Anguish of Spirit and Cruel Bondage

Q: What does the Bible say about anguish of spirit?

The Bible speaks of anguish of spirit as a deep emotional suffering, often linked with trials and tribulations in life. In Exodus 6:9, we find the term 'anguish of spirit' used to describe the emotional pain of the Israelites in bondage. This anguish is a reflection of their physical and spiritual oppression under Pharaoh's rule. Throughout Scripture, we see that anguish can be a response to suffering, loss, and uncertainty. Believers are not exempt from such trials; rather, they are often called to endure hardships as part of their faith journey. This concept ties back to the broader narrative of God's redemptive work, demonstrating that while we may experience anguish, He is sovereign and working all things for our ultimate good.

Q: Why is believing in God's promises important for Christians?

Believing in God's promises is essential for Christians as it assures them of His faithfulness and sovereignty, especially in trials. Belief in God's promises is foundational to the Christian faith. As seen in Exodus 6:6-7, God reassures the Israelites of His intention to deliver them from bondage. This promise is a reflection of His covenant faithfulness. When Christians believe these promises, they find strength and hope amidst life's tribulations. Romans 8:31 emphasizes that if God is for us, who can be against us? Our trials do not negate God's promises. In fact, they often serve to strengthen our faith and dependence on Him. Thus, resting in His promises allows believers to navigate the complexities of life with a sense of divine assurance.

Q: How do we know that God is sovereign over our difficulties?

God's sovereignty over our difficulties is demonstrated through His control and ultimate purpose in all circumstances. The sovereignty of God means that He is in control of all creation, including the trials and tribulations believers face. Romans 8:28 assures us that all things work together for good for those who love Him, indicating that even our most difficult experiences are woven into His sovereign plan. In Exodus 6, God assures Moses that He will deliver Israel despite their current suffering, emphasizing His authority over Pharaoh and the situation. This theme continues throughout Scripture, where God's purpose remains intact regardless of human actions. Thus, believers can take comfort in knowing that their struggles are not random or without meaning, but are part of God's greater plan.

Q: Why is tribulation part of the Christian life?

Tribulation is a part of the Christian life as it leads to growth in faith and deeper reliance on God. Jesus clearly teaches that the path to spiritual life includes tribulation. As stated in Acts 14:22, 'we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.' This indicates that suffering is not just an obstacle but a necessary aspect of the Christian journey. Tribulation refines believers, sharpening their faith and fostering dependence on God. It shapes their character and prepares them for the glory that awaits. Although tribulation is difficult, it is also a means through which God manifests His grace and power, bringing the believer closer to Him and transforming them into the image of Christ.

OK, well, we're back in the book of Exodus after a three-week break. We're in chapter 6, and I want to look at particularly, not just, but particularly at verse 9 this morning. And I've called it the phrase that's in that verse, anguish of spirit and cruel bondage. You think if you're trying to attract people by the attractiveness of the title you give to your message, that's not a very good title, anguish of spirit and cruel bondage. But it's what it says there.

We had a good trip. We had a good trip to the north of England. There was something that happened that really struck me and I thought I would relate it to this. We've got a nephew who's in business and he does work for different people and he was doing some work for a sort of Christian organisation and he's had trouble with buying his house and the sale fell through having put a lot of effort into it. And the people there were talking to him and they said, What's the situation? And he told them and they said, well, I'll tell you what, we're gonna pray for you tonight. Well, within the next week, guess what?

He found another house and it's all gone through and we visited him in his new house and everybody's very, very happy because you see, they were praying that the lights would be green along the way. You know, green traffic, please, let's let all the lights on this journey be green.

Do you believe God? Do you believe the gospel, the good news of the promise of his kingdom? Well, if you do, why is it that you believe it? Ah, you say, it's because his word assures me that all things work together for good. Well, it does say that in Romans 8, 28, doesn't it? But does that mean that all the traffic lights are going to be green on your journey through this life into eternity? Does it mean that nothing's going to go wrong for you? He said all things will go well, so I'm not going to get ill, I'm not going to lose money, my business is going to succeed, all of these things. Is that why we pray to God? Is the road to glory smooth and easy?

Jesus didn't say it was. In Matthew 7, 14, Jesus said, narrow is the way which leadeth unto life. He said, few there be that find it. When the apostles were preaching in Acts 14, in Acts 14 and in verse 21, Paul and Barnabas, and they went to Derbe, and when they had preached the gospel to that city and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra and to Iconium and Antioch. confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and listen, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

If we're going to enter into that glorious eternal kingdom of God, inherit That inheritance that is prepared by the Father for his people from before the foundation of the world, it's going to be through much tribulation. God did not promise an easy journey. He didn't promise a message. He didn't give a message of health, wealth, and happiness.

So beware of those who might deceive, because the Bible warns us again and again. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 9 speaks of signs and lying wonders. 2 Corinthians 11 verse 14 talks about Satan and his ministers seeming to be angels of light. Oh, so persuasive. Beware of it.

Just turn over a page in Exodus to chapter 7 and verses 10 and 11. So this is beyond where we are in chapter 6, but In Exodus chapter 7 and verse 10, Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord had commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. You see, that was one of the signs that God gave to Moses.

He said, throw your rod on the floor, and it became a serpent. He said, grab it by the tail, the very thing you mustn't do. And he grabbed it, and it became a rod again. And we looked at that several weeks ago. And then he said, put your hand, your healthy hand, into your shirt top, or whatever it was. And he said, take it out. And it came out, and it was leprous. It was white with leprosy. And he said, put it back in. Now take it out. It came out healthy again.

These were signs that God gave to Moses to show that his message, that he was going to bring that people out of Egypt bondage into the land that was promised to them. Now look what happened. You see, these were the signs. threw it down and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men of Egypt and the sorcerers, the workers of magic. Now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments, for they cast down every man his rod and they became serpents. But note Aaron's rod swallowed up. But nevertheless, you see, don't be fooled by tricks. Don't be fooled by things that just look impressive. Lying signs and wonders.

Satan and his ministers appearing as angels of light. Beware of religion appearing as Christianity. but they don't actually believe the message of God. And if they don't believe the message of God, the God that they talk about and the Christ they talk about is not the God and the Christ of this book, because this is what he says. What was the message that God gave to Moses to give to Israel?

It's there in chapter 6, verses 1 to 8. We looked at it three weeks ago, but I just want to remind you about it. Look at it. Go back to verse one. The Lord said unto Moses, the God of the universe, God said, he spoke, he spoke words to Moses. He says, now you will see what I will do. God is working his purposes out. God is working his plan of salvation for his people, his plan of release, of redemption from that situation. to bring them into a promised land, to picture what he's doing for all of the elect of God. He says, now you will see what I will do. God is working for his people in this world. You'll see what I will do. With a strong hand, Pharaoh will let them go. With a strong hand, he won't only let them go, he'll drive them out of the land. He'll drive them out.

And God spoke to Moses and said to him, why should you believe this? I am the Lord God. over everything. God over everything is the one who is speaking. He's telling him he's going to bring them out. Who is he? He's God, the creator of all things. He is the one who even now is upholding all things by the word of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, God manifest. He is the source of life, for in him is life. The life was the light of men. He lightens every man that comes into the world. If you're alive and breathing now, it's because God has given you life.

He's sovereign over everything, which means that he has all power to do whatever he will. And there is nothing that can stop him from doing everything that he will. For he is omnipotent, all-powerful, omnipresent everywhere. Where can I flee from his presence? I can't. He is omniscient. There is nothing that he doesn't know. He is the covenant God. The true biblical gospel is one of accomplished redemption for a particular people. I'll say it again. The true biblical gospel is one of accomplished redemption for a particular people.

You are chosen in Christ, Paul says to the brethren at Ephesus, chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. He says that God promised this and ordered it before the beginning of time, that's 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 9. God has always said regarding the multitude, the multi-ethnic multitude that he loved from before the beginning of time, before there was a creation. He loved a multitude out of all humanity, and he says in Jeremiah 29 verse 11, I know, God says to his people, I know the thoughts that I think concerning you. Thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a certain end, to give you an expected end, to give you a heaven at the end of this.

He's a God of sovereign grace. God is the one who decides. He is a God of election before the beginning of time, for he chose his people in Christ. He is a God who loved this people with an everlasting love. That's in Jeremiah. I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I've drawn you. It's not something that happens in time when somebody makes a decision and decides to follow Christ. God loved his people from before the beginning of time.

It isn't a gospel of possibilities that are dependent on the will of sinful man. You see, one of those organizations that I was mentioning earlier on, I looked at the statement of faith, and basically, I'll paraphrase, Jesus accomplished salvation for the whole world, but that salvation is only possessed individually when the individual chooses to accept the offer that God makes. That's not the message of this book. It isn't.

If you've heard the truth of God, if you've believed that truth, you know that God chose you. Paul says to the Thessalonians, Why has he done that? Why did he die for you on the cross of Calvary? Why did he pay your sin debt? because you're amongst that multitude whose names he wrote in the Lamb's Book of Life before the beginning of time. And nothing can erase that. Christ paid your sin debt.

You know this. He is your friend and he is your shepherd. He is the good shepherd of his sheep. My sheep hear my voice and they follow me. They won't follow a hireling. They won't follow someone who's false. They hear the voice of the good shepherd. there's a glorious inheritance that is yours.

When you leave, Paul says, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? At the end of Romans 7, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? This death, this body that because of sin is going to die eternally. We died in Adam when he fell in the Garden of Eden and we will die eternally if that's where we stay. But when you leave the body of this death, if you're in Christ, you will be in eternal glory.

You know that apart from believing, apart from looking unto Jesus, and that is all the work of God, you see, The Jews asked Jesus, what must we do to do the work of God? And Jesus replied, this is the work of God that you believe. Oh, that's what I need to do. Did you not notice it said, this is the work of God. Even that, even your believing is the work of God. It's all God's work.

Nothing depends on you. So you rest in him. Don't you? You rest in him. In these verses, God had told Moses to tell the Israelites, in their great anguish of spirit, that he was going to bring them out into the promised land. And you would think they would rest in that. Oh good, good, God's reminded us. Don't you rest in that? Just like Israel in Egypt rested in that.

What does it say? Look at verse nine. Moses told all the children of Israel those things that God had said in those first eight verses. But they hearkened not unto Moses. They didn't believe what he said. Oh, you're better than those Israelites, aren't you? You believe what God says, don't you? You're better than they are.

Look what God told Moses to tell them. Verses two to four, God spake unto Moses and said unto him, I am the Lord, and I appeared unto Abraham and Isaac and Jacob by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah, I was not known unto them. I explained that three weeks ago, so we won't go back into that.

And I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage wherein they were strangers. He's the God of covenant promise to your forefathers. The God who can't lie says, verse four, that you will possess the land of Canaan. You will possess the promised land.

He says in verse five, he says, I know you're in great difficulty. in the land of Egypt, as the slaves of the Egyptians. I know your suffering, I know your groaning, but, verse 6, I will bring you out of it. I'll bring you out of it, for I am God. I am for you. If God be for us, Romans 8, 31, if God be for us, who can be against us? No Egyptian pharaoh can be against you if God is for you. Verse seven, you will be mine and I will be yours.

He says that again and again through the scriptures. And verse eight, you will possess your covenant inheritance. Have you heard him say that to you regarding your life in this world with all of its trials, but that glorious inheritance? You know what it is. Read Revelation 21, the first few verses again. That place is glorious, a new Jerusalem, a new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness. where there is no more death, there is no more crying, there is no more pain, there are no more tears. All of those things are passed away. You will possess your covenant inheritance. Have you heard him say that to you? Have you believed him? You see, the Israelites didn't believe. Why didn't they believe? Why didn't they believe? Such a great God, such glorious promises, such a terrible situation, such a marvelous promise held up before them. Why didn't they believe?

It was anguish of spirit and cruel bondage. You see, God had sent Moses and Aaron with a message, and that message was backed by the signs. I mentioned the rod and the leprous hand. And they believed. Look back at chapter 4, verse 31. In chapter 4, verse 31, they did those things, and the people believed. And when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that he had looked upon their affliction, Then they bowed their heads and worshipped. They worshipped. They worshipped him.

Hey, we're heading for the promised land. We're heading out of this slavery. We're heading out of this cruel bondage. But what happened in chapter 5? Their slavery got a lot worse. Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and because they went to Pharaoh and gave him that message, he made things much, much worse.

You can't have straw for your bricks. You will work much harder. You'll keep up the same tally of bricks. There is no let up on this. And they lost sight of God's promises. They lost sight of it. Don't we, who believe, often lapse into unbelief because of life's trials, which can feel like cruel bondage, causing anguish of spirit? We experience sickness. We experience bereavement, financial strictures. pressures of work, upsets in the family, maybe persecution from society. Are we any better than those Israelites in, at times, doubting? God says, in your troubles, cast your care upon me. He says it in 1 Peter chapter five. 1 Peter chapter five and, where's it gone? Verse seven. 1 Peter chapter five and verse seven. Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you." God cares for his people. He says, it doesn't feel like he cares for me. He says, cast all your care, all your worries, all your concerns upon him.

We doubt that promise. Jesus said there was a man who had a son who's who was possessed by an evil spirit, and he came to Jesus in his ministry and asked if he could do anything to help him. And Jesus said to him in Mark 9, 23, he said, if you can believe, all things are possible. And we respond like he did. We respond like he did. He said in that next verse, Lord, I believe.

Help thou mine unbelief. We hear his promises of eternal life based on the accomplishment of redemption. Look, let me remind you, look at Psalm 103. Look at some verses there at the start of Psalm 103. Just let me read these to you for a few minutes. This is what we hear in the gospel of grace.

The soul that knows the power of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ to cleanse us from sin, to give us a hope, not just a hope that may be, but a certain confidence. He says, bless the Lord, O my soul. Speaking to his own soul, bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger forever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust.

What glorious, wonderful, comforting promises. Do you hear them? Do you hear what he says? We hear his word, yes, but anguish of spirit and cruel bondage with the events of this life maybe cause us to lose sight. He says he is with us and will not forsake us, but we feel forsaken. Where can I turn? We know that his covenant, because we've heard it so many times, we know it, we've believed it, that his covenant, as David said on his deathbed in 2 Samuel 23, David said, there's this covenant that God has made with me, it's ordered in all things and sure, it's all my hope, we know this. And we fear that maybe we've been deluded about this thing called the gospel.

We embrace Romans 8. I'm going to read some more verses because they're so good. You know, but look, you know, we know that all things work together for good to them that love God who are the called according to his purpose. Put the stress on that called according to his purpose for whom he did for know. That's in sovereign grace. He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son. Can you see it? Can you see the goal ahead? Ah, but the things around me are dragging me down. My feet are stuck in the swamp. The brambles and the thorns and the issues of this life are too much for me.

No, he conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Behold, I and the children whom he has given me. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called, them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he also glorified. Do you see it? It's a done deal. In the purposes of God, in the purposes of eternity, it's a done deal. Do you hear it? Can you believe it?

What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Ah, but how am I? I'm a sinner. How am I going to stand on that day?

Who shall lay anything? to the charge of God's elect. It is God that justifies vieth. Who is he that condemneth? Christ has died for his people. Yea, rather, is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

And we could go on. More than conquerors. We hear these things. We read these things. And then the cruel bondage of the events of this life comes along. And we doubt that it will ever be ours. Maybe the big wide world all around us has been right all along. Maybe it's just a figment of imagination and not true. What makes us doubt? What is it that makes us doubt? Well, we're flesh like all the world. But if we're true believers, God's grace has made a difference by putting a man that believes God inside.

In Exodus chapter 11, You can tell the difference between the Israelites and the Egyptians. In Exodus 11, verse 7, God says that you may know that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. God makes a difference between the people he loved from eternity and the rest of the world all around. There was a world that was destined to perish under the just judgment of God in the days of Noah.

And they all did, except for Noah plus seven. For Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Nevertheless, when he came out of that overwhelming experience, you would think that he would never doubt and he would never stray from the path. But he planted a vineyard and got drunk. David, was the sweet psalmist of Israel, who acted with integrity in so many situations. But that warm night when his troops were off fighting and he was on the roof of his house, he looked at Bathsheba, and he lusted, and he committed adultery, and to cover it up, the sweet psalmist of Israel had someone murdered.

You see, we're weak in the flesh. We're flesh and spirit, and the flesh wars against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. God said of Job, when he was speaking to Satan in Job chapter one and two, he said, there's none like my servant Job. None like my servant Job. Look at Job in chapter seven of the book of Job. Job 7 and verse 11. Job says this, therefore I will not refrain my mouth. I'm not going to shut up about this, he says. I will speak in the anguish of my spirit. I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

Yes, he was weak in the flesh. He knew God. He knew the truth, but he was weak in the flesh. His wife said to him at one point, curse God and die. And he said, though he slay me, yet will I praise him. No. those situations, the true child of God can have that fleshly part of them, that fleshly nature, turn their eyes away. On the Emmaus Road, there were the disciples who had believed. They were not amongst the ones who'd heard Jesus and then gone away. They had believed his gospel, but then they were despondent in unbelief, because to them, they thought he was going to be the answer to everything, and he was taken away. This is our flesh. living in conflict with the God-given spirit. Why does it have to be so? Why does it have to be like this? Well, because God has ordained that the glory and bliss of his kingdom are enhanced by the worldly fleshly trials we go through.

Sam found a quote from a guy called Timothy Keller, and I put it in the bulletin, and I'll read it out. The Lord is not ignoring your tears or delaying out of cruelty. He is timing his rescue perfectly because he cares more about your ultimate good than your immediate comfort. That's so true, so true. God refused to remove Paul's thorn in the flesh. Why?

To teach him that God's strength was made perfect in fleshly weakness. The Israelites These Israelites would be brought through hard trials, this harsh trial they were going through. But the days would come before too long when they would stand still and see the salvation of God. When they would stand still and see the destruction of their enemies at the hand of God. They would look back on the other side of the Red Sea and they would sing the song of Moses praising God.

This is you and me, believer, if you're true in the flesh, We don't get any better at all. We don't. There are those that claim that they do, and I would say that that is just self-righteous hypocrisy, which in some cases leads to absolute despair, because we don't get any better in the flesh.

Don Fortner put it this way, He said, when I first believed the gospel and rejoiced in Christ Jesus, he said, I couldn't imagine that as I went on I would love Christ so little and still enjoy this world so much. He said, I wouldn't imagine trusting in Christ. I would trust God who is over all things. I would trust him so little. and let the cares of this world worry me so much." He said, I couldn't imagine that I would be so cold-hearted to God and so warm-hearted to the things of the world. He said, I couldn't imagine that I would find it so hard to read the sweet word of God and pray. He said, I couldn't imagine that I would be so impatient and resentful of the way that God unfolded his providence, his provision. And that's me. And if you're honest, isn't it you too? Even as believers, that flesh is still like that. Here's the thing.

God's purpose is not conditioned on his people's consistent response. God's purpose is not conditioned on his people's consistent response. God presses on with the Exodus. Look in verses 10 to 13. They didn't believe Moses because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage. And you would think that God would say, right, well, that's it, finished with them. Write them off. They're not worth saving.

But the Lord spoke to Moses and said, go and speak to Pharaoh and the king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. And Moses said, but look, even the children of Israel haven't listened to me. Why on earth would Pharaoh listen to me? And the Lord spoke to Moses and unto Aaron and gave them charge unto the children of Israel and unto the Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt because he will accomplish his eternal purpose. God asserts, again, that he will bring them out of bondage. And likewise, he will bring all the elect of God out of the worldly bondage of sin, out of the worldly bondage of Satan, out of everything that is against the people of God. He will bring us through to heavenly liberty.

It's unstoppable. This is why we continue to preach God's gospel, the message of this book. We don't try to make it more palatable to the flesh, like false Christianity. It's what God is pleased to use. God has said, do this, and he will accomplish his purposes. He, who in Ezekiel's vision, the God who in Ezekiel's vision breathed life into a valley of dry bones, is the same God who in Jesus Christ summoned the four-day-dead Lazarus from the tomb when he cried, Lazarus, come forth, and he came out.

He doesn't need our gimmicks or our tricks to succeed. The false gospel of Arminianism tries to persuade spiritually dead sinners to choose to accept God's offer. Would our great and glorious God leave the success of his kingdom to the will of spiritually dead flesh? No, of course not.

God has his sheep from before the beginning of time. In time, they're brought to hear the good shepherd's voice. In time, they're made, it says, In Psalm 110 verse 3, they're made willing in the day of his power to believe and they follow him. My sheep hear my voice and they follow me.

Jesus said to those Pharisees, those unbelieving Pharisees, he said, you believe not because you are not of my sheep. He didn't say it the other way around. He said, oh, if only you would believe, then you would become my sheep. He said, you believe not because you are not of my sheep.

His sheep hear his voice and they follow him and he keeps them. through the trials of this sinful world, all the way to the inheritance prepared for those blessed of God. Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. God will accomplish his eternal purpose, independent of us. It says in 2 Timothy 2 and verse 13, if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself. God's purpose is certain. Salvation of God's elect is certain. Have you heard? Have you believed it? Have you felt the power of it? Well, rejoice in it and rest in it.

Anguish of Spirit and Cruel Bondage

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about anguish of spirit?

Why is believing in God's promises important for Christians?

How do we know that God is sovereign over our difficulties?

Why is tribulation part of the Christian life?

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Anguish of Spirit and Cruel Bondage

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about anguish of spirit?

Why is believing in God's promises important for Christians?

How do we know that God is sovereign over our difficulties?

Why is tribulation part of the Christian life?

Sermon Transcript

About Allan Jellett

Comments

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