 1) Christ died for us, and brought us near to Himself by His blood. And not only did He give us peace with God, but He Himself became our peace. He fulfilled the whole law, thus establishing peace with God, and granted us access to the Father.

So, Jesus provided the way for peace. The way has been set before mankind, and we must chose to surrender to Him. To make Him the Lord of our lives. And He will not share lordship. If we're not willing to give Him exclusive lordship of our lives then there is no way we will have peace. Jesus said in Matthew 6:24 - "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other You cannot serve God and wealth." God jealously desires the Spirit that He has made to dwell in us. In 1 John 2:15 it says - "Do not love the world nor the things in the world If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." Not only are we not to make wealth or possessions lord of our lives, but we're not to love the world itself. We're told in James 4:4 that - "friendship with the world is hostility toward God. Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." God wants exclusive rights to our lives, and if we're not willing to give Him complete lordship, then there is no way we can have peace.

But, on the other hand, when we give our lives to Jesus Christ not only do we have peace with God, but He also gives us the peace of God. Going back to John 16:33, Jesus was talking to His disciples and He said to them "In the World you have tribulation" but right before that He said "In Me you may have peace". It is guaranteed that we as believers will suffer persecution in this world. In John 15:18-20 Jesus said - "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you .If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master ' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also." And in 2 Timothy 3:12 we're told that "all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." So it's inevitable that we will have tribulation in this world, but, like I said, right before Jesus said "In the World you have tribulation" He said "In Me you may have peace." That tells me that the peace of God does not depend on our circumstances. No matter what's going on around us, in Christ Jesus we can have inner peace. In the book of 2 Corinthians Paul tells us about many times in his life when he experienced tribulation and affliction, but right along side that he talks about how God comforted him in the midst of his affliction. I'm just going to highlight a few of these instances. In chapter 1 he start off after his usual greeting by saying - "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort."
4:8-9,16-18 - "we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed... Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
7:4-6 - "Great is my confidence in you; great is my boasting on your behalf I am filled with comfort; I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction. For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within. But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus."
13:11 I think this is an interesting way to end this letter. After sharing with them his hardships he says - "Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you." Be comforted, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with them. knowing that trials and affliction are going to come upon us doesn't seem very comforting, but because we know that the God of peace is with us, even throughout the greatest trials, we have great comfort.

But it's not only outward affliction that can cause unrest, but also anxiety. Anxiety can very easily replace our inward peace if we let it, but Paul encourages us in Philippians 4:6-7 to - "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." When we take our anxiety to God in prayer and leave it with Him, He will guard our hearts and minds with His indescribable, incomprehensible peace. But we have to leave our worries with Him. Gods peace cannot rule where anxiety is enthroned. And so we're told in Colossians 3 to "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts." Not simply live in our hearts, but actually rule. And when peace is ruling, all anxiety will be cast out. Just a few thoughts about worry:
1) It is completely useless. Jesus said in Matthew 6:25-34 - "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
2) It is dishonoring to our faith. Anxiety is fear. Fear of consequences - fear of the future - fear of circumstances - fear of what will happen. Fear shows a lack of faith in God.
3) It hinders the growth of our spiritual life. The fruit of the Spirit begins with love, and perfect love casts out fear. So if we're living with fear of what might happen in the future, the growth of our spiritual life is hindered.

The cure for anxiety, spoken about here in Philippians 4 is, first - Carry all trouble to God, and leave it there. Second - Ask God for the blessing we need, or think we need. Third - Believe that God will do what is best for us. And finally - Cultivate a thankful spirit for all that God has done for us.
We need to "cast all our anxiety on Him, because He cares for us." and verse 7 shows the blessed outcome of doing so. When we cast our cares on Him we shall have the "peace of God which surpasses understanding." And this peace will guard, or garrison, our hearts and minds. As a garrison keeps out enemies, so the peace of God will keep out anxiety and fear.

It's true that we do have trouble in this world but even so, going back to John 16:33, though we have tribulation, Jesus said - "but take courage; I have overcome the world." We can have peace because, even though the world hates us, He has overcome the world. And because He has overcome the world, we can overcome our trials, inward and outward, and have peace in the midst of them. In Romans 8:35-39 we read - "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, "For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered." But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Even in the midst of great trial, we overwhelmingly conquer in all these things because of His great love with which He loved us. The knowledge of His great love toward us results in inward peace.
Also in 1 John 4:4 it says - "You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." And chapter 5 verse 4 says - "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith." Because He overcame the world, we can overcome.

In 1873 there was an American lawyer by the name of Horatio Spafford who decided that his family should take a vacation in England because his friend D. L. Moody would be preaching there in the fall. However, he was delayed because of business so he sent his family, his wife and four daughters on ahead. But during the voyage across the Atlantic their ship was struck by an iron sailing vessel, and 226 people lost their lives, including all four of the Spaffords children. Spafford then sailed to England, going over the very place where his children drowned, and as he was passing over he said a tremendous peace came over him. And that's when he penned the words to the song we sing today:

"When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know, It is well, it is well with my soul."

Eternal Security (3-14-11)

Galatians 4:4-9 - "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?"

Throughout the book of Galatians Paul talks about how, in Christ, we are no longer slaves to the law. The law was never intended to give us salvation, but to show us our need for a Savior. Christ was born under the law, He fulfilled the law, He did in our place and as a result He is able to impute is righteousness to us. We are now children of God. Through Christ, God the Father adopted us and sent forth His Spirit to live in our hearts. It's rare that a father will disown his children, but it's not unheard of. But God is the perfect Father. Jesus says concerning fathers in Matthew 7:9-11 - "Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!" Even sin cursed people know to do whats right, how much more the perfect Father? In the parable of the prodigal son, it didn't matter what the son did or how far from the father he wandered, he was still the fathers son. He never disowned him, and He will never disown us. 
There was nothing we could do to earn our salvation, and there is nothing we can do to keep it. Our salvation rests in God hands. He did all the work to provide it for us, after giving it to us why would He expect us to be able to hold on to it? We don't hold our salvation, it's in Christs hands. If it were possible for us to lose our salvation it we mean the He was unable to hold on to it.
In John chapter 10 Jesus says - "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand."
If I could lose my salvation I would have done it by now. But the fact is, I can't drop my salvation because I'm not holding it, Christ is. There is no sin bad enough that the blood of Christ can't cover it.

Verse 9 of Galatians 4 says - "But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God..." Our salvation doesn't lie in our our knowledge of Him, but in His knowledge of us. Christians can lose their minds, or go into a coma, or be in some such state in which we have no knowledge of God, but that can never happen to God. He has perfect, infallible knowledge. Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23 - "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'"
If God had known them, and then they lost their salvation He would not be able to say "I never knew you". If we're known by God, we're known by Him forever, despite what we do or don't do. Our salvation rest in Him. Salvation belongs to our God. If we have given our lives to Him, we can trust Him to keep them.

2 Timothy 1:12 - "for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that Day."