1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,000 Amen. 2 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:32,000 Amen. 3 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:29,980 Okay, good morning. Good morning. We're going to get started today. We're going to begin by reading out of Psalm 71. 4 00:01:29,980 --> 00:01:59,960 Let me make sure that's right. I haven't had my call yet, Dave. So if we want to go ahead and stand. And if you would like to have, there is an order of service on the back table there with the communion and handouts, if you would like that to kind of help on what we're doing during our service, we do have that. And then it also has some announcements on the back as well, just some important ones on there. And so our service is going to go a little bit different today. 5 00:01:59,960 --> 00:02:29,940 We're going to be reading our Psalms together, and then we're going to be singing two songs. And after the second Song, we're going to have our prayer and share time. And there'll be information up for those who are watching online for phone numbers to text. If you have something you'd like to send us, please do that. And so let's go ahead and get started. Psalm 71, one through three. 6 00:02:29,940 --> 00:02:59,920 In your righteousness, deliver me and rescue me. Incline your ear to me and save me. Be to me a rock of refuge to which I may continually come. You have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. 7 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:29,900 for those that are watching online, and we thank you just for the encouragement that can fill this place, just being together and worshiping you. We thank you for your words in the psalm that remind us that you are always our rock and our refuge, and that you have saved us. A simple thing, but a great thing for our life. And we thank you so much for Jesus and for your grace and your mercy. Be with our service today and allow it to glorify you. In Jesus' name, amen. 8 00:03:29,900 --> 00:03:59,880 Christ our hope in life and death. 9 00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:29,860 "Who holds our days within His hand, what comes upon from His command, and what will keep us to the end, the love of Christ in which we stand. 10 00:04:29,860 --> 00:04:59,840 He reigns eternal, all say, hallelujah. Now and ever we confess, Christ our hope in life and death. 11 00:04:59,840 --> 00:05:29,820 Where is His grace and goodness known? In our grave, Redeemer's blood. Who holds our faith when fears arise? Who stands above the stormy trial? Who sends the waves that bring us nigh unto the shore, the rock of Christ? 12 00:05:29,820 --> 00:05:59,800 Oh, sing hallelujah. Our hope springs eternal. Oh, sing hallelujah. Now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death. 13 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:29,780 Pray, what will we sing? Christ, He lives. Christ, He lives. And what reward will heaven bring? Everlasting life with Him. There we will rise to meet the Lord. Then sin and death will be destroyed. 14 00:06:29,780 --> 00:06:59,760 When Christ is ours forevermore. Oh, sing hallelujah. Our hope springs eternal. Oh, sing hallelujah. Now whenever we confess, Christ our hope in life and life. 15 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:29,740 And death. Oh, sing hallelujah. Our hope springs eternal. Oh, sing hallelujah. Now whenever we confess, Christ our hope in life and death. Now whenever we confess, Christ our hope in life and death. 16 00:07:29,740 --> 00:07:59,720 Let's pray. 17 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:29,700 There's a place where streams of grace flow deep and wide. Where all the love I've ever felt comes like a flood, comes flowing down. 18 00:08:29,700 --> 00:08:59,680 At the cross, at the cross, I surrender my life. I'm in awe of You. I'm in awe of You. Where Your love remembered my sin washed white. I owe all to You. I owe all to You, Jesus. 19 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:29,660 There's a place where sin and shame are powerless. Where my heart has peace with God and forgiveness. 20 00:09:29,660 --> 00:09:59,640 Where all the love I've ever found. Comes like a flood. Comes flowing down. At the cross, at the cross, I surrender my life. I'm in all of you. I'm in all of you. 21 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:12,640 Where your love ran red and my sin washed white. I owe all to you. I owe all to you. 22 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:29,620 Here, my hope is found. Here, on holy ground. Here, I bow down. Here, I bow down. Here, arms open wide. 23 00:10:29,620 --> 00:10:59,600 You saved my life. Here, I bow down. Here, I bow. At the cross, at the cross, I surrender my life. I'm in awe of you. I'm in awe of you. Where your love ran red and my sin washed white. I owe all to you. 24 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:06,600 All right. You may be seated. 25 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:31,600 You may be seated. 26 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:01,600 Amen. 27 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:31,600 Amen. 28 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:01,600 Amen. 29 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:58,600 Maybe pray for Luke. Okay. We're going to continue on to our time of communion, and we're going to be singing Man of Sorrows. 30 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:28,600 Man of sorrows, Lamb of God, By his own betrayed. The sin of man and wrath of God, Has been on Jesus. 31 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:35,600 In Jesus' name. 32 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:57,600 Silent as the accused, Featen mocked and scorned. Bowing to the Father's will, He took the crown 33 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:04,600 of thorns. 34 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:23,600 Oh, that rugged cross, my salvation, where your love poured out over me. Now my soul cries out, "Alleluia!" 35 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:30,600 Praise and honor unto me. 36 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:46,600 Sent up heaven, God's own Son, to purchase and redeem. 37 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:57,600 And reconcile the very ones held into that dream. 38 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:10,600 Hold on a rugged cross with our salvation, where your love poured out over me. 39 00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:25,600 Now my soul cries out, "Hallelujah!" Praise and honor unto Thee. 40 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:39,600 Now my debt is paid. It is paid in full by the precious blood that my Jesus spilled. 41 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:52,600 Now the curse of sin has no hold on me. Who the Son says for me, O is free indeed. 42 00:25:52,600 --> 00:26:08,600 Now my debt is paid. It is paid in full by the precious blood that my Jesus spilled. Now the curse of sin has no hold on me. 43 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:37,600 When the sun sets free, O is free indeed. O that rugged cross, my salvation, where your love poured out over me. Now my soul cries out, "Alleluia!" 44 00:26:37,600 --> 00:27:06,600 Praise and honor unto me. See the stone is rolled away. Behold the empty tomb. Hallelujah, God be praised. 45 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:35,600 He's risen from the grave. Oh, that rugged rose, my salvation. Where your love poured out over me. Now my soul cries out. Hallelujah. Praise and honor unto me. 46 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:45,600 To me. Praise and honor unto me. 47 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:25,600 So even when Greg is here, I still forget. Usually I can blame that on Greg not being here. 48 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:45,600 March the 1st, 1873, Charles Spurgeon, as he prepares his church for communion to celebrate the Lord's Supper together, he preaches from the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. 49 00:28:45,600 --> 00:29:07,600 And I'll just read the first three verses. And it begins like this: "Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 50 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:22,600 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, as one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised, and we esteemed him not." 51 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:33,600 And the rest of the 53rd chapter of Isaiah goes on to explain more of the suffering of Christ and why it was that he was a man of sorrows. 52 00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:42,600 From the accusations to the crucifixion, we see and feel the grief that Jesus felt at the cross. 53 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:53,600 Now, Spurgeon will say this: "Few of us can bear pain, and perhaps fewer still can bear misrepresentation, slander, and ingratitude. 54 00:29:53,600 --> 00:30:00,600 These are horrible hornets that sting us with fire. Men have been driven to madness by cruel scandals, 55 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:09,600 which have been distilled from venomous tongues." Christ, throughout His life, bore these and other sufferings. 56 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:15,600 Let us love Him as we think of how much He has loved us. 57 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:22,600 Will you try, before you come to the communion table, to get your soul saturated in the love of Christ? 58 00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:29,600 Let your soul soak in His love, till like a sponge you drink into your own self the love of Jesus, 59 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:36,600 and that that love, as it fills you, pour out, He will say, into the lives of others. 60 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:42,600 So when you sit at this table, and you partake of the emblems of His death and of His love, 61 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:51,600 admire the power of His love, and pray that you may have a love like it in the same kind of power. 62 00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:58,600 That we would know the love of Christ, and that that love would flow out of us into a world that is broken, 63 00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:05,600 and is hurting. Let's pray. Father in Heaven, thank You for Jesus and for grace. 64 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:12,600 We thank You that He endured in our place, that He suffered for us, and that He rose again in victory. 65 00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:17,600 And so as we come to this table, may You fill our hearts with Your love. 66 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:22,600 You will help us to see the price that was paid in full for our salvation. 67 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:27,600 That Jesus took our sorrows and our sins and our hurts. 68 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:33,600 Help this not to be just something that we consider, but let it be something that changes and transforms us, 69 00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:41,600 and flows out of us, that we show the love of Christ to a world desperately in need of good news. 70 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:46,600 I ask that You bless this bread and this cup. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 71 00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:54,600 Would you take the bread with me, as Jesus did with His disciples, and said, "Do this in remembrance of me." 72 00:31:54,600 --> 00:32:11,600 In the same way, let's remember the love of Christ as He gave His blood for us, and as Jesus said, "Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." 73 00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:18,600 "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." 74 00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:28,600 Before we move into our message, our Scripture reading and our message this morning, we're going to just take a few moments and do something a little bit different. 75 00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:37,600 We want to, as we move into this new year, learn maybe some new music and some new songs to sing together as a church. 76 00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:48,600 One of the ones we're going to start with is from Psalm 8. You can look this up in whatever streaming service you use. It's by Shane and Shane. 77 00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:59,600 If you use Apple Music or Spotify or some of you still use Pandora, I guess. I'm sorry. Go ahead and give this a listen. 78 00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:05,600 We're going to play a lyric video for you to get a feel for it. You're welcome to listen. 79 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:14,600 If you know it and you want to sing along, the chorus is really easy to pick up. It's taken from Psalm 8, so we're going to go ahead and play this. 80 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:20,600 If you want to read the words a little more clearly, they're in the little order of worship handout that we gave you on the back. 81 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:22,600 So we're going to go ahead and do that. 82 00:33:35,600 --> 00:34:03,600 And I look at your heads, the moon and stars. You set in motion, oh God. I sing all glory and honor. What is meant that you are mindful? The Son of Man that you would care for. 83 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:31,600 We sing all glory and honor. Oh, Lord, our Lord. Oh, how awesome are your words. How majestic is your name in all the earth. Oh, Lord, our Lord. May we see your kingdom come. Father, may your will be. 84 00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:59,600 Father, may your will be done in all the earth. In all the earth, you gave dominion to your children, and you crown them, oh, God, with glory and honor. So the seed of your name divides for your greatness, oh, God. 85 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:27,600 And your glory and honor. Oh, Lord, our Lord. Oh, how awesome of your ways. How majestic is your name in all the earth. Oh, Lord, our Lord. May we see your kingdom come. Father, may we see your kingdom come. 86 00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:55,600 Father, may your will be done in all the earth. The earth is full of the glory of God. Come, make my child the name above all names. Creation cries out and every need buys. 87 00:35:55,600 --> 00:36:03,600 Jesus, we crown you, O Lord our Lord. 88 00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:23,600 We crown this for love, the glory of God. Come, make my child the name above all names. Creation cries out and every need. 89 00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:51,600 Jesus, we crown you, O Lord our Lord. O Lord our Lord. O Lord our Lord. O Lord our Lord. How awesome are your names. How majestic is your name in all the earth. 90 00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:56,600 Oh, Lord, oh, Lord 91 00:36:56,600 --> 00:37:00,720 You see I can't look out 92 00:37:00,720 --> 00:37:06,600 And you will be dying on the earth 93 00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:13,820 Oh, Lord, oh, Lord, oh, so my life 94 00:37:13,820 --> 00:37:17,280 How majestic is your name 95 00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:21,500 In all the earth 96 00:37:21,500 --> 00:37:24,600 Oh, Lord, oh, Lord 97 00:37:24,600 --> 00:37:27,840 May we see I can't look out 98 00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:31,360 For all the real will be done 99 00:37:31,360 --> 00:37:35,400 In all the earth 100 00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:38,600 Oh, Lord, oh, Lord 101 00:37:38,600 --> 00:37:42,080 Oh, how awesome are your ways 102 00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:45,440 How majestic is your name 103 00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:49,440 In all the earth 104 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:52,800 Oh, Lord, oh, Lord 105 00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:56,560 May we see your kingdom come 106 00:37:56,560 --> 00:38:00,160 Father, may your will be done 107 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:03,600 In all the earth 108 00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:07,600 In all the earth 109 00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:37,580 Thank you. 110 00:38:37,600 --> 00:38:49,960 This morning's reading is from Joshua 21. 111 00:38:49,960 --> 00:39:04,920 The cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the people of Israel were in all 48 cities with their pasture lands. 112 00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:32,240 These cities each had its pasture lands around it, so it was with all these cities. Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers, and they settled there, and the Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to 113 00:39:32,240 --> 00:39:59,560 to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed. All came to pass. This is the word of the Lord. 114 00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:26,880 Father in heaven, thank you for your word. We thank you for how you have declared your glory in the world in which we live, how you declare your glory through your church. And may we be a people who declare your glory to the world around us. Help us this morning as we look at these 48 cities 115 00:40:26,880 --> 00:40:49,600 that may seem on the surface to us distant and far away. Help us to see your goodness. Help us to see that you are our refuge, that you give us purpose and direction, and that you give us the strength to follow you. Be with us this morning. Lead us to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 116 00:40:49,600 --> 00:41:12,320 Alright, so as we begin, we begin with 48 cities spread out over 12 territories, the 12 tribes of Israel, and they're divided into two regions. You have a region east of the Jordan and west of the Jordan, and they all sort of spread out from the house of God, the tabernacle, which is at Shiloh. 117 00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:42,300 And so as we maybe look at these two chapters, chapter 20 and chapter 21, as they sort of lay out all of these different cities, it may be very easy for us to look at this. And I know it's easy for me to look at this and say, "Well, why does this matter?" Right? Is this just trivia about the history of Israel and how God gave an inheritance to the Levites in these cities spreading out from Shiloh across the territory of Israel? Or maybe this is just simply a legal 118 00:41:42,300 --> 00:42:12,280 record so that later on when somebody wants to contest property with somebody else, they can go and do that and pull up the legal record of Joshua chapter 21 and say, "See, God has deeded this city to us." You can find it in the record of Joshua. I think in this text, these two chapters, there is something much more helpful, much more wonderful than simply some interesting trivia or history about the nation of Israel. What you find is God is not just simply 119 00:42:12,280 --> 00:42:42,260 dividing out land, passing out blessings, or putting forth a record sort of legal ownership, but he's showing us something about how he works in the midst of his people. And as a church who are his people, how God works in the midst of his people should be something that makes us sit up and notice, especially when we see the blessings of how God works in the midst of his people. And what you find is Joshua chapter 120 00:42:42,260 --> 00:43:12,240 20 begins with this message to weary, fearful, struggling, and sinful people is that God gives us hope. He gives us a safe place to run to. In Joshua chapter 20, verses 1 through 6, we come to this idea of the cities of refuge. And in these 48 cities, six of them were cities of refuge running north to south, and then one set of three on one side of the Jordan, one set of three on the 121 00:43:12,240 --> 00:43:42,220 other side of the Jordan, and their purpose was this, here from Joshua chapter 20. And the Lord, this is God's idea, says to Joshua, "Say to the people of Israel, appoint cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there, and they shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood." 122 00:43:42,220 --> 00:44:12,200 Moses, you can read more about Deuteronomy 4, Deuteronomy 19. The picture of these cities is simply a provision that if you accidentally kill somebody in the course of your day-to-day, it is a place for you to go of safety, because under the Mosaic law, remember, it's an eye for an eye, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and a life for life. 123 00:44:12,200 --> 00:44:26,200 Whether this was intentional killing, or whether this was some sort of accident where somebody dies as a result, not out of malice, but as a result of something you're doing, the penalty is still a life for life. 124 00:44:26,200 --> 00:44:42,180 And in those cases where there was no ill motive, these cities were provided as a refuge. And you could run to this city, and there the leaders of this city would examine you and talk to you and find out what was truly in your heart, and then provide you a 125 00:44:42,180 --> 00:44:59,180 safe place to live, safe from the avenger of blood, which would be the next of kin of the man that was slain, coming to bring forth justice into your life. They would provide to you a refuge until the death of the high priest, and then you were free to go. 126 00:44:59,180 --> 00:45:12,160 In fact, the example that's used in the law of Moses in the book of Deuteronomy is this: that you're out with your neighbor, and you're chopping wood, maybe for a fire, maybe to build a house, maybe to put a 127 00:45:12,160 --> 00:45:42,140 fence around your field, and you're out there chopping wood, and you're chopping with an axe, and the head of the axe goes flying off. It's worn out, maybe it isn't attached well, and that piece of axe, that piece of metal, hits your neighbor in the head, and he dies, right? It wasn't intentional, but that doesn't change the fact that a man is still dead. And so the cities of refuge were provided for these kinds of scenarios. Now, we hear that, and we think, 128 00:45:42,140 --> 00:46:12,120 maybe intellectually that's interesting to know that God provided a place for those who had accidentally committed murder, accidentally killed somebody, manslaughter is how it's worded in the text, to run to and find safety. But there's a difference, I think, between an intellectual understanding and an emotional understanding of the importance of these cities. And as I was reading about them, I came across a little pamphlet. It was written in 1865, 129 00:46:12,120 --> 00:46:42,100 and it's called "The Cities of Refuge" by a guy by the name of John Macduff. And I didn't read the entire thing, I just read through the introduction. But his introduction grabbed me as to the emotion of what is happening. Listen to what he would say: "If he wished," this is the man who has accidentally killed his neighbor, "If he wished to escape with his life, his only chance of safety was to flee to these refuge cities. It mattered not what his 130 00:46:42,100 --> 00:47:12,080 name was or his age or his station in life. He might be young or old, a prince, a noble, a priest, or a prophet. He was exposed every moment to death unless he availed himself of the offered shelter. There was no time for delay because he knew full well the avenger is in close pursuit." And he will go on to explain and to talk about how it didn't matter what you're doing, you're pruning in your vineyard. 131 00:47:12,080 --> 00:47:42,060 You drop your pruning hook and let it rust. You're plowing with your oxen. You drop the reins and you run and you leave for someone else to take care of them. You're paying your workers. You drop it and you run. It doesn't matter if your child is sick. It doesn't matter if your wife is expecting. You run to the city of refuge. He says this, "The avenger of blood may be in the adjoining street or in the dwelling hard by. Another hour 132 00:47:42,060 --> 00:48:12,040 if you wait may be fatal." And so this man, he'll say, "Off he speeds in breathless haste. Now along the level road and now along the steep ascent, with his chest heaving, drops of perspiration standing on his brow. Friends may meet him, but with a wave of his hand and shouting, 'Avenger! Avenger!' He rushes on with fleet footsteps. Parched with thirst in the hot noonday, he turns a longing eye to the ripe grapes that are hanging in purple clusters on the 133 00:48:12,040 --> 00:48:42,020 wayside. Or under the water trickling down the narrow ravine, but he dare not pause, knowing full well the Avenger is in close pursuit. Happy sight it is when he sees at last. On some mountain slope that long shelter. Happy when weary and foot sore covered with dust, the portals of the city close in on him. A few minutes before he might have been overtaken on the 134 00:48:42,020 --> 00:49:12,000 mountain top by his pursuer. He might have been heard to cry out in the bitterness of despair, "Hast thou found me, O my enemy?" Now safe within secure shelter, he can rejoice and exclaim, "Even with the Avenger standing by, O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end." And there is this picture that might grab us. This man, hot, dusty, and tired, seeing the gates of the city, and rushing 135 00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:41,980 into his refuge and his salvation. You might say, "Well, what does all of this have to do with hope?" You might ask that to the man who has just rushed to this city, dropping everything, leaving behind everything, running for his life with the Avenger on his heels. Ask him if this city provides him home. You see, God had made a provision for those who were in desperate need of mercy. 136 00:49:41,980 --> 00:50:11,960 You can use it in the beginning of Joshua chapter 20, that God has also made a provision for them to return home. And he shall remain in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the high priest at the time. Then the manslayer may return to his own town and from his own home from which he had fled to. You see what it says? He's safe in the city until the high priest dies and he can return home. 137 00:50:11,960 --> 00:50:41,940 The implication in these words is that the death of the high priest, it's not just a time limit. The implication from this rule is that when the high priest dies, it in some way satisfies what this man is in need of. That it somehow is his debt. It's paying the price that he deserved to pay. Now, we don't have cities of refuge, and you might say, "Well, that might be good for the 138 00:50:41,940 --> 00:51:11,920 man in Joshua's day running for his life." Listen to these words from Hebrews. So that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, those two unchangeable things are the promise and the vow of God. Listen to this. We who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope that is set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul 139 00:51:11,920 --> 00:51:41,900 a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, becoming a high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. Jesus goes with his blood into that Holy of Holies to pay the price that we deserve to pay. And it may feel like in this moment that you are tired and that you are running and you're out of breath and you're thirsty and you're struggling. 140 00:51:41,900 --> 00:51:59,720 and all of those things that are seeking justice and vengeance are chasing you and they're at your heels. And maybe you have spent your entire life trying to run and to hide from the consequences of the wrongs that you have committed. 141 00:51:59,720 --> 00:52:11,880 The message here for us is we come to God who is a refuge and a strong encouragement. And he calls us to hold fast the hope that is set before us. 142 00:52:11,880 --> 00:52:21,880 Our High Priest has stood, not just as our High Priest, but as the substitute, paying the price for the wrong that we have done. 143 00:52:21,880 --> 00:52:27,880 Come and hear what God has done for you. Not what you need to do, but what God has done on your behalf. 144 00:52:27,880 --> 00:52:35,880 The second thing we see is this foundation of faithfulness that leads us to hope. Do you hear the words that Brent just read? 145 00:52:35,880 --> 00:52:41,860 Not one word of the good promises that the Lord has made to the house of Israel had failed, 146 00:52:41,860 --> 00:52:43,860 but all came to pass, right? 147 00:52:43,860 --> 00:52:50,860 And the message of these last words of this chapter is that God keeps His promises all the way from Abraham, 148 00:52:50,860 --> 00:52:54,860 where He calls them and says, "This land will belong to your descendants." 149 00:52:54,860 --> 00:53:00,860 Through those years of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, into Egypt, out of Egypt, into the wilderness, 150 00:53:00,860 --> 00:53:03,860 you see that God is a God who keeps His promises. 151 00:53:03,860 --> 00:53:11,840 And Scripture is very clear here that God doesn't partially keep His promises or He doesn't sort of technically fulfill it. 152 00:53:11,840 --> 00:53:20,840 like meeting a contractual obligation, but not one word of what God says failed to come to pass. 153 00:53:20,840 --> 00:53:28,840 And the ultimate result of that is just like the city of refuge provides rest for those fleeing, 154 00:53:28,840 --> 00:53:33,840 God's promise provides rest for His people. Look at verse 44. 155 00:53:33,840 --> 00:53:41,820 "The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their fathers, not one of their enemies 156 00:53:41,820 --> 00:53:49,820 had withstood them, not because they were strong, but because of this: for the Lord had given their enemies into their hands." 157 00:53:49,820 --> 00:53:55,820 You see, God gives hope. There's refuge and a rest for the people of God. 158 00:53:55,820 --> 00:53:59,820 And we might say, "Okay, there's refuge and rest, but now what?" 159 00:53:59,820 --> 00:54:07,820 God then, in these chapters, is additionally not just calling us to hope, but He's calling us as well to a purpose, right? 160 00:54:07,820 --> 00:54:14,820 One of the things we learn about this life is that anything of any value can and will be counterfeited, right? 161 00:54:14,820 --> 00:54:22,820 You can find, you know, counterfeit just about everything, right? From purses, to shoes, to art, to money. 162 00:54:22,820 --> 00:54:30,820 If there is value and people want to buy it, it doesn't matter how big or how small, somebody will take it and counterfeit. 163 00:54:30,820 --> 00:54:40,820 The same is true, not just physically, but spiritually. You and I exist, and we live to glorify God. 164 00:54:40,820 --> 00:54:47,820 But in a world broken by sin, there are constant counterfeits. 165 00:54:47,820 --> 00:54:55,820 You see, we're called to know God, to glorify Him, to enjoy Him, to find our joy and our hope and our rest in Him. 166 00:54:55,820 --> 00:55:04,820 Paul will say, "Whether you eat or drink, do all for the glory of God." Revelation chapter 4 will say, "Worthy are you to receive glory and honor." 167 00:55:04,820 --> 00:55:19,820 The psalmist will say, "Who have I in heaven but you, and on earth nothing but you? My flesh and my heart may fail, but you are the strength of my soul and my portion forever." 168 00:55:19,820 --> 00:55:29,820 You and I exist to glorify God, not because God selfishly demands it, but because He is the one thing that will fill our soul. 169 00:55:29,820 --> 00:55:42,820 He is the one thing that is solid in the midst of a world that is shifting and changing. And He calls us in everything we do, from mundane things like eating or drinking, 170 00:55:42,820 --> 00:55:52,820 to our jobs, to our families, to our friends, to seek to glorify Him, because it's only in the glory of God that our souls will be satisfied. 171 00:55:52,820 --> 00:56:04,820 And then here we come with the counterfeit. The counterfeit of stuff. If we seek that, we find ourselves empty. The counterfeit of power and pleasure, 172 00:56:04,820 --> 00:56:11,820 relationships, experiences, and at the heart of all of these things is that we seek to glorify ourselves rather than God. 173 00:56:11,820 --> 00:56:24,820 And it's been that way since the beginning. The very first temptation to Adam and Eve by the serpent was what? Glorify yourself by grabbing a hold of this knowledge. 174 00:56:24,820 --> 00:56:34,820 Yes, the glory of God has sustained you and filled you and brought you to this wonderful garden. He has created you. 175 00:56:34,820 --> 00:56:40,820 He has placed you here with everything you could ever want, but there is something more, and that something more is you. 176 00:56:40,820 --> 00:56:50,820 And every single one of us have exchanged the glory of God to glorify something else in our life. 177 00:56:50,820 --> 00:56:56,820 We have to see that the glory of God is the only thing that satisfies our soul. 178 00:56:56,820 --> 00:57:05,820 If we try to satisfy our own soul, we'll find ourselves in the midst of the wilderness, seeking refuge as enemies pursue us. 179 00:57:05,820 --> 00:57:14,820 God calls us to him, says, "Come to my refuge, come to my safety, and glorify me." 180 00:57:14,820 --> 00:57:20,820 And through these first five books of the Old Testament, we've seen God glorified in his promises to Abraham, 181 00:57:20,820 --> 00:57:26,820 his salvation of Joseph, in the ten plagues as God triumphs over the false worship of Egypt, 182 00:57:26,820 --> 00:57:32,820 as he parts the Red Sea, as he cares for his people both protecting and providing in the wilderness, 183 00:57:32,820 --> 00:57:37,820 as they've brought the conquest into Canaan. God has been glorified. 184 00:57:37,820 --> 00:57:44,820 But now the question is, in the day-to-day, normal, everyday lives of people who have just been brought into their inheritance, 185 00:57:44,820 --> 00:57:50,820 their house and their farms and their family, their friends, their occupations, how do they now glorify God? 186 00:57:50,820 --> 00:57:57,820 Or another way, how do we, in what would seem to be these normal moments, glorify God? 187 00:57:57,820 --> 00:58:05,820 One of the things we see in Deuteronomy, the fourth chapter, we find Moses saying this. 188 00:58:05,820 --> 00:58:07,820 Listen to his words. 189 00:58:07,820 --> 00:58:15,820 He will say about the commandments of God, "Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of all the people, 190 00:58:15,820 --> 00:58:23,820 who, for when they hear these statutes, will say, "Surely this is a wise and understanding people, for what a great nation is there 191 00:58:23,820 --> 00:58:29,820 that has a God so near to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call upon Him. 192 00:58:29,820 --> 00:58:38,820 And what great nation is there that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law I set before you today, only..." 193 00:58:38,820 --> 00:58:44,820 Here it is. "Take care and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, 194 00:58:44,820 --> 00:58:51,820 and lest they depart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children." 195 00:58:52,820 --> 00:59:01,820 By obeying, by remembering, by sharing that good news with the generations that follow, 196 00:59:01,820 --> 00:59:08,820 God's people were called to glorify God. You and I in the church are called in the same manner. 197 00:59:08,820 --> 00:59:14,820 That God has saved us. He has brought us into His refuge. He has saved us from those things that we have glorified 198 00:59:14,820 --> 00:59:21,820 and have left us empty. And He calls us to glorify Him. In fact, in the Sermon on the Mount, remember the picture Jesus uses? 199 00:59:21,820 --> 00:59:26,820 Right? You're a city on the hill. Let your good works shine before men. 200 00:59:26,820 --> 00:59:30,820 Not that they will praise you, but so they will see what you have done and glorify your Father in heaven. 201 00:59:30,820 --> 00:59:36,820 The same thing is happening in Deuteronomy 4. Not that people are praising Israel's wisdom, 202 00:59:36,820 --> 00:59:42,820 but they're praising the God who gives Israel wisdom and who gives them the law and who dwells between them. 203 00:59:42,820 --> 00:59:49,820 Israel's purpose, now they have been brought into the hope, is now to glorify God through both remembering 204 00:59:49,820 --> 00:59:58,820 and hiding that in their heart and clinging to it and focusing on it and teaching it to the generation that comes. 205 00:59:58,820 --> 01:00:02,820 And so we've been saved and brought into the refuge, and we're called to glorify God. 206 01:00:02,820 --> 01:00:05,820 And the thing I love about this is God's not teaching us to ride a bike. 207 01:00:05,820 --> 01:00:11,820 He doesn't come up and say, "This is the bike, two wheels, some pedals. All right, good luck. Go do it." Right? 208 01:00:11,820 --> 01:00:17,820 That's not what God does to His people. He doesn't just simply tell you, save you, tell you what you need to do, 209 01:00:17,820 --> 01:00:21,820 and then leave you stranded to figure it out on your own. 210 01:00:21,820 --> 01:00:27,820 God will then equip His people for glory and obedience and remembrance, 211 01:00:27,820 --> 01:00:34,820 and He will help them to do that through His strength and His power, ultimately leading to peace. 212 01:00:34,820 --> 01:00:37,820 Listen to Joshua chapter 21:1-3. 213 01:00:37,820 --> 01:00:41,820 "The heads of the Father's house, the Levites came to Eleazar the priest, 214 01:00:41,820 --> 01:00:46,820 and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the Father's houses, and they said, 215 01:00:46,820 --> 01:00:53,820 the Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities to dwell in, along with pasture lands for our livestock." 216 01:00:53,820 --> 01:00:57,820 So by the command of the Lord, remember this is God's idea, what's about to happen. 217 01:00:57,820 --> 01:01:03,820 The people of Israel gave the Levites the following cities, pasture lands out of the inheritance, 218 01:01:03,820 --> 01:01:07,820 and the rest of the chapter goes on to list 48 cities. 219 01:01:07,820 --> 01:01:14,820 And so what you will find in this chapter is the cities for God's people, the Levites. 220 01:01:14,820 --> 01:01:18,820 There's three divisions: the Kohathites, the Gershonites, and the Merorites. 221 01:01:18,820 --> 01:01:21,820 They all have different functions in the temple. 222 01:01:21,820 --> 01:01:25,820 The first group deals with the furniture, the altars and the candlesticks. 223 01:01:25,820 --> 01:01:28,820 The second group deals with the fabrics and the curtains. 224 01:01:28,820 --> 01:01:34,820 The third group deals with the structure, the footers and the posts, and all the beams and the supports. 225 01:01:34,820 --> 01:01:40,820 And their cities will be divided by their role within the tabernacle. 226 01:01:40,820 --> 01:01:44,820 And what's interesting is they are distributed in the same way the people served in the temple. 227 01:01:44,820 --> 01:01:52,820 Those who deal with the inner furnishings, who are closest, their cities will be circulated closest to Shiloh. 228 01:01:52,820 --> 01:01:57,820 Those who deal with the fabrics, who are a little bit further away, their cities will be a little further away. 229 01:01:57,820 --> 01:02:02,820 Those who deal with the structure, they're even a little bit further away in their service, 230 01:02:02,820 --> 01:02:05,820 but in the city, in the land of God, they're a little bit further away. 231 01:02:05,820 --> 01:02:11,820 God is literally, as He orders these cities, given by the rest of the tribes, the Levites, 232 01:02:11,820 --> 01:02:16,820 He's ordering them in the same way He has ordered His worship in the tabernacle. 233 01:02:16,820 --> 01:02:21,820 It's sort of an echo of how God has ordered His worship. 234 01:02:21,820 --> 01:02:30,820 And so you have in the middle, isn't it remarkable how God works, you now have these 48 cities. 235 01:02:30,820 --> 01:02:37,820 And you have a people who have a hope and a promise of God, and they're called to hear God's commands, 236 01:02:37,820 --> 01:02:43,820 to keep God's commands, to remember God's commands, to teach God's commands, and in doing so, bring glory to God. 237 01:02:43,820 --> 01:02:45,820 And how do they do it? Are they on their own? 238 01:02:45,820 --> 01:02:51,820 Throughout their land is a city here, and a city here, and a city here, with God's ministers, 239 01:02:51,820 --> 01:02:56,820 or maybe the pastors who teach and encourage and correct the Word of God. 240 01:02:56,820 --> 01:03:02,820 See, God doesn't just throw them out and say, "Do this." In the midst of all the people He places, 241 01:03:02,820 --> 01:03:11,820 those whose job it is to encourage, to teach, and to help His people remember Him, and to bring glory to God. 242 01:03:11,820 --> 01:03:17,820 God does not leave His people alone. In the same manner, today, in the church, 243 01:03:17,820 --> 01:03:23,820 we're not just looking at a place where we come and we meet with God, but through the Holy Spirit, 244 01:03:23,820 --> 01:03:30,820 God is at work within us, but He's also called us, like the Levites, dispersed among the land, 245 01:03:30,820 --> 01:03:36,820 to live as a people who encourage one another, to teach, and to help, and to strengthen one another in the Word of God. 246 01:03:36,820 --> 01:03:44,820 God has not left us alone, just as He did not leave His people without guidance or without spiritual help when they needed it, 247 01:03:44,820 --> 01:03:50,820 but rather, He scattered His ministers throughout the land for the good of His people. 248 01:03:50,820 --> 01:03:53,820 So listen to these last words. 249 01:03:53,820 --> 01:03:58,820 The Lord gave Israel all the land that He swore to give their fathers. 250 01:03:58,820 --> 01:04:04,820 They took possession of it, and they settled there, and the Lord gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their fathers. 251 01:04:04,820 --> 01:04:09,820 Not one of their enemies withstood them, for the Lord had given their enemies into their hand. 252 01:04:09,820 --> 01:04:17,820 Not one word of the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed, but all had come to pass. 253 01:04:17,820 --> 01:04:29,820 The God who gives refuge, and who gives hope, is the God who defeats enemies, the God who brings us into rest, and the God who makes promises that are never changed. 254 01:04:29,820 --> 01:04:36,820 And so in this, we're not just called to see the hope and the wonder. We're called to follow God. 255 01:04:36,820 --> 01:04:46,820 We're called to glorify God. To look at our lives and say, "Is my life, and in the decisions that I make, and the things that I lift up, 256 01:04:46,820 --> 01:04:53,820 is it glorifying to God, or am I lifting myself up?" And the good news is that God has given us a refuge. 257 01:04:53,820 --> 01:05:02,820 He has given us the strength. He has defeated our enemies, and He's put us within a body of believers who can help us and strengthen us in those moments. 258 01:05:02,820 --> 01:05:10,820 Let's pray. Father, thank You for Your Word and for Your church. We thank You for the good things that You have done for us. 259 01:05:10,820 --> 01:05:23,820 I ask this morning that maybe there are some who will have been running, running for their life, running from fear or worry or hurt, 260 01:05:23,820 --> 01:05:31,820 that You would take their burdens, that You would be their refuge, that You would help them to see Your glory and lift them up. 261 01:05:31,820 --> 01:05:38,820 Help us to see Your glory. Lift us up. Bring us to peace. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 262 01:05:38,820 --> 01:05:45,820 We're going to go ahead to stand, and we're going to sing about our hope. 263 01:05:45,820 --> 01:06:10,820 How great the chasm that laid us, How high the mountain I could not climb, 264 01:06:10,820 --> 01:06:37,820 In desperation, I turned heaven, And spoke your name into the night. Then through the darkness, your loving kindness Tore through the shadows of my soul. 265 01:06:37,820 --> 01:06:52,820 The work is finished. The end is written. Jesus Christ, my living hope. 266 01:06:52,820 --> 01:07:06,820 Who could imagine so great a mercy? What heart could fathom such boundless grace? 267 01:07:06,820 --> 01:07:35,820 The God of ages stepped down from glory to wear my sin and bear my shame. The cross has spoken. I am forgiven. The King of kings calls me his own. 268 01:07:35,820 --> 01:07:48,820 Beautiful Savior, I'm yours forever. Jesus Christ, my living home. 269 01:07:48,820 --> 01:08:04,820 Hallelujah! Praise the One who set me free. Hallelujah! Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. 270 01:08:04,820 --> 01:08:17,820 There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living home. 271 01:08:17,820 --> 01:08:33,820 Then came the morning that sealed the promise. Your buried body began to breathe out of the silence. 272 01:08:33,820 --> 01:09:02,820 The roaring lion declared the grave has no claim on me. Then came the morning that sealed the promise. Your buried body began to breathe out of the silence. 273 01:09:02,820 --> 01:09:21,820 The roaring lion declared the grave has no claim on me. Jesus, yours is the victory. 274 01:09:21,820 --> 01:09:31,820 Hallelujah. Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah. 275 01:09:31,820 --> 01:09:48,820 Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope. 276 01:09:48,820 --> 01:10:00,820 Hallelujah. Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah. Death has lost its grip on me. 277 01:10:00,820 --> 01:10:29,820 You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Oh God, you are my living hope. 278 01:10:29,820 --> 01:10:58,820 All right, we're going to struggle through some announcements. Wednesday night at 7:00 here in the church, we're studying James. We'll be going through it. It's a small book, but it takes a good while to get through it because there's a lot of good information. 279 01:10:58,820 --> 01:11:13,820 There's a lot of good information in there, so please always welcome at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday nights. If you cannot make it, there are also videos available, I believe, on the church website that you can go through on your own. 280 01:11:13,820 --> 01:11:27,820 Men's breakfast, January the 28th. I have to admit, I took that day off from my duties on Saturdays to make it because I want to taste what Stu is fixing. 281 01:11:27,820 --> 01:11:40,820 So there's a breakfast, and he will have a devotional while we're here. There will be eggs, meat, it's always good, hopefully bacon, and coffee. 282 01:11:40,820 --> 01:11:56,820 The ladies, sorry, maybe not. You've mandated at least some sort of fruit, so there'll be at least one apple somewhere. So that may be all she wrote for you. 283 01:11:56,820 --> 01:12:00,820 Are there any other announcements this morning? 284 01:12:00,820 --> 01:12:03,820 Sausage gravy? 285 01:12:03,820 --> 01:12:08,820 Sausage gravy? 286 01:12:08,820 --> 01:12:11,820 I suggested a sausage gravy on the hill. 287 01:12:11,820 --> 01:12:15,820 What do you want to know? 288 01:12:15,820 --> 01:12:23,820 We will, there's a couple of weeks maybe that we can go through and see. Sausage gravy is always a good idea. 289 01:12:23,820 --> 01:12:25,820 Sausage gravy on the hill. 290 01:12:25,820 --> 01:12:34,820 Well, anybody who knows anybody at Skanks, they sell it in the big containers, and it's very good. We've had it before. 291 01:12:34,820 --> 01:12:39,820 Any other announcements? 292 01:12:39,820 --> 01:12:45,820 If not, then we'll have a word of prayer. I'll read a verse, and then we'll sing the doxology. 293 01:12:45,820 --> 01:12:50,820 Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity that you've given us to be here this morning. 294 01:12:50,820 --> 01:12:54,820 We thank you that we are so close while we're in this building to you. 295 01:12:54,820 --> 01:12:59,820 The problems come in when we leave this building, and the world encroaches on us. 296 01:12:59,820 --> 01:13:04,820 But, Father, we know through you we can have the strength if we only ask for it. 297 01:13:04,820 --> 01:13:09,820 That we can withstand anything that comes our way from the world. 298 01:13:09,820 --> 01:13:15,820 That, Father, you are always with us, and you have never, ever failed from what you've promised. 299 01:13:15,820 --> 01:13:18,820 And you have promised us that you're always with us. 300 01:13:18,820 --> 01:13:23,820 Guide us here and release us this morning from this building into the world that we have to struggle through. 301 01:13:23,820 --> 01:13:31,820 That, Father, we would have your blessing, and we would have all the many precious gifts that you've given us. 302 01:13:31,820 --> 01:13:34,820 Guide us in everything we think, do, and say. 303 01:13:34,820 --> 01:13:41,820 Father, it is in Jesus' holy and precious name that we do ask these many things. Amen. 304 01:13:41,820 --> 01:13:45,820 The verse is out of Romans chapter 15, verse 13. 305 01:13:45,820 --> 01:13:52,820 It reads, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, 306 01:13:52,820 --> 01:13:57,820 you may abound in hope." 307 01:14:22,820 --> 01:14:29,820 Holy Ghost. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 308 01:14:52,820 --> 01:14:54,820 Amen. 309 01:15:22,820 --> 01:15:24,820 Amen. 310 01:15:52,820 --> 01:15:54,820 Amen.