It is so good, so very good,
to be with you again. If you will, let's turn back
to the passage your pastor read earlier, Psalm 130. Psalm 130.
I've had the privilege of visiting a few of God's saints
just before they left this world, just before losing all consciousness. Several years ago, I was pastoring
in Lookout. One of the deacons was in the
hospital in Washington, D.C., and I flew over in the morning
to visit with him and spent the day with him. And we got done
talking. I started to leave as we had
prayer together. These were the last words he
spoke to me. Thank God, oh thank God, everything's
under the blood. Thank God, oh thank God, everything
is under the blood. I've had my mind for the last
three days on Debbie Walker and Mike, their family, and how do
I minister comfort to them? And how do I minister to you
tonight, to our folks last night? When the Lord God would speak
comfort to His people, when He would urge us to trust Him, when
he would have us to believe him in the midst of great heartache
and trial and trouble these are his words fear not for I have
redeemed thee if he's redeemed me everything's
alright everything is alright Let him do with me what he will,
if he's redeemed me. Your pastor read earlier this
130th Psalm. In verse 7, let Israel hope in
the Lord. And he gives reason for that.
He says, let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord In the
last line he says, is plenteous redemption. With the Lord there
is mercy and with the Lord there is plenteous redemption. This word redeem, redemption,
redeemed is one of those big, big words used throughout the
scriptures that really sets before us The whole message of scripture. Brother Darwin and I were visiting
recently. I believe out at his place, maybe
Saturday, might have been sometime since then, I don't recall, but
he said, you know, I believe that everything God does in providence
has to do with redemption. And I said, you're exactly right.
Everything God does in providence is but the accomplishment of
redemption for his people. like to categorize things. You
know, we plant our vegetable gardens. We plant corn in one
place, beans in another place, and tomatoes in another place.
We like everything set in a certain place. And we try to treat the
book of God that way. And the subjects set forth in
the book. Well, you read theology books, and they'll have this
section divided up into dealing with God's attributes, and this
section dealing with God's internal works, and this section dealing
with God's external works, and so on. The Word of God never
does that. It never does that. The Word
of God speaks of God's works of grace for us, and in us, and
with us, all using the same words interchangeably. He speaks of
redemption, and salvation, and justification, and sanctification,
and regeneration, and preservation, and resurrection glory, all of
them speaking of the same thing. Redemption and salvation is talking
about everything God Almighty has done for us, is doing for
us, and shall do for us until at last He brings us in complete
deliverance from our sins and all the consequences of our sins
into His own likeness and glory. Now that makes a big, big subject. And when I get done talking about
it, there'll be plenty of room to talk some more. But tonight
I want us to look in the scriptures, and I want to show you from the
Old Testament scriptures, five great pictures of redemption. Now, the scriptures speak plainly.
It says the law, having a good shadow of things to come. Having a shadow of good things
to come. the whole of the Old Testament
and all of the laws given to the nation of Israel. The ceremonial
laws, the moral law, the dietary laws, the civil laws, every law
given to Israel. Laws dealing with men's relationship
to men and men's relationship to God. Laws dealing with worship
and ceremonies and sacrifice. All of them are pictures of redemption. Every one of them. Tonight I
want us to just look at five of them. Five Old Testament pictures
of redemption. But before we do, I want you
to see what I'm talking about when I speak of redemption. The
word means to buy again. The word has, however, more than
just an implication of the price of redemption. It is the deliverance
of our souls. by a just payment of a price,
the precious blood of Christ, and by the exercise of divine
power into the very image of Jesus Christ our Lord. That involves
God's purpose, God's purchase, God's power, and God's providence. There are several words used
in the New Testament particularly that are translated redeem, or
redeemed, or bought, or purchased. And it's three different words
that are translated by the same word in English. That makes it
very difficult when you read your English Bibles, except as
you read it in the context, to know what the intricate meaning
of those words are. And I'm going to break my own
rule. I have a steadfast rule. I try to adhere to it. I've got
a couple of our folks here tonight who can tell you I never refer
to in the Greek it says and talk about a Greek word or Hebrew
word and I just don't know that much. But I do want you to see
the difference in the shades of meaning of the word that's
translated in the New Testament, redeemed. Turn if you will first
to Revelation chapter 5. The basic meaning of the word
that's translated redeemed, this word that we're looking at here
Is to buy. To buy. You go buy a piece of
property. You don't carry it anywhere.
You don't do anything with it. You just buy it. You possess
it. It's yours. You sit on it. You
hold it. And when you die, it's still
a pile of dirt. You bought a piece of property.
You can do with it what you will, but it's still just a piece of
property. You don't take it anywhere. It's right where it was. You
just bought it. In that sense, our Lord Jesus, as a man, bought
the right to rule over and dispose of the entire universe for the
glory of God and the saving of his people. Does that mean that
Christ died to save everybody? Of course not. There's not a
hint of that era and that heresy anywhere in this book. But our
Lord Jesus as a man, as the God-man mediator, earned and bought the
right to do with you as he will. And the Father said, ask of me
and I'll give you the heathen for your inheritance. Now that
cannot be said concerning Christ as God, the second person of
the Trinity, God the Son. He is in all things equal with
the Father, creator of all things, as Darwin just read a little
bit ago. He is equal possessor and owner of all things in his
divinity. But as a man, Adam lost everything
and the last Adam recovered everything and he bought the right to be
Lord over God's universe in human flesh and he gave him that right
now look here what it says about Purchasing us Revelation chapter
5 verse 9 We are bought with the price of Christ precious
blood We are bought from among men by Christ blood We're bought
from the earth. We're bought from among the fallen
sons of Adam. Purchased with his own blood.
Look at it, Revelation chapter 5, verse 9. And they sung a new
song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open
the seals thereof, for thou was slain and hast redeemed us to
God. by thy blood, out of every kindred,
and tongue, and people, and nation." Chapter 14, Revelation, verse
3. Now notice what it says here.
They sung a new song. They sung as it were a new song
before the throne, and before the four beasts and the elders,
and no man could learn the song but the hundred and forty and
four thousand. No man could learn this song
except these who were numbered among God's elect. And it's still
so today. Which were bought, there's the
word, bought from the earth. Bought to God and bought from
the earth. Now the word that is translated
redeemed here, both places, is the word agaradzo. It means simply
to buy. In 1 Corinthians 10, If our chapter
6 rather the Apostle after describing our corruption our nature our
fallen depraved nature Reminding us what we were he said don't
you know, you're not your own you are bought with the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ Christ purchased the church with
his own blood as 2028 in all those places the word is Algarazzo
now try to remember what I'm telling you, please try to remember
it. It's very important The word simply means to buy. But then,
commonly, another word is translated to redeem, which is formed from
this word agorazo. It is the word ek-agorazo. And that word means out of. Adds
a lot to it. When I started off school my
first year in college, I left Winston-Salem, North Carolina,
going to Badger's Bible College in Springfield, Missouri. And
I had $50 in my pocket to go to stay with home for a year.
No job, didn't know a soul. And the only way I got that $50
is I hocked some stuff at the phone shop. Only time I've ever
hocked anything at the phone shop in my life. And you know
what I did with the ticket? When I hocked it, I walked out
the door and threw it away because I knew I was fixing to spend
the money and I wasn't going back to get that stuff. But as long
as I had that ticket, I could go back and pay the original
price and pay an exorbitant interest fee and I could buy back what
I had purchased. And do you know what I've never
done in my life? I have never walked into a store and paid
the price for anything I didn't carry out of that store. Have
you? If you have, you're a fool. I have never walked into a store
and paid the price for anything I didn't carry out of that store.
I didn't just buy it. I didn't just pay the price for
it. I bought it and I delivered it
from the one who had it in his hands before. That's this word. It is to buy out. This word ex
agaradzo is used and used specifically with regard to God's elect and
only to God's elect. It is never used with reference
to anything or anyone except God's elect when speaking of
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to Galatians chapter 3.
Now this is such a very, very important issue. And I'm going
to pause here and tell you why. There is no subject in this book
so essential to the glory of God, so essential to the whole
truth of God, no subject in this book so vital to our salvation,
no subject in this book comparable with this matter of redemption.
I'm speaking particularly now of the particular effectual redemption
of God's elect. the deliverance of our souls
by the blood of Christ from all the curse of the law and from
all the consequences of sin into the glorious liberty of the sons
of God. Therefore, this is the subject
at which men raise the most objections. It is the subject that is most
surely to be the subject of compromise when men start to find a way
to try to make the message of the gospel more palatable to
lost rebels. In our generation particularly,
I have been experiencing this for a while, men who claim to
believe the gospel of God's free grace, and if you ask them if
they believed in limited atonement, they'd say, yes, but now let
me explain that. Let me tell you what I believe.
I believe in limited atonement. Oh, you don't want to say that,
people don't understand. Yeah, they do understand, that's their
problem. They do understand. Oh, you mean the power of Christ's
blood is limited? You don't even have an imagination,
that's what I mean. And no fool out there thinks,
that's what I mean. I mean that Jesus Christ, the
omnipotent God, shed his blood for a specific people and every
soul for whom he died, he effectually redeems by his blood, by his
power, and by his grace. He brings out from under the
curse. Galatians chapter 3, verse 13. Christ hath. Do you see the word? Hm. H-A-T-H. Let me spell that another way.
Got it done. Christ hath redeemed us. Christ hath bought us. Watch
this. Christ hath bought us out from
the curse of the law. Being made a curse for us, for
it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. That's
the word. Christ Jesus. when He was made sin for us,
when He bare our sins in His own body on the tree, He paid
the price, demanded of divine justice, and when He cried, It
is finished, and He bowed His head and gave up the ghost, saying,
Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit, He bore us out from
under the curse, for He bore all the curse for us. Understand
that. Payment God cannot twice demand
first that my bleeding shirt is had and then again at mine
Galatians 4 verse 4 But when the fullness of the
time was come I Understand your pastor dealt with this just recently
when the fullness of the time was come God sent forth his son
made of a woman Darvin just read that John chapter 1 made under
the law. Why did He do that? Why did He
do that? Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. That's the reason
He bore the name Jesus. Why did God send forth His Son,
made of a woman, made under the law? He did it to redeem, to
buy them that were under the law from under the law. He came to buy out them that
were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons. Not that we might become God's
sons. No, he made us his sons pastoring eternity when he chose
us as his sons. We were made his sons when Christ
stood forth as our surety, as our representative, and we won
in him, accepted him to be loved. But we receive the adoption of
sons on the basis of justice satisfied because Christ has
brought us out from under the curse of the law. But then there's
a third word that's translated redeemed. If you can remember
it by this, one word, agorazo, means to buy. The second word,
ekagorajo, means to buy out. The third word means to loose.
It's lutro, to loose. You remember what our Lord did
when Lazarus was called out of the grave, bound with grave clothes,
the Lord said, loose him and let him go. That's the word.
That's the word. Turn to 1 Peter chapter 1. This word is used to describe
the deliverance of a slave or a prisoner from bondage and captivity. It's deliverance, but deliverance
by the paying of a ransom price. And Peter here tells us that
we have been redeemed, loosed, not with silver or gold, the
usual price of loosing, but with the precious blood of Christ.
Our Lord Jesus declares that he came here into this world
to give his life a loosing price for many. 1 Peter 1 verse 18. For as much as you know that
you were not redeemed, you were not loosed with corruptible things
as silver and gold from your vain conversations received by
tradition from your fathers. Now, let's try to keep this in
mind as we look at these pictures. Come back to Psalm 106. Whenever you think about redeemed,
when you think about redemption, whenever you think about the
redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ, remember that the Lord
Jesus bought you, your heads. And He bought you out of the
curse of the law. And He came in the fullness of
His time and set you free. He loosed you. And soon, He's
coming to set us free, to loose us again. In Psalm 106, the psalmist
speaks of the redemption of Israel out of Egypt. And this is a beautiful
picture of our redemption by Christ. Psalm 106, verse 6. We have sinned with our fathers.
We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly. Our fathers
understood not thy wonders in Egypt. Oh, the wonders of redemption. What wonders? Well, he turned
the Nile River into blood. He sent lice all over the land. He sent plagues of frogs so that
they had frogs in their needing troughs. Frogs in their ovens. Everywhere they went, frogs in
the land. Those nasty things representing
the gods they worshipped. He sent plagues upon them. Plague
after plague after plague. He sent disease upon them. People, you listen to these religious
hucksters on television whenever you have a hurricane or a flood
or a tornado or some natural catastrophe or some Catastrophe
like the bombing of our towers in New York and these preachers
get on there. Yeah. Oh, no, we can't We can't
say God had anything to do with that. Well, find me who did that's
when I worship Find me who's in control of the evil things.
I don't have any problem with bad things. Do you? Yeah, I mean
I don't have any problem with good things. Man, somebody's
saving me a thousand dollars. I don't have a problem with that.
I have a problem, somebody steals a thousand. That's the same thing
I have trouble with. It's the bad thing. Find me who's
in charge of the bad stuff. That's the one I worship. God
Almighty rules everything in the redemption of our souls. How many times has God kept you
from what would have destroyed you physically or spiritually? if He hadn't kept you from it. It's called redemption. The whole
of His providence is His wondrous work of redemption. Verse 7,
Our fathers understood not Thy wonders in Egypt. They remembered
not the multitude of Thy mercies, but provoked Him at the sea,
even at the Red Sea. They came out at the Red Sea
and provoked Him. I mean, they've been brought
out of Egypt. They came out of Egypt with a
high hand. They came out of Egypt possessing all the wealth of
the Egyptians. They didn't lose anything down
there. For 400 years, God gave them
favor in the eyes of the Egyptians. They wanted them out so bad,
they gave them their gold and their silver to take it with
them. He sends them out in the Red Sea to start to murmur against
Him. Well, don't think too bad of them, you too. Me too. Oh my God. How we tend to murmur
against Him. Nevertheless, what a great word. Oh how I thank God for this nevertheless
of His free grace. He saved them. How come? For
His namesake. before the world began. God,
the triune God, penned His name to the redemption of my soul. He penned His name to my everlasting
salvation. He saved them for His namesake,
that He might make His mighty power to be known. He rebuked
the Red Sea also, and it was dried up, so that He led them
through the depths as through the wilderness. And He saved
them from the hand of Him that hated them, and redeemed them
from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered the enemies.
There was not one of them left. Then believed they His works. They sang His praise. Sometimes I think we will never really believe
God until we are completely delivered from all our enemies. And oh,
how we will sing His praise then. The children of Israel were delivered
out of Egypt by three things. Three things essential to their
deliverance are the three things essential to our deliverance.
They were redeemed by blood, the blood of a paschal lamb. They were redeemed by the hand
of a man whom God raised up and they hated, a man by the name
of Moses. And they were redeemed by God's
omnipotent power brought through the Red Sea. And that's what
it takes to redeem us. It takes blood. It takes a messenger
from God to declare the work redone and the work finished.
And it takes the power of God the Holy Spirit in regeneration. The price of redemption was the
blood of the paschal lamb. The power was the power of God's
free grace by which he brought them through death into life. Even as he has brought us through
death into life everlasting. Did you ever notice when the
scripture speaks of God's works like this? God giving life and death. Find me a place where it says
he gave life and death. Where he makes alive and he kills. It's not written there. It's
not in this book. You won't find that in this book. But what is
in there? The Lord killeth and the Lord maketh alive. The Lord
slays and the Lord raises up. That's the only way he ever gives
life, is first to kill. And he brought Egypt, or Israel,
through death in the Red Sea into life by the power of his
grace. Now this redemption was blood
redemption. It was the redemption of a particular
people. Nowhere in scripture is there
ever a hint That there's a sense in which Christ tries to redeem
and save everybody. It was the redemption of a particular
people. Moses, go tell Israel. Don't tell the Egyptians what
I'm about to do. How come? Because it was just
for Israel. And everything God does is for
His Israel. And the redemption was effectual. Now mark it down. Mark it down.
Everything God does He does for a particular people. Even the
damning of the wicked is for his elect. He raised up the sons
of Ham to be servants to the sons of Shem and Japheth. And
that's the way it always has been and always will be. The
reprobate are raised up by God to serve for the redemptive purpose
of God for His elect. That's the reason they exist.
All right, turn to Exodus chapter 30. Here's another picture. My soul, I've got to hurry. Exodus
chapter 30. I promise I won't be but a minute
or two. verse 11 God gave this law to the children of Israel
about atonement money what a strange combination atonement and money
well you'd think that was written by some papers who thought you
could buy indulgences atonement and money written by God let's
see what it says Exodus 30 verse 11, And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel,
after their number, every year they would have been numbered,
count it up, then shall they give every man a ransom for his
soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them, that there be
no plague among them, when thou numberest them. Every man comes
and brings a ransom for his soul to the Lord God brings it to
the temple or to the tabernacle, that there be no plague among
them when they are numbered. This they shall give everyone
that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after
the shekel of the sanctuary, a shekel is 20 giras, and half
a shekel shall be the offering of the Lord. Everyone that passeth
among them that are numbered from 20 years old and above shall
give an offering unto the Lord. Verse 15, the rich shall not
give more and the poor shall not give less than a half shekel
when they give an offering unto the Lord to make an atonement
for your souls and thou shalt take the atonement money of the
children of Israel and shalt appoint it for the service of
the tabernacle of the congregation that it may be a memorial unto
the children of Israel before the Lord to make an atonement
for your souls. And the numbering of the children
of Israel and the atonement money they paid, picture our ransom
by Christ in this way. None but Israelites were ransomed.
A specific numbered people were ransomed. They were to go before
Moses and before Aaron and they would count them up. They would
number them. How many are there? Here's the
number. Alright, I want a half shekel for every man. And every
man comes and puts a half shekel in the offering box at the tabernacle
or at the temple. Each one was numbered. The ransom money was for a specific
people. And the ransom money was exactly
the same for them all. They were thereby preserved from
any plague. Oh, you sons of God, chosen and
numbered of God from eternity, God Almighty has provided ransom
money for your souls, the precious blood of His darling Son, and
it's the same for everybody, the rich and the poor. Saul of
Tarsus the Pharisee, and Mary Magdalene the harlot. It's the same atonement money.
Oh, now, we're going to have to keep an eye on that old gal.
She's got a name that's called sinner. And sinners are redeemed
with his blood. Oh, look what God did. He gave
us this mighty leader of the Pharisees. We'll make him a head
spokesman. His name is called sinner. He's
redeemed with the same atonement blood. We all come to God on
the same grounds, by the same merit, by the same sacrifice,
with the same acceptance. No matter who you are, no matter
what you are, no matter what you've been, no matter what you've
done, yesterday, twenty years ago, or today. It's called redemption. Free grace redemption. And there
shall no evil happen to those for whom atonement money has
been paid. There shall no evil happen to the just. Of course,
you're familiar. See, we won't turn there and
look at it, but in Leviticus 25, if you want to look at it
later, we have a picture of the kinsman redeemer. Oh, what a
great picture. The Lord God provides this law
that if a man among the children of Israel He didn't say this
for a Gentile. He didn't say this for a stranger
who came among them. This is a man among the children
of Israel. If he has sold himself unto a
stranger or a sojourner, he'd become poor and he had to sell
himself into slavery. He said there's a way he can
get back everything he lost. He can get back his farm. He
can get back all of his possessions. He can get back everything if
he has a kinsman, a near kinsman, one who is blood kid. who is
able to redeem him, who is able to buy back everything he lost,
legally, rightfully, pay a just and fair price for everything
that was lost, and is willing to do so. Christ is our kinsman. He took on himself our nature. He became one of us. The Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us. And He had no debt to pay. He owed nothing. But He fulfilled all the law
and satisfied all the justice of God on our behalf as our near
kinsmen. And willingly He did so. And
He bought back everything we lost. He said, then I restored
that which I took not away. Paul begins in Hebrews chapter
2 at verse 9 and goes all the way through the end of chapter
7 showing us that Christ is a near kinsman. He's one of us. It behooved
Him. It was necessary for Him. It
became Him to be made like unto His brethren. And now, because
He's been made like us, because He's satisfied the justice of
God and put away our sins and now sits on the throne of glory,
now He's able to save to the uttermost all them that come
to God by Him. Even you. All that come to God
by Him. And you must come to God by Him.
You must come to God by Him. Like Ruth went to Boaz. You remember how Naomi told her
to go to Boaz? She said, Honey, you remember
the stories I've been telling you all these years? about God's
law and a kinsman in Israel. This man's near kinsman to you.
Now there's only one thing that you've got. Only one thing you've
got. When Boaz met her in the field,
you remember what he said to her? He said, everybody knows
you're a good woman. Everybody knows you're a good
woman. She said, you go to Boaz tonight
and find the place where he lays on the threshing floor. And lose
your name. Give up everything. Stretch yourself
at His feet. And whatever He says to you,
do it. And Boaz said, Honey, I'll take care of you. Go home.
Don't let anybody see you again. That's how God saves sinners. By His grace. And then there
is the deliverance of the debtor from prison. Turn to Isaiah 61.
It's a beautiful picture. The prophet said of Christ, Thou
mayst say to the prisoners, Go forth. To them that are in darkness,
show yourselves. Our Lord Jesus says in Isaiah
61 verse 1, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the
Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings, to preach the gospel,
good news to the meek. He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening
of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord, the day of the vengeance of our God, to
comfort all that mourn. What? He sent me to declare in the
gospel the acceptable year of our God, the vengeance of our
God for your comfort. How is it going to comfort you
for me to talk to you about God's severe, furious, unquenchable
vengeance? Only one way. See Christ seated
on his throne, received again into heaven, Having suffered
all the wrath of God for our sins, vengeance is done. God says to Jacob, fury is not
in me. And it's gone. Because Christ
has redeemed us. And when it comes in saving power,
he proclaims liberty. He sets the captive free. And then in Job chapter 33. Phil, you turn to Zachariah.
You turn to Zachariah. I want to read Job 33, 24. You
can look at it later. God gives us a picture of a slave. I am a true Southerner. I told folks in California a
couple years ago, I was dealing with this matter of God's law
concerning slavery. I said, I'm so Southern, if I
wasn't Southern, I'd at least be ashamed. The greatest blight on our race,
I'm talking about Adam's race, it's not just white folks, black
folks are just as guilty, is the practice of slavery. Why
then did God permit and use such things and give laws as to how
to deal with slavery to teach us about redemption. He takes the cruelty of man against
man and teaches us about redemption. In the days of the Old Testament,
godless men often took their slaves and threw them into deep
pits at night. They would take them out of their
pits only to perform slavish labor or if a ransom price was
paid this is what God says concerning
his chosen then he is gracious unto him and saith deliver him
from going down to the pit I have found a ransom and Christ is
the ransom found look in Zechariah chapter 9 a very clear prophecy
of the coming of Christ the Messiah verse 11 As for thee also, he
says, by the blood of thy covenant. What? By the blood of thy covenant. Covenant God himself made with
his own son. I have sent forth thy prisoners
out of the pit wherein is no water. Not just prisoners, thy
prisoners. We are all slaves to sin and
Satan by nature. Slaves under the curse of the
law in our own minds, children of wrath, even as others. Slaves
in the deep dark pit of darkness and night until Christ came and
delivered us from slavery by the price of His blood and by
omnipotent free grace. And this is what He does. in
his saving mercy he comes to chosen sinners redeemed by his
blood and says to the prisoners go forth I have redeemed you
show yourself now show yourself show yourself before God himself
in all his holy purity perfect, redeemed, justified. Show yourself as God shall show
you in the last day monuments of His grace redeemed by the
precious blood of Christ Jesus the Lord. I am redeemed. I'm redeemed. and redeemed. Oh may God give you the experience
of this blessedness that you may walk in it until you walk
into glory. Amen.