We need to be a shelter for people in this life.

1
We need to be a shelter for people in this life.

• The local church will never function as it should
  until we really get to know each other and love
  each other in spite of that knowledge!

2
We need to be a shelter for people in this life.

• The local church will never function as it should
  until we really get to know each other and love
  each other in spite of that knowledge!
• When we have the love of Christ we will manifest
  that patient love that sees both the weakness and
  the good in another.

3
We need to be a shelter for people in this life.

• The local church will never function as it should
  until we really get to know each other and love
  each other in spite of that knowledge!
• When we have the love of Christ we will manifest
  that patient love that sees both the weakness and
  the good in another.
• We need each other to help us overcome sin! (Jas
  516)

4
We need to be a shelter for people in this life.

• (James 516 NKJV) Confess your trespasses to
  one another, and pray for one another, that you
  may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a
  righteous man avails much.

5
We need to be a shelter for people in this life.

• Without a close relationship it is rare to see
  this practiced.

6
We need to be a shelter for people in this life.

• Each of us needs someone spiritual to confide in,
  lean upon, and to trust when you are
  simply being yourself.

7
We need to be a shelter for people in this life.

• Each of us needs someone spiritual to confide in,
  lean upon, and to trust when you are
  simply being yourself.
• It is these people who we will turn to during
  times of stress and anxiety.

8
We need to be a shelter for people in this life.

• Each of us needs someone spiritual to confide in,
  lean upon, and to trust when you are
  simply being yourself.
• It is these people who we will turn to during
  times of stress and anxiety.
• Do you have those who will lift you up? (Heb
  1212-13)

9
We need to be a shelter for people in this life.

• (Hebrews 1212-13 NKJV) Therefore strengthen
  the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees,
  13 and make straight paths for your feet, so
  that what is lame may not be dislocated, but
  rather be healed.

10
We need to be a shelter for people in this life.

• Are you such a person another can turn to?

11
We need to be a shelter for people in this life.

• Are you such a person another can turn to?
• Ultimately we will point to God, the only certain
  refuge for our lives.

12
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• What is a refuge? King David knew this need
  well! (Psalms 311 NASB)

13
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• What is a refuge? King David knew this need
  well! (Psalms 311 NASB)
• "In Thee, O LORD, I have taken refuge Let me
  never be ashamed In Thy righteousness deliver
  me.

14
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• What is a refuge? King David knew this need
  well! (Psalms 311 NASB)
• "In Thee, O LORD, I have taken refuge Let me
  never be ashamed In Thy righteousness deliver
  me.
• Here David needed a high place of shelter, a
  place for a fugitive needing somewhere to hide
  and gain strength.

15
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• Even though alone, David knew the Lord who would
  always provide for him.

16
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• Even though alone, David knew the Lord who would
  always provide for him.
• Why do we need a refuge? (Psa 319-13)

17
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• (Psalms 319-13 NKJV) Have mercy on me, O LORD,
  for I am in trouble My eye wastes away with
  grief, Yes, my soul and my body! 10 For my life
  is spent with grief, And my years with sighing
  My strength fails because of my iniquity, And my
  bones waste away.

18
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• 11 I am a reproach among all my enemies, But
  especially among my neighbors, And am repulsive
  to my acquaintances Those who see me outside
  flee from me. 12 I am forgotten like a dead
  man, out of mind I am like a broken vessel. 13
  For I hear the slander of many Fear is on every
  side While they take counsel together against
  me, They scheme to take away my life.

19
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• Because trouble will in time come upon all of us.

20
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• Because trouble will in time come upon all of us.
• We may look good on the outside, but there are
  likely those here today dealing with terrible
  stresses and trouble.

21
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• Because trouble will in time come upon all of us.
• We may look good on the outside, but there are
  likely those here today dealing with terrible
  stresses and trouble.
• There are times we have adversaries, like David
  did. How many have trusted someone only to have
  them turn on you and do much harm?

22
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• David experienced the shunning of those who saw
  him in need! It is sad fact but true, that
  when we are hurt and in need is the time people
  are most likely to turn away from us.

23
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• David experienced the shunning of those who saw
  him in need! It is sad fact but true, that
  when we are hurt and in need is the time people
  are most likely to turn away from us.
• Have you ever felt like a broken vessel that has
  no use? This one needs refuge!

24
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• "Take away my capacity for pain and you rob me of
  the possibility for joy. Take away my ability to
  fail and I would not know the meaning of success.
  Let me be immune to rejection and heartbreak and
  I could not know the glory of living.

25
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• Consider how God provided for David. (Psa
  3119-24)

26
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• (Psalms 3119-24 NKJV) Oh, how great is Your
  goodness, Which You have laid up for those who
  fear You, Which You have prepared for those who
  trust in You In the presence of the sons of men!
  20 You shall hide them in the secret place of
  Your presence From the plots of man You shall
  keep them secretly in a pavilion From the strife
  of tongues.

27
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• 21 Blessed be the LORD, For He has shown me His
  marvelous kindness in a strong city! 22 For I
  said in my haste, I am cut off from before Your
  eyes Nevertheless You heard the voice of my
  supplications When I cried out to You. 23 Oh,
  love the LORD, all you His saints! For the LORD
  preserves the faithful, And fully repays the
  proud person.

28
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• 24 Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen
  your heart, All you who hope in the LORD.

29
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• God keeps secrets and also keeps us away from the
  slanderous tongues.

30
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• In a time of trouble we do not necessarily want
  agreement as much as we need an arm around us in
  comfort and support. Our God will always tell us
  the truth but also provide a rest in repentance
  and righteousness!

31
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• In a time of trouble we do not necessarily want
  agreement as much as we need an arm around us in
  comfort and support. Our God will always tell us
  the truth but also provide a rest in repentance
  and righteousness!
• Even when David doubted God, He was faithful and
  delivered him.

32
Will a child of God have need of refuge?

• Thank you, Father, for these tears that have
  carried me to the depth of your love. How could I
  have known your fullness without the emptiness,
  your acceptance without the rejection, your
  forgiveness without my failure, our togetherness
  without that dreadful loneliness. You have
  brought me to Gethsemane, and oh, the joy of
  finding you already there! Amen.

33
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• God made provision for cities of refuge for those
  who killed another unintentionally.

34
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• God made provision for cities of refuge for those
  who killed another unintentionally.
• This was the action of a merciful God. (Josh
  201-2)

35
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• (Joshua 201-2 NKJV) The LORD also spoke to
  Joshua, saying, 2 Speak to the children of
  Israel, saying Appoint for yourselves cities of
  refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,

36
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• There were three cities in the east and three
  cities in the west. (Num 356-7, 9-14)

37
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• (Numbers 356-7 NKJV) Now among the cities
  which you will give to the Levites you shall
  appoint six cities of refuge, to which a
  manslayer may flee. And to these you shall add
  forty-two cities. 7 So all the cities you will
  give to the Levites shall be forty-eight these
  you shall give with their common-land.

38
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• (Numbers 359-14 NKJV) Then the LORD spoke to
  Moses, saying, 10 Speak to the children of
  Israel, and say to them When you cross the
  Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you
  shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for
  you, that the manslayer who kills any person
  accidentally may flee there.

39
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• 12 They shall be cities of refuge for you from
  the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until
  he stands before the congregation in judgment.
  13 And of the cities which you give, you shall
  have six cities of refuge. 14 You shall
  appoint three cities on this side of the Jordan,
  and three cities you shall appoint in the land of
  Canaan, which will be cities of refuge.

40
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• These cities were for people in real trouble!
  (Josh 203)

41
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• (Joshua 203 NKJV) that the slayer who kills a
  person accidentally or unintentionally may flee
  there and they shall be your refuge from the
  avenger of blood.

42
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• Could you imagine having an "avenger of blood"
  coming after you?

43
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• These cities were not obscure, hard to get to. No
  they were well marked.

44
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• These cities were not obscure, hard to get to. No
  they were well marked.
• There was a righteous procedure for entering
  these cities. (Josh 204)

45
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• (Joshua 204 NKJV) And when he flees to one of
  those cities, and stands at the entrance of the
  gate of the city, and declares his case in the
  hearing of the elders of that city, they shall
  take him into the city as one of them, and give
  him a place, that he may dwell among them.

46
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• They declared their case to the elders of that
  city. Refuge was only to be provided for certain
  people!

47
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• Could you imagine the relief of finally having
  mature men listen to your story?

48
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• Could you imagine the relief of finally having
  mature men listen to your story?
• How many have been falsely accused only to face
  emotional people who will not listen? We must
  display this basic sense of fairness! (Acts 2516)

49
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• (Acts 2516 NKJV) To them I answered, It is
  not the custom of the Romans to deliver any man
  to destruction before the accused meets the
  accusers face to face, and has opportunity to
  answer for himself concerning the charge against
  him.

50
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• This one now has the protection from the avenger.
  (Josh 205-6)

51
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• (Joshua 205-6 NKJV) Then if the avenger of
  blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the
  slayer into his hand, because he struck his
  neighbor unintentionally, but did not hate him
  beforehand.

52
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• 6 And he shall dwell in that city until he
  stands before the congregation for judgment, and
  until the death of the one who is high priest in
  those days. Then the slayer may return and come
  to his own city and his own house, to the city
  from which he fled.

53
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• The protection only applies to those within this
  walled city.

54
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• The protection only applies to those within this
  walled city.
• The entire "congregation" would be involved in
  this process.

55
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• The protection only applies to those within this
  walled city.
• The entire "congregation" would be involved in
  this process.
• Now his cause is clearly known. God's mercy has
  provided justice and protection.

56
God expected His people to provide a refuge in
the Old Testament

• It is good for us that we sometimes have sorrows
  and adversities, for they often make a man lay to
  heart that he is only a stranger and sojourner
  and may not put his trust in any worldly thing.
  It is good that we sometimes endure
  contradictions and are hardly and unfairly judged
  when we do and mean what is good. For these
  things help us to be humble and shield us from
  vainglory.

57
How we can provide refuge today

• We need spiritual men who can act wisely. (Gal
  61-2)

58
How we can provide refuge today

• (Galatians 61-2 NKJV) Brethren, if a man is
  overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual
  restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness,
  considering yourself lest you also be tempted.
  2 Bear one anothers burdens, and so fulfill
  the law of Christ.

59
How we can provide refuge today

• There are many who need gentleness yet firmness.

60
How we can provide refuge today

• There are many who need gentleness yet firmness.
• There are others who need sharp rebuke! True love
  and wisdom can discern. (Tit 112-14)

61
How we can provide refuge today

• (Titus 112-14 NKJV) One of them, a prophet of
  their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil
  beasts, lazy gluttons. 13 This testimony is
  true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they
  may be sound in the faith, 14 not giving heed
  to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn
  from the truth.

62
How we can provide refuge today

• When I make people comfortable in their
  irresponsibility, I'm heading away from the
  cross.

63
How we can provide refuge today

• The lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that
  enters the house a guest, and then becomes a
  host, and then a master.

64
How we can provide refuge today

• We must be willing. (Jas 215-16)

65
How we can provide refuge today

• (James 215-16 NKJV) If a brother or sister is
  naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one
  of you says to them, Depart in peace, be warmed
  and filled, but you do not give them the things
  which are needed for the body, what does it
  profit?

66
How we can provide refuge today

• Often this may involve standing up to another who
  is acting unrighteously.

67
How we can provide refuge today

• Too often it is easier to whisper in the
  background but in the end have done nothing.

68
How we can provide refuge today

• In 430 B.C. the historian Thucydides wrote, "It
  was in those who had recovered from the plague
  that the sick and the dying found most
  compassion." A preacher who has never needed
  comfort is not likely to be as concerned about
  giving comfort.

69
How we can provide refuge today

• We must act with loving compassion. (1 Jn
  316-18)

70
How we can provide refuge today

• (1 John 316-18 NKJV) By this we know love,
  because He laid down His life for us. And we also
  ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
  17 But whoever has this worlds goods, and sees
  his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from
  him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18
  My little children, let us not love in word or in
  tongue, but in deed and in truth.

71
How we can provide refuge today

• This required time and energy. Most of all it
  involves an opening of our hearts.

72
How we can provide refuge today

• This required time and energy. Most of all it
  involves an opening of our hearts.
• In our busy times with all the stress surrounding
  us, we may flee from opening our hearts to
  additional "burdens.

73
How we can provide refuge today

• "I am sorry for the man who can't feel the whip
  when it is laid on the other man's back." --
  Abraham Lincoln

74
How we can provide refuge today

• Let me come in where you are weeping, friend, And
  let me take your hand. I, who have known a sorrow
  such as yours, Can understand. Let me come in-I
  would be very still Beside you in your grief I
  would not bid you cease your weeping, friend,
  Tears bring relief. Let me come in-I would only
  breathe a prayer, And hold your hand, For I have
  known a sorrow such as yours, And understand. -
  Grace Noll Crowell

75
How we can provide refuge today

• It is important that we act in love and not in
  bitterness. We need to help the other one put
  away their bitterness and not irrigate it. (Heb
  1215)

76
How we can provide refuge today

• (Hebrews 1215 NKJV) looking carefully lest
  anyone fall short of the grace of God lest any
  root of bitterness springing up cause trouble,
  and by this many become defiled

77
How we can provide refuge today

• "Fifty years ago industrialists thought they
  could just bury toxic waste and it would go away.
  We have since learned it doesn't just go away. It
  makes trouble. It leaks into the water table,
  contaminates crops, and kills animals. Buried
  grief does the same thing. Raw time doesn't heal
  a thing.

78
How we can provide refuge today

• Buried pain leaks into our emotional system and
  wreaks havoc there. It distorts our perceptions
  of life, and it taints our relationships. That
  contamination happens subconsciously.

79
How we can provide refuge today

• Please do not make the mistake of just saying
  "If you need me, call me." The truth is that
  most people will think "I need you, but I am not
  going to call!" We need to be more open to the
  needs of others!

80
How we can provide refuge today

• We must be more involved with others before they
  reach their time of crisis. (1 Cor 1223-27)

81
How we can provide refuge today

• (1 Corinthians 1223-27 NKJV) And those members
  of the body which we think to be less honorable,
  on these we bestow greater honor and our
  unpresentable parts have greater modesty, 24
  but our presentable parts have no need. But God
  composed the body, having given greater honor to
  that part which lacks it,

82
How we can provide refuge today

• 25 that there should be no schism in the body,
  but that the members should have the same care
  for one another. 26 And if one member suffers,
  all the members suffer with it or if one member
  is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27
  Now you are the body of Christ, and members
  individually.

83
How we can provide refuge today

• What are you doing to know those in this church
  better?

84
How we can provide refuge today

• What are you doing to know those in this church
  better?
• Some are satisfied with family and a few friends
  and thus hardly talk to others.

85
How we can provide refuge today

• What are you doing to know those in this church
  better?
• Some are satisfied with family and a few friends
  and thus hardly talk to others.
• It is difficult to see others do little things
  such as coming to social gatherings in open
  homes, make calls when sick and many such things.

86
How we can provide refuge today

• Do we put a "no-trespassing" sign around our
  necks or an "open house" sign?

87
How we can provide refuge today

• Oh, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe
  with a person having neither to weigh thoughts
  nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just
  as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing
  that a faithful hand will take and sift them,
  keep what is worth keeping, and then, with the
  breath of kindness, blow the rest away.

88
What Will You Do?

• There will come a time where you will be in need
  of refuge.

89
What Will You Do?

• There will come a time where you will be in need
  of refuge.
• Let us learn to provide refuge for others now! In
  time this will provide refuge for us.

90
What Will You Do?

• There will come a time where you will be in need
  of refuge.
• Let us learn to provide refuge for others now! In
  time this will provide refuge for us.
• Are you in need of refuge from the world? Are you
  pursued by enemies and most of all you
  own sin? God has a place of rest for you. (Mt
  1129-30)

91
What Will You Do?

• (Matthew 1129-30 NKJV) Take My yoke upon you
  and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in
  heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
  30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is
  light.

92
What Will You Do?

• It is not true to say that God wants to teach us
  something in our trials. In every cloud he
  brings, God wants us to unlearn something. God's
  purpose in the cloud is to simplify our belief
  until our relationship to him is exactly that of
  a child.

93
What Will You Do?

• God uses every cloud which comes in our physical
  life, in our moral or spiritual life, or in our
  circumstances, to bring us nearer to him, until
  we come to the place where our Lord Jesus Christ
  lived, and we do not allow our hearts to be
  troubled.