If you can turn your Bibles with me, Hebrews chapter 12 verses 12 and 13. Okay, Hebrews chapter 12 verses 12 and 13. You'll be reading the NASB. "Therefore strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble. Make straight paths for your feet so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed." Let's pray.

Heavenly Father we pray for your blessing, we pray for your guidance by your word. I pray that our hearts may be molded Lord God and that your word would guide and lead us and sanctify your church. Lord, we know that the preaching is just words Lord God, unless you ordain it and illuminate us and cause us Lord to see who you are.

So we pray for guidance, we pray Lord that your grace would allow us Lord to hear and to practice and to be changed. In Jesus name we pray, amen. Yesterday myself, Elder James and Pastor Mark, we did a podcast together on the subject of deconstructionism. So some of you guys who may have heard the term or maybe have been hearing it around and basically what's going on, again the latest trend is for people to re-examine their faith and possibly even questioning the fundamentals of what we believe.

Like is the Bible real, you know, are the miracles real, is the church necessary? And so, and this was sparked by a few well-known pastors who basically denied their faith and walked away from Christianity, basically condemning the Christianity that they belong to and they participated in and even led and many people came to Christ through them.

And so because of that and I think, you know, with it basically triggered a lot of people just almost encouraging people to go back and re-examine their faith. I think re-examining our faith is always necessary because we do live in a somewhat Christian culture at least where we live and, you know, you sometimes feel pressure to become a Christian when you're in college and then you make a bunch of Christian friends, maybe you came from a Christian home and as a result of that being in church was a knee-jerk reaction and maybe you never seriously examined what you truly believed.

But in that process, the danger that we are seeing now is that it's almost encouraged, that it's almost normal that we go back and revisit. Is the Bible even real? Does God even exist? Did the resurrection really happen? And in that context, many people are beginning to realize that maybe they weren't believers to begin with.

I think most of us, if you've been a Christian for any period of time, you can probably name at least one person or maybe many people that at one point maybe you looked up to and you ran the race with are no longer walking with God. Maybe a professor, maybe a Sunday school teacher, maybe your youth pastor, maybe a good friend of yours that at one point you were excited and you're walking with God and by all definitions of what the Bible teaches what a Christian is, they are no longer walking with God.

They're not believers in Christ. This is not anything new. This is not a new phenomenon in what's going on in our generation that all of a sudden 2,000 years later after the death and resurrection of Christ, this new thing of deconstructionism is going on. This has happened from the very first century, from the very beginning.

Jesus warned. He said that some seeds are going to fall on certain soils and they're going to look like they're going to bear fruit for a period, but then because they don't have any foundation, they're going to disappear. Some of them are going to fall on soils and they just disbelieve and they walk away.

And then there's some soils where the seed falls on the third soil and in the beginning it looks like they're bearing fruit, but because of the worries and concern and deceitfulness of this world, their faith gets choked out and as a result they die. So whether you call it deconstructionism or backsliding or fading or slipping, whatever you want to call it, it is nothing new to our generation.

The Bible tells us that this will happen. And so people who are going through this process are only coming to realize that maybe they never really had faith to begin with. And this is why it's necessary for us to examine and make sure that we are truly anchored in Christ, that our dependency is not the community, that our dependency is not our support group and our family, friends, or our tradition, but do I really believe in Christ?

Am I anchored in Christ? That even if everybody that I know falls away, that I am anchored in Christ. Even if the biggest waves come, I am anchored in Christ. The text that we're looking at this morning is in the context of the larger context where the author has been trying to get the readers to continue to take their faith seriously and not drift.

Now they weren't guilty of apostasy. They weren't guilty of waking up one morning and saying, "You know what? I don't want Jesus and I'm going to run toward my old life." That's not what was happening. The constant warning is do not drift, do not neglect, do not drift. Because most people who experience deconstructionism or backsliding usually happens way before they're ever public about it.

That was probably happening behind the scene where they were questioning. Maybe they weren't walking right with God. Maybe there was a sin in their life that they weren't confessing that caused a strain or quenching of the spirit. And instead of realizing that maybe something in them was flawed, they turned that table around and began to point to the church or the pastors or to the Bible itself saying maybe they're wrong and I'm not the cause.

It is in that context that this author has been going through Christology chapter after chapter after chapter that we do not drift from this. And so we're in chapter 12 where it's saying, "Considering all of this, therefore," so we have such a great of witnesses that has gone before us, "to lay aside every encumbrance and sin which so easily entangles us so that we do not continue to drift." And then in verse 12 that we're looking at where it says, "Therefore, considering what Christ has done for us, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble." We have no reason to quit.

If you are a genuine believer in Christ, there is no reason to quit. That's what he means in verse 4 when he said, "You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin." Christ has shed his blood for us. Our salvation was given.

We didn't earn this. So a genuine Christian has no reason to quit no matter what struggle, no matter what trial because Christ knowing our weakness, Christ knowing our struggle has shed his blood for us. So the only Christian that truly fails in the kingdom of God is the one who quits.

And so he's encouraging and challenging the church to persevere because it is for that reason that Christ died for us. Since we have a God who is perfect, who does not make mistakes, there's no reason to quit. Since we have a God who loves us and that even in the most difficult circumstances, it's a proof of our relationship with him.

So therefore, we don't need to quit. Since we have a God that even in our most difficult circumstances are orchestrating things for our own good to train us to be more like him, therefore we do not need to quit. And that was the point that we were trying to make last week, right, in the passages.

And here in verse 12 he continues, he says, "Therefore, therefore we believe in a sovereign God who loved us, died for us. There's no reason to quit. Therefore strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble." Let me stop right here because this is a passage, verse 12 and 13 is a passage that we know well.

This is kind of like, "Let's get going" type of passage, right? If you're struggling, find out what your weaknesses are and make a list of things that you need to correct and then get things right and then let's do it. But before we even get to that, we need to first understand, this is why we have inductive Bible study because we want to make sure that all of the meaning and the imagery that is given in the text is actually what we are getting out of the text, okay?

First of all, the word for the passage, "strengthen the hands that are weak," is not an exact translation. It's more of a transliteration so that we can have the gist of what the meaning is. But if you look at the King James Version where they didn't care at all whether you understood it or not, they just kind of translated it exactly the way it is written in the Greek.

In the King James Translation, the meaning behind it is basically to lift up drooping hands, right? So lift up drooping hands. So the imagery in our head is right there, okay? So imagery that's given in chapter, in verse 12 is an individual where the hands are drooped. And then the second part of that, "and the knees that are feeble," meaning that there's no strength in their knees that are shaking.

So what is that, what do you think that's a picture of? Take a guess of the context of somebody who would be drawn that way. This looks like somebody who's in the middle of a marathon, maybe, maybe about halfway through, you know, and they're just fatigued and they're out of breath and they don't have the same kind of vigor that they had in the beginning.

And so when an individual gets to that point, what are they thinking? Hamburger? What are they thinking here? Quitting, exactly. So this is a picture of an individual who started the race well, but at some point has lost their vigor and have no energy, is slooped down and their knees are starting to buckle.

And in their mind, they're probably thinking that, "I don't know if I can continue on." That is who he's addressing. He's addressing an individual or a group of people who just don't have the strength. And they say, "Oh my gosh, you know, how am I going to make it?

I still have another 13 miles to go and I'm exhausted now. Am I going to be able to persevere?" It is at this point where many people begin to change their theology. Maybe I'm not the problem. Maybe they're the problem. Maybe the reason why I feel this way and I'm exhausted is because the church has wronged me.

These people have wronged me. Maybe I was at the wrong church. Maybe I was at the wrong group. And we have a tendency to either change our theology, change our circumstance, change the various things because I don't think I can go on. This is the place where the thoughts of deconstruction comes in because they're ready to quit.

So instead of saying, "I couldn't finish this race," they say, "Maybe the race wasn't the right race to begin with. Maybe I was trained wrong. Maybe my trainers were wrong." It is these people that they are addressing and it is these people who are at this point that the whole book of Hebrews is written to, who have their hands drooped, their knees are beginning to buckle, they're out of breath, they're tired, they don't know if they can continue and the race seems like it's still so far away.

Can I continue to do this? In the world, when you see an individual at that state, what do we do if you're good friends? In the world, you can do it. Or maybe if you grew up in the church, you'll quote Philippians, "I can do all things." Put it on your shoes, on your shirt.

Believe in yourself. You can do it. Don't let the naysayers get to you. Don't trust them. Whoever you put your mind to, you can achieve and you get motivation speakers, you listen to tape or meditation because we need to persevere and that's the answer that the world is giving.

This is a Christian version of saying, "Hey, keep your chin up." But he's not simply saying, "Hey, believe in yourself." Just suck it up and find the strength within. And if you just discipline harder, if you just work harder, you can continue. That's not the point that he's been making.

The point that he's been making is you took your eyes off of Christ. And that's why he says he's the author and the perfecter of our faith. You started with Christ, but at some point in your walk with Christ, you began to just do things yourself and you ran out of energy.

You're fatigued. So the answer is not to go back and try it again and do it harder this time. He says, "No, the reason why you became this to begin with is because you took your eyes off of Christ." That's exactly the point that Paul is trying to make in Philippians chapter 3, 3-7.

Where Paul says he is dealing with the Judaizers who are saying that salvation could not be by grace alone. Yes, we believe in Jesus, but there's a part that we need to play. And so you still need to be circumcised and you still need to respect the Mosaic law.

And Paul is writing to them and he says, "For we are the true circumcision who worship in the Spirit of God in glory in Christ, Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh." I don't have confidence in my flesh. Let's try harder. Let's be disciplined even more. You know, he says, "No, I put no confidence in it, although I myself might have confidence in the, even in the flesh.

If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more." And Paul was not exaggerating. You know, people may say that and not be true, but Apostle Paul, there's nobody who is going to go toe to toe with law keeping and his background than Apostle Paul.

And then he goes on and said, "Let's go. If you think that that's the path of righteousness and you think the reason why I'm preaching salvation by grace alone is because somehow I failed in the law, let me tell you who I am." And that's what Paul is doing.

He's presenting. Circumcised on the eighth day, meaning that he's a true Israelite. He had the covenant symbol on him of the nation of Israel, not the tribe of Benjamin. In the nation of Israel, they were, you know, there's a pecking order as to which tribes were the most prestigious.

What's the most prestigious? Tribe of Judah, because that was the kingly line. But next to the tribe of Judah, the Benjamites were known for two things. One, if you remember the book of Judges, the Benjamites were known as the mighty warriors. So they were known to be valiant warriors.

And then two, they were known to be the ones who remained faithful to Judah when the kingdom split where the 10 tribes went with one group and the Judah and Benjamites were the only ones who stayed on the side that was right. And so to say that he's a Benjamite right off the bat, right?

You want to go toe to toe, what tribe are you from? Manasseh. Is that where you're from, Manasseh? You know what happened to Manasseh, right? Say, I'm from a tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew of Hebrew. As to the law, a Pharisee. Pharisees were the ones who took the law and they were OCD about the law, right?

They took the book, they took the Sabbath and they said, "Well, we want to make sure that we never break the Sabbath. So we're going to..." And they had all these other laws like, if you do this, if you touch this, if you walk this many, you know, steps and you go one step further, you broke the law.

These were the Pharisees who took the law seriously. And he says, "You want to, you're accusing me that maybe I couldn't, I couldn't find righteousness and that's why I'm reverting to grace. I'm a Pharisee." But as to zeal, are you questioning my passion? You questioning my desire? As to zeal, persecutor of the church.

You know, when he said he was a persecutor of the church, you have to remember that during that period, the Israelites didn't have authority to carry out capital punishment. So when Stephen was being stoned and they put all their cloaks, everybody who stoned Stephen to put their cloak at the feet of Apostle Paul, who was Saul at that time, basically means that he's going to be responsible for this.

And Apostle Paul basically said, "Yeah, if I go to jail and I die for this, I'm willing." You're going to question my zeal? I was a persecutor of the church. As to righteousness, which is in the law, found blameless. Now that's got to be an exaggeration, right? Yeah, maybe in the eyes of God, but to other Jews, Apostle Paul, not only was he a Pharisee, he was, he was a direct disciple of Gamaliel, the top scholar of Israel.

And there's rumors that he was already a member of the Sanhedrin. So it was assumed that he was blameless in the law. But whatever thing were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. If my righteousness is based upon my being, me being zealous and my background and keeping the law perfectly and said, "You want to go toe to toe, I'll beat all of you." But the message of the cross actually makes all of that rubbish.

It's not because we simply need to work harder. It's not simply because we need to be more disciplined. All of these things are things that we ought to do, but the primary reason why they got to the point where they were about to quit is because they took their eyes off of Christ.

They thought at some point that they can do it by their own strength. You and I all know the story where Jesus tells that you have a tax collector and a Pharisee who goes up to pray and the tax collector is praying, "Thank God I'm not like them. I pay my tithes and I obey the law." And then the tax collector is beating his chest.

And he said, "I'm not worthy of you." And he says, "Who became righteous? Whose sins were justified?" He said, "The tax collector, because he received forgiveness." Now we all know that story. So in the beginning in justification, we know that we have to be like a tax collector, beating our chest, recognizing our sin, asking for forgiveness and remaining humble.

But at some point after the justification, we come to sanctification, we become right back to the Pharisees. I know I have to be justified. To be justified, I need to be like a tax collector. But to be sanctified, I need to be like a Pharisee. I need to get all my ducks in order and I need to check off all the boxes.

I need to read the Bible a certain amount. I need to have all my theology and I need to witness to so many people and I need to do all of these things. And then we start to measure everybody else based upon these checkoff lists that we have. And at some point we forget that we're always the tax collector before Christ.

We're always beating our chest in need of His mercy. It is not by our own righteousness we are justified. It is not simply by our own righteousness that we will be sanctified. And it is not by our own righteousness that we will be glorified. You know, one of my favorite passages in the New Testament, I think one of the most beautiful things that Jesus quoted is in Matthew chapter 12, verse 20.

As he is healing the sick, the Pharisees and the scribes are offended that Jesus is performing miracles on Sabbath. And instead of forgetting, instead of seeing the miracles, like, oh my gosh, this guy, he heals the sick. He has power. He must be the Messiah. Instead of seeing the miracle and glorifying God, how can you be healing on the Sabbath?

Jesus in receiving, knowing what's in their heart, he says in verse 20, a battered reed he will not break off and a smoldering wick he will not put out until he leads justice to victory. A battered reed basically is a reed that has been broken. It's useless. A smoldering wick is kind of at the end of the candle.

You know, that's what you light in order for the oil to burn. A smoldering wick is basically it's used, it's burned. So basically he's saying it's worthless. It's trash. In any other, any definition, it would be trash. We wouldn't look at a smoldering wick and say, let's salvage that.

We're going to recycle this, right? We're going to floss our teeth. We're going to plant things. There's nothing to be salvaged. It's just trash. And so he's using that imagery, saying that he's having compassion. It's a lost sinner, really in rebellion against God. He's worse than a smoldering wick and a broken reed.

A broken reed is not cursing God. A smoldering wick is not in rebellion. But he's saying that even if that is the case, he says, I will not put it out. I think it's one of the most beautiful scenes, beautiful things that Jesus has ever said. And it's his way of saying that I will not turn away, ever turn away a repentant sinner.

I will never turn away a genuinely repentant sinner. And that's what he means when he says Hebrews chapter 12, verse 3, for consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. So let me stop right there. Look at that text.

We look at that and say, he endured hostility so that we will not grow weary. Does he mean that he set an example for us of persevering? And even though he was being attacked, he endured, so therefore he set an example. And so we need to follow that example that in the midst of persecution that we need to persevere as well.

Possibly, right? Possibly. I believe the main thrust of what he's saying here is that in the context of being weary and losing heart and arms drooping and knees buckling, he says Jesus has accomplished what you could not do. He endured hostility against sinners against himself. What does that mean?

He went to the cross despite the suffering, despite the rejection, despite the pain. He said he went to the cross so that when we are weary, that we do not need to quit because God's not placing that on our shoulder that you better get your act straight. You better do this.

He says no, because he knew we were going to be weak. He knew there are times that we're going to be drooping arms. We're going to have buckling knees. He says he endured for us so that you would not lose heart. In other words, to look to Christ that when those situations happen, that we do not look to people, we do not look to leaders, we do not look to circumstances or community or finance or politics to fix your eyes upon Christ, the beginner and the finisher of our faith.

Romans chapter 8, 26 to 28 says in the same way the spirit also helps our weakness. For we do not know how to pray as we should, but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. This passage is always so encouraging to me because even in our prayers, he says when you can't pray, I know I commanded you to pray.

I know how important prayer is, but even when you can't pray and you don't know what to pray for, he provided for us. The spirit inside of us interceding and he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the spirit is because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. He even provided knowing that there are times where we're going to have a hard time praying. We don't know what to pray for, where we're lost.

What is God's will? That even in that context, he says, I made it so that the Holy Spirit will groan with words that even you don't understand. So that there the Holy Spirit is interceding on our behalf even when we are struggling. He thought of everything, everything. He didn't just justify us and then said, you better get to work.

He didn't just justify us and say, now everything, I've done everything I could, now you just go to it. He said, no. He who started a good work in you, he will carry it onto completion. And he says, all things work together for good. For who? For those who are the most disciplined, for those who have the best theology, for those who have proven track record.

And I said, for those who have been called and for those who love him. Are you justified? And do you love him? So the most important question that a Christian should be continually asking is, do I love him? That's the greatest commandment. And that's the measuring stick that God uses.

And he says, if you are justified and if you love him, all things will work together for good according to his purpose. He will do it. See, our struggle is we have a tendency. And it's proof that maybe we haven't really truly have even died yet. We have a tendency to live up to the expectations of people rather than the calling of the gospel.

So, we jump through hoops and do what we need to do because that's expected of us from our community. Maybe our leaders, our friends, our family members. You know who is under that pressure more than anybody else? Right here. Me. And then the other pastors. Then the elders. The small group leaders.

Anybody who leads is under that pressure. You don't have to be a leader. You just have to be a Christian. You just have to be a member of the church. You know. So, we live up to the expectations of what other people think we ought to be rather than living up to the calling that God has given us as his children.

So, what ends up happening is we become experts in presenting ourselves. The longer you've been a Christian, you know the knee-jerk answer. How are you doing? Good. Right? Struggling but getting better. Right? And we have these generic things that deep inside is like, "Man, I'm about to die. Man, I've been hooked on pornography for months." But the way we answer is like, "Struggling.

Right? Just struggling." Because we know. We know how to get along. We know how to function. Right? And so, when that begins to break down and we start the hypocrisy of a double life that we're living and all of a sudden either that causes us to repent and get right with God or we go through deconstruction saying that maybe it's their fault.

Maybe I'm in this situation because they were the ones who put that pressure on me and then I try to live up to their standard because they started judging me. They told me I need to do this. Not realizing maybe from the get go we were founded upon the wrong foundation.

You know, there's this song from Twyla Paris. I don't think she is famous anymore but she was at one point and has a song called Warrior is a Child. And this song, I wanted to read it to you. It says, "Lately I've been winning battles left and right but even winners can get wounded in the fight.

People say that I'm amazing, I'm strong beyond my years but they don't see inside of me I'm hiding all my tears. I don't know that I come, they don't know that I come running home when I fall down. They don't know who picks me up when no one is around.

I drop my sword and cry for just a while because deep inside this armor the warrior is a child. Unafraid because his armor is the best but even soldiers need a quiet place to rest. People say that I'm amazing, I never face retreat but they don't see the enemies that lay me at his feet.

They don't know that I come running home when I fall down. They don't know who picks me up when no one is around. I drop my sword and cry for just a while because deep inside this armor the warrior is a child." How many of you can relate to this song?

We try so hard to present ourselves a certain way because we think that this is what we ought to do and so you do that for a year, two years, four years, five years and then the pressure begins to buckle because we're not standing on Christ. So when he says if your arms are drooping and your knees are buckling that's what he's been trying to do to fix your eyes upon Christ.

To fix it upon Christ. The reason why the Hebrews were in the position they were isn't simply because they weren't trying hard enough. It's because they forgot. They forgot what brought them to Christ to begin with. They forgot that they were the bruised reed. That they were the burned wick.

And it isn't until you and I recognize from beginning to the middle to the end that we will always be a burnt out wick that is desperately in need of his grace. We are always tax collectors beating our chest in need of his mercy. And until then we don't need Christ.

We've been justified so we don't need Christ. My ticket's in heaven already so we don't need Christ. I'm going to use my intellect. I'm going to try hard. I'm going to be more disciplined. I'm going to read more than other people. And so since I'm justified I'm just going to be better.

It's probably that very reason why they started to drift back to begin with. But here's the kicker in verse 13. He says, "And make straight paths for your feet so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed." So you see this imagery of the race that he uses again.

Here's that man who's running and he's about to quit and he says, "Here's the solution. Strengthen that." In other words, get back up and then he says, "Here's what you need to do. Make the straight path straight for your feet." So imagery-wise it makes sense. If you're going to run this path you need to make sure that you're on the right path.

But again you have to understand that a first century Jew when you talked about a straight path there's an immediate understanding of what they were referring to. Like today if I asked you what are the best streets in this area, right? What are the streets that you feel like you can take a car and just go as fast as you can, not that you should, right?

But what are the best streets? What are the streets that they pay the most attention to, to make sure that there's no potholes, there's no quick turns, that you can get on that street and go straight and step on it and you're going to be able to be safe going on that street?

What road is that way? Right? Jamboree? No, it's not Jamboree. There's too many pedestrians there, right? And there's certain cities you have a pot, you know, like a, what do you call it, hole in the ground? >>Potholes. >>Potholes, yes. It may not be fixed for a while, right? You just drive slow and then you just have to be careful.

But you will never see a pothole on the freeway. Because if you have a pothole on the freeway people can die. And you won't see the freeway turning real quick. All the best roads are on the highway. And they, if any, even an object is on the highway, somebody will come, the CHP officers will come and they'll clear that out because it's dangerous.

So the best roads around us are always the highways. They're the biggest roads, they're the safest, they're the flattest, and they pay the most attention to that. You know what the best roads were in Israel? All the best roads in Israel were the roads that led to the cities of refuge.

The cities of refuge, if you didn't know, were six cities that were commanded by God that as they entered into the promised land, and they were spread out in Israel in those six places, so that any part of Israel you couldn't look up because they were built on hills and you were able to visually see where they were.

And you knew that if anything happened, you needed to run there, you knew exactly which city to go to. So the reason why he did that, he said that if somebody is like plowing or farming and accidentally he kills his neighbor, and so the neighbor's family member who becomes angry that their brother or sister or father was killed, even though it was accidentally, that they want to take vengeance, and so they call that individual "Avenger of Blood." And so when that Avenger of Blood wants to take vengeance on that individual who killed accidentally, that he would pack up his stuff and run to the city of refuge as soon as he can, and then when he gets to the gate, they would have a trial to see if it was accidental, if he is innocent, that he didn't deliberately murder this person.

And if that's found to be true, they would open the door, and the one who was fleeing, he would enter into the city, and the city was run by the priests. And the leader of these cities were the high priest. So under the protection of the high priest, the Avenger of Blood could not get to him, and that's where he would live out the rest of his life in order so that the Avenger of Blood would not get to him.

Now think about that. How often do you think this happened in Israel, that he would establish six cities? How often does that happen? How often does accidental killing happen in our community? I mean, our cities are much more dense. I mean, it can happen, right, car accidents, but they didn't ride cars back then.

So typically, if they killed somebody by accident, it was probably they're, you know, throwing the whole back, and then they hit somebody in the back of the head or something, or they were getting carried away with their cows, and they ran over somebody. How often does this happen? That he would, and it's mentioned in Deuteronomy, it's mentioned in the book of Numbers, it's mentioned in Joshua, in Exodus, it's mentioned in all these.

This was significant enough that he has six cities, all this money dedicated just so that they can have, if that ever happens, and my guess is it was pretty rare that that even happened. So why was this there? Why was so much attention given to these six cities of refuge?

Every one of these cities was a visual reminder of the coming of Christ. Next time you read the New Testament, see how often the word refuge is related to God. How often you see the term refuge as Christ being our refuge. All of this was an example, as Christ, as our high priest, protects us from the avenger of blood.

All of this to point to that when Christ comes, that he will be our refuge. And so the Bible says in the book of Deuteronomy that all the roads have to be paved well, so that if this happened, the best roads in Israel would always lead to the cities of refuge.

In the rabbinical tradition written by Josephus, the first century Jewish historian, he says it was well known that the best roads in Israel all led to the cities of refuge. In fact, every year it was part of their law to clear out these roads in case it got damaged, in case there were potholes, in case there were, you know, like they had a flood and the road was wiped out.

Every year they had to go revisit and make sure that these roads were clear and it was flat. They built bridges, right? Even on the roads that are rarely traveled, they would build bridges to make sure that just in case if that happened, that an individual was running would have the clearest and the fastest path to the cities of refuge.

And then on top of that, to make sure that the people who are on this path would not get lost, they put signposts every so often so that as they are running, they are reminded that they are on the right road. So on these signs, it would say, "Refuge, refuge, refuge, refuge." So a first century Jew, when he reads this, "And make straight paths for your feet," the first imagery that he has is the cities of refuge that leads to Christ.

And it is in this backdrop that Christ comes to fulfill what he's been preparing, that he is our refuge, he is our strength. The refuge means when you are at the point where you are about to quit, that you don't have any strength to lift up your arms and your knees are beginning to buckle.

The only refuge that can truly protect us, where we can find life, is in Christ. That's why in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 3 to 4, in the prophecy about the coming Christ, he says, "A voice is calling, 'Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness. Make smooth path in the desert a highway for our God.

Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low, and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley.'" This was a prophecy about the Messiah coming. And this is exactly how John the Baptist's ministry is described in Mark chapter 2, verse 3.

It's written in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold, I send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make ready the way of the Lord. Make his path straight.'" The primary ministry of John the Baptist was to pave the road so that the access to the Messiah would be the fastest and the best.

You know, that's the ministry of every minister. My calling in ministry is not so that I can know what the latest trend is in our culture and tap into that and find all the business ideas that we can implement in the church that will be the best organized and get the best money to do the best things.

And I remember early on in ministry just being burned out by all of that because it was just overwhelming. And it dawned on me, God never called me to do that. That was the expectation of maybe the church. That was an expectation from the Christian culture. But I didn't see that in Scripture.

He deliberately picked fishermen who knew nothing. I mean, if he wanted wise, smart people to build his first church, he picked the wrong people. In fact, when the Corinthians began to divide one another because they were so smart, he reminds them, "God chose you because you were dumb." That's my translation.

You weren't that great. And now you're trying to be one up on another, and that's what's causing this division, all kinds of trouble. So as I was reading through Scripture, I was like, "Oh, I don't need to be that smart. I don't need to be that clever. I don't need to be that talented." The primary thing that he called me to do is to make the path straight, to make the