20 May 2012

Topic: The Church is Your Refuge

You receive the holy spirit by the hearing of grace.
God performs miracles by the hearing of faith. All these are not by through the works of law.
God's healing system is by means of preaching. God is pleased by preaching, He will save, heal and deliver. In the word, God says it by the foolishness of preaching. God sozos you while you are listening to the word. Good things are happening in your career just by listening of His word.

Joshua 20:1-8
Verse 2: "Cities of refuge" in present day is Lord Jesus Christ.
These verses in the old testament are like the shadows of truth to us in present day. Let's look at how these shadows reveal God's truth to us.

Verse 3: This verse talks about justice. Just like a slayer who kills a person, that person has a right for revenge. God does not like revenge, He delights in grace. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Verse 4: These six cities belong to the priests and Levites. The priests refer to us. We are and made priests and princes in Christ. Numbers 35:6-7 shows that there are a total of 48 cities (42 + 6) and priests live in the best.

Verse 8: The 6 cities are Kedesh, Shechem, Hebron, Bezer, Ramoth and Golan. They are scattered and they are 3 on each side on the map. 

Numbers 18:11-12
Verse 11: Wave offering is what the priest does by waving the offering to God. Heave offering is like throwing the offering up to heavens. Put the both act together and what do you see? The cross. God loves to be reminded of the sacrifice of Jesus.
Verse 12: We receive the best of the new oil, wine and grain.

Hebrews 10:26
Sin wilfully refers to turning their backs to Christ after they received the knowledge of the truth. This truth refers to the gospel. These are the people who know Him but yet turn to their old ways.

In the roman times, the Romans crucified Jesus. They know they were crucifying the Messiah. But yet Jesus said "Forgive them for they know not what they do". See how great our God when He classified the Romans under the "unintentional sin" group.

Hebrews 6:16-20
Verse 16: Man swear by God because He is greater. It is a crime to break the oath.
Verse 18: The word said God cannot lie. He raises His hands to say He will bless you. This blessing in the old testament last only until the priests die. So does that mean the blessings end? Look at verse 20.
Verse 20: Jesus is our high priest forever. That's why we are forever blessed.

Isaiah 9:6
Verse 6: When the Lord govern the whole universe, He governs on his shoulder.
Luke 15:4-7
Verse 5: When Jesus find the lost sheep, He lays it on His shoulders, rejoicing.
These 2 verses show that God's priority is salvation rather than governing the whole universe. He prioritises on saving you.

Local churches is God ordained. It is not man's idea. You can say we go to a universal church. That means to be in a country, when you meet a believer, there is a unity. But when you face a problem and need help, local churches is your refuge. It's a place where guilty people run to. In God's house, there is bread enough to spare.

Ephesians 1:22-23
Verse 22: The father puts all things under Jesus feet. All sickness, depression and death under His feet. He gives all these things to the church.
Verse 23: The church is His body, that's where God's goodness and miracles are found.
In NLT, verse 22 says "God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church".

Pastor advices the people not to give up on local churches. It all revolves around Christ. As long as the pastor preaches on God is a real man and heals, then He is a good pastor. It does not necessary need to be exactly the same belief with Pastor Prince. It does not mean this pastor does not preach grace then I'm staying at home. Honour your pastor, your local pastor may have ideas for mission which Pastor Prince doesn't have. Unless there are pastor who come against grace then it's a different story. You may then switch church. Tithe to your own local church. Joseph Prince Ministries (JPM) always puts it at the end of the show to tithe to your local church. JPM broadcasts daily 2 or 3 times a day, it is not there to compete with the local pastors. JPM is there to compliment the local pastors. So you should never tithe to the one who fed you. In Malachi, it does not ask you to tithe to the place where you are fed. It says to bring your tithe so that you are fed and there is food in the house. Don't misinterpret the verse. There is no perfect church or perfect pastors. Jesus will never just plant a refuge in a single place. God has planted refuges all around the world. Don't say because my Pastor does not preach on grace in this church so I'm not attending. Grace means justification by faith. Pastor then jokes about buying the local pastor the book "Destined to reign". Jesus watches and says in Revelation. He will remove the candlesticks if he does not repent and change his mind. This verse is Jesus talking to the local pastor. Jesus means to shut down the church and does not say about losing salvation. The congregation will not be lost, they will still join another church.

Ephesians 5:25-27
Verse 26: That's how you talk to your wife. Speak good words to your wife, just like she is spotless.
Verse 27: "Not having" is present active participle. Jesus sees you in the eternal. He does not lie. So you should also tell your wife the same just like how Jesus sees you. Why not you see your wife perfect? Not having spit or wrinkle or any such thing. Wash your wife with your words.

Psalm 46:1
This verse says God is our refuge and strength and a very present help in trouble. Some say God will only help when in heaven, in daily life, endure. If that is the case, what's there to help in heaven?

Back to Joshua 20:8, the cities are shown in order of the verses.

Kedesh - Sanctuary
Shechem - Shoulder
Hebron - Fellowship
Bezer - Fortress
Ramoth - Highly exalted
Golan - Rejoicing

Put the meanings in order. Names in the bible is not to fill up space. It has meaning.
In summary,
A sanctuary is His shoulder offered in fellowship, a fortress to highly exalt us with rejoicing.

In closing,
He is a very present help in need when you need it! Don't think that He comes to you and pat you on the back and says to you to endure or just comforts you. He is not like that. He does comfort you at times but He is always there to be a help to you because He loves you. He carries you on His shoulders and you may think you are happy, but know what, He is even happier than you.