Turn with me, if you would, to Deuteronomy 15. Deuteronomy 15. I too concur with Lance that you all are very easy to preach to. Tim James told me that the first time I came. He says, don't worry about it. He said, the people are easy to preach to. And I took that as attentive, alert, and made willing in the day of his power to hear the gospel message.

And I, years ago, too long ago, I thought that Specifically meant the Lord makes his people willing in the day of his power on the salvation, but the older I grow it's everything everything Having trouble being charitable to a brother ask the Lord to make you willing in the day of his power You struggling with sin you struggling with work Ask the Lord to make you willing to in the day of his power.

A good example of that is the two brothers on the road to Emmaus. They were believers. And Christ was right in talking with them. And it says, until he opened their eyes, their understanding, then they knew. Even believers. We think, oh, well, I'm filled with the Spirit. And we are. But we walk often in the flesh. And if you don't know what that is, look at 1 Samuel, look at David. like this. But God was his keeper, and we will be kept. We will be kept. Those who endure to the end, used to scare me. Those who endure to the end, those are the ones that are saved. Will I endure? You heard the answer in this previous message. Yes, because of what Christ has done for his people, we will endure.

Now, we don't presume upon his grace and we don't sin that grace may abound. No, no. As Henry would say, we sin more than we want to, but we have an advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous. I'm saying, go to him. Spend more time in the Word than in the newspaper. Spend more time fellowshipping around the Gospel, singing these wonderful hymns. Do that. We're so easily distracted.

Well, if you remember what I preached last night, we looked at three words, did we not? Do you remember them? Do you remember them? I get to have everybody say Him, but they crucified Him, or I crucified Him. When the Lord began to work, I crucified Him. And you can't run and hide from the Holy Spirit.

Tonight, we're going to look at one word, one word, Deuteronomy chapter 15. We're going to start reading in verse 12. Deuteronomy 15 in verse 12, and if thy brother, a Hebrew man or Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee and serve thee six years, then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. Well, there's a picture of salvation right there, but that's not my word.

And when you send him out from thee, what a beautiful example of the church being compassionate and charitable one to another. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty. Like James says, be warm and filled and don't supply the need. Thou shalt furnish him liberally. That's what the heart touched by grace does. Out of thy stock, out of thy flock. and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress, of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, thou shalt give unto him. So you're considering yourself where the Lord found us, where the Lord found us.

Here's my verse, verse 15, and thou shalt remember that you were a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee. Therefore I command thee this thing today. The word remember, it's powerful, and this is what I want us to do. Remember, it's an important word. And it's used some 14 times in the Book of Deuteronomy. And this exact phraseology, thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondwoman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee, exact wording is used twice, two more times, Deuteronomy 24, 18 and 24, 22. So we are commanded to live in constant awareness of our previous bondage and also, and more so, our gracious and everlasting salvation.

The memory, the memory of the depths of our iniquity brings to the forefront of our minds and our hearts our glorious and wonderful redemption by the blood and righteousness of Christ Jesus, our sovereign Lord. You can't help. If you remember these things, if you are obedient to the word of God, remember, remember, we were a bondman. That is, we were in servitude. We were slaves. And I say, those who have tasted that the Lord has been ever kind and tender and pitiful to usward, we have much to be thankful for.

So let's look at this first section. Remember our bondage, or that we were in servitude. Now this, we can't do by ourselves. We can, well, you know, act humble, but the Lord, by his grace and by his own choosing, makes us remember where we came from, where we came from.

We were servants, first of all, to sin. What does the scripture say about this? Well, the scripture is pretty clear. Behold, but God be thanked that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

servants of sin. So remember, remember that. You are a servant of sin. Oh yes, we know of a truth. We were sold under sin from birth, nature, and practice. Sin ruled over us and yet we delighted to have it so. You look around and people are just, they're fine. And they are sold under sin. They're servants of sin. They're fine with it. And if we were honest with ourselves, we were too. We were too. Just enough religion to keep us safe from hell or whatever we thought hell was ruled over, sin ruled over us, and yet we delighted to have it so.

It polluted our every thought and words and action so much so that Proverbs 21, 4 says, the plowing of the wicked is sin. So that tells me that the most menial, lowly, ordinary task, if not done with the eye of faith towards our Lord, is sin. So, you know, I haven't done anything. Have you woke up? Have you gone to work? Have you done this and done that? If you're doing it without the conscious awareness that the Lord is preserving you, it's sin. That's how vile we are. We're servants of sin.

So we are all starting out, as we say, in the hole. We're starting out in the hole. or the pit, Isaiah 51, one from the pit from which we've been digged. That's where we're starting out.

Secondly, remember, we were a servant of Satan, deluded and held in chains by the prince of the air. Second Corinthians chapter four, you don't need to turn there, but if our gospel be hid, it is hidden to them that are lost. in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." So Satan has us captive at his will, which he says that in 2 Timothy 2. Again, you don't need to turn there. In verse 26, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who were taken captive by him at his will." Satan. We're servants of sin from birth, born in sin. We're servants of Satan. Matters of fact, he says, you will not come to me. In John 6, you may not come to me that you may have life. Well, I also think servants of Satan is that you talk to anybody, even religious folks, you talk to them about man's will, say, well, I got a free will. That's a delusion. That's a delusion.

And what about some here tonight? You've heard the gospel time and time again. Maybe this is the first time you heard the gospel, that wonderful message that preceded me. Well, Satan will say, linger, linger. There's no hurry. The scripture says today, if you'll hear his voice, hard not your heart, linger. I've seen it so many times where somebody shows an interest and they look like they're interested and then they don't ever come back. Or they come back a few times and then they're gone. It's like the parable of the sword. It's gone. The seed's gone. The cares of the world choke us. Choke us. And they're gone.

No, you don't. You may not have tomorrow. You may not have tomorrow. and you don't have a free will.

Thirdly, we are servants to the world. Remember, remember, thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt. We're servants of sin, we're servants to Satan, and we're servants to this world. We desired its applause, its chief seats, its pleasures, and its approval. And I'll tell you this, if you continue in this condition, you'll sink to eternal ruin. You'll sink to eternal, separated from all things grace, all things Christ, and all things God.

But, blessed be the Lord, our Savior, bless His name, all that is within us. God, who is rich in mercy. He's awakened his sheep, his elect, his darling church, to reveal these deceptions and enable us to lay hold of the blessing. What's that? Christ. Christ is the blessing.

So secondly, remember the Lord thy God redeemed thee. The Lord thy God redeemed thee. He redeemed us from sin and from Satan and this world.

1 Peter 1, again, you don't need to turn there, verse 18. For as much as you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but you are redeemed, bought back, purchased, 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, who by him do believe in God that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory and that your faith and hope might be in God. Not some false gospel. not in some emotional decisions, but in the Lord God, the God of glory. He and he alone bore the wrath and judgment due us, the just for the unjust, Peter says, the innocent for the vile, the worthy for the unworthy, that's us, the prudent for the irresponsible and reckless. That's us.

I like what one man said in the scriptures. He says, we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Or he said, we have this treasure in trash. That's about what this flesh is. And the older we get, the more we see that.

What of us here this night? By God's superior and free and sovereign grace, I am forgiven. The chains are gone. The heart has changed the flesh. Now I am made willing. Redemption complete, effectual, and eternal.

your sin and remember your Redeemer. I was telling Ms. Matt and somebody else, I can't remember who it was, I think this morning at breakfast, the first conference my wife and I went to Crossville in their new building at the time, which is their building they have now. But this has been 30 years ago or more. Two mature believers in this congregation. Blessed men who are no longer with us. They were sitting right across. This was after the service. We were eating in the fellowship hall. Myself and my wife and these two men. And a young new convert from Tim James's church was sitting right to our left. And these two men were talking about in-time things, and eschatology, and the deep things, we would say, of God. And they looked at this, and my wife and I were absorbing it, and we were listening intently.

And they looked at this young man, and they say, what do you think about that? And they called out his name, and he just looked at him, he said, I don't know about all that. He says, all I know is that Christ lived and died, and he died for me. And you could just see in their face the mild rebuke. They just said, thank you for reminding us what's most important. And they said, stick with that. And he did. And the Lord's taken him home, too. But that was something good to learn.

Never move away. from Christ and Him crucified. May we do this, may we remember, yes, I can't do what I would do, says, you know, Paul in Romans, I can't do this or what I would try to do that, but who shall deliver me? It comes down to that, who shall deliver me from this? The Lord Jesus Christ. May we dwell and dwell upon Him.

We are now constrained by love divine, that we are so blessed because we're only in this world, but we're not of the world. We know that now. And this world is no more an idol to us. We struggle with these things, but the true believer in Christ would rather be among his people, gathering in his house, worshiping at his feet, than anything else. It's really that's that important. If the gospel is preached, it's that important. It's that important.

Well, how important is it? Well, I just have to disagree with just a little bit, Jim, because I got a hymn here by Horatius Bonar. It's my favorite.

I was a wandering sheep. I did not love the fold. I did not love my shepherd's voice. I would not be controlled. I was a wayward child. I did not love my home. I did not love my father's voice. I loved afar to roam.

The shepherd sought his sheep, the father sought his child, they followed me o'er vale and hill, o'er deserts waste and wild, they found me nigh to death, famished and faint and lone, they bound me with the bands of love, they saved the wandering one.

Jesus is my shepherd. Jesus my shepherd is. T'was he that loved my soul. T'was he that washed me in his blood. T'was he that made me whole. T'was he that sought the lost, that found the wandering sheep. T'was he that brought me to the fold. T'was he that still doth keep.

That's remembering redemption. I was a wandering sheep. I would not be controlled, but now I love my shepherd's voice. I love, I love the fold. I was a wayward child, I once preferred to roam, but now I love my father's voice. I love his home.

Lord, help us today, this night, help us to really and truly with godly sincerity be found in his service from day to day and not just play religion. not just play religion. I know this man. We've seen it a lot. We see it a lot. And we're not immune from it. We're not immune from it.

Well, the old writers, when you would preach a message, they'd have an application. So let's, they would close with an application, or what I would say, what influence do these things, the remembering the sin, the pit from which we've been dug, that we were a bondman and they were servitude and slaves in the land of Egypt, and to secondly, remember the Lord our God that redeemed us. The God, not, it says, thy God, not a God, the God. What influences, what sway or impact should these truths, just two, one word, remember, What should they have upon us to hear tonight and towards our Redeemer and towards those of the household of faith?

One, to know that we were what we were and are now what we are should give us, produce humility. Once we were wandering sheep, Not loving the fold, we also sing that hymn, O to grace, how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be. Ask yourself, I ask myself, what good have I done? What caused our Savior to seek me out? And John, he says, you haven't chosen me, I've chosen you. Who makes us to differ? Christ and Christ alone. Psalms 105 verse 11, not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name be glory.

Secondly, if humility is our song, gratitude and thankfulness is the melody, is the melody. What shall we then say? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein. When coldness, and I speak from experience, when coldness creeps in upon us, let us go back to the cross where redemption was on full display, fully and freely placed upon Emmanuel's shoulders. Read of his blessed bleeding and dying, and how can we be unaffected by the scenes of the cross. How can we be unaffected? Lance said, he asked me, I said, man, I about jumped him out of my seat. Christ in you, the hope of glory. He abides in us and we in him. That, you can chew on that like cows chew on cud. You chew on that for years and years. Oh my.

Thirdly, What effect should this have on us and our brethren? Love and devotion to him and all his people. I know we're busy. I know I worked and preached and finally got to retire from work. I understand. It doesn't give us an excuse. Call, write, text. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith, the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. You are a chosen generation. a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

When the love of many is waxing cold, it's so good to see you all. I'm getting to where I recognize faces. It is paramount that stewards be found faithful. Aren't you a steward? It's not just talking about preachers. We're all stewards of the grace of God. You want to encourage your pastor? You want to encourage your brother and sister? Be faithful. Be faithful. Charity covers a multitude of sins. And I wonder, I totally agree with Tim James on this. Sometimes as pastors, we think, well, you know, you need us. Well, I like what Tim said. He says, if it wasn't for you, there'd be no need for me. That's how I look at it. We need one another. It's not, you know, he gives different gifts and graces to each as suits him, as will suit his church. But we don't stand alone. We've got two ladies in our church that have gone through some stuff. And I say two women, Will, and a boy and a man. They never miss the service. They never missed the surface. Only when they were up in Iowa burying their daddy and their husband. That encourages me greatly. That helps me greatly. Because really, if we would remember, we're just sinners saved by grace.

Let me close with two passages. Again, the word of the Lord came to me, Ezekiel. Son of man, Ezekiel, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations. There's one. You were a bondman in Egypt. Cause Jerusalem to know her abomination and say, thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem, thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan. Thy father was an Amorite, thy mother a Hittite. and as for thy nativity in the day that you were born, your navel was not cut, ne'er was thou washed in water to supple thee, thou was not salted at all, nor swatted at all. None I pitied thee to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee, that thou was cast out into the open field to the loading of thy person in the day that you were born."

You remember that? And when I passed by God the Father in electing love, when I God the Son in redemptive glory, when I God the Holy Spirit came with grace and supplications, When I passed by thee, I saw thee polluted in thine own blood, and I said unto thee, When thou wast in thy blood, live! Yea, I said unto thee, When thou wast in thy blood, live! I, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou wast increased, and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments. Whereas thou wast naked and bare, now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was a time of love."

Read Songs of Solomon without any interpretation, just read it and see the love between the Trinity and the Church. It's beautiful. Just read that.

When I passed by thee, it was a time of love, and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness. Yea, I swear unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine. And thy renown went forth among the heathen." That's the church. That's our responsibility. Well, they won't. I don't know how to talk to people. Invite them to come. Just invite them.

Thy renown, the church, went forth among the heathen, for your beauty, as hard as it is to believe, when you remember what we have come from, when we remember what we are, and remember how we fall and fall and fall, but we remember him. It's not necessarily about us, we remember him. Your beauty, for it was perfect through my Christ's comeliness, which I had put on thee, saith the Lord God.

I close with this. You think about this. And when he had given thanks, our Lord Christ, he break it and said, take eat. This is my body. which is broken for you." There's our sin. It broke the Lord Christ. This do in remembrance of me. And after the same manner also he took the cup when he had supped, saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

is a good thing. May God give us grace.