Years ago, a believing woman gave birth to
a son whom she would be compelled by God's providence and grace
to leave when he was just four years old. She instructed her
son and prayed for her son until the day the Lord took her out
of this world. But when she was just four years old, the Lord
took her. His father was not a commendable
character. And the boy was jerked from pillar
to post until he was about 12 years old and joined his uncle
on a sailing vessel. And he found that the most lucrative
form of cargo in those days, and that to which he was most
naturally inclined in his ungodliness, was slave trading. And he sailed
back and forth to Africa, various islands, trading in human cargo. Finally, he was himself captured
by an African tribesman, actually a tribeswoman, a woman who was
head of one of the tribes in Africa. And she treated him as
a dog. She staked him out under the
shrubs and threw waste food to him. And that's how he lived
until he was finally able to escape. But that didn't change
his heart. At last the Lord God was pleased
to save that wretched rebel by his grace. And he never got over
it. His name was John Newton. He's
the man who wrote that hymn we love to sing, Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound that saved
a wretch like me. He's one of my favorite preachers
to read after. His sermons are full of Christ,
full of grace. Everything he writes, full of
Christ, full of grace, or everything he wrote, I should say. When
Newton was put in the ministry, he had a office at Olney, and
there he prepared his sermons, and there he wrote his hymns,
hundreds of them, and hanging directly in front of his desk,
in large letters was the text for my message this evening,
Deuteronomy chapter 15 and verse 15. He had these words written out
in large script hanging before him so that all the time as he
would study, as he would write, as he would prepare his sermons,
as he would write his hymns, he'd look up, just like I'm looking
at that clock now and that's right in front of him. And thou
shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt
and the Lord thy God redeemed thee. Let God be pleased now
to inscribe in our hearts by the finger of his grace the sweet
blessed memory of his redeeming work for us and in us by Christ
Jesus. One day William Jay was visiting
Mr. Newton, and Jay lived in a community
called Bath. And Jay wrote this story in his
autobiography, so I'm not out of turn telling it. He said he
was visiting Newton, and as he was greeted, Newton said to him,
he said, it's so good to have you, and so good to have you
here on this occasion. He said, I have before me a letter
from a certain gentleman, and he called his name, who lives
in Bath. Do you know it? And William Jay said, oh, I know
him well. He used to come and sit under my ministry, but now
he's a rogue. He has a reputation for wickedness
in every vice and every vile behavior. He is characterized
by those things. And Mr. Newton said, perhaps
the Lord's converted him. He writes a remarkable letter.
And Jay responded this way. He said, I can only say that
if ever he should be converted, I should despair of no one. And
John Newton replied to his friend, and I have never despaired of
anybody since I was converted myself. Mr. Jay seemed, at least for the
moment, to have forgotten thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and
the Lord thy God hath redeemed thee. Mr. Newton didn't. God
teach us not to forget, but to remember. May God the Holy Spirit
now bring to our memories the amazing grace of our God in delivering
our souls from bondage. May he use it to melt our hearts
in devotion to him for the glory of his name. Now, I want this
evening to talk to you about just two things. I'm gonna talk
to you for a little bit about redemption, and then I'm gonna
talk to you about remembering. First, redemption. Oh, what a
subject. There's nothing that thrills
my soul like redemption. I love to think about it, to
study about it, to sing about it, to hear about it. It's my
joy, my song, and my message. I delight to preach redemption. I love to proclaim to you the
redeeming work of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. The Lord God
redeemed Israel by blood. He redeemed them by power and
by bringing them at last into the full possession of all that
he promised in his covenant that he made with Abraham to bring
them into and to give them by possession all the land of Canaan. Now, in all these things, the
physical redemption and deliverance of Israel out of Egypt was intended
by God to be and stands today as a typical picture of our redemption
by Christ and our deliverance by the grace of our God in Jesus
Christ from the bondage of sin, of Satan, and of the world. He redeemed Israel in three ways,
and the Lord has redeemed us in three ways. First, there was
a redemption by price. When we think about redemption,
always remember that redemption means more than simply paying
a price. Redemption means deliverance
by a price. Our Lord God first must do something
for himself before he could do something for us. He must satisfy
his own justice before he could deliver us from the curse of
the law. And so he redeemed us by price. The Jews were redeemed from Egypt
by the blood of the Paschal Lamb, and they were redeemed from Egypt
by the blood of the Egyptians themselves. Even so, the Lord
God has redeemed us by the price of blood. Blood infinitely, indescribably
more valuable than the blood of goats and of calves. Infinitely
more indescribable and more valuable than the blood of men themselves,
yea, even of nations. Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
by the shedding of His precious blood as our substitute, has
made atonement for our sins and redeemed us from the curse of
the law. Turn to 1 Peter 1 for a moment.
1 Peter 1. There are many, many passages
we could look at, but let's never tire of reading what the Scripture
says to us to instruct us in redemption. The Lord Jesus, his
own self, bear our sins in his own body on the tree. That we,
being dead to sins, dead by virtue of his death, should live unto
righteousness by whose stripes you are healed. Now, look at
what Peter says in 1 Peter 1, 18. For as much as you know,
you know, this is a given, this is a fact. Every believer knows. Every believer knows. Did you
hear me? Every believer knows. I know
that God Almighty saves sinners by His grace. I know that salvation
is a work of God in the heart of a man. But God doesn't work
in your heart by bypassing your mind. He teaches you something.
He teaches you the gospel. You know, you know. Peter writes
to these strangers and foreigners scattered here and there, these
elect men and women whom God had chosen and called by His
grace. And he says, you know. Now I'm telling you, if you're
born of God, you know this. You know that you were not redeemed
with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation
received by tradition from your father. The Lord didn't deliver
you from the vanity of your life. That's what he's talking about.
The vanity of your life. That life which you lived in
the course of this world, being led like a lamb to the slaughter
by the world itself, walking to destruction. That vain manner
of life. You weren't delivered from that
by the price of some riches that men could give, but by the precious
blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish. And without
spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the
world, but was manifest in these last times for you. This lamp,
by whose blood we are redeemed. His blood is precious because
it's His blood. It's the blood of Him who is
God incarnate. It's the blood of a lamb ordained
by God before the world began, the blood of a lamb accepted
by God for the pardon of our sins. For Christ also hath once
suffered for sins, the just for the unjust. There's no other
way whereby God could save us that He might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit.
Now turn to Isaiah chapter 43, and I want you to see this. Having
sacrificed his darling son to save us, the Lord God will not
hesitate. Now listen to me. He will not
hesitate to sacrifice anything or anyone else. Even as he sacrificed
the firstborn of Egypt, Pharaoh and all the armies of Egypt to
deliver Israel. I'm telling you Bobby Estes if
he gave his son for you He'll give anything and anybody for
you Anything and anybody can you get hold of this? Look what
he says Isaiah 43 verse 1 But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee Oh Jacob He that formed thee Oh Israel fear not
Fear not now, how come? You tell me don't be afraid?
On what basis? You tell me be calm, be at ease,
rest my soul? On what basis? I have redeemed you. Now there's not a stronger text
in all the Bible to declare the distinctiveness of Christ's redeeming
work and the distinctiveness of God's love and the distinctiveness
of His grace. If He has redeemed everybody,
If he has loved everybody, if he has called everybody, then
this text of scripture is utterly meaningless. And the bid that
comes from his gracious lips, fear not, is a mockery. It's
another mockery, but it has power, Rex. It has efficacy to our hearts
because we know something. I've redeemed you. Oh my God
has redeemed me. Now what shall I fear? Look at
this. I have called you. I've called you by name. You're
mine. Verse two. When thou passest
through the waters, through the waters you will pass if I've
redeemed you. If I've called you, you're gonna
walk with me through deep, deep waters. But when you do, I will
be with thee. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the fire. I love the language he uses.
When you walk through the fire, following me, fire is in your
path, following me, deep water's in your path, following me, rivers
of woe are in your path, but you walk through them, you walk
through them believing me. And when you walk through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned. Not gonna have any, any, damaging
effect upon you. Look at this. Neither shall the
flame kindle upon thee. Now, how can I be sure of that?
For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Saba for thee. Since thou wast precious in my
sight, thou hast been honorable. Look at this now. And I have
loved thee. Therefore will I give men for
thee and people for thy life. What a word of grace What a word
of assurance 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? The Lord God has redeemed us
by price and he has redeemed us by power the word redemption
as I said a moment ago, implies far more than merely paying a
ransom price. Whenever you think about Christ's
great work of redemption, always remember that all for whom the
ransom price was paid must and shall be delivered. In Bible
terms, redemption means this. It means deliverance as well
as ransom. It means deliverance on the basis
of ransom paid. We've been redeemed by the ransom
of Christ's precious blood. and we have been delivered from
the bondage of sin, Satan, and the law by the irresistible power
of God's sovereign grace. Our Lord God came to us in the
day of His grace and made us willing to come out from the
land to bondage, just as He made Israel willing to come out of
Egypt. When He made the shackles and the bondage bitter to them,
then they cried out for mercy. And when He makes sin bitter
to your soul, you'll cry out for mercy. Not only did He make
them willing to come out, He made them able to come out and
made them come out. Thy people, the scripture says,
shall be willing in the day of thy power. But willing is not
sufficient. How shall they come out? Blessed
is the man whom thou choosest and causes to approach unto thee. Pastor, how can I be free from
this? Only if God Almighty comes to
you like He came to Lazarus of old and calls you and says, And I'm going to tell you something.
If He ever calls you, you'll come out. You'll come out. He
brought them out. And so He brought us out by the
power of His grace. And then there is redemption
by possession as well. You won't need to turn there
and look at it. for these folks who just have to keep insisting
that the Lord hasn't yet fulfilled all of his promises to Israel.
You know, they never have really possessed the land. They never
had all that God promised them. Listen to this. Joshua, when
he brought Israel into the land of Canaan, this is what he said.
And behold, this day you know in all your hearts and in all
your souls that not one thing hath failed. of the good things
which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All are come
to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof. Now,
what's the significance of that? Our Lord Jesus Christ, our great
Joshua Larry, before he's done, he's gonna complete this thing
of redemption by putting us into possession of all that God promised
us in our surety before the world began. He said, not one word
hath failed. And when our Lord presents us
holy and unblameable before the presence of his glory, he will
declare to us, children of God, here it is, the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world, and it's yours. He
will put us in possession of all that was promised us. Now
then, let me talk to you a little bit about remembering. Our text
says, thou shalt remember. that thou wast a bondman in the
land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee. The remembrance
of God's mercy, remembering our bondage and his redemption, ought
to have a constant, profound effect upon our lives. I keep
going back to this elementary and yet most profound of all
gospel truths. Because I need constant reminding.
And I keep preaching it to you because I know you need constant
reminding. The remembrance of God's mercy
and grace in the redemption of our souls. Oh, my soul, it ought
to make us humble before God. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? You know, it's become a common
saying because some Puritan some time ago wrote, he saw a toad
and he said, but for the grace of God I would be as this toad.
And we look at things and say, there but for the grace of God
go I. Let me tell you something. The only thing that distinguishes
us from any beastly human being in this world, the only thing
that distinguishes us from the reprobate in hell at this hour
is the distinguishing grace of God. I know that for most folks,
that's just unbelievable. And I know that we shut our eyes
to it, but I'm telling you, nothing distinguishes us from any human
being except the redeeming love, mercy, and grace of our God.
Who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that
thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? The remembrance
of God's redeeming grace ought to make us thankful. It's not
likely that any of us possesses everything that we think we'd
like to have. It may be that some have difficulties
and needs that no one knows except you and God. But let me tell
you something. Let me tell you something, whatever
your circumstances, whatever circumstances God in his providence
brings you into, if God Almighty has reached down from the throne
of his grace in heaven to the pit of hell and picked us up
from the pit, Merle, we ought ever to be thankful. Lord, do
with me what you will, just whatever you will. You saved me by your
grace, that's enough. Oh, infinitely more than enough.
The remembrance of redemption ought to make us patient. You
see, this is not the hour of our honor. We crave attention
and honor. We bow and scrape and kiss feet
and do everything we can to get folks to pay us a little attention,
give us a little honor. What silliness. It's not the hour
of our honor. Wait a while. Just wait a while. The Lord's promise is sure. And
the honor he'll give is everlasting honor that will cause us ever
to rejoice in his presence because of the honor he has put upon
us. This redemption, the remembrance
of it, ought to teach us contentment. The Apostle Paul knew something
about it. He said while he was a prisoner awaiting execution,
he said this, I know both how to be abased and how to abound.
Everywhere and in all things I'm instructed both to be full
and to be hungry, both to abound and suffer need. I can do all
things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Now let me tell you something. The person known to me who quoted
that verse of scripture, Philippians 4.13, more often in my years
than anyone else, was the most grumbling, discontent human being
I ever met in my life. And yet, I can do all things
through Christ who strengthens me. Constant, constant praise. What Paul's talking about is
what it says. I can suffer anything. and do
anything, bear anything, put up with anything, and be content
with my God and His grace through Christ who strengthens me. That's
what it's all about. I was in college. Of course,
it's getting worse these days. Religion is just nuts. It's just nuts. Folks go around. When I was in college, they started
with judo teams, going around chopping blocks for Jesus. And
they'd get up. I can do all things through Christ
which strengthens me. That's a mockery of God and His
grace. It's a mockery, mockery of men's
souls. This text is talking about faith.
It's talking about the experiential knowledge of grace and redemption. My God's redeemed me. Whatever
my God does with me, to me, in me, for me, or against me, in
the appearance of my eyes or the eyes of men, I'll endure
it with peace. He's my God. The remembrance
of redemption certainly ought to make us kind and gracious.
Read at your leisure the entire 15th chapter of Deuteronomy.
The whole chapter is talking about dealing with needy people
around you. And he says, now this is the
reason I call on you and demand of you that you be gracious because
you were a bondman. Now remember, Bonham, I have
delivered you. Now you deliver others. I've
been gracious to you. You be gracious to your neighbor.
It ought to make us hopeful, hopeful certainly for ourselves.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God. Right now, Oscar Bailey,
just like we are in this, oh, in this hell of a shape, And
that's just what it is. That's just what we are right
now. We are the sons. Imagine what we're going to be.
It doth not yet appear what we shall be. I have hope things
are going to get better. Things are going to get better.
God's going to make us like his son. And we ought to have hope
for others. I've despaired of none since
God saved me by his grace. This remembrance of redemption
Oh, if anything can make a man zealous for Christ, if anything
can get hold of your heart, make you consecrate yourself to him,
it's the remembrance of God's grace and redemption in Christ.
Nothing else would do it. I told you about John Newton
earlier, when he was an old man and his health was failing, he
was often asked why he didn't go ahead and retire. And this
was the answer he gave, what? Shall the old African blasphemer
leave off preaching Christ while there's breath in his body? No,
never. He remembered that he was a bondman
in the land of Egypt, and the Lord God had redeemed him. Now, let me see if I can make
some practical application of this. You read the book of Deuteronomy,
beginning at chapter 5, go right through chapter 26. Then you'll
find that everything instituted in the worship and service of
God, everything, everything. I challenge you, read them, read
them carefully. Everything instituted in the worship and service of
God was inspired by this remembrance. Remember, I've redeemed you. Remember where you were and what
you were. Now remember, I've redeemed you. I call on you, my brothers and
sisters, to remember. Whenever the house of worship
is open and God's saints gather in his house to worship him,
remember you were a bondman in the land of Egypt and the Lord
thy God redeemed you. When the offering plate is passed,
you have opportunity to take of your bounty and give, remember
you were a bondman in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God
redeemed you. Give accordingly. Property needs
attention. Remember, remember, you said
in your prayer, what a blessing. God's established a place for
us to worship. Act like it, act like it. When the church building
needs cleaning, well, I've done my part. Oh, I cringe every time
I hear somebody say, done my part. Remember, you were a bondman
in Egypt. The Lord God redeemed you. Now
talk about doing your part. Now talk about doing your part.
When someone needs a little help, and you have opportunity to show
some hospitality, when you have opportunity to bear faithful
witness to the things of God, remember, you were a barman. The Lord redeemed you. When time
comes to make a decision between right and wrong, temptations
are before you everywhere. And you have to make decisions
every day, every day. Every one of you have to make
decisions every day. I don't know why it's such a tough decision.
I don't understand it. I really don't. With you or me. I really don't. And the fact
is, Lindsey, it's a tough decision. It's a tough decision because
our flesh is just flesh. It's just flesh. Now, what'll
I do? Will I honor God or please myself? Isn't that amazing? Isn't that
amazing? Will I do the will of God or
my own will? Will I do what I know is right
or will I do what I know will make somebody else happy? And
usually it's not make somebody else happy, it's usually make
me happy. What you gonna do? God help us to remember we were
bondmen in the land of Egypt. and the Lord our God. Thou hast
avouched the Lord this day to be thy God and to walk in His
ways, to keep His statutes and His commandments and His judgments,
to hearken to His voice. That's what we're saying, isn't
it? I'm His. I'm His. Act like it. When you choose your companions,
remember, Remember who your companions must be, must be. Children of
God, old and young alike, old and young alike, I wish mamas
and daddies, grandmas and grandpas who set a proper example for
these young ones following our steps, and they do follow our
steps. When you choose your companions, choose for your companions who
have been bondmen with you and have been redeemed by God's grace
you don't have anything in common with those who still love the
bondage there's nothing in common now as we come together tonight
once more at this blessed table and eat this bread and drink
this wine our Lord Jesus says this do remember Thou wast a
bondman in the land of Egypt, and, Bob, the Lord your God. Don Fortner, you were a bondman
in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God. Don't forget it. Amen.