Turn to Exodus chapter 21. Exodus chapter 21, title of the
message, The Bond Slave. The Bond Slave. We have a beautiful picture here. six verses of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is that bond slave, or the
servant, the perfect servant of the Father. Now, this verse
one says, Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them, It is said that the law is given
in three parts, the moral law, the civil law, which we will
have here in chapter 21, 22, 23, and the ceremonial law. But
let me say this, God's law is one law. Now, men may break it down and
call it the moral law, the civil law, the ceremonial law, but
God's law is one law. To offend in one point of the
law is to do what? Is to break the whole law of
God. All of it. You break it off.
Now, the Lord in giving this law here of the servant, the
bond slave. He makes sure that the Israelites
did not follow the example of the Egyptians when it came to
slavery or servitude, someone that they have employed in serving
them. I see God's goodness in this. God's law is good. I want you
to catch this. The law did not allow the Hebrews
to enslave their brethren without mercy. They actually treated them like
hired servants. I want to show you something
over here. Let me find where I wrote this down. Go over to Deuteronomy chapter
15. Deuteronomy chapter 15. The Lord said you're not going
to treat each other like the Egyptians treated you. You're
not going to be like that. He's going to give them this
law to ensure they don't do that. Because God knows human nature. God knows human nature. And human
nature will enslave another person for its own good for as long
as they can. As long as they can. In Deuteronomy
15, look in verse 12. And if thy brother, an Hebrew
man or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six
years, then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free. from
thee, and when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt
not let him go away empty." You don't just say, all right, your
time's up, leave. He says, don't you send him away
empty. This is God's law. He says, don't you do this. Thou
shalt punish him, look at this, liberally, out of thy flock,
and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress. I bet you that
suppressed a lot of this slavery, because they're like, you know,
at the end of six years, what have I got to give this guy?
Probably more than he owes me. I said, well, we'll just call
it even. It really, I think, kept a lot
of that down, because of this. Thou shalt furnish him liberally
out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress,
that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, thou shalt
give unto him. You shall bless your brother. You see, here's
what happened. There's two or three things that
happened. A man became poor and he couldn't pay what he owed.
So they'd go to the judges and the judges would sell him to
this Hebrew man that he owed the money to. And for six years,
he would work it off. And at the seventh year, It did
not matter what he owed or how much it was, at the end of the
sixth year, the seventh year, you're going free. You're going
to go free. Or if a man was caught stealing,
if he was caught stealing and he couldn't pay because he was
supposed to pay back double what he got caught with, he better
not steal a lot because you have to pay back double. And if he
couldn't pay it back, well, then he would be sold into the service
of this man he stole from. And that's how, you know, that's
how they would become these bond slaves in that situation. But
the Lord sets this up so that they cannot abuse, abuse one
another. Because He knows human nature.
Look at this country. Look what this country did years
ago. This country enslaved men and
women without mercy. with absolutely no intention
of ever setting them free. And when they did have to set
them free, forced to set them free, they set them free with
nothing. I want to show you something interesting
here. Go back to Exodus 21 here. Look in verse 16. You couldn't just, you know,
there had to be a reason for a man to become a bond slave
before for a man to become a servant, your servant, a Hebrew servant
to another Hebrew. There had to be a reason for
it. Now, like I said, it's poverty or theft or something like that.
But look at this in verse 16. He that steals a man and sells
him. Or if he'd be found with his hand, that man would be put
to death. He said, now, if you go over
here and you start enslaving people, you steal a man and you
bring him over here and enslave him, God said, you put that man
to death for doing that. A whole lot of people in this country
would have been put to death, wouldn't they? Well, the Lord gave this
law here. He gave this to prevent that
kind of stuff, but it's a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Beautiful picture of Christ.
Now, I want you to notice here. Now, these are the judgments
which the Lord, which judgment which thou shalt set before them.
If you buy a Hebrew servant, he's going to be your servant
and he's going to serve you for six years. That's how long he's
going to serve. He could do it for six years.
After that, he's to go free. But it came time to go free.
The master says, you can go free.
If he says voluntarily, I love my master. Now I want you to notice something.
It is in this order. And he couldn't just go to the
judges and say, I love my wife, my children, I don't want to
leave them. I don't want to leave them. So
I'm going to have my ear bored through with an awe and I'm going
to stay. No, no, no, you're not. First, first, I love my master. He that loves mother, father,
sister, brother more than me is not worthy of me. So first,
if he says he loves his master and he loves his wife and his
children, then he can stay. And he's to be brought to the
judges. This has all got to be legal now. You can't just, you
know, this can't just be done at this man's house. And this
has got to be done legally. This has got to be done before
the judges, the ones who condemned him, the ones who sent him into
servitude. They've got to give their consent
to this. And so he brings him before the
judges and he confesses before the judges. And we know who the
judge of all judges is, God. And he confesses, I love my master. I love my wife. I love my children. I don't want to go free. I don't
want to go free. I want to serve him forever. Forever. I want to serve him
forever. And when he said that, they would take his ear and put
it against the door post. And they would take it all. And
it's not like you ladies getting your ears pierced. I mean, this
hurt. This had some pain to it. It
was like a nail. And they would take that all and they would
bore a hole through the ear. And that hole in that ear, that
really had a message, didn't it? Anyone who ever saw that
servant, and they saw that hole bored in his ear, there's two
things it says. First of all, that servant loves
his master. Our Lord said to Thomas, stick
your finger here in my side. There's wounds in his hands.
Oh, he was bored through all right. But it says this. It says this servant loves his
master. But I'll tell you something else
it says. What a master he must have. Boy,
I'd like to meet this man's master. For him to give up his freedom? For him to say, I'll serve him
the rest of my life? What a master this man must have. What a message. Now let's get
to this picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. It applies to Him first,
then to us. First of all, Christ willingly,
voluntarily became the Father's servant. He became the Father's
Turn over to Isaiah 52. We're going to look at some scriptures
here now. Because this has to do, this
scripture is written for Christ. It's written because of Him,
for us to see Him. Isaiah 52. This should give, whenever you
read in the scriptures of Christ being the servant, this should
just give sweeter meaning to it. In Isaiah 52, look in verse
13. He says, Behold, my servant shall
deal prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled
and be very high. Now look over in chapter 53.
Look in verse 11. He shall see the travail of his
soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities."
Now, to show you that this scripture here in Exodus 21 is a picture
of Christ, it's speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the first
person in this. Turn to Psalm 40. Psalm 40, I'll tell you the verse
when I get there. In Psalm 40, we're looking at verse 6. Sacrifice
and offering thou didst not desire, mine ears hast thou opened. You look over in the margin,
well mine anyway, it says digged. Mine ears hast thou digged, mine
ears hast thou bored through. That's what he's saying. Mine
ears, and you know it's funny, well it's not funny, it's just,
it's a, here in this verse it uses plural, ears. Back in Exodus 21 he's to have
his ear bored. Well someone gave, I heard someone
give a real example of this. He said he's speaking here not
only for himself, but on behalf of his elect. My ears hast thou
opened, or digged, or through burnt offerings and sin offerings
thou hast not required. The Lord's first appearance in
this world was as a servant. It wasn't as the mighty king,
even though he was born a king, but he did not come as the mighty
conqueror. He came as a babe lying in a manger. He grew up
under his parents, serving, obeying them. He obeyed the laws of the
land. He grew up as a servant. That's
how his first appearance was. He said this in Mark chapter
10. Look over Mark chapter 10. In Mark chapter 10, look in verse Mark 10, verse 45. Let me go back up here and look
in verse 41. And when the ten heard it, they
began to be much displeased with James and John because they wanted
to know who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. They
wanted to, you know, one sit on the right hand, one sit on
the left. And the others heard that and they said, who do you
think you are? James and John? Arrogant, you know, what? And
of course, they wanted to see, so they was upset. But when they
had heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and
John. But Jesus called them to him and said unto them, You know
that they which are counted to rule over the Gentiles exercise
lordship over them, and their great ones exercise authority
upon them. But so shall it not be among
you. That's not the way it is in the
kingdom of God. But whosoever will be great among you shall
be your minister, and whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall
be servant of all. For even the Son of Man," speaking
here of himself, came not to be ministered unto, but to minister,
and to give his life a ransom for many. And he demonstrated
that when he girdled himself with a towel, knelt down, and
washed the disciples' feet. The God of glory. came into this
world to serve as a servant. That's what it says over in Philippians
chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2, listen
to this. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, who
being God in every way, he's God, thought it not robbery to
be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon
him the form of a bond slave. That's what he did. He took upon
him the form of a bond slave, a servant. and was made in the
likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. Though he were God, second person of the Trinity,
but no less God, when he came into this world, he took upon
him the form of a bond-slave. Willingly he did this. It says in Isaiah 42, Behold, my
servant shall not fail. He shall not fail. Now how did
he become the Father's servant? I'll tell you how, by choice. By choice. voluntarily became our surety,
our mediator, our representative, our substitute. When he joined himself to us
in that covenant of grace, when he did this, he took on all my
debts. He took on all my debts that
I could not pay. I could not pay one thing. He
became responsible for me. He became responsible for me.
He took our sin debt to Himself. Scripture says He became poor
so that we through His poverty might be made rich. He willingly
became a bond slave. And it became his responsibility, the scripture says, to fulfill
all righteousness, to do what I can't do, to do what I no way
could do. And why'd he do this? Why did he do this? One word, love. First, and I
said this in this order, first, I love my master. I love my father. He said, my
delight is to do the will of him that sent me. My need is
to do the will of him that sent me. I must be about my father's
business. When he was just 12 years old,
that's what he said to his mother. He said to Mary, he said, Don't
you know I must be about my father's business? Love. He loved his father. He loved his bride, the church. He loved his children. What brought
him from glory? What would bring God Almighty from paradise into this world
and allow himself to be made sin, to be punished, to suffer the hell of God's wrath,
what would make him do that? There's only one thing, love. Love beyond comprehending. You can't comprehend this kind
of love. What held him to the cross? Really? What held him to the cross? Was
it those nails? Those nails didn't hold him there.
There's one thing that held him to that cross. Love. Love to his father, doing his
father's will. Hanging on that cross is the
will of God. Love to his father, love to his
church, love to his children. I love them. He said, I love
them. Christ, now listen to this. I've
read this by several men. And every one of them said the
same thing. I have several solid men. Men, I count to be solid.
Christ kept the law. perfectly. The law had no claims
on him. He knew no sin. And every one of them, and I
agree with them, he could have gone free. He could have gone free. Look
over in John chapter 10. Like that servant who served
his time, there's no more claims on him. He can go free. Our Lord
could have gone free. Let me see, what did I say? John chapter 10. I'm trying to think and turn
at the same time. That doesn't work for me. John chapter 10, look in verse
16. Another sheep I have which are
not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my
voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore
doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might
take it again. Now listen here, here's it, verse
18. No man taketh it from me. Get
this clear. No man takes my life from me. I lay it down of myself. I voluntarily say I love my master,
I love my wife, I love my children. I'm not going to go free. I'm not going to go free. He
said, no man takes my life from me. I lay it down of myself.
I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my father. What did he say
to Peter in the garden of Gethsemane? Peter drew that sword, cut that
man's ear off. The Lord said, Peter, put up
your sword. Put it up. He said, don't you
know that right now I can ask my father to send twelve legions
of angels and this would be over. They would deliver me. This would
be over. He's got to be dead. But he didn't
do it, did he? The servant, the bond slave didn't
do it. He willingly, willingly did not
go free. He willingly went ahead to the
cross. Have you talked about having
your ear bored? Look what happened to him. Look what happened to
God's servant. He got him in his hands and in
his side. Never a servant, never a servant
served like this one. Never a servant loved like Jesus
Christ. He said in Luke 22, 27, I am
among you as one who serves. And what did he accomplish by
his service? What did he accomplish by his service? When you get
time tonight, tomorrow, whenever, read Deuteronomy chapter 21,
22, 23. Read those laws. Here's what he accomplished.
The restitution of all things. Chapter 21, 22 and 23 has to
do, when you break a law, there has to be restitution. You steal
something, you've got to restore it. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth,
foot for foot. Is that not what it says? Wound
for wound? That's what it says over here. Look in verse 22. Now these three chapters deal
with this. If men strive and hurt a woman
with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief
follow, he shall be surely punished according as the woman's husband
will lay upon him, and he shall pay as the judges determine.
And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. By
whose stripes are you healed? His. He gave eye for eye, tooth
for tooth, wound for wound, burning for burning. He restored. That word restitution has to
do with restored. He restored all things. Now turn
over to Acts chapter 3 and I'll wind this up. Acts chapter 3. Now it says in verse 19, "'Repent
ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted
out. When the times of refreshing shall come from the presence
of the Lord, he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached
unto you, whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution
of all things.'" What did he accomplish? What did he accomplish? What is he accomplishing and
what shall he accomplish? The restitution, the restoring
to perfection of all things. All things. Christ made reconciliation. He
restored all that we lost and all the damage we've done. He
took away sin. And he established an everlasting
righteousness. That's what he did. Turn over
to Daniel chapter 9. Daniel chapter 9. Look in verse 24. Daniel chapter
9, verse 24. Seventy weeks are determined
upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish the transgression,
to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity,
and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and
prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." That's what he accomplished
right there. That's what he accomplished. He restored all things. Here we have the perfect servant,
the bond slave. He voluntarily became God's servant
on our behalf, served Him perfectly, magnified the law and made it
honorable. And he said, I love my master.
I love my wife, the church. I love my children. I'm not going
to go out without them. I'm not going out without them.
They're mine. They're mine. And his service
was one of love. Turn over to, here's a good example. Turn over to Genesis 29. In verse 18, Jacob loved Rachel
and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger
daughter. And Laban said, It is better
that I give her to thee than that I should give her to another
man. Jacob served seven years for
Rachel, and they seemed unto him but a few days for the love
he had to her." I'll tell you what, it's just
going to be a few days. For the love he has to his father,
his church, his children, it'll seem just but a few days for
the love he has to us. We need to learn how to bask
in that love. We need to learn how to wallow
in it. We need to learn how to do that. Oh, he said, I will not go out
free. I love my master. I love my wife. I love my children. And I want
to serve. Listen, he didn't just serve
2,000 years ago. He's still doing it. Who's making
intercession for you? Who's doing that? He's doing that. I want to close
with this, to show you he's the eternal servant. And it's a service
that is of love and it knows no end. Luke chapter 12, and I'll end
with this. Luke chapter 12, look in verse 35. Let your loins be girded about
and your lights burning, and you yourselves liken to men that
wait for their Lord when He will return from the wedding, that
when He comes and knocks, they may open unto Him immediately.
Now listen to verse thirty-seven. Blessed are those servants whom
the Lord, when He cometh, shall find watching. Verily I say unto
you, that he shall gird himself," this is amazing, this is absolutely
amazing, he shall gird himself and make them sit down to meet
and will come forth and serve them. But we should never be ashamed
of service, should we? He's going to serve even then.
He's going to serve. He said, I love my master. I
love my wife. I love my children. I will not
go out free. I'll serve you forever. And Christ is that perfect servant,
that boss