Plenteous Redemption

Q: What does the Bible say about redemption?

The Bible describes redemption as deliverance through a ransom, specifically the blood of Christ for His elect. Redemption in the Bible is understood as deliverance by a ransom that Jesus Christ paid for His chosen people. This concept is rooted in Scripture where the term 'redemption' conveys the idea of buying back what was lost. In the case of salvation, it means that we, who were once lost in sin due to Adam's transgression, are bought back through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. The Scriptures illustrate redemption with Old Testament examples, like the Israelites' deliverance from Egypt, symbolizing God’s power to redeem His people. Christ came to redeem His church and accomplishes this through His death and resurrection, ensuring that all whom He redeems will ultimately be saved.

Q: How do we know Christ's redemption is effective?

Christ's redemption is effective because He redeems exactly those for whom He died, ensuring their ultimate salvation. We know Christ's redemption is effective based on the teaching that everything Christ redeems, He will have. This is confirmed in Scripture, where we see that Jesus laid down His life specifically for His sheep, demonstrating that His redemptive work is both particular and effectual. The certainty of salvation stems from understanding that Christ's sacrifice was not a mere possibility for universal redemption but a distinct and specific act intended for the elect. The doctrines of grace emphasize that the atonement of Christ guarantees the salvation of all whom He designated as His people, as they are drawn to Him through His Spirit and enabled to believe.

Q: Why is forgiveness important for Christians?

Forgiveness is essential for Christians because it restores our relationship with God and is foundational to our faith. Forgiveness is crucial in the Christian faith as it signifies the restoration of our relationship with God. The Bible teaches that if God marked iniquity, none would stand; however, there is forgiveness with Him, which leads to fear and reverence. This forgiveness enables believers to worship God genuinely and live in a manner that honors Him. It is through understanding the depth of our sin and the magnitude of God's grace in forgiveness that we can respond with gratitude and obedience. The experience of receiving forgiveness transforms the believer, teaching them to deny ungodliness and to live soberly and righteously in a fallen world.

Q: How can I find hope in difficult times?

Believers can find hope by waiting on God and trusting in His word during trials. Finding hope in difficult times is a central teaching in Scripture. Believers are encouraged to wait on the Lord and place their hope in His promises as revealed through His word. In the midst of trials, it is vital to remind ourselves of God's faithfulness and to lean on the truth of His Scripture. When heavy-hearted, Christians are called to seek God with all their hearts, knowing that He is faithful to provide peace and comfort. This waiting is an active pursuit, characterized by earnest prayer and reliance on God's word, which alone offers true hope and assurance in times of trouble.

Q: What is the significance of God's sovereign grace?

God's sovereign grace is significant because it emphasizes His complete authority in salvation and redemption. The significance of God's sovereign grace lies in its foundation upon the belief that salvation is entirely God's work. According to the Scriptures, God's grace is not contingent upon human decisions but is an expression of His sovereign will. This grace is what enables the elect to come to faith and be redeemed by Christ’s blood. The understanding of sovereign grace reassures believers that their salvation is secure, as it is the result of God’s unchanging purpose. This perspective fosters true humility and worship, acknowledging that it is by grace alone that anyone is saved, not by personal merit.

Let's turn to Psalm 130. Psalm 130, a psalm of degrees. Now this is called a psalm of
degrees like several others in this section of the psalm. because
David here moves from one degree to another in the experience
of grace. Now, when I say that, it needs
a word of caution. There are no steps of grace by
which we ascend up to God and we gradually get better and better
until at last we've arrived in heaven. But in our experience,
we do have varying experiences. And here David begins the psalm
with a cry out of the depths. And he concludes the psalm with
the mountaintop experience of confident assurance in God's
purpose of grace in redemption. He begins in verse one, out of
the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord." Fact is, that's the only place
where we ever cry to God. Thank God for the depths. Out
of the depths of guilt and sin, sinners cry out for mercy. Out
of the depths of condemnation and fear, sinners cry out for
pardon. Out of the depths of contrition
and repentance, sinners cry out to God in faith, Lord, I believe,
help thou mine unbelief. Out of the depths of trials and
heartaches that we are constrained to cry out to God. What a sad
commentary it is upon our nature. I'm talking now particularly
about our nature as believers. that when things go well, we
tend to forget God. Isn't that amazing? Utterly amazing. As soon as we
get a little sick, we start to cry out for God to help us. How
seldom we ever speak to God to give thanks for health. As soon
as we're in trouble, we cry out to God to deliver us. How seldom
we give thanks to God for deliverance experience. As soon as our hearts
are heavy, we cry out to God to comfort how seldom we give
thanks to God for the comfort we enjoy. God forgive us. Thank God he does. Thank God
our standing before him doesn't depend upon the condition we
find ourselves in, but rather upon the purpose of his grace
in Christ Jesus the Lord. in utter helplessness, then we
cry to God. When the Lord brings us both
spiritually in the initial experience of grace and in our day by day
experience of grace, when the Lord brings us down into the
depths so that we cannot do anything, So we're made to know there's
nothing we can do. Then we'll cry out to him, but
not to the end. Thank God for the depths. Oh,
may God bring you into the depths of utter helplessness and cause
you to cry out to him. Verse two, Lord, hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive. God, pay attention to me. But doesn't God always pay attention?
Yeah, but I don't always know it. Doesn't he always hear? Yeah, but I don't always know
it. Lord, cause me to know that you hear. Cause me to know that
you're paying attention to me. Cause me to know that I have
your attention. Be attentive to the voice of
my supplication. My true supplications. What I really want. what I really
want. Then everything's all right.
God, you hear the cry of my inmost soul, the cry of my heart, those
groans which words cannot utter, those sighs that baffle sounds
and words, those groanings in my soul made by your spirit. Lord, you hear me. And that's
all I ask. Verse three. Oh, you who are yet without Christ,
hear this word and tremble. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquity, O Lord, who shall stand? If God Almighty should mark in
his books One, even a single work of iniquity, thought of
iniquity, word of iniquity. If God should mark one crime
against me, I cannot stand before him. If God should mark your
sins, hell will be your eternal portion. Now, there are many
ways to demonstrate that. Your conscience testifies that
it's so. But look away yonder to Calvary.
When God Almighty marked sin against his son, even the incarnate
God could not stand against his wrath. But, oh, what a wondrous sweet word
of grace. But there is forgiveness with
thee. God Almighty forgives sin. There is forgiveness with thee
that thou mayest be feared. And in forgiving sin, he teaches
forgiven sinners to worship him. The experience of grace, the
experience of grace, teaches those who've experienced it to
worship God. Not just to worship Him on Sunday
morning, Sunday night, or in the midweek sometime, but teaches
forgiven sinners in all their ways to acknowledge Him, in all
their ways to worship Him, in all their days to walk before
Him with reverence and fear, worshiping Him. The grace of
God that brings salvation teaches us that denying ungodliness and
worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly
in this present evil world. All right, now look at verse
five. I wait for the Lord. My soul
doth wait, and in his word do I hope. There's so many applications
to that. For you who are troubled about
your souls, I hope you are. Wait for God to speak peace to
you. Nobody else can. Nobody else can. Don't let some
soul deceiver talk you into a religious profession. Don't let somebody
twist your arm and get you to make a religious profession.
God alone can speak peace to your soul. Wait for God. For
you who are troubled in the depths, your hearts are heavy. Wait on
God. Wait on God. I want to be crystal
clear in this regard. I'm here to be of service to
you in any way I can, to serve your souls in any way I can.
to minister to you in any way I can. I find it an honor to
weep with you when you weep. I find it a delight and an honor
to rejoice with you when you rejoice, to sing with you when
you sing, and to cry with you when you cry. But I can't do anything for your
soul. I can't relieve your burden.
I can't give some secret formula and tell you how you can get
out of trouble you're in. I can't do it. You see, I'm not
a priest. I'm just a sinner saved by grace.
Wait on God. And just dive into this book. Hope in his word. There's no
hope anywhere else. No hope anywhere else. I read
a lot of books. I've written some things. But
man alive, if you must neglect something, neglect what I've
written, what other men have written, neglect the newspaper,
the television, read this book. Read this book. This is the source
of hope. This alone gives us hope. Nothing else. But this waiting
on God. This way, well, I'm just waiting
for God to save me. I'm just waiting for God to give
me faith. I'm just waiting for God to give me life. This is not a passive, indifferent,
fatalistic attitude. This is not a, well, if the Lord
wants to save me, he can save me and that's where I am. No,
no, no, no. Anybody who talks like that is
not serious about their souls and not honest with God. This
is an anxious sinner. Seeking the Lord with all his
heart. Seeking God's mercy. Seeking God's grace. Calling
upon him. Our Lord said, when you seek
me with all your heart, then shall you find me. Now that applies
to anybody in any condition. Anybody. If you're interested
in reconciliation with God. Seek him with all your heart,
you'll find him. Seek him. I've told you the story in the
past, a true story. Some years ago, there was a farmer
whose wife was a believer. He had no interest in things
of God. He had no concern about things of God. And he didn't
go to church. Didn't prevent her from going,
but he didn't go. And she kept trying as best she could to be
a good wife to him, witness to him as she had an occasion as
God opened the door. One day in the fall of the year,
sold his crops and he took everything to town, sold everything, brought
his money back, and he's out in the barn doing some cleaning.
And he lost his wallet, all his money for the year, gone, gone. He got inside and started to
get undressed and reach for his, gone. He went back out to the
barn and turned that thing upside down. He didn't leave anything
unturned, and at last he found that wallet. Sometime later,
he spoke to his wife and said to her, said, honey, I believe
that God's spoken to my heart, but I've been seeking him and
I can't find any peace. How do I seek him? She said,
you seek him just like you sought your money when you lost your
wallet. With all your heart, you'll find him. Seek him, you'll
find him. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock,
and it shall be opened unto you. Ask, and you shall receive. That's his promise. Look at verse
7. Let Israel hope in the Lord. For with the Lord there is mercy,
and with him is plenteous redemption. Now look at the conclusion to
that. And he shall redeem Israel. from all his iniquities. Now,
obviously, he's not talking about the physical seed of Abraham,
not in a strict sense. He's talking about God's elect,
the Israel of God, his chosen people. Because with him is plenteous
redemption, the Lord God shall redeem all his people. That's a matter of absolute certainty. This psalm is a prophecy concerning
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and the sure effectual
redemption which he accomplished for sinners at Calvary. He shall
redeem Israel. Those whom he has chosen, those
whom the father gave him, they're called his people. He shall redeem
his people from all their sins. This is what the psalmist is
telling us. The redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ is infinitely
full, infinitely meritorious, and infinitely efficacious. Now, I want us to camp right
here at verse seven. The title of our message tonight
is Plenteous Redemption. Oh, what sweet music there is
in this word. We've sold ourselves for naught.
We are by nature debtors, head over heels in debt with no ability
to pay. We're slaves without hope of
liberty, prisoners without hope of pardon, condemned felons without
hope of life. But here is a word that brings
hope to our hearts. It sounded like music in the
sinner's ears. Let Israel hope in the Lord.
For with the Lord there is mercy. Not might be is. With the Lord
there is mercy. Hear me now. Mercy for everybody
who needs it. Mercy for everybody who wants
it. Mercy for the needy. Mercy for
those who are in the depths. With him is plenteous redemption. Plenteous redemption. Plenteous
redemption. Now, I want to be crystal clear,
and I pray that God will make the message helpful to your souls. Let me answer three or four questions.
Number one, what is redemption? These days people use biblical
terms, but they use them in a way that has nothing to do with scriptures.
They use orthodox terms, but use them in a way that is totally
unorthodox. So when we think about redemption,
understand what the word means. The word redemption means deliverance
by a ransom. We commonly use it in our everyday
language as it is commonly used in the scriptures. It means to
buy again or to buy back. Now there are three different
words translated redemption in the New Testament and those words
used as they are in the context of the New Testament imply the
purchase of a commodity by a lawful price. The commodity purchased
is the people of God. The commodity purchased is God's
church. The commodity purchased is God's
elect, the souls of men. And the price by which we have
been purchased is the precious blood of Jesus Christ, who verily
was foreordained before the foundation of the world, a lamb without
spot and without blemish. To redeem something implies that
by one means or another, it has been lost. It has been taken
out of lawful possession. It was once yours, but you lost
it. To redeem a person implies that
the person has been brought into bondage, slavery, or imprisonment. It implies that by one means
or another, that person has incurred a debt he cannot pay. That he's
broken a law he cannot mend. That he's a guilty prisoner and
has lost all rights, all freedom, and all ability to restore himself
again. That's what it is to be lost.
That's what happened in the garden when our father Adam sinned against
God. We were made sinners by his transgression. We came forth
from the womb speaking lies, and we have all the days of our
lives lived in that rebellion that demonstrates the bondage
of our hearts to sin and to corruption, the bondage of our hearts to
death and the curse of God's law. The Lord Jesus Christ came
here to redeem Israel. He came here to redeem his people
from their sins. He came to restore, to buy again
that which was lost, that which we lost in our father Adam and
more. Now there are a number of pictures
of this redemption in the Old Testament. Let me give you some
things just to look at at your leisure. The deliverance of Israel
out of Egyptian bondage, we read earlier. The Lord God redeemed
his people by two things, by blood and by the power of a stretched
out arm. That's exactly how God redeems
his people. The Lord Jesus Christ came here
2000 years ago and he paid the price due to the justice of God,
his own life's blood, and thereby obtained eternal redemption for
us. And then he comes in the power
of his grace, by the power of his omnipotent spirit, in the
fullness of time, and makes his people willing in the day of
his power, and thereby redeems us by power. Now wherever the
blood of Christ is shed, the spirit of grace comes. And the
spirit of grace never comes except for those for whom the blood
of Christ has been shed. I love the way Brother Jesse
Gustad put it. First message you ever heard him preach, heard
it on tape. He said, where the blood don't flow, the spirit
don't go. But where the blood flows, The
Spirit always goes. You understand that? He's redeemed
us by blood and by power. Those who are redeemed by the
blood of Christ at Calvary shall be delivered, set free as Israel
was set free from Egyptian bondage by the power of God's grace.
There is also a picture given of the ransom of the children
of Israel in Exodus chapter 30, whereby they paid atonement money,
atonement money which would save them from the plagues surrounding
them. Now the atonement money was the
same for the rich and for the poor, so that it was equally
accessible to all. The rich paid no more, the poor
paid no less. The atonement money was a half
shekel. Just a half shekel. Not portraying
that somehow we, by paying certain money, can obtain redemption
for ourselves, but rather declaring that the blood of Christ, that
one great sacrifice for sin, by which justice has been satisfied,
preserves us from the plague of God's wrath. And then there
was the deliverance of the debtor from prison, described in Exodus
61. And the children of Israel were
also given a picture of a kinsman redeemer. In Leviticus chapter
25, rather, if a man by one means or another incurred such severe
debt that he lost all his inheritance, his near kinsman could purchase
it for him. That's the picture we have in
the book of Ruth. Christ is our Boaz. He's our kinsman. He has
purchased again for us that which we had forfeited, that which
we had sold, that which we had lost. Christ came and bought
it all again. But secondly, what has the Lord
Jesus Christ redeemed? Again, let me be crystal clear.
I hold this to be a vital, plainly revealed doctrine of Holy Scripture.
It is the only thing that's consistent with common sense. Listen now. Whatever Christ redeemed, Christ
will have. Does that make sense? Does it
just make sense? How many of you have ever willingly
paid for anything you didn't get? Anybody? I don't know any fools like that.
I don't know any. I've never met one. I have never
met one, not from the youngest to the oldest, who laid down
a price and didn't take what it paid for if he could get it.
Now I'm telling you, the Son of God is no fool. Whatever he
redeemed, he shall have. There is no possibility that
he laid down his life for some who shall perish at last under
the wrath of God. The Lord Jesus Christ, if that
were the case, would be a miserable failure. The Lord Jesus Christ,
if that were the case, shed his blood in vain for somebody. The scriptures are crystal clear.
The scriptures tell us plainly of four specific things redeemed
by the Lord Jesus. Turn with me, if you will, to
Galatians chapter three. I want you to look at four texts
of scripture. Galatians chapter three. Now you can jot these
down if you want to. In John chapter 10, the Lord
Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life
for the sheep. He says in verse 15, as the Father
knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life
for the sheep. He doesn't talk about laying
down his life for goats. He talks about sheep, his own
sheep, and he knows them by name, and he lays down his life for
them, and he calls them, and he leads them out, all of his
sheep. Here in Galatians chapter three,
verse 13. Christ hath redeemed us. Do you see that? Everywhere in
the Word of God where redemption, atonement is spoken of, either
in type or by law or in the gospel, everywhere it is spoken of by
way of explanation in the entire Word of God, it is always specifically
the redemption of a specific people. The high priest of Israel
made atonement for Israel and Israel alone. He wore their names
in his breastplate and theirs alone. Intercession was made
for them and for them alone. And I'm telling you, know the
word of God tells you as plainly as the nose on your face that
Jesus Christ wears the names of God's Israel on his breastplate. He made atonement for God's Israel
when he offered his blood at Calvary. He redeemed us particularly,
distinctively, and effectually. So the Lord Jesus Christ first
has redeemed the souls of his elect. I do not believe that
doctrine that says Judas was redeemed by Christ. Folks say Christ died for everybody
in the world. That's nonsense as well as blasphemy. to suggest that Judas was redeemed
by the blood of Christ, you must conclude one of two things, either
that Judas is in heaven or that Christ's blood is worthless. What other options do you have?
If he died to redeem Judas and Judas is not redeemed, if he
died to save Judas and Judas is not saved, what's the worth
of his blood? The difference between Judas
and those who are saved in the imaginations of real worshipers
is not the blood of Christ, but rather their almighty will, the
merit of their will, the merit of themselves, the merit of their
worth. The Lord Jesus Christ redeemed
unto himself a people. He didn't simply make redemption
a possibility. He didn't just provide redemption,
leaving it up to the hands of man to complete it if he would
pretty please do so, but rather our Lord Jesus has actually redeemed
all his elect. That means that all who are ultimately
saved were redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ at Calvary and
our ultimate salvation is but the outworking of his redemption
at Calvary. He sends his spirit in the day
of his power and makes his people willing to come to him. The Lord
Jesus Christ has redeemed us from the guilt of sin. He set
us free and he's redeemed us from the punishment of sin. Turn
to Proverbs chapter 17. I'm gonna cheat, I'm gonna make
you look at one more text here. Because Christ bore our sins
at Calvary and bore them away, Bob, we no longer have any guilt
before God. We cease to be the objects of
punishment. take away the guilt, take away
the offense, take away the crime, take away the sin, and the punishment
must be removed. The law of God, listen now, the
law of God, the justice of God, according to God's own word,
cannot condemn an innocent man. If Christ has put away my sins,
as the scripture says he has, then the justice of God cannot
condemn. Look in Proverbs 17, 15. He that justifies the wicked,
and he that condemns the just, even they both are an abomination
to the Lord. Now you understand what the scripture
means in 1 Peter 3.18 when it says Christ died the just for
the unjust that he might bring us to God. He who was just was
made to be unjust so that we who are unjust might be made
just before God. Our sins were transferred to
him, our guilt transferred to him, his righteousness transferred
to us, his innocence transferred to us, so that he bears the just
condemnation of God's law when he was made to be sin. And we
bear the just reward of God's law, eternal life, because we're
made the righteousness of God in him. The Lord Jesus Christ,
secondly, has redeemed the bodies of his elect. Turn to Ephesians
1 for a moment. Soon death shall be made to give
back its prey. Jesus Christ has purchased my
body as well as my soul. And what he's purchased, he'll
have. Death shall not have one bone of the righteous. The grain
shall not have one particle of our dust. Not even one hair of
our head shall be lost. Oh, think about this. It'll thrill
your soul. Ephesians 1.13, in whom you also
trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation, in whom also after that you believed, or having
believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,
which is the earnest, the down payment, the surety money, the
earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption, the deliverance
of the purchased possession. We are sealed by the Spirit of
God until the day of resurrection. These bodies purchased by the
Son of God shall one day be with the Son of God and like Him. That'll comfort your heart when
you take your friends to the grave. It'll comfort you when
it's your time to go. The enemy shall be steel as a
stone to you pass over. I got a letter early this morning
by email A dear brother I've never seen, met, never even heard
of, that I can recall. Some time ago started getting
our bulletins. The doctors told me I had just
a few weeks to live at best. 47 years old. Steve Secret, his
daughter wrote to me. and asked, well commented, made
several encouraging comments, but asked permission if they
could reproduce a song he wanted passed out at his funeral. Don't stand around my grave and
cry. How come? Because Christ has
redeemed my body. He redeemed me. Thirdly, look
in Psalm 69 verse 4. The Lord Jesus has redeemed for
his elect everything we lost in the sin and fall of our father
Adam. The Lord speaks here and says,
they that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my
head. They that would destroy me being my enemies wrongfully
are mighty. Now look at this next word. Then
I restored that which I took not away. Now I have a controversy with
my father, Adam. In him, because of him, I suffered
a mighty, tremendous loss. But the second Adam, the Lord
Jesus Christ, my covenant head and representative, has bought
and brought back everything I lost in Adam and much, much more. I lost righteousness, he gave
me his righteousness. I lost the peace of an innocent
creature, he gave me the immutable peace of perfect righteousness.
I lost God's approval as an innocent man, he gives me God's approval
as a righteous man who can never become anything else. I lost
that fellowship that Adam had in the garden like the angels
of God have with him in heaven today as one who is innocent.
But now Christ has brought to me the blessed fellowship of
a forgiven sinner, loved of God. I lost the image of God now. I made into the image of God,
Jesus Christ himself. I lost life, but Christ has given
me eternal life. All right, fourthly, I want you
to see this. I'll wrap this up. I've got something
here that'll help you. Now I want you to listen. The
Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed this entire world. Got you good and confused now?
Don't be. Understand what I'm saying. I do not mean the Son
of God redeemed every man in this world. Such an absurd pretense
I've never made, I've never dreamed of. But I do mean this. Christ has purchased the right
to rule this world as the sovereign king, as our mediator for the
salvation of his elect. Our Lord Jesus Christ as God
purchased nothing. He owned everything. But as the
God-man mediator, he has purchased the whole world as his to dispose
of as he will for the saving of his people. Now let me show
you from the scriptures. Turn to Matthew 13. I'll ask
you to look at two texts here. Matthew 13 and 2 Peter. Verse
44. The kingdom of heaven is like
unto a treasure hid in a field, the which, when a man hath found,
he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he
hath, and buyeth the field. A man comes by here and looks
over this property here and makes a decision he'd like to
buy the property, maybe. And he comes and talks to us.
And after talking to us, we think maybe we might be interested.
He does some stuff folks don't normally do. He does some geological
surveys and finds out there are rich, rich oil reserves under
the ground here. Deep, deep mines full of diamonds. And he comes back. He said, I
tell you what, I'll buy your property. You just name your
price. Well, what's it going to take? Oh, that's everything
I've got. That'd be all right. I'll pay
the price. I really want that property.
How come? Because of the grass out here?
Because of the trees out here? Because of the weeds out here? Oh, no, no, no, no. He found
treasure. and he bought the property to
get inside and get out the treasure. You understand that? The Lord
Jesus as a man bought the world because of the joy of his heart
for the treasure of his grace that he found in this world his
own elect. Thou hast given him therefore
power over all flesh as a man that he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him. Now look in 2 Peter chapter
two. Verse one, in the last several
weeks, I probably had a dozen letters from different people
around the world asking me about this text of scripture. But there were false prophets
also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers
among you who privately shall bring in damnable heresies. Now
look at this, even denying the Lord that bought them. Now, there goes your doctrine.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Just be honest with scripture.
The word Lord here, if we were to write it out like the translators
wrote out the word baptizo, then we'd just write it out baptize.
If we were to write out the word Lord here, we'd write it out
d-e-s-p-o-t. It's the word from which we get
our word desperate. It is not the normal word for
Lord Kyrios. but rather desperate. You know
what a desperate is? That's the fellow who sits on
the throne, does whatever he wants to, and answers to nobody.
That's who he is. Now, to the unbelieving, that's
a horrible fact. To the unbelieving, that's a
dreadful fear. Jesus Christ, whom we nailed
to the tree, sits on the throne, and we're in his hands. To the
believer, that's a delight. denying the Lord who bought them.
Now the word that's used for redeem here, or bought, is not
the word that's commonly translated bought or redeemed. It's not
the word which means to buy out of, but the word which means
to buy. If you have gotten in straps
and you happen to have one of them Rolex watches, this one's
not, but you happen to have one and somebody gave it to you,
you go downtown pawn shop and For a $5,000 watch, you can probably
get $500. And you hawk it. And you're determined,
just as soon as you can, to get it back. You've got a certain
amount of time to do it. You take the phone stuff back
in at the given date, and you take the money in and the interest
that's charged, and you pay for it. And you take the watch, put
it on your wrist, and walk out the door because you redeemed
it. If you buy a piece of property, you don't redeem it. you just
take possession of it. You haven't done anything with
it, you just take possession of it. You don't move it, you
just take possession of it. You don't transfer it, you just
take possession of it. And the Lord Jesus Christ redeemed
his people at Calvary. He brought us out from under
the curse of God's law, out from under the bondage of dominion
of sin, set us free by the power of his grace, but he bought the
whole world, lock, stock, and barrel, you and me both. took
possession of it as a man. As a result of his redemptive
work, the Lord Jesus Christ shall purge this world from all sin
and restore it to its pristine beauty for the glory of his name. Listen to this. Go turn there
and look at it. Romans chapter eight, Romans
eight, verse 18. For I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation
of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of
God. The earnest expectation of the creation. What? The creation's got something
to expect. The whole creation expected, waiting for the manifestation
of the sons of God. Waiting for God to make manifest
his sons in everlasting glory. Now read on. For the creature,
the creation, the creation was made subject to vanity. Made
subject to all that was involved in the fall of Adam. Thorns grow
out there in weeds. It's amazing. You can buy good
hybrid seed, plow the ground, work it up good, fertilize it,
till the ground, water it. You can plant that seed and just
stand back and leave it alone. The weeds will take over and
the seed won't grow at all. How come? Adam fell. Exactly
how come? Thorns and thistle grow everywhere.
How come? Adam fell. The whole creation
was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him
that subjected the same in hope. God put the creation in subjection
to vanity in hope. In hope of what? Of the verse
21. Because the creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage
of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. The children of God, for we know
that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together
until now. Every time I walk in the woods
in the wintertime and I hear those huge trees cracking under
the weight of the snow, cracking with the wind, I think of that
text of scripture. The whole creation. I hear the thunder roll and I
hear the whole creation groaning. I hear the tornado winds coming
and I see the effect and I say the whole creation's groaning.
Groaning for what? Trembling to be delivered. Verse 23, and not only so, not
only they, but ourselves also. which had the first fruits of
the spirit, the earnest of the inheritance, even we ourselves
grown within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, waiting for
the climax, waiting for the end, to wit, the redemption of our
bodies. We shall be at last, and all
God's creation at last, so thoroughly and completely delivered from
all sin that there shall not even be the trace of the slime
of the serpent on God's creation. He's going to deliver the whole
thing according to his purpose. Well, how can we call this plenteous
redemption if our Lord just redeemed his elect? Somebody say, well,
Y'all believe God just saves a handful, but did you ever see
his hand? It's a mighty big hand. It's
a multitude which no man can number, multiplied untold millions
redeemed. Not only has he redeemed a great
multitude, he has redeemed us from all sin. And he has redeemed for us all
the blessings and blessedness of grace and glory forever. Now that's what I call hope,
a good hope that make it not ashamed. Amen.

Plenteous Redemption

What does the Bible say about redemption?

How do we know Christ's redemption is effective?

Why is forgiveness important for Christians?

How can I find hope in difficult times?

What is the significance of God's sovereign grace?

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Plenteous Redemption

What does the Bible say about redemption?

How do we know Christ's redemption is effective?

Why is forgiveness important for Christians?

How can I find hope in difficult times?

What is the significance of God's sovereign grace?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

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