to the book of Exodus. And I
want you to go to chapter 6, and then after you get to Exodus
chapter 6, perhaps put a ribbon there or a bookmark of some sort and then
go to the last book of the Bible, the book of the revelation of
the Lord Jesus Christ, chapter 15. I challenge you to chapter 14
of Revelation, I'm sorry. I challenge you to find both
of these passages. Exodus 6, which I will read second,
but first of all I want to read here from Revelation chapter
14. John sees a glorious sight. as the heavens are opened up
to him. And in chapter 14, and this is
the third vision that he has, but in verse 1, he says, And
I looked, and lo, a lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him
an hundred and forty and four thousand, having his father's
name written in their foreheads. The gospel of the grace of God
is written on the minds of these people. 144,000, which is a perfect
number indicating the perfect redeemed church of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Verse 2. And I heard a voice
from heaven as the voice of many waters, as the voice of a great
thunder. And I heard the voice of the
harpers harping with their harps. They sung, as it were, a new
song before the throne and before the four beasts and the elders. And no man could learn that song
of redemption, of salvation by sovereign grace, but the hundred
and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the
earth. These are they which were not
defiled with women, with the whoredoms of false religion. For they are virgins in Christ
Jesus. We're perfect, we're righteous,
we're sinless in Him. And these are they which follow
the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. These were redeemed, He says,
redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and
to the Lamb. Now here's my subject tonight,
redemption. accomplished. Redemption accomplished. Now I want to invite you to go
back to Exodus chapter 6. Exodus chapter 6. And I'll read
one verse here, but before I do, reminding you of what I just
read in Revelation chapter 14. It says, they sing the song of
Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
and we will be singing, and we will be singing, great and marvelous
are thy works, Lord God Almighty. Great, great works, numerous
works, too numerous to mention in creation, for all things were
made by him. Exodus chapter 20 verse 11 says,
for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and
all that in them is, in six days. Great and marvelous are God's
works in creation. You need only look up at the
heavens and see the vastness of the stars. And we're only
seeing, according to those who studied the stars, we're only
seeing kind of the tip of the iceberg. There are multitudes
of galaxies way on beyond our own Milky Way. These are part
of the great and marvelous works of God. I was looking on the
internet for something the other day, and it came up right in
front of me that scientists have discovered the origin of light. Well, I thought, I believe I'll
see what these wise scientists have to say. And they began to
talk about these neurons and protons and some other kind of
nonce clashing together to bring forth light, and I thought, You
know, they should read Genesis chapter 1, where the Lord said,
let there be light, and there was light. And literally it reads
like this, light be, and the lights came on. You know, it
takes far more faith to believe what these genius fools say than
it does just believe what the Word of God says. Great and marvelous
are thy works in creation. Well, consider, let's bring it
way down to ourselves, we're fearfully and wonderfully made. As Job said, who can even understand
the gathering of the bones in the womb? Life of which originated with
God, A life which we had no participation in ourselves. When we were conceived,
we had nothing to do with that. When we were born, we had nothing
to do with that. Even so, in the new work of regeneration,
we have nothing to do with that. Great and marvelous are the works
in creation, in the creation of a spiritual life within us. Great and marvelous are the works
of God in providence. Does it not confound your mind
that our God governs every single thing going on in this world
and in the starry worlds? Everything that's happening anywhere
and everywhere, God is in total, absolute control over every single
thing. Now that just blows my mind. In fact, I can't even begin to
commence to get started understanding that. I remember when our son David
was preparing to go to Japan, and I was talking with a man
that I adopted as my uncle, Maurice Montgomery. And I said, you know, Brother
Maurice, I called him Uncle Maurice because he looked so much like
my dad's brother, except Maurice loved the gospel. And my dad's
brother didn't, but at least not so as I could tell. But anyway,
that's another story. But I remember Uncle Maurice
saying this, you know, Jim, God's in sovereign control in Japan
just like he is over here. And he reminded me, he said,
you know, who's been watching over David all of these years
from his birth? He said, it hadn't been you,
has it? I said, no, not really. He said,
well, the same one who has taken care of him these 18 years under
your roof is very well able to take care of him in Japan. And that helped me. Because sometimes,
you know, we kind of forget things like that. Even though we know
them to be true, That our God governs everything. Every storm. You know, since David's been
over there 26, 27, 28 years, whatever it's been. You know,
there have been earthquakes that rolled him out of bed. That knocked
plates off the shelves. But I'm very confident that his
life and the life of his wife and the life of our granddaughter
that they have, their lives are in the same hands that our lives
are in. And the Lord governs all things
in providence. And as John heard the group singing
in heaven, great and marvelous are thy works in creation, in
providence, and especially in grace. In grace. And we don't have the time to
talk fully about God's electing grace. The Savior said to his
disciples, you men didn't choose me, I chose you. I chose you. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonian
believers and he said, we give thanks to God, brethren, for
you. For the Lord hath from the beginning
chosen you unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth, the truth which He sent to you by
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the truth which you were
enabled to believe, in fact, the truth which you were made
to believe by effectual grace. We must say, great and marvelous
are thy works, Lord, whether we're looking at your works of
creation, your works of providence, or your works of grace. Great
and marvelous is the work of election. Great and marvelous
is the work of regeneration, the quickening power and grace
of God. When we were dead in trespasses
and sins, You hath he quickened. That's what Paul said in Ephesians
2, 1. You hath he quickened. And I
say to all of you who love the gospel of God's grace in Christ
and those of you who are watching, you hath he quickened. Think
of that. It's just, you know, we can say,
well, the Lord has quickened all of his people, but we need
to bring this right home to our heart, and maybe our hearts would
be stirred to greater thanksgiving and worship. You hath he quickened. Who were dead, you were dead,
and hopeless and helpless in your condition, but God quickened
you. Great and marvelous are thy works,
O Lord. But of all the grand and glorious,
great and marvelous works of the Lord in creation and provenance,
and in his gracious works to us regarding our salvation, surely
the greatest is that of redemption. Because you see, all of the other
purposes of God all meet, and all of the attributes of God
are satisfied in the redemption that our Lord Jesus accomplished. Why, the saints of God in the
Old Testament, to whom did they look? They look forward to the
redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the seed of the woman
who is coming. They look to the same one that
we look back to. We look back to the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ. The saints in the past and the
saints now and the saints in the future, we all look to the
same source for our redeeming grace, for the pardon of our
sins and the righteousness that God has freely imputed to us
at the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And there we see two
words, redemption accomplished. Now, let me read. Exodus chapter
6 and verse 6. The Lord says, Wherefore say
unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring
you out from under the burden of the Egyptians. I will rid
you out of their bondage. I will redeem you with a stretched
out arm. and with great judgments, I will
take you to Me for a people and I will be to you a God, and ye
shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you
out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will bring
you in unto the land concerning the which I did swear to give
it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it
you for inheritance. And who says this? I am the Lord. These are the words of Jehovah
to Moses, who delivers the message to the children of Israel. Here
is redemption purposed. Redemption purposed and redemption
that is promised. The Lord says, I will redeem
you. Now, the Israelites are in bondage. I just want to ask
you a few questions here, and I'll be brief with the question
and brief with the answer. The Lord says, I will redeem
you. First question, why was Israel in bondage? Why was Israel in bondage? Israel
was in bondage because of an act of sin. When Joseph's brothers who hated
him, they sold him into slavery. When Jacob sent Joseph out to
check on his brothers, Joseph was despised He was rejected. They didn't want him around.
They desired to kill him, but finally settled for selling him
into slavery. And so the reason really that
Egypt wound up, that the Israelites rather, wound up in Egyptian
captivity was because of sin. Sin was behind it. And that's
why we're in captivity to the evil one and to the world. Our
problem is sin. And our father, Adam, we laid
the blame upon him for the imputed sin that we have, the nature
of sin, because he was the representative of all of us. And through His
iniquity, through His transgression, we all became sinners. Born into
this world in sin. But wait a minute, we bear responsibility
too because we have sinned against God. And make no mistake about
it, the reason we sin is because we're born sinners. We don't
become sinners when once we sin. We sin because we are sinners.
It's all to be traced back to our father Adam. That's how we became in bondage.
One man sinned and as a result, we all fell into bondage. And the Israelites in Egyptian
captivity could honestly say, thanks a lot, Joseph's brothers. As a result of what you did hundreds
of years ago, we're in this mess. That's why they're in bondage.
Why are we in bondage? Because of sin. Second question,
what was the moving cause for Israel's redemption? Do you know
what the moving cause was for their redemption? Amos chapter
3 verse 2 gives us the answer. God said, you only have I known
of all the families of the earth, just you. The moving cause behind
God's redemption of Israel was this. They were his chosen people. They were his children. He was
their father. Even so, the Lord chose us unto
salvation. And in a manner consistent with
His justice, the Word of God teaches us of the redemptive
work of our Lord Jesus Christ is ultimately traced to the free,
sovereign, distinguishing love of God in Christ to us. We're redeemed because of God's
love. And really, love is behind it
all. You read again in Ephesians chapter
1, in love having predestinated us under the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself, love's behind it all. God's enormous
heart of love toward His elect, and He loves us all with all
of His heart, and He's loved us from all eternity. The love
of God is behind the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. That's
the moving cause of redemption. The third question, well, how
did God redeem Israel? Israel was redeemed by the hand
of a man that God raised up, Moses the deliverer. Look with
me in the book of Acts. Look in the book of Acts chapter
7. Acts chapter 7. Acts chapter 7 verse 33. This is when the Son of God drew
the attention of Moses For our Lord took up his abode in a bush
that burned with the very fiery presence of God, but the bush
wasn't consumed. And he called Moses to himself.
Acts chapter 7, verse 33, this is in Stephen's sermon. And he's speaking about Moses
and said the Lord to him, verse 33, chapter 7 of Acts. put off thy shoes from thy feet,
for the place where thou standest is holy ground. I have seen,
I have seen the affliction of my people, which is in Egypt,
and I have heard their groaning, and I am come down to deliver
them, and now, and now come, I will send thee unto thee."
Now the Lord is speaking to Moses. This Moses whom they refused,
whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? The same did God send to be a
ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel, the Son of
God, which appeared to him in the bush. God raised up a man
whom the people at first rejected. They had no use for him. Moses. And how was it that God
would lead us out of our captivity to sin and Satan and the world?
He raised up a man, but not just any man, the God-man, the son of David,
the angel of the covenant. And he was no more welcomed by
the world than Moses was by Israel. He was rejected. Despised and
rejected of men, Isaiah says. But he was the redeemer. And he would lead the Israelites
out of that captivity. Well, the fourth question, what
was the price of Israel's redemption? The blood of the Passover lamb.
You see, here's the power of their redemption was the omnipotent
hand of God. Remember that. The power of their
redemption was the omnipotent hand of God. And then there is
the price of redemption, the price of redemption. was the
blood of the Passover lamb. What can wash away my sin? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. And John the Baptist identified
him as being the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the
world. Behold the lamb of God. No question but what the death
of our Lord Jesus Christ was the death of the Passover lamb. The Passover lamb back in Exodus
The morning sacrifice of the Lamb, the evening sacrifice of
the Lamb, every day during the year, all the other sacrifices,
they all combined could not put away one sin. But they all pointed
to the Lamb of God who was coming. And his was not, watch, be careful
about this now when you listen to preachers. The blood of our
Lord Jesus Christ was not the blood shed as an example, as
an example of how we ought to be willing to suffer for the
cause of God. His was not the blood of example. And his was not the blood of
a hero, who died as a martyr to start a new religion. His
was the sacrificial blood as of a spotless lamb presented
to God. That's what it took. And that's
the kind of sacrifice His was. It wasn't an example. It wasn't
a picture of martyrdom. It was redemption. It was the
sacrifice of Himself. He laid Himself down upon the
altar of His own deity. And I know the world gets caught
up in the wounds in his hands and in his feet, and the spear
in his side, and the whippings and the beatings prior to his
death, and then the crown of thorns in his brow, and all of
that's real pain, but make no mistake about it, that which
made him to be the sacrificial lamb was the giving of his own
soul to the wrath of God, and God punished him. You see, the
world gets emotional over the physical pain and agonies of
our Lord Jesus Christ. And there's no question of what
there was physical pain and torture and agony there, but that's as
far as the world gets. We've got to see the hand of
God in the death of Christ. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. God put him to grief. He's the
sacrificial lamb. We'll go back to the book of
Exodus now. I got one more question. Was
this redemption successful? And I want you to turn to chapter
15 of Exodus and verse 13. Remembering That verse I read
to you out of Exodus chapter six, God said, I will redeem.
I will redeem you. And now look at chapter 15 and
verse 13. Here's the song of Moses. Chapter 15, verse 13. Thou in
thy mercy, has led forth the people which thou hast redeemed."
I love that. God had said, I will redeem. And now the saints of God are
singing about God has redeemed them. He did what he said he'd
do. He made good on his promise. And they rejoiced in the redemptive
work. of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let
me show you something else. Go back to chapter 13. Take just
a couple more minutes here. Chapter 13, look at verse 3. And this redemption that was
successful, accomplished redemption, was the redemption of the whole
nation. All of his people. Chapter 13,
verse 3. And Moses said unto the people,
remember this day in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the
house of bondage, for by the strength of the hand, out of
the house of bondage, for by strength of hand, the Lord brought
you out from this place. The whole nation, they all went
out. And look at one more verse which
brings it down to the individual. Look at verse 8, a couple of
verses here. And thou shalt show thy son in
that day, saying, This is done because of that which the Lord
did unto me. unto me when I came forth out
of Egypt. And it shall be for a sign unto
thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes,
that the Lord's law may be in thy mouth. For with a strong
hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Egypt." In other words,
it's one thing to think, wow, the Lord redeemed all of Egypt. But when you remember this Passover,
the Lord says, it's what you tell your son. That's when the
Lord redeemed me. That's when he delivered me. When I read of the crucifixion
of my Lord Jesus Christ, I know he was redeeming all of his people.
It was a particular redemption, right? He was redeeming the chosen
of God. But what really blesses me is
that he redeemed me. He saved me. This is redemption. Freedom from captivity. Let me
tell you a story. I read this this morning. This
preacher in Boston, he was walking in front of the church building,
pulling weeds or something like that along the pathway. This is back in the middle of
the 1800s, and a little boy walked by, and he had a rusty cage,
and in it was some field birds that were just fluttering nervously
like they wanted to get out. And so the preacher asked this
little boy, he said, what you got there? He said, oh, I just
got some field birds. He said, well, what are you going
to do with them? He said, well, I'm going to play with them for a while,
then I'm going to go home and give them to our big cat. Give
them to our big cat. Preacher said, what do you say
I buy those birds from you? Oh, he said, Preacher, you don't
want these birds. He said, they don't even sing
good. He said, they don't, the tunes
that they sing, they're awful. He said, they're just old wild
birds that I caught out in the field. I'll just take them on
home to my cat. He said, I'll give you $2 for
the birds in the cage. And the boy said, $2? He said,
yeah, shiny coins. Preacher pulled out $2 and gave
it to the boy. And he said, well, here. But
he said, you ain't getting much. He said, I feel like I got the
best part of this deal. So he got the $2. The preacher
got the rusty cage with the birds inside. And the boy walked off
whistling. And the preacher walked around
back to the back of the church building, set the cage down,
opened the door. And the birds went out. He said,
they flew up in the sky. And he said, I could almost hear
them singing, redeemed, redeemed, redeemed. Let me tell you something. We're
not worth anything. But the Lord bought us cage and
all. And He opened the door by sovereign
effectual grace and He released us by the blood of the Lamb. And we'll forever be singing
the last song we're going to sing tonight. Redeemed by the
blood of the Lamb. 475, 475, redeemed, redeemed.
We were held captive by the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son.