In the sixth chapter of Hebrews, no doubt the apostle had running through his mind those Old Testament CITIES OF REFUGE as he emphasized the absolute safety of all who have fled to Christ. We find in this passage a God who is willing abundantly to show to the heirs of His promise the immutability of His counsel. He would have us to know about our safety in His Son, and in order to do that, He swore to our safety. Now, God's bare word is enough. That's all any man needs, or should expect; for when God says something, that settles it. But God knowing our frail, doubting hearts, in mercy condescends to use human terminology, and He swears to it; He takes an oath and binds Himself that by these two immutable things, that is, by His word (that's immutable in itself) and also by His oath (His swearing) - "We might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us" (v 18).

The man who has been awakened by God's Spirit and brought to his senses, who has seen the danger he's in by nature, who has renounced himself and fled to the Son of God as his only hope - that man is safe! Christians are accused of being insecure people needing some sort of psychological crutch, and therefore they run to God and they run to the Bible. But I assure you of this - Christians are not insecure. They are the only secure people upon the face of the earth. Christians are people who have been awakened by God to their insecurity out of Christ, who have been enabled to flee in wisdom and lay hold of the hope set before them in the gospel. The only safe man upon the face of the earth is that man who has found his refuge in Jesus; there is no safety anywhere else. Hebrews 6 assures us of this, as does the rest of the Bible. Any sinner who, seeing his danger, sincerely flees to the Son of God by faith for refuge, is forever saved!

So then this matter of a refuge is not a matter in which you can be indifferent, something you can take or leave, something that may be good for some and not for others; this is a matter of the utmost importance. And God shows us this by emphasizing the importance of a refuge to the Israelites by often speaking of THE CITIES OF REFUGE in their wilderness journey: see Exodus 21, Numbers 35, Deuteronomy 19, Joshua 20. And each time He told them something more about them. And finally in the 20th of Joshua, when they had conquered Canaan and the land was theirs, God told them it was time to do this thing that He had been telling them about.

It's a serious matter. The refuge of the sinner in Christ is the most vital matter any man will ever face. Most people do not see it as that important though. In Exodus 21, immediately after God had delivered the law at Sinai and before anything had ever happened like this, God made this revelation to Moses, and Moses spake of it to the people: "The Lord is going to provide you a place of refuge so that if any of you accidentally slay someone, the avenger, the relative, might not pursue you and kill you." We can imagine the people's reaction was sort of like the reaction to the gospel that comes now-a- days from unconverted and unawakened sinners: "That's all very fine, Moses. It's really nice of God that He would be so compassionate and kind as to set up a place of refuge." But in reality, this message of a refuge was not all that important to the people. Why? because they did not need a refuge at that time. They were not in the condition of a man-slayer. They had not accidentally slain a neighbour. It was nice to think that God cared about them enough to provide a city of refuge, but it was not really that important right then.

So is the gospel to sinners. "It's nice that 'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,' and we think that's just fine! But we don't really see any need of it right now. Why do we have to go to such extremes as renouncing all and fleeing to Christ for salvation? If the time ever comes and we get into trouble and see that we need a blood atonement by the Son of God, then we'll run to that gospel, that hope that you're talking about; but right now it just doesn't mean that much to us." So it did not mean that much to the children of Israel.

However, I'm telling you the first time a man, out chopping wood with his neighbour, saw the ax-head fall off and strike his neighbour in the neck; the first time a man saw his neighbour lying dead from a blow of his hand (even though it was accidental), immediately that man became vitally interested in the message of a refuge. I assure you of that; it touched him! It got home to him! Why? because he was the man in danger.

I do not know your state, but I do know this: if you ever find out that in the sight of God you are a totally condemned sinner, the message of the gospel will become personal then; it'll become truly "good news" then. In fact, it'll become the best news! It'll be like that man who one day had no thought about a city of refuge, it just didn't matter; but the next day because his neighbour lies dead at his feet, all he can think about is getting to refuge.

So a sinner may go along in his sins for years and years unsuspecting of the evil that is about to befall him, and the gospel means nothing to him; but the very hour in which the Son of God takes the law of God to his heart showing him his infinite demerit and guilt before God, then the gospel becomes precious and getting to Christ becomes everything - "That I may win Christ" becomes his goal, and everything else is pushed aside.

There are three principal types in this picture of salvation: the avenger of blood, the city of refuge, and the man-slayer.

The Avenger Of Blood

First, the AVENGER OF BLOOD. This man was usually a relative, a brother or other close kin; perhaps the swiftest and most powerful one was chosen to go after this man-slayer.

I believe we have here a picture of the just and avenging law of God that few people know anything about in this day of shallow evangelism - that law of God that is out and determined to hunt and pursue, to track down, to apprehend and slay every sinful son of Adam.

There are two essential parts of law: the precept and the penalty. One cannot have a law without them. Now to give a precept without attaching a penalty is not law. It's counsel or advice. If God had said, "I wish you people would do this and do that," and never attached any penalty, He could not be a lawgiver. A precept without a penalty is advice. A penalty imposed without a precept given and broken is tyranny. Now God is not a tyrant, and God is not just one who gives advice to the human race. "There is one lawgiver" (James 4:12).

In Genesis 2 we find the first law God ever gave to man, and we see these two principles, these two essential parts of law. "And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, [Here is the precept] Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it: [If God had left it there, it would not have been law; but He went on.] for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (v 15-17). Now it becomes law, because God attached a penalty to it.

It was not a thing for Adam to consider whether he would "take it or leave it" like advice is. It was binding upon our first father: DO IT OR DIE! So is the law of God binding upon the whole human race. Whether we have the ten commandments given at Sinai or whether we dwell in the darkest corner of the earth where the sound of the Redeemer has never come, we still have the law of God written on the heart that leaves all men accountable to God, their Creator, for their actions. "The Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves; which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness" (Rom 2:14,15).

Could God justly condemn the heathen who have not heard the gospel? Yes, He could; because there is a language, there is a glory of God shown in the creation and written in the conscience that transcends every language. "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shown it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse" (Rom 1:19,20). Their guilt is summed up in these words, "Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge" (v 28). That's man's problem. Every man knows something of God; but he's hated everything God has revealed about Himself to him.

So then, we are all under the precept, the authoritative command of God to His creatures. Also, we have all despised and trampled God's precepts deliberately. And here is where we go beyond the type. The manslayer accidentally slew, but you and I have "with wicked hands crucified the Son of God." You and I have with malice and aforethought tried to take God from His throne, deliberately despising God. "The carnal mind is enmity against God." It's not that we just accidentally stepped out of line once or twice - we deliberately hate God! We deliberately go against His commands. "The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Rom 8:7). And what have we done? We've slain God's precepts deliberately, and trodden under foot His holy law.

There's another part of the law, though, and it's on our trail - and that's the penalty. We are all exposed to God's everlasting wrath. This is the immediate and unavoidable consequence of breaking God's law. We become in danger of wrath. "The law worketh wrath" (Rom 4:15), not because the law brings wrath, but the law is that which we transgress, and God must bring down wrath upon those who despise His law.

Anytime an Israelite accidentally slew his neighbour, he automatically became endangered of being killed (no excuses were available). When Adam sinned, he plunged himself and his whole race into the depths of a spiritual death that must end in eternal death if God does not intervene and do something. You and I have sinned against God, and therefore, you and I are in danger. But the danger of the sinner far exceeds the danger of the Hebrew man-slayer. Such an one certainly had reason to be concerned; his very life was in danger. But our immortal souls, that must dwell somewhere eternally, is that which is in danger before God Almighty. We're in trouble; we're in serious trouble.

I suppose that if you knew that someone had taken out a contract on your life, and that this very night you would walk out into the streets to be gunned down and killed - I have to believe it would arouse a little bit of concern in you. Tell me, why is it then, that the warnings and threatenings of God's Word have failed to arouse you? How can you be so careless with God's law stalking your soul at this very moment? that law that will track you down to the very last? What insanity resides in the heart of sinners that they go on their merry way without giving a thought to the state they're in.

Our Lord gave good advice in Matthew 10:28, "Fear not them which can kill the body but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." If you without Christ had an inkling, just a little bit of knowledge about the danger that your soul is in right now, I have to believe it would arouse you from your indifference. The problem is: Men do not understand the law.

This man-slayer, if he knew anything about the laws of Israel, he knew that when he slew his neighbour, he was in trouble. But suppose a man grew up without a knowledge of that. He may all the while think, "Well, it was an accident, and no evil is going to befall me." In fact, he may run to the very place where he's going to be slain. The first thing he does, having slain the neighbour, he runs to be neighbour's brother who is actually going to be the avenger of blood, and says, "Listen, I'm sorry, but I've accidentally slain your brother!" He's done the worst thing he could do! Is not this what sinners do with the law of God because they fail to understand it? "They being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God" the apostle said, Romans 10:3.

After having trampled God's precepts, instead of running to Christ, God's refuge, the sinner's natural tendency is just the opposite! By nature, we turn around and run to Sinai, run to the law, and try to be justified by that which is totally against us and out to get us and condemn us. That's all it can do. Paul said in Romans 7:9, "I was alive without the law once [alive in my hopes of being saved by the law], but when the commandment of God came, sin revived in me [I saw what I was], and I died." He testifies that he died to all fleshly hopes of ever being accepted in God's sight. He learned that "by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom 3:19).

This avenger had only one purpose: Deuteronomy 19:6, "Lest the avenger of blood pursue the slayer while his heart is hot, and overtake him because the way is long,, and slay him." Now this avenger of blood is not a man given to reason. He wasn't interested in hearing the details of the story. He didn't care to hear any reasons or excuses as to how it happened. He had but one purpose in mind, and that was to track down the man-slayer and kill him.

And so it is with the law. It is a determined law. It has determination: to condemn. It has one thought, and that is to vindicate the honour of God whom we have dishonoured by breaking His precepts. And it is so determined that it will not be satisfied, it will not rest, until a full payment for your sins has been exacted either from you or from a substitute.

It was not enough for the avenger of blood to wound the man-slayer. That's not his object. If he only wounds him, he's failed. If he just cuts off a leg, he's failed. It's not enough simply to banish him from his home; he's satisfied with nothing but death! And the infinitely holy God, to whom we owe an infinite sin-debt, will be satisfied with nothing less than total payment, which is eternal death. "The wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23). "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Deut. 18:4).

The law of God is utterly severe; it knows nothing of mercy. It would not help the man-slayer to turn around and get on his knees and beg all day long to the avenger of blood. He had just one object, just one aim, to kill him. And so it is with the law of God. Expect no mercy there. At Mt. Sinai there's thunderings and lightnings, but there's nothing of the sunshine of the grace of God in Christ. At Sinai, all you can expect God to do is deal with you in utter severity, in utter justice. All you can expect is eternal damnation as long as you try to plead with the law of God for mercy. "Cursed! Cursed!" That's all it can say. "Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them" (Gal 3:10).

This is our danger, the danger of every son of Adam by nature. We're in serious trouble with the law. Many pride themselves on staying out of trouble with man's laws, and go on their way to hell, when it was God's law condemning them all the way.

This is the way it is with the natural man. And unless a refuge is provided by a merciful God, all of Adam's race will hear that woeful sentence, "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire" (Matt 25:41).

The Cities Of Refuge

This brings us to our second point, that God has in pure mercy provided a place of refuge for condemned, hunted sinners, and that place is in His Son.

The CITIES OF REFUGE were appointed by God for the man-slayer to flee for safety. And God Almighty has given us a sure and strong refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ. These cities of refuge typify Him.

First, the Son of God is the divinely appointed refuge for sinners. In Exodus 21:13 the first thing God told us about a refuge was that He was going to be the one appointing it. In other words, to find a refuge you do not listen to reason, you do not listen to the will of man, but you find out the place where God has appointed. He said in Exodus 21:12-13, "He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. And if a man lie not in wait, but God [in His providence] deliver his neighbour into his hand, then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee." And there could be no substitution for that. Christ is the divinely appointed refuge.

He is the pre-determined refuge. God in compassion and wisdom foresaw a problem here and planned a refuge before there was ever the need. He did not wait until the situation arose, for it would have been too late then; but before any man had ever slew unwittingly his neighbour, God already had made the provision and given the revelation: "I will appoint thee a place for him to flee."

Is that not a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel? 1 Corinthians 2:7 tells us that the gospel is "the hidden wisdom of God that He ordained before the world unto our glory." Not when Adam sinned, not when Christ died, not when we were born, but before the world God ordained a refuge. "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold...but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you" (1 Peter 1:18-20).

May we remind ourselves that God Almighty has never been caught by surprise by anything - not by our sin, Adam's rebellion, or Satan's uprising, but redemption has always been in the mind of God. He's always had a perfect salvation planned. There was a Saviour before ever there was a sinner, a Law-keeper before ever a law-breaker. Jesus is "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev 13:8).

Notice, though, that while this refuge was predetermined and appointed by God, it was progressively revealed to the people. All God said in that first revelation was, "I'm going to appoint you a place to flee." He told the people more about it in the book of Numbers, and then even more in Deuteronomy, and finally in Joshua He revealed whatever had not yet been told them. Before the conquering of Canaan, though, many commentators believe that if this happened in the time of the sojournings in the wilderness, that God had appointed a place within the camp of Levi for the man-slayer to flee. But when the time came, when the Israelites were settled, when the enemies were conquered, then in Joshua God finished the revelation and made known that the time had come to get these cities in order, named, built and established. But though there was a progressive revelation, there was always only one method of refuge, that was the man-slayer fleeing to the place of God's appointment.

The Son of God has always been the sinner's refuge. Let no one tell you or try to convince you that you are saved any differently from Abraham or anyone else. Peter stood up in that Jerusalem council, and spoke concerning the salvation of the Jewish fathers, saying, "We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they" (Acts 15:11). Sinners in the Old Testament and in the New Testament were saved only one way - "by faith" in God's one appointed sacrifice, Jesus, the Lamb of God. Now I will admit this, that the revelation of the Son of God has been progressive, and that men in the Old Testament times did not have the knowledge that we have about the Lord Jesus Christ; but any man who was ever saved knew that God was going to send a substitute. That's what those lambs and all those bullocks and ceremonies typified.

And while God in Genesis 3:15 did not tell us a whole lot, He gave us a promise. He told us that it was "the seed of the woman"; and then He told us Messiah was coming through the line of Seth; then through the line of Shem, the son of Noah; then through the line of Abraham; and through the line of David. Then He told us more about the time and the place and the activities of His life and about the vicarious nature of His death; and He revealed more and more until finally God let us behold His glory in the face of His Son when He walked upon this earth.

We live in blessed times that I fear we do not take advantage of enough. Many wise men and prophets would have liked to have seen and known the things that you and I have recorded plainly for us, and they could not know it, and could not understand it. How can we not avail ourselves of every opportunity to hear and read about the Son of God, our refuge? How can we not avail ourselves of more meditation of the full revelation of God's mercy in Christ, the Lamb of God?

The ceremonies are done! The types are done! The real sacrifice is before us now - "In the fullness of time God sent forth His Son" (Gal 4:4). "He which was foreordained before the foundation of the world is now manifest in these last days for you." He is the divinely appointed refuge.

Secondly, He is an exclusive refuge. The word refuge means a restricted place. The only refuge God gave the man- slayer were those six cities that He enumerated to the Israelites. The only refuge that God sets before sinners is His Son Jesus Christ. Romans 3:24, "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood."

A sinner is sure to perish anywhere but "in Christ." Many are the refuges that men have invented, but they will not work. Suppose a man-slayer should say, "One city is as good as another." That's what we hear today about religion and churches. "One religion is as good as another." Is it? Is the devil as good as God? No, they are as far apart as can be. Well, God has His religion here in the world, and the devil's got all these others. That man who says that one religion is as good as another is guilty of placing the devil up on equality with God. "Is one church as good as another?" No! a thousand times no! Where the gospel is preached, that's the place to be; and where it's not preached, that's the place to avoid at all cost.

Suppose the man-slayer said, "But why should I go to Shechem? That's six hours away. Why should I have to go all the way over to Golan? That's four-and-a-half hours of hard running. Bethel's right down the road just a few miles, and it's just as good as any other city. I'll run there." None but a fool would seek safety in a city that was not designated "refuge."

And does not the sinner turn into many cities on the way to the one proper refuge, the Lord Jesus Christ? The city of Religion is pretty, and it looks like the walls around him can protect him, but they cannot. He turns into the city of Baptism, the city of Morality, and the city of Orthodoxy. Hundreds of them are set up along the way to divert the sinner's attention from God's one refuge, Jesus Christ.

Morality is good, but God did not appoint morality as the means of salvation. He appointed Christ. Orthodoxy and Bible doctrines are great, and we must have them, but they are not God's appointed city of refuge. His only- begotten Son is the sinner's only hope. Stop short for nothing, for any refuge but Him fails. Salvation is restricted totally to that name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's found nowhere else. He is an exclusive refuge.

Thirdly, He is a sure refuge. Hebrews 6:18,19 tells us that He is a "sure and steadfast anchor and refuge." Grace is as sure in Christ as wrath is as sure out of Christ. In Joshua 20:4,5 we learn of these two certainties: (1) The man who flees to Christ will be accepted, and (2) the man who gets into Christ is safe for all eternity. "When he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, [And note this: 'In my hand no price I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling.' What happens?] they shall take him into the city unto them, and shall give him a place within, that he may dwell among them."

The offer of the gospel is sure, yea, even to the chief of sinners - "Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely" (Rev. 22:17). "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price" (Isa. 55:1). "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink" (John 7:37); "and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). He who comes to the refuge will be accepted, and he who comes will be safe, for it says: "And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand" (Josh. 20:5).

You get the picture? See a man running for four or five hours thinking that every step is his last, and right over his shoulder breathing down his neck is a man in hot pursuit with a dagger drawn ready to take his life. All he can think about is: "Refuge! Refuge! Refuge! Where is the border of that city? I've got to get to it!" And finally, as he's just about there, he's almost caught, but in one final leap he's over the border! What's the avenger of blood going to do now? He's going to put that dagger back in its sheath, because he can't do a thing. He can't touch the man-slayer. It's all over for him.

Jesus Christ satisfied the law of God for us. If we're "in Christ," the law of God has put the sword back in its sheath. It's been satisfied and has no claim upon us whatsoever. "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness." Just like the border of the city put an end to the avenger of blood, so that when the man-slayer got into the city of refuge, there was not one thing the avenger of blood could do; so when we get into Christ, there's nothing the law of God can do to us. "He is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth" (Rom. 10:4). He didn't destroy it; He satisfied it. He fulfilled its precepts for us. He obeyed every jot and tittle that we broke. He endured the penalty and suffered every blow that should have fallen upon those who sin against God. He drank every drop of the wrath of God for every one that believeth.

So then, He fulfilled the law of precepts, he endured the law's penalty, and the result is a perfect righteousness - "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe" (Rom. 3:22). And the law, so far as justification and condemnation is concerned, can put up the sword and go back home. The law will never touch a man who is in Christ. "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness."

The one thing needful then, because Christ is a sure refuge - if you get to Him, He'll accept you; if you get to Him; He'll keep you, and the law of God will never condemn you - The one thing needful, then, is to get to Christ.

Fourthly, Christ is a convenient refuge. This ought to gladden the heart of every sinner. Over the vastness of the land of Israel, God appointed not one city of refuge, but six. God would show us by this that He has made His Son a convenient refuge, a refuge accessible to sinners who do indeed desire Him. The commentators show that anywhere in Israel that an accidental homicide took place, the man was within a half-days journey, or within six hours of getting to one of these six cities of refuge. So God placed them that way in mercy to those who found themselves in need of refuge.

And so I say that our Saviour is within the reach of any poor sinners who desires Him. Listen to the apostles speaking about the language of faith: "Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)" - There's no long journey you have to make. There's no ocean you have to swim. There's no mountain of good works you have to climb. You don't have to produce a storehouse of riches in your own righteousness. - "The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Rom. 10:6-9). "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31).

I recognize that saving faith is the work and the gift of God, but I also know that any sinner who wants Christ will find Christ; any sinner who wants to believe will believe. I do not hesitate to say that there never lived a man who sincerely wanted Christ for a refuge who did not find Him. The question is: Do you want Him? I'm not talking about getting scared and trembling for a moment or two and then the impression leaves you. I'm not talking about for a week or so you think you ought to "get saved" and then forget all about it. I'm talking about a thirsting after His salvation, a yearning, a longing: "Lord, save me; I perish!" He has declared, "My righteousness is near" (Isa. 51:5). Any sinner who wants Christ may lay hold of Him, not by producing a lot of works which he cannot produce, but by simply trusting His blood and righteousness for your only cleansing and covering. Commit your soul into the hands of the Son of God; and there make a deposit of all your hopes for time and eternity, and salvation is yours.

Coming to Jesus is an act that can take place immediately. It ought to take place now. If you haven't come, come now! Believe now! Lay hold of the Lamb of God.

Lastly, Christ is a plain refuge. In Deuteronomy 19:3, the Lord speaking on this subject, said, "Thou shalt prepare thee a way." We are told by the Jewish historians that the children of Israel and elders of the cities of refuge gave the utmost attention to the matter of seeing to it that if any of the highways were let go, the roads leading to the cities of refuge were not. They were given first priority. Once a year they went out and took away all the stones, filled up any holes, removed fallen trees or obstacles of any kind that would prove a hindrance to the man-slayer. They made sure that whenever there was a fork in the road, they always had a sign clearly marked with the word "refuge" plainly pointing in the right direction. They did all that was possible in order to aid the man-slayer in his race for refuge.

God has gone to great lengths to warn and aid sinners to flee to Christ. The Bible speaks of the gospel as a "highway of holiness...and the way-faring man, though a fool [which is what we are by nature], he shall not err therein" (Isa. 35:8). There is a plain way to Christ. I know there are a lot of people mixed up on what the Bible teaches, but our Lord has made the facts concerning salvation plain in His book. I recognize that our depravity deludes us and deceives us into false refuges, but God's Word must not be blamed for the confusion amongst multitudes as to how men are saved. The fault rests with the depravity of men's hearts and men's minds. God speaks plain; and He has spoken in providence, in conscience, and in Scripture. He has over and over again pointed the sinner to Christ, the one and only refuge.

Not only that, but He has given forth His ministers and His churches to set forth plainly and boldly the gospel of Christ. And every child of God ought to recognize their solemn obligation to reckon themselves to be sign-posts for eternity-bound men to read and to hear - "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). As the song-writer put it: "Make the message clear and plain: Christ receiveth sinful men."

I would not want to be an elder of a city of refuge, who had upon my conscience the fact that I had misplaced a sign somewhere along the road and sent some man in the wrong direction. The apostle Paul cleared himself of any such charge, "I am clear from the blood of all men. Your blood be upon your own heads. I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God" (Acts 20:26,27). Let us not by our attitudes, by our words, or by our deeds steer any poor sinner away from Christ. Let us make Him so plain that nobody has any excuse for missing Him, always "holding forth the word of life" (Phil. 2:16). If men stumble and miss Him, let them bear the blame alone for their eternal ruin. God has made His Son a plain refuge.

The Man-Slayer

Lastly, this MAN-SLAYER is a picture of what every sinner ought to do. He's a picture of what every sinner must do if he's ever to be saved. We see here the awakened sinner - that sinner whom God has awoke to the fact: "I'm in trouble!"

Notice: There's some action demanded on the sinner's part. No, you cannot sit still and say, "If God's going to save me, He'll save me." That's not absolute predestination; that's absolute folly! That's making an absolute fool of yourself. Some sinners will do that. "Well, if God wants me to get to the city of refuge, He'll get me there!" No, not with that attitude. What must the sinner do? He must flee to Christ to be saved. Salvation belongs to those who "have fled for refuge" (Heb. 6:18).

It's not enough just knowing there is a refuge. It's not enough for the man after having slain his neighbour to say, "Well, I can name all six cities of refuge; I can tell you their population; I know the right roads to take, and I even know the short- cuts." That's not enough! That man-slayer better get moving! He had better take off toward that refuge! It's not enough to know all about it; it must be laid hold of. That border has got to be crossed.

It's not enough for a sinner to hear the gospel, or know the gospel in his head, or preach the gospel from the pulpit. We must "lay hold" on eternal life to be saved! That's what it says, "We have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." We're not satisfied until we know that we're in the border of that city.

There was a burden put upon this man-slayer; he was innocent. Now we are not. We think we are by nature, but we're not. Yet this man was innocent, and he had to deny his innocence and run. He didn't have time to go back there and plead his case.

This man forgot all about his family, forgot all about his friends, in fact his entire past life was forsaken in this run for refuge. Perhaps the apostle Paul was referring to this very type when he said in Philippians 3, "What things were gain to me [my friends, my associations, my righteousness], those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung [I've turned my back on it all], that I may win Christ."

When a man is awakened to his danger, what his wife says doesn't matter; what friends say is of little worth. The only thing that matters is to win Christ, and he'll count everything else but loss.

The sinner must not only flee to Christ, he must flee directly to Christ. He must not be side-tracked or hindered by those who would slow him down along the way; he's got to keep going. And when people try to stop him, he's like the blind beggar, who, when they said, "Hold your peace," he cried "so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy upon me!" (Luke 18:39). You cannot stop the cry and the searching of a man who knows what his state is. You can try, but you cannot. "That I may win Christ" is what he pants with every breath. All that goes through his mind is, "Refuge, Refuge...that I may win refuge, that I may win Christ."

It's not enough to just think about going. It's not enough to just start out on the way. It's not enough to pick the right road - GET THERE! No sinner should rest till they're in Christ! "Well, I think I'm saved. I hope I'm saved. I guess I'll find out someday." Such weighty matters should never be guessed about! Could you imagine a man- slayer going into a city, and saying, "Maybe this is Golan, the city of refuge. I think it's the right city." No one would be so foolish! He'd find out! He'd make sure that he had the right city and the right border. Don't be deceived. Don't be in that number that says, "Lord, Lord, we've done this, and we've done that" just to hear those unspeakable horrible words, "Depart from me. I never knew you" (Matt. 7:21-23).

The sinner must flee to Christ. The sinner must flee directly to Christ immediately. There is no time for a second's delay in this matter. Careless indifference is pure insanity. This man- slayer had no time even to think about what he was going to do. There was no time to go home and kiss his wife goodbye. There was no time to hug his children one last time. There was no time for him to go home and get a good night's rest so he'd be ready to go in the morning. NEVER! The man-slayer had to take off immediately! And if sinners were wise, they'd do the same thing. They'd see their responsibility, and wake up now and flee. No matter what anybody else says, "Give me Christ, or else I die."

There is no middle ground in this urgent matter, friend. The man-slayer was in one of two conditions - He was outside the border of the city and subject to immediate death, or he was in the city and totally safe. Even so, man is under wrath, or he's under refuge. Think about it. Let every reader take this to heart personally. You are either eternally safe right now in the refuge that God has appointed, or you are in imminent danger of God cutting you off and sending you to hell. And if you are right now out of Christ, God owes you not another second, and to delay another second before coming to Him is insanity.

Like the prodigal who "came to himself," and took off in the faith of his father's love and mercy, rise up right now in the faith and promise of the gospel, and go to God through the person of His Son.

January 1993

Jesus, lover of my soul, Let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll, While the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, Till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide, O receive my soul at last!

Other REFUGE have I none, Hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, oh, leave me not alone, Still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed, All my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenceless head, With the shadow of Thy wing.

Charles Wesley

A REFUGE for sinners the gospel makes known;
'Tis found in the merits of Jesus alone;
The weary, the tempted, and burdened by sin,
Were never exempted from entering in.

This refuge for sinners his love did ordain,
In Jesus the Lamb, from eternity slain;
And if God the Spirit reveal this to you,
Take refuge in Jesus, though hell should pursue.

The soul that shall enter in safety shall dwell;
There's no peradventure of sinking in hell;
The oath of Jehovah secures him from fear,
Nor shall the avenger of blood enter there.

Here's refuge for sinners, whose guilt shall appear
As black as the confines of endless despair;
Who, stript of all merit whereon to rely,
Are taught by the Spirit to Jesus to fly.

Should conscience accuse us, as oft-times it may,
Here's blood that can take its defilement away.
In Jesus the Saviour, the sinner shall view
A city of refuge and righteousness too.