You'll find my text in the Gospel
of Leviticus, Leviticus chapter 25. Leviticus chapter 25. While you're turning, let me
share something with you that I think will be of help. Going
out the door this morning, Brother Bill Raleigh expressed his concern
for me in so many ways. He said, I don't know why, worried
like a dog, just trust the Lord. And something came to me that
I thought was appropriate. Certainly we ought to trust the
Lord with everything, but God arranges things as he has. And
he's left us here struggling with our flesh and our unbelief
and our sin and has done so for reasons. The fact is, if we didn't
have so much unbelief and worry and fretting, we probably wouldn't
pray for folks like we ought to. especially the folks near
us. I said, you're thinking about
my grandson sitting back there every day since before he came
into this world, I asked God to hedge him about, and whenever
he and the family are away or we're away from them, you just
kind of fret about them. You just do. Wish I could say
I didn't, but you just do. But if you didn't, you probably
wouldn't pray for them either. Thank God for your concern and
for your care. Leviticus 25. In this portion
of scripture, God Almighty, giving his law at Mount Sinai, gives
very detailed, specific instructions about slavery. That may seem
strange in our day, I'm sure it does to many, and may even
be offensive to some that this portion of scripture is here,
but here it is. God gives specific, detailed
instructions about slavery. Verse 35. And if thy brother
be waxen poor and fallen in decay with thee, then thou shalt relieve
him. Yea, though he be a stranger
or a sojourner, that he may live with thee, take thou no usury
of him or increase, but fear thy God, that thy brother may
live with thee, thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury
or lend him thy victuals for increase. I am the Lord your
God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt to give
you the land of Canaan and to be your God. And if thy brother
that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor and be sold unto thee, thou
shalt not compel him to serve as a bond servant or a bond slave.
But as an hired servant and as a sojourner, he shall be with
thee and shall serve thee until the year of jubilee. And then
shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him,
and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession
of his fathers shall he return. For they are my servants, which
I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold
as bondmen, Thou shalt not rule over him with rigor, but shalt
fear thy God. Both thy bondmen and thy bondmaids,
which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round
about you. Of them shall you buy bondmen
and bondmaids. Moreover, of the children of
the strangers that sojourn among you, of them shall you buy, and
of their families that are with you, which they begat in your
land, and they shall be your possession. And ye shall take
them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit
them for a possession, that they shall be your bondmen forever. But over your brethren, the children
of Israel, Ye shall not rule one over another with rigor.
And if a sojourner or a stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother
that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger
or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger's family,
after that he is sold, he may be redeemed again. One of his
brethren may redeem him. Either his uncle or his uncle's
son may redeem him. Or any that is nigh akin unto
him of his family may redeem him. Or if he be able, he may
redeem himself. He shall reckon with him that
bought him from the year that he was sold unto him, unto the
year of jubilee. And the price of his sale shall
be according to the number of years, according to the time
of an hired servant that shall it be with him. Verse 51. And if there be yet many years
behind, according unto them, he shall give again the price
of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.
And if there remain but few years unto the year of Jubilee, then
he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall
he give him again the price of his redemption. And as the yearly
hired servant shall he be with him, and the other shall not
rule with rigor over him in thy sight. And if he be not redeemed
in these years, then he shall go out in the year of Jubilee,
both he and his children with him. All right, now, here's the
reason for all this instruction about buying, possessing, inheriting,
and selling slaves. Here's the reason. For unto me,
the children of Israel are servants, slaves. They are my slaves, whom
I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your
God. I've come here to call you the
most ennobling, most honorable, most honoring of all things. I'm here recruiting slaves for
the Son of God. I'm here calling for you to give
yourself up as God's slaves to God our Savior. That's my purpose. I'm calling upon you voluntarily
to put yourself into slavery, utter slavery, taking the Lord
Jesus Christ as your master and your king. That's called faith
in the Son of God. This is how our Lord himself
put it. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart,
and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light. God gives faith to sinners when
he puts the yoke of Christ upon you. And you find rest unto your
souls when you voluntarily take the yoke of Christ. And you find,
as you bow to his yoke, peace, satisfaction, and comfort in
the most difficult circumstances. And you find that truly his yoke
is easy and his burden is light. Since the Lord God has redeemed
us, since he saved us by his grace, he claims us as his slaves. Say now what we read in verse
55, unto me the children of Israel are servants, slaves. They are
my slaves whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. I am
the Lord your God. Read the chapter carefully and
you will see that the Lord claimed rule over the children of Israel,
dictating to these men and women what they were to be and what
they were to do in all things right down to their diet. He
claimed the rule of their property. the rule of their families, the
rule of their children, the rule of their animals, the rule of
their time, the rule of their money, the rule of their affections,
the rule of their attitudes, both toward family and friend
and foe. And it's only reasonable that
you and I consecrate ourselves to him voluntarily as slaves
devoted to him in all things. When Paul sums up all that he
wrote in the book of Romans, all he wrote about God's free
justification, about redemption through the precious blood of
Christ, about God's providence, about God's purpose, God's sovereignty,
God's free grace, God's casting off a people in order to send
the gospel to you, to save his elect, he says, I beseech you
therefore, on the basis of all that God's done, on the basis
of all you've experienced, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto the Lord, which is your reasonable service. The most reasonable thing in
this world, the most reasonable thing in this world is for you
and me, sinners saved by God's free grace, For you and me, sinners
redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, to willingly consecrate
ourselves to God our Savior as his voluntary slaves. Consecrate me now to thy service,
Lord. I've read as much as I could
get my hands on about consecration. And as we sang that hymn by Fanny
Crosby, I thought, That dear lady, I don't commonly say this
about hymn writers, especially female hymn writers, and I wouldn't
commonly say about Fanny Crosby. She wasn't a terribly good theologian,
but she summarized what that consecration is better than I've
ever read or heard anywhere. Let my will be lost and die. That's what I'm calling for.
Let my will, be lost in thine. Turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter
six. Here in 1 Corinthians six, God
the Holy Ghost tells us exactly what this slavery involves. Look
at verse nine, 1 Corinthians six and nine. Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves and
mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers,
nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. If I had time, I would spend
a little time on each of these horrible evils that had become
socially acceptable things in our day. Oh, how horrible, how
horrible. Fornication, folks look at it
today as if maybe you ate too many potatoes for lunch. Horrible,
horrible. Sodomy, folks look at it today
as if maybe you're wearing your shorts a little too tight. How
horrible, how horrible. These are horrid, horrid, horrid
evil things. Idolatry, adultery. abusers of
men, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners. None such shall inherit the kingdom
of God. And such were some of you. That's what you are by nature.
That's where you were when God found you. That's our nature. Yours and mine. But, but, you're
washed, washed in the precious blood of Christ. You're sanctified,
made holy by the regenerating grace of God the Holy Ghost.
You're justified, made righteous by the gift of Christ's righteousness
to you in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our
God. Now look down at verse 19. What? Know ye not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have
of God, and ye are not your own. Don Fortner, you're not your
own. Shelby Fortner, you're not your
own. Dave Burge, you're not your own. Betty Burge, you're not
your own. You're bought with a price. Therefore,
therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which
are God's. And let me call your attention
to four or five things briefly. I pray God will drive each error
straight to your heart. First, here is a blessed, blessed
fact. You're bought with a price. You're bought. Bought. Many who think themselves smarter
than God in the religious world, liberal theologians who poke
fun at what they call mercantile redemption. Mercantile redemption
is Bible redemption. We've been bought, purchased. Purchased by the precious blood
of God's darling Son. Purchased by Christ Jesus dying
in our stead at Calvary. Purchased by our Savior's blood.
Christ brought us out from under the curse of the law. Christ
sought us out from the ruins of fallen humanity. And Christ
brought us out of condemnation with a price. How great the price. How great the sacrifice. God
gave his son for you. The son of God laid down his
life for you. He sacrificed his happiness,
his glory, his repose, his body, his soul, his life, everything
for you. You're bought with the precious
blood of Christ as if a lamb barely foreordained before the
foundation of the world. How can we begin to measure the
price of our redemption? How can we measure the sacrifice
of our Savior? We're given some ways to measure
it in scripture. Measure it in the light of our
savior as he kneels in Gethsemane, anticipating that he must be
made sin for us, abandoned by his father, suffering all the
fury of God's wrath, all the torment of hell for his elect,
when he who knew no sin would be made sin. and his heart breaks
within him so that he sweats blood falling to the ground.
Judas comes to betray him with a kiss, betrayed by his own familiar
friend, and then is taken to the judgment hall, and there
mocked and derided, beaten, spit upon, laughed at, held out to
public scorn and ridicule, paraded through the streets of Jerusalem
naked, Then they take him to Mount Calvary and lead him to
the cursed tree. And there he cries, my God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? And suffers all the horrid anguish
of God's furious wrath in his body, in his soul, and in his
heart upon the tree. Our body and spirit are both
bought with the precious blood of Christ. This is either fact or it's not.
You're bought or you're unredeemed. You're bought or you're not God's.
You're bought or you're going to hell. This is a fact and it's
a fact of our lives. Wonder of wonders. It will remain
to you, if you're God's, it will remain to you eternally, the
grandest of all facts. The Son of God loved me and gave
himself for me. Amazing love, how can it be that
thou, my God, shouldst die for me? If this is true, it will
never cease to be true. And it will never be outdone,
never be outdone in a matter of importance by anything else. I'm redeemed by blood divine. Glory, glory, Christ is mine. This fact. The fact that we're redeemed
by Christ's precious blood ought to operate upon our hearts and
our minds constantly, effectually, by the power of God governing
everything. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
5, verse 14. The love of Christ constraineth
us. The love of Christ compels us. The love of Christ motivates
us. The love of Christ forces us.
Because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then we're
all dead. And this is what that means.
If Christ died for me, then I died when he died. If Christ died
for all his elect, all his elect died when he died. And that he
died for all. He died for all his people. That
they which live, this is the object of Christ in dying. This
is why he died for Don Fortner. This is why he died for Rex Bartley. This is why he died for Lindsey
Campbell. That they which live should not
henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them
and rose again. Why did he die? That we not live
to ourselves, but to him. That we live not for ourselves,
but for Him. That we live not to gratify ourselves,
but to please Him. That we live not for our pleasure,
but His pleasure. He died for us that we live unto
Him. That's a blessed fact. Second,
here's a blessed loss. You're not your own. You're not your own. Turn back
to Deuteronomy 26, I'll get there in a minute. Deuteronomy 26.
You're not your own. You're not your own property.
Christ bought you. You're not your own provider.
The shepherd provides for the sheep. You're not your own guide. Ships are steered by the pilot. Steered, I should say. You're
not your own father. Children are loved and taken
care of by their parents. You're not your own to waste
in idleness, amusement, and ambition. You're not your own to use. You're
not your own to rule. We read in Deuteronomy 26, thou
hast about the Lord this day to be thy God. And the Lord hath
about thee this day to be his peculiar people. Oh, how honored
we are to have vouched that the triune Jehovah is our God. The God of glory, he's my God. The God of heaven and earth,
he's my God. God who rules everywhere, everybody,
all the time, he's our God. I've avouched him so in believer's
baptism, confessing faith in Christ. And that means I've been
called, chosen, redeemed, saved by his grace. but how indescribably
blessed it is to have the triune Jehovah abouts that we are his. As soon as a sinner looks to
Christ in faith, as soon as a sinner trusts the Lord Jesus as his
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, he has within
him the aboutsment of God, the assurance of God that he is God's. The blood of Christ sprinkled
on the conscience gives us peace. The love of God shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost gives us assurance. I am my beloved's
and my beloved is mine. Look here at Deuteronomy 26,
6, 10. This day the Lord thy God hath
commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments. Thou shalt therefore
keep and do them with all thine heart and with all thy soul.
Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God. You've lifted
your hand to heaven and said, the Lord is my God. I baptized
you right here in this pool and you lifted your hand to heaven
and said, the Lord is my God. He's my God. And to walk in his
ways and to keep his statutes and his commandments and his
judgments, and to hearken unto his voice. Verse 18, and the
Lord hath avowed thee this day to be his peculiar people, as
he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments
to make thee high above all nations, which he made in praise and in
name and in honor and that thou mayest be an holy people unto
the Lord thy God as he has spoken. All right, here's the third thing.
A blessed slavery. Your body and your spirit are
gods. Gods because he's your creator.
Gods by sovereign predestination. Gods by his eternal election.
God's by blood redemption. God's by the special call of
the Spirit. You're God's by your own voluntary surrender to Him. Altogether, God's. Body and Spirit. That's the whole man. Always
God's. The price paid, paid forever. We belong to God. We belong to
God. Now, here's the fourth bit. Here's
a blessed responsibility. Glorify God in your body and
in your spirit, which are God's. Whether therefore you eat or
drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Turn
over to Colossians chapter 3, Colossians 3. Glorify God in your body. Verse
12, Paul says, put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and
beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness,
long-suffering. What's that mean? Forbearing
one another and forgiving one another. If any man have quarrel
against any Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above
all these things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness,
and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which
also you're called in one body, and be ye thankful. Let the word
of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever you
do in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. Glorify God in
your body. Glorify God in your spirit, with
faith, with hope, with love, with faithfulness, with confidence,
with devotion. People talk a great deal about
love. It's used, the word is used so
commonly, I think hardly anyone has any idea what's involved
in love. People talk about loving God,
loving Jesus, man love a woman, a woman a man, and loving one
another, and it's just, well we love you, and God does too,
and it means nothing. Let me tell you what love is.
Let me tell you what it is. Love is devotion. It's devotion. It may involve passion, but it's
devotion. It may involve feeling, but it's devotion. Love is a
man committed to a woman. A woman devoted to a man. Love
is a man, a woman saved by God's free grace, devoted to God. Now, sing about your love. Devoted
to God. Consecrated to God. given to
God. Let us daily seek grace that
our God may give us wisdom and grace day by day to honor him,
to honor his gospel, to honor his kingdom, to honor his name. I have been praying every day
since before I was 17 years old, since the day God saved me, Lord
God, Keep me today from bringing reproach upon you. Keep me from
dishonoring you. Keep me from bringing reproach
to the gospel, to your cause. Except he so keep us, we'll not
be kept. Compel me by the sweet, irresistible
constraint of your spirit, my God, to have a perfect balance
and a just weight a perfect and just measure in all my dealings
with man and with God. Well, pastor, all that's good
talk. Those are the things we ought
to strive for, but can you give us an example? Let me give you
just one, Isaiah chapter 42. Here is a blessed, blessed example
of what it is to be God's slave. Our dear saint, The Lord Jesus
Christ, God's own darling son, voluntarily became the servant
of the triune Jehovah, God's voluntary bond slave for the
saving of his people by his grace. Isaiah 42, behold my servant
whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth. I put
my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He
shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail, nor
be discouraged, till he has set judgment in the earth, and the
isles shall wait for his law. Yes, Jehovah's righteous servant
is God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus voluntarily
became his father's servant to redeem and save his people. He
had his ear bored through with an awl and said, I love my master
and I love my family. I'll not go out free. He's that
one described in the law of the bond slave back in Exodus chapter
21. Our Savior in the covenant of
grace stood forth and voluntarily offered himself as Jehovah's
servant to live for, to die for, to redeem, and to save his covenant
people. It was in this capacity that
he spoke in Psalm 40 and in Hebrews chapter 10. He came into this
world in the fullness of time to do the will of God, by which
will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified by the sacrifice of himself. This he accomplished
as Jehovah's servant. And this is the basis of his
exaltation, the basis of his heavenly glory. God, the triune
Jehovah, has given into the hands of the God-man, our mediator,
the reigns of the universe for the saving of his people to the
glory of God. he earned the right to rule as
Jehovah's bondservant. And it is the basis, his obedience
unto death is the basis of my appeal to you. I call you today,
voluntarily, to give yourself over to the Son of God as God's
slave, as God's slave. as God's slave, to present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is
the most reasonable thing in the world. The most reasonable
thing in the world. At the risk of embarrassing him,
I don't know that Will even knows this, I don't know that I've
ever told it, Before he was ever born, asked God to take him,
save him by his grace. Says you have your children and
grandchildren. If it can honor God, make of him a preacher. That's God's doing, not mine.
I tell you how much I want it, how reasonable this is. If tonight,
if tonight, if this moment, I say goodbye to that boy for the last
time, and he's fixing to leave to go to the darkest, most remote
corners of the earth to serve God preaching the gospel, I would
count it the highest honor. The highest honor. God could
heap on him or on me. I have avouched. Jehovah is my
God. Give me faith in Christ. The
Lord God has avouched here that He is my God. May He do that
for you, for Christ's sake. Amen.