Choose This Day:

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(No Transcript)
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Choose This Day

• A journey through the Book of Joshua
• Refuge

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HomeWord

• Next Week 25th Anniversary Retreat
• At SCAC Carl Wilson, OM International
• Sermon title Compassion, Compassion. Who
  really has it to give?

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Question

• Where do you run to
• when you want
• to feel safe?

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Safe Places

• (Psa 274-5) One thing I ask of the LORD, this
  is what I seek that I may dwell in the house of
  the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon
  the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His
  temple

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Safe Places

• Safety is not in the many places and people I can
  run to, but in the one thing I will focus on.
• The One Thing principle

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Safe Places

• (Psa 274-5) For in the day of trouble He will
  keep me safe in His dwelling He will hide me in
  the shelter of His tabernacle and set me high
  upon a rock.

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Safe Places

• God invites us to find in Him the safest place in
  all the world
• (Psa 685-6) A father to the fatherlessis God
  in His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in
  families, He leads forth the prisoners with
  singing.

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Safe Places

• God invites us to find in Him the safest place in
  all the world
• (Prov 2925) Fear of man will prove to be a
  snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept
  safe.

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Safe Places

• God invites us to find in Him the safest place in
  all the world
• The One Place invitation

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Psalm 91

• Pastor He who dwells in the shelter of the Most
  High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
• ALL I will say of the LORD, "He is my Refuge
  and my Fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

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Psalm 91

• Pastor Surely He will save you from the
  fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.
• ALL He will cover you with His feathers, and
  under His wings you will find refuge His
  faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

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Psalm 91

• Pastor You will not fear the terror of night,
  nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the
  pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the
  plague that destroys at midday.

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Psalm 91

• MEN A thousand may fall at your side, ten
  thousand at your right hand, but it will not come
  near you.
• WOMEN You will only observe with your eyes and
  see the punishment of the wicked.

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Psalm 91

• Pastor If you make the Most High your dwelling--
  even the LORD, who is my refuge-- then no harm
  will befall you, no disaster will come near your
  tent.

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Psalm 91

• ALL For He will command His angels concerning
  you to guard you in all your ways!

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Question

• Where do you run to
• when you want
• to feel safe?

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Refuge

• (Josh 201-3 Deu 192-3) Then the LORD said to
  Joshua "Tell the Israelites to designate the
  cities of refuge, as I instructed you through
  Moses

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Refuge

• (Josh 201-3 Deu 192-3) Then set aside for
  yourselves cities centrally located in the land
  Build roads to them so that anyone who kills a
  man may flee there.

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Refuge

• (Josh 201-3 Deu 192-3) so that anyone who
  kills a person accidentally unintentionally may
  flee there and find protection from the avenger
  of blood.

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Refuge

• Notice
• The avenger of blood has no interest in
  intentions, but God does.
• God doesnt just build cities of refuge, He also
  builds the roads to get there.

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Refuge

• Picture 1 Refuge is a place to flee to.
• (Prov 1810) The name authority of the LORD is
  a strong tower the righteous run to it and are
  safe.

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Refuge

• Picture 1 Refuge is a place to flee
• (Mat 1128-29) Come to Me, all you who are weary
  and burdened, and I will give you rest...

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Refuge

• Picture 1 Refuge is a place to flee
• (Mat 1128-29) Take My yoke upon you and learn
  from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and
  you will find rest for your souls.

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Question

• In my times of
• stress and distress,
• where do I flee to?

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Refuge

• (Josh 204) When he flees to one of these
  cities, he is to stand in the entrance of the
  city gate and state his case before the elders of
  that city

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Refuge

• (Josh 204) Then they are to admit him into
  their city and give him a place to live with
  them.

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Refuge

• Notice
• A person is tested before he enters the City of
  Refuge because a refuge is as safe as the people
  who are allowed to stay there.

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Refuge

• Picture 2 Safe places demand Safe people
• (Gal 513-15) You, my brothers, were called to
  be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge
  the sinful nature rather, serve one another in
  love

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Refuge

• Picture 2 Safe places demand Safe people
• (Gal 513-15) If you keep on biting and
  devouring each other, watch out or you will be
  destroyed by each other.

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Refuge

• Picture 2 Safe places demand Safe people
• (Rom 1617) I urge you, brothers, to watch out
  for those who cause divisions and put obstacles
  in your way that are contrary to the teaching you
  have learned. Keep away from them.

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Refuge

• Picture 2 Safe places demand Safe people
• (1 John 41) Dear friends, do not believe every
  spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they
  are from God, because many false prophets have
  gone out into the world.

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Question

• How do I
• conduct myself
• in my City of Refuge?

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Refuge

• (Josh 205, 6) If the avenger of blood pursues
  him, they must not surrender the one accused,
  because he killed his neighbor unintentionally
  and without malice aforethought.

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Refuge

• (Josh 205, 6) ...He is to stay in that city
  until he has stood trial before the assembly

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Refuge

• Notice
• The City of Refuge protects those who come to it,
  regardless of how persistent the avenger is.

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Refuge

• Picture 3 Gods refuge is safe because God is
  strong
• (Psa 3417-18) The righteous cry out, and the
  LORD hears them he delivers them from all their
  troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
  and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

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Refuge

• Picture 3 Gods refuge is safe because God is
  strong
• (John 1027-28) My sheep listen to My voice I
  know them, and they follow Me. I give them
  eternal life, and they shall never perish no one
  can snatch them out of My hand.

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Question

• Do I truly trust in
• the Lords strength
• instead of my own?

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Refuge

• (Josh 206 Num 3526-28) He is to stay in that
  city untilthe death of the high priest who is
  serving at that time. Then he may go back to his
  own home in the town from which he fled."

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Refuge

• (Josh 206 Num 3526-28) But if the accused ever
  goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to
  which he has fled and the avenger of blood finds
  him outside the city, the avenger of blood may
  kill the accused without being guilty of murder.

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Refuge

• (Josh 206 Num 3526-28) ...the accused must
  stay in his city of refuge until the death of the
  high priest only after the death of the high
  priest may he return to his own property.

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Refuge

• Notice
• A refuge may become a prison because of the
  threat of the avenger of blood.
• Once the high priest dies, the avenger has no
  more claim. The person is free to go home.

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Refuge

• Picture 4 Our refuge is not a prison because
  our High Priest, Jesus, died to set us free.
• (Rom 81-2) Therefore, there is now no
  condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus

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Refuge

• Picture 4 Our refuge is not a prison because
  our High Priest, Jesus, died to set us free.
• (Rom 81-2) because through Christ Jesus the
  law of the Spirit of life set me free from the
  law of sin and death.

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Refuge

• Picture 4 Our refuge is not a prison because
  our High Priest, Jesus, died to set us free.
• (1 Pet 216) Live as free men, but do not use
  your freedom as a cover-up for evil live as
  servants of God.

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Question

• What am I
• doing with
• my freedom?

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Question

• Have I found
• True Refuge
• in Christ?