THEY'RE COMING TO THE NEW
JERUSALEM, THE SUPER-CITY OF REFUGE -- PREPARE THEE A WAY
December 29, 2002 am
Deuteronomy 19:1-6 When the LORD thy God hath cut off the nations, whose land
the LORD thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their
cities, and in their houses; (2) Thou shalt separate three cities
for thee in the midst of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess
it. (3) Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the
coasts of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three
parts, that every slayer may flee thither. (4) And this is the
case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth
his neighbour ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past; (5)
As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his
hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth
from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee
unto one of those cities, and live: (6) Lest the avenger of the
blood pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because
the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch
as he hated him not in time past.
Numbers 35:13-15 And of these cities which ye shall give six cities shall
ye have for refuge. (14) Ye shall give three cities on this
side Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan, which
shall be cities of refuge. (15) These six cities shall be a refuge,
both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner
among them: that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither.
Isaiah 62:1-2 For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's
sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness,
and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. (2) And the
Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt
be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.
Isaiah 62:10-12 Go through, go through
the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway;
gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. (11)
Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the
daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with
him, and his work before him. (12) And they shall call them,
The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought
out, A city not forsaken.
I have a message today regarding our congregation and some concepts we
are told by God's Word to maintain and ever keep in mind, and live by.
A true church is a city of refuge.
- And people are going to come to our congregation seeking refuge in
God.
- And we have to understand our responsibilities and obligations before
God Almighty, concerning the preparation by us of a WAY to their refuge.
6 Cities of refuge were placed in the land of Israel for manslayers, people
who slew a person by accident, without intent to murder.
3 on the side of Jordan that was in the land of Canaan, and 3 on the other
side that is outside Canaan.
Manslaughter is different from murder.
- Man slaughter is not intentional.
An avenger of blood would pursue
the person, to avenge the death of the one slain.
And we read THOU SHALT PREPARE THEE A WAY.
- The route tot the city of refuge was considered very carefully.
- THE WAY there.
It was absolutely vital for the
WAY to the city to be carefully maintained.
- Tradition says that 32 cubits was to be the width of the road.
- It's valleys and hills were filled in and lowered respectively.
- Any stumblingstones had to be removed and all clutter was taken out
of the way.
- Any streams and rivers had to have bridges built across them for
the route to continue.
- Every year the roads were repaired and maintained.
When a person was a fugitive after
a murder, imagine the terror in his heart.
- Running as fast as he could, as his strength would allow him.
- A pursuer hot on his trail.
- Imagine a fugitive with a pack of hound dogs in full flight.
- Hiding in the daytime for fear of being tracked and found.
- Racing at night when it was harder to be seen.
- Adrenaline pumping throughout the system.
- Heart pounding.
- Shakey due to nervousness, and every stone on the road a possible
means to trip one up and wound a person's legs, to be slowed down and unable
to flee successfully.
- Imagine the thoughts of having a hand grab your shoulder, and a rifle
butt knocking you unconscious.
- Running in heavy chains that impede your progress.
Israel had to make every effort
possible to ensure that they prepared a WAY to the city of refuge.
Listen to the sort of words used in Isaiah alluding to people's need for
a clear path to safety from the avenger.
Isaiah 57:13-15 When thou criest, let thy companies deliver
thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but
he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit
my holy mountain; (14) And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye
up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people.
(15) For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,
whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that
is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble,
and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
Isaiah 62:1-2 For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and
for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go
forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.
(2) And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy
glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD
shall name.
Isaiah 62:10-12 Go through, go through the gates; prepare
ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones;
lift up a standard for the people. (11) Behold, the LORD hath
proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold,
thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before
him. (12) And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed
of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.
JERUSALEM was meant to be a place where righteousness goes forth as brightness.
- A place where the gentiles see righteousness.
- Spiritually speaking, the church is Israel, and the Gentiles are
sinners not yet saved.
- God spoke and said He was working on Jerusalem so that it becomes
what God wanted it to be!
New Jerusalem SHINES with glory.
Revelation 21:10-11 And he carried me away in the spirit
to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem,
descending out of heaven from God, (11) Having the glory of
God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper
stone, clear as crystal;
The street is GOLD.
Revelation 21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls;
every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold,
as it were transparent glass.
There are no stumblingblocks in it.
- Spiritually, to walk in the street of the City is PARADISE!
- I enjoy This walk!
The avenger is the devil.
- Seeking whom he may devour and destroy.
- He will stop at nothing to hinder any soul from coming to God and
serving Him.
- And if the church is the city of refuge, the devil will therefore
stop at nothing to hinder someone from coming to our church.
On the way TO the city of refuge,
every stone of stumbling had to be removed.
These places of refuge were on both sides of the Jordan River.
- Jesus was BAPTIZED in the Jordan River and had the HOLY GHOST DESCEND
upon Him in that river.
- So the JORDAN river is a spiritual demarcation point.
- There are some souls who are not yet baptized and Spirit filled,
whom we can say are on the other side of the Jordan, spiritually speaking.
- And there are souls who are baptized and Spirit-filled who are on
this side of Jordan.
- At any rate, BOTH SIDES had to have cities of refuge, and BOTH SIDES
CITIES had to have WAYS PREPARED for the fugitives.
The cities were for BOTH STRANGERS
and ISRAELITES.
- Under the Old Testament, a stranger was a man who was not circumcised,
or a woman whose husband was not circumcised.
- Circumcision in the New Testament is spiritually accomplished in
water baptism.
- So these places of refuge are both for the people not yet baptized
and Spirit filled, and for the person who has obeyed Acts 2:38, and yet is
weak and makes mistakes.
- How many know we all make mistakes at times?
- And we are growing so that we make less and less mistakes the more
like Jesus we become... being led of the Spirit.
- People led of the Spirit will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
Church, everyone of us were born
manslayers.
- The Bible says that Christ died for our sins.
- The reason he was crucified was to deal with the sins each of us
committed.
- All of us were sinners.
- And therefore, if Christ died because of our sins, we can be said
to have slain Christ.
But the cities of refuge were for
MANSLAYERS.
- Not murderers.
- In other words, our sins were not done purposely to slay Christ.
- Nobody had Christ on their minds as being the One to suffer and die
when we committed sins.
- Nevertheless, we are guilty of slaying Christ.
- You were not there when He was crucified, but you have to understand
that Christ was slain on the cross in God's mind for the purpose of dealing
with your sins and the sins of everyone else who lived and died and have
yet to be born.
- The cross was a work to deal with sins and put them away, and was
planned before the world began, to accomplish that very thing.
- God's knowledge simply can contain what shall occur the future.
- He is unlimited in what He knows.
So we all found HOPE in coming to
Jesus for refuge.
Now, notice that Isaiah 62 speaks of the roads being cleared for the fugitives.
- And it winds up by saying the people shall come to YOU, who are the
HOLY PEOPLE, THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD.
- And it then states WE WOULD BE CALLED "SOUGHT OUT, A CITY NOT FORSAKEN".
And this marvelously agrees with
the New Testament.
- Revelation speaks of the CHURCH PEOPLE as follows:
Revelation 3:12 Him
that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall
go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name
of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven
from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
We know that the BRIDE OF CHRIST is the CHURCH.
- And look at how else God refers to the Church, the Bride.
Revelation 21:2 And
I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Revelation 21:9-10 And there came unto me one of the seven
angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked
with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
(10) And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain,
and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven
from God,
Even Jesus told His disciples:
Matthew 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is
set on an hill cannot be hid.
Hebrews 12 comes right out and says this:
Hebrews 12:22-23 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto
the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable
company of angels, (23) To the general assembly and church of
the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all,
and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
And because Hebrews goes on to say....
Hebrews 12:27-28 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth
the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made,
that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. (28) Wherefore
we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby
we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
...people are going to come to us and we shall be called SOUGHT OUT, A
CITY NOT FORSAKEN, because they will see that the CHURCH of Jesus Christ is
the REFUGE for their souls.
THE CHURCH IS THE CITY OF REFUGE.
And we have to prepare a WAY to the refuge people can find in God's Church,
the City of Refuge called the NEW JERUSALEM.
- We've got to clear out every stumblingstone, and raise very valley
and lower every hill.
- We've go to build bridges for people to be able to cross hazardous
water currents and time-stalling streams and rivers.
- Whatever we can do to remove the impediments away from the sinners'
path to the CITY, we have to do it.
Once the fugitive arrived at the
city of refuge, the avenger could not enter and slay the man.
- The man found refuge.
- He was safe.
- If he ever left the city, like Abner did, he was susceptible for
slaying as much as he was before he entered the city.
PREPARE THEE A WAY.
Church, we have to keep the way clear for fugitives to find refuge in
Jesus.
People on the other side of JORDAN need a SAFE WAY where they are not
offended and quit on the Lord.
And there are some things that God's people have been known to do, that
were actually stumblingstones to such fugitives.
- Things done carelessly, that would never have been done had the church
members truly been conscious of doing their parts to make a clear way to
refuge.
- Things in the form of words and statements and actions that were
birthed from carnality and hatefulness, that gave no consideration to the
fugitive's weak conscience or inability to cope with such things, not being
a strong Christian yet.
Oh, we have to be so careful that
there is a way clear of stumblingstones.
When fugitives are on the run, stumblingstones are going to occur.
- But they are there by the enemy's works.
- They are the enemy's means of hindering the soul.
- And God knows the enemy does not need any help from well-meaning
dragons called "Christians" in name, but are not true believers in heart.
And there are souls on THIS SIDE
OF JORDAN who have only been saved long enough to be called regular members,
and yet are weak and need protection.
I've heard horror stories that pastors spend sleepless nights over, about
a church member scolding a person who has not yet spent a year in the church.
- Bringing folks to tears, who did not have enough time to grow strong
and love the Lord to the extent that nothing anybody does will break their
fellowship with God and their part in the congregation.
- Some people have not yet grown to be able to take such sharpness.
- Some people are barely newborns, or are still in the womb.
- And Exodus tells us of a law that spoke to men saying that if they
quarrel and a woman nearby is pregnant with child, and the fight hurts the
woman to the extent the unborn child is slain, then the man's life is equal
to the unborn child's life, and the man shall be slain -- eye for eye, tooth
for tooth, life for life.
Exodus 21:22-25 If
men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her,
and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the
woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.
(23) And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
(24) Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
(25) Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
When folks come to church we don't need a fashion analysis group who stares
with disgust on their faces.
Prepare Thee a Way!!!
People are barely able to make their way to the altars, such a new experience,
but break through enough to do so, because they sincerely believe the pastor's
words in the altar call about coming up to repent of their sins and seek
His Spirit...
- And they are mobbed with strangers telling them to shout and repent.
- They may even consider themselves Christians, and are made to feel
like heathens by members telling them to do the simplest of acts of prayer
that they are fully aware of, not realizing there may be more we understand.
Prepare thee a way.
1 Corinthians 14:23 If therefore the whole church be come
together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those
that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?
1 Corinthians 14:18-20 I thank my God, I speak with tongues
more than ye all: (19) Yet in the church I had rather speak
five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others
also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. (20) Brethren,
be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in
understanding be men.
Prepare thee a way.
The one who causes a miscarriage of the unborn, causing the unborn to
die, is guilty of murder.
- Don't abort the unborn -- those not born of the water and the spirit
yet, but in the womb who have repented, and are seeking to come forth in
new resurrection life.
- Don't even mention clothing to anybody.
I have seen weaker believers slip
a little in their holy lifestyles, who were badgered and sneered at by someone
trying to nicely spank the person with an attitude in their words.
- Even the wounded saints who know what is right or wrong, don't need
a kick in the stomach when they are weak and wounded and falling a bit.
- They feel it's better to stay away from church if that is the attitude
they have to face everytime they come.
I recall years ago visiting a man..
- I was busy much of the time and had not seen this man for a while.
- The man saw me come in and mockingly spoke, saying, "Well look at
the stranger who never comes around to visit me!"
- It really made me desire to come back more and more --- (SARCASM!)
- It stung and scolded and was intended to wound.
- Christians do not do that sort of thing.
The tendency of the youth and others
who sit behind everyone, chatting and talking throughout the song service
and preaching can be a great stumblingblock to so many who are seeking refuge
that are on their way to salvation.
Matthew 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves,
neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Not getting involved in the kingdom of God in active work in the church,
and hindering others from coming in to refuge as well.
We have to take into consideration a person's background and struggles
and the shoes they walked in, and ensure we make a way for them to the city!
- Something may be absolutely ridiculous to us by way of a problem
someone else has.
- But to that person it is a serious problem.
- Christians ought to be the most patient and kind-loving people who
would love and be conscientious about anybody, no matter what background
or problem and handicap they might have.
- And do everything in their power to make sure there is a clear way
for the fugitive to find refuge.
And not only that, to ensure the
fugitive stay in the city and not leave and be thrust through with the dagger
of an avenger.
2 Samuel 3:27 And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab
took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there
under the fifth rib, that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.
In school I could not bring myself to even laugh in mockery at a person
who happened to say something quite stupid, causing others to laugh.
- Somehow I had a sense of understanding that I knew my mockery would
hurt that person, and I did not want to do that.
- All of us have made mistakes.
- But we have to ever remind ourselves to repair the way if the road
becomes cluttered.
- Annually they repaired the way.
- Annually they ensured the way was free of stumblingstones.
They are coming, church.
- They are coming to us and many other cities of refuge.
- Actually all the true churches are corporately the Great City of
refuge, New Jerusalem.
Nothing that harms can get in this
City!
Revelation 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it
any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh
a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Revelation 22:14-15 Blessed are they that do his commandments,
that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the
gates into the city. (15) For without are dogs, and sorcerers,
and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and
maketh a lie.
A person might attend church services regularly, but that does not mean
they are in the CITY.
- Spiritual murderers can attend churches regularly.
Matthew 18:7 Woe unto
the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come;
but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
It's the WORLD that offends, people.
- Not the Church.
- "Well, this person says they're in the church and they offended me."
- They're not in the true church of God that God recognizes outside
of limits to a building or a denomination.
- Don't concern yourself over what people claim they are.
- Concern yourself over how they TREAT PEOPLE and HOW THEY LIVE.
- I deal much with people and encourage them to serve God and forget
about people who hurt and offend, but I also have to speak to those who are
offending, and encourage them to grow up spiritually and stop acting carnally,
and start doing their part in preparing a way to the city!
- Even Jesus said there will be TARES in the field, that look like
real wheat believers, who are actually planted by the enemy.
- God considers not the tares as His people, though they occupy space
in the wheat field.
Matthew 13:24-25 Another
parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened
unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: (25) But while
men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
1 John 3:7-8 Little children, let no man deceive you: he
that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. (8)
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.
For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the
works of the devil.
1 John 3:14-15 We know that we have passed from death unto
life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth
in death. (15) Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and
ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
1 John 3:18-19 My little children, let us not love in word,
neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. (19) And hereby
we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.
Shine, City!
- Shine with His righteousness and glory!
- They're coming to you!
- Prepare Thee a Way!