Sunday Evening Worship Service
by Nathan Whitley
First Apostolic Church of Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Joshua 20:7-9, Proverbs 18:10, Hebrews 6:18-20, Psalm 91:1-2

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/nathan-whitley--sunday-evening-worship-service-24
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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Get your Bibles. We're to go to the Old Testament, the book of Joshua. Always an honor to be able to preach the word of the Lord and to preach to this wonderful congregation and give honor to our pastor. What a word we heard today. Last time he preached that, it's been several years ago. It snowed like a bandit. So maybe it'll it'll it'll come tomorrow or tonight. But I want that I want that cleansing snow that he talked about today. Amen. and go with me to Joshua chapter number 20. I was reading this text this week in my devotions and man it just jumped out at me again. I just love this this subject that Joshua hits on that's found also in other places in the first five books of the Bible. Joshua chapter number 20 beginning at verse number seven. And they appointed Cadesh in Galilee in Mount Nefali and Sheckchham in Mount Ephraim and Kiraath Arba which is Hebrin in the mountain of Judah and on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward. They assigned Bezar in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad and Golan and Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever kleth any person at unawares might flee. Someone say flee, might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation. We won't preach long, but I promise to uh preach the word tonight. A place of refuge. A place of refuge. Want you lift up your hands now and ask the Lord to speak to you and your neighbor tonight. Father, we're so thankful for what you've done for us this day. I thank you for the wonderful word we heard this morning, the spirit that we felt today and tonight. Lord, I pray one more time that the word of God would go forth despite the frailness of me, your speaker, your minister, your servant tonight. And I pray that there would be an encouragement and a refreshment that comes from your spirit and your word tonight in Jesus name we pray. And everyone said amen. >> Everyone say amen. Now clap your hands to Jesus tonight. Oh yes. And then you can be seated. A place of refuge considered the safest spot in America is located in El Paso County in Colorado. It is a super secure military command center called NORAD. There in the Rockies under Cheyenne Mountain, a mile deep in the granite corridors in the heart of America's missile defense center is considered the safest place in our country. The main entrance to this complex is approximately 1third of a mile from the north portal via a tunnel which leads to a pair of steel blast doors, each weighing 25 tons. Behind the 25 ton blast doors is a steel building complex built within a 4.5 acre grid of excavated chambers and tunnels surrounded by 2,000 ft of granite. Excavation began for the new NORAD Combat Operations Center in Cheyenne Mountain in May of 1961. And the excavation was complete nearly a year later. built at the height of the Cold War and able to withstand any bomb blast, chemical, or biological weapon. It is a self sustaining. It's self- sustaining for those inside for 2 years. But here's the catch. Only if you're able to get there in time to avoid the attack. This man-made bunker is considered one of the safest places in the world. But tonight I want to tell you it pales in comparison to Jesus Christ our refuge. There is nothing greater than the safety of Jesus Christ. But we must run to him tonight. Not later, not some other day. But we must run to him our refuge tonight. And we find this in picture. We find this in type and shadow in the Old Testament in the cities of refuge which we read about here in Joshua. But this was introduced in the law of Moses. And this was certainly due because the Levites, the priesthood were not allowed to own any land in Canaan. The Lord was their portion. So for this reason, Israel was to designate specific cities for the Levites to live in. But six of those cities were assigned to be cities of refuge. Now the point of the cities of refuge was for this. If an Israelite or stranger unintentionally killed a person, then the manslayer could flee to the nearest city of refuge. The manslayer would be safe if the victim's family represented by the avenger of blood wanted to exact revenge. The manslayer would stand trial before the elders of the city to judge whether or not he was guilty or innocent. If found guilty, he would be turned over to the avenger of blood and put to death. If the death of the if the death of the judge to be inadvertent, they say it's an accident. He didn't mean to do it. The manslayer would have to remain in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. The manslayer was safe as long as he remained in the city of refuge. However, if he were to take one step out of the city, the avenger of blood would be free to kill him. And so, what we see here in this this amazing portion of the Old Testament is that we see a refuge for those who are guilty. We see a refuge for those that they can run to, that they can find safety for themselves. But to step outside of the refuge certainly meant judgment. And when we get to the New Testament, Paul says this to us that there is no unintentional sinner found. That all are guilty. All of us are guilty of breaking the law. All of us are sinners before God. There's none righteous. know not one. And so the law has been broken and the avenger of blood is on our trail and we must flee somewhere for safety. We must flee somewhere if we are going to live and that my friends is Jesus Christ. We can run to Jesus tonight. We can run to him because he is our refuge. He is the strong tower. He is our place that we can come unto and find safety and rest for our soul. There's none unintentional sinner. All have sinned. And I want you to know that we can run to HIM TONIGHT. NO MATTER OUR CIRCUMSTANCE, he is the refuge. And I wish somebody would say amen. >> When you read these cities that are found here, you can read through them. And I tried my very best to pronounce them the best way I possibly could. When I I tell people if you want to read through the Bible and you get hung up and stub your toe on trying to pronounce those names and those cities and those places, just get right through them. Just charge right through them. You don't have to get through the pronunciation. Just get right through it. And sometimes you just have to kind of stumble over how you pronounce some of these words. And you can read of these cities and just think, "Ah, there's nothing there important. I'm just going to run right through those those names." But in those six cities are pictures of refuge. I want you to see through the six names of these cities that we can find something that is connected to Jesus. Now there were three cities on each side of the Jordan River. They were located geographic geographically so that no one in Israel was more than one day's journey from safety. So no matter where you were in the country of Israel or in Canaan, you could find a city of refuge to run to. You had you didn't have to go very far to find a refuge. The first one says here is Kadesh. It's the first place listed here in Joshua. And the name Cadesh in Hebrew means holy or place of holiness. It means to be set apart or to be sanctified. The original name is found in Genesis 14 which means a spring of judgment. In other words, where there was once destruction and judgment, there is now holiness. There is little doubt that sin has left us guilty. We deserve the condemnation and the judgment for our sinful behaviors. But if we can run to him, if we can run to this refuge, we no longer have to fear judgment. We can come to him and find safety. But no longer do we have to fear judgment. We can come into a place of holiness. Can I tell you that holiness is a refuge for your soul. >> Holiness is not bondage. It's a refuge for your soul. When the world offered you drunkenness and realry and all it gave you was guilt and shame, you can come to a refuge in Jesus and find holiness. you can find purity. Doesn't matter what your past was. It doesn't matter how you spent the last 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years of your life. When you come to Jesus, all things are made new. We heard it today. If we can come to him, he will wash us white as snow AS YOUR SINS ARE. AS RED as scarlet, we can be washed. I'M TELLING YOU, we can run to him and find holiness for our soul. >> Someone say, "Amen." Freedom is found in holiness. Freedom is found in holiness. But you're not going to find holiness and find freedom in simply restraint or regulations or legalism. Oh, I've talked about this on Wednesday nights. It is found in your relationship with Jesus. It is found in your identity in him and who you are in him. And when you run to him as your refuge, you will find hope for your soul. You'll find holiness for your soul. There's no there's no living like holy living. There's no living like living for the Lord. This is the greatest life that you can ever live. This is the greatest hope. Come on, somebody. Can anybody believe what I'm talking about tonight? This is the greatest life living for Jesus. The next one was Sheckchum. The second city here is Sheckchum which means shoulder. It gives the idea of one taking a burden upon themselves. The guilt of the manslayer led him to run to a place of refuge. And what a burden sin has given us. What a burden of guilt and shame that we carry upon us when we are in sin. But when we run to the city of Sheckchham or we run to Christ who is our refuge, he will come. He will take the burden from off of us. He's not come to give us more burdens. He's come to give us rest for our soul. His burden is easy and his yoke is light. BUT UPON HIM, the Bible says, the prophet says, "And the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting father, and the prince of peace." I'M TELLING YOU, HE'S got broad shoulders for your sin. He's got broad should. Come on. THE WRITER SAID, "CAST ALL YOUR CARES UPON him for he cares for you." You can take off the weight and give it to him tonight. You can give the You can take off the weight of loneliness. You can take OFF THE WEIGHT OF DESPAIR. YOU CAN TAKE OFF THE WEIGHT OF disappointment and he will come and take it and relieve you of that. >> He may have ran into Sheckchham's refuge as a burdened and guilty man, but he had a hope that within its gates he could find refuge. Someone say amen. Hope I'm not boring you tonight. Just a little study I want to share with you. The next one is Ker Arba. And this in Hebrew was originally also known as Hebrin. Hein was a significant city in Israel's history. Jewish tradition holds that the name originally meant city of four. Reasons for that original name was that Adam, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were all buried in Makpilah, not far from this city. The name was changed to Hein, which meant union, fellowship, alliance, and friendship. And certainly all four of those men walked with God in covenant with him. They were considered the friends of God. But here for us tonight, Jesus is our refuge. But he comes with new covenant promises. He's come to walk in a relationship with you. what friendship, WHAT FELLOWSHIP THAT WE have with Jesus tonight. He is a friend. He is A BROTHER. HE IS something that we need in our life. WE CAN COME to him with all of our cares. And he takes us as we are. And we find fellowship with him, but we must abide in him. We abide with him. Jesus says, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone laid down his life for his friends." You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants. For the servant does not know what his master is doing. But I've called you friends. For all that I have heard from my father, I have made known to you. This is the fellowship that we have with him. That we used to walk in darkness, but now we're walking in the light with him. We are walking in fellowship with him because of the blood of the new covenant. And therefore, there is fellowship with him. And then there's fellowship within the body of believers. I'm thankful for fellowship tonight. I'm thankful for fellowship with Jesus. I'm thankful that he doesn't reject me because of all my problems and all my issues, but he's a friend that sits closer than a brother. Someone say amen. What a friend we have in Jesus. How about this one? Bezar. The city of Bezar is not quite as known as the other cities of refuge. And there's at least three meanings behind this name. One translation means gold. Another means strength and inaccessible. One commentator took that to mean that Bezor was a stronghold or fortress protecting its treasures. Kind of like what we would know as Fort Knox. And so, first of all, Jesus is the treasure in the field. He's the greatest treasure that you can seek after once you know him as your treasure and you find delight in him. Too many have found uh Jesus to be or or Christianity to be a burden or something heavy and what do I have to give up? Oh no, it's what you find when you find Jesus. When you find him, you want to sell all and buy the field where the treasure is. He's the treasure. He's your delight. But once you are in him and he is in you, what a treasure that we have living this life of relationship with him. But I want you to know that he is the one who protects us. He is guarding us. He Listen, you are and I am his treasure. Not only do we treasure him, but he TREASURES US. DO YOU KNOW THAT you are the apple of his eye? That you are his delight. He's not always upset with you. He's not always looking down at you. No. No. He is the one who wants to protect you and love you and get TO KNOW YOU. WHAT A DELIGHT IT IS TO KNOW JESUS. >> Someone say amen. How about Ramoth? You probably have heard of Ramoth before. Jacob and Laban made a covenant with each other at Ramoth. Ramoth means lofty place or elevated place in a relatively flat area. Ramoth stood as an elevated place for the manslayer was a place that stood out in his vision. The prophet Isaiah said the Lord that he is high and lifted up. Christ who is the lofty and high one came down and made himself of no reputation and made himself a man. He came to our level to bring us up. Christ never leaves a man low. He always takes him up. The guilty run to him as refuge from despair. The psalmist wrote, "He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and establish my goings." This is why Isaiah the prophet also said, "For thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabitth eternity, whose name is holy, I dwell in a high and holy place. with him also is of that of the contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. So here the high and lofty one, the one who is lifted up, we run to him, we ascend to him. We never descend to him, but we must ascend up to him because he came down to our level. He came to where we were to bring us up to where he is. Someone say amen again. I'm almost done. Golan. Here's another city, the final city, Golan. And it means exaltation or joy. Christ isn't just exalted. He's exalted. The word exaltant means to be triumphant with joy. Jesus Christ doesn't save begrudgingly. He is waiting for you to run with him with expectant joy. I said it Wednesday night. He's like the He's like the father waiting for the prodigal son. He's waiting for you. He's waiting to throw a party for you. He's ready to celebrate with you as you run to him as refuge. He's not looking down his nose at us with every time we've got a problem or an issue. He's saying, "Come unto me all you who are heavy laden." That's what he wants. And he DOES IT WITH JOY. HE DOESN'T SAY, "OH, here they come again with all their issues and all their problems. They failed me again." That's not what he says. HE SAYS, "COME TO ME. BRING ALL YOUR PROBLEMS. BRING ALL YOUR ISSUES." AND HE DOES IT WITH JOY. >> And not only that, he gives us joy. It is a joy to live for the Lord. He gives us joy. When Christ was born, it was tidings of great joy. Joy is one of the fruits of the spirit. If you abide in Christ, we've been looking at this on Wednesday nights. The benefit of that is that our joy might be complete or full. James said, "When we face trials and tribulations, we are to count it all joy." Paul said, "The kingdom of God isn't meat and drink. It's righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." The Psalmist said, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." Peter said, "It's joy unspeakable and full of glory." In his presence there is fullness of joy and at his right hand there are pleasures forever more. I'M GLAD TO BE FULL OF JOY because he is our refuge. Come on musicians get ready. He is our refuge and he is our strength. Proverbs 18 and10 says this, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runth into it and is safe. Inside the walls of these cities of refuge with safety, assurance, and joy, while on the outside there's despair, death, doom, fear. The man's slayer must put forth the effort to run to one of these cities to find refuge. To delay or hesitate was dangerous. And all of these cities, all three or three on this side and three on that side, they had one day to get to one of them. You just got to get there. If you get there, the promise is there. The hope is there. Another day is there. Refuge is there. But you got to get up and you got to go. It's not going to come to you. You got to get there. If you're going to if you're going to find refuge in Jesus, you must run to him. And the amazing thing about these cities is that the gates were always open. Always open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's kind of like Waffle House or how you how Waffle House used to be, right? We'll leave, you know, that's that one motel. We leave the lights on for you. That's Jesus. He's just waiting for you to run to him. When can you run to just on Sundays? Oh, no. You can run to him on Monday. Can you run to him just on Wednesdays? No, you can run to him on Friday and Saturday. The gates are always open. He's saying, "Come, come. Come on. Come on. Come to me. Come to me. Bring all your trouble. Bring all your issues. Bring all your guilt to me. Bring all your shame to me. The doors are open. I'm willing to save. Stand with me tonight. I'm going to I'm going to read Hebrews 6 18-20. I told you at the beginning There's safety for the manslayer as long as the high priest was alive. But those high priests in the Old Testament were not eternal or immortal. They were going to die at some point. At some point, the timeline is going to catch up to the manslayer. But this is what the writer of Hebrews says chapter 6 18-20. By two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie. We might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge. Someone say refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. Which hope we have as an anchor for the soul both sure and steadfast and which enterth into that within the veil. Whether the forerunner is for us entered even Jesus made. Now look at this. Don't don't miss this. Made and high priest forever after the order of Melzdc. Forever. He ever liveth. We don't have to fear whether our high priest is going to die. He's always going to be alive. That means the refuge is always there. The hope is always there. We don't have to. Once you get in, once you're in the refuge, once you are in him, he's not going to die. He is He is making intercession for us right now. What would you What would you fear if you could hear Jesus praying for you in THE NEXT ROOM? WHAT WOULD YOU fear if you could hear Jesus praying for you right now? I guarantee you wouldn't fear anything. But I want you to know he's praying for you right now as our high priest at this very moment. He is making intercession for you right. What do you have need of? All you've got to do is run to him. All you have to do is fight. Get to the gates. Just I got to get I gotta get to him. I gotta run to him. Who is he a refuge for? Come on, let's get ready. Who is he a refuge for? First, he's a refuge for the sinner. We've broken the law. Sin has separated us from him. and we must find refuge from him and to him. He's a refuge to the addict. He's a refuge to the broken. He's a refuge for the depressed. He's a refuge to the down and out. He's a refuge to the lonely. He's a refuge for the outcast. Simply, he's a place of refuge for everyone. Won't you lift up your hands right now all across the sanctuary? I don't know what you're having need of tonight. Maybe you need forgiveness. Maybe you need salvation as we heard today. What a promise we have. That he will cleanse us, that he will wash us, and he will make us new. Maybe you need some refuge from your shame and your guilt. Maybe you need some refuge from some disappointments in your life. Maybe you have some disappoint. Maybe that's led to some loneliness and you kind of feel like you're out there all alone. But I want you to know that he's a refuge. Here's what I'd like for us to do these final moments. I want to invite everyone to the altar tonight. And I want everyone to run to the to the gates of the refuge. I want you to run to this place of refuge. Not to me, not to this place, but to Jesus who is our refuge. Run to holiness. Come on, run to his shoulders. He's a burdenbearer. Come on. If you'll just run to him, you'll find refuge. You'll find hope for your soul. >> It's the anchor for our soul. Come on. Whatever you have in need of you, you need healing. >> Come on. Maybe you need some encouragement. >> I want you to know that this is a place of refuge in the mighty name. >> If you know his name, just say his name. >> Come on. The Lord is a strong town name. All the power must go. Every gift to every victory I hope in the mighty name of Jesus. I will not fear. I will not fear. When the enemy comes near on the door frame of my life, the blood of Jesus Christ, I will not fear. I will not fear. There's an army of angels here. I'm protected on all sides by the blood of Jesus Christ. And I will not fear. I will not fear when the enemy comes here. It's on the door of my life. It's the blood of Jesus Christ. What do you have on your angels here on all sides? Let the blood of Jesus. Let this be a prayer. In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray. Calling on the power of heaven. I proclaim everywhere and forget me. You must pray in the mighty name of Jesus. And in the mighty name of Jesus, I know all the power of fear and darkness. My soul every key to every victory. I hope in the mighty name of Jesus. One of the greatest I the Bible's amazing. All of it's amazing. And I keep saying this is my favorite chapter. It's my all of it's my favorite. Here's a great chapter for you to read to yourself and pray over yourself is Psalm 91. I'm not going to read all of it, but let me just read the first two verses. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty. I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress, my God. In him will I trust this week. Let him be your fortress. Let him be your refuge this week. Let him be the strong tower that you run to. When you feel overwhelmed, come on. When you feel anxious, when you feel fear, when you feel burdened, run to the city of run to our refuge tonight. One more time, would you lift up your hands and let's pray as we go. Father, we thank you for this great day. We thank you for the saints of God. God, we thank you for your spirit that's been here since the very first moment we walked in. And I pray that you would be with us the rest of this week. Order our steps. Help us to walk in wisdom. Help us to walk in humility. Help us to walk, oh God, in dominion in your spirit. And I pray, Lord, that you would be a refuge to all of us this week. Bring us back at the next appointed hour, this Wednesday night, to gather together to study your word. In Jesus name we pray. And everyone said, "Amen."