Deuteronomy chapter 15 verse
15. Throughout the Word of God we
are admonished over and over and over again to remember. To remember what we are by nature. To remember what we were and
where we were when God saved us by his grace. To remember
what the Lord has done for us. And therefore our God commands
us here in Deuteronomy 15, 15, And thou shalt remember that
thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God
redeemed thee. The Lord thy God redeemed thee. in the Word of God, in the worship
of God, in the service of God. That which motivates and governs
the lives of God's saints in this world is the remembrance
of grace and redemption as we have experienced it at the hands
of our God. Now I want this morning to stir
up our memories and I want to stir up our souls to unparalleled
consecration and devotion to God our Savior with gratitude. And so in doing so, I'll show
you four things clearly set before us in this text. First, we have
here the picture of grace set before us in the redemption of
Israel out of Egyptian bondage. As you read the history of the
children of Israel in the Old Testament, you can't help noticing
the great care that was taken by God that the Jews never forget
His great work in bringing them up out of Egypt, the house of
bondage. He intended for them to be reminded
everywhere they turn, everywhere they look, to be reminded of
what He had done for them. And therefore He commanded them
to remember it forever. Remember, thou wast a bondman
in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God Now the whole 12th
chapter of Exodus, as Israel is preparing to leave the land
of Egypt, the whole 12th chapter of Exodus is given over to instruction
about what was to be done and how the Lord God would establish
the memory of this thing in the minds of Israel. Turn back there
for a moment. Exodus chapter 12. In verse 2,
we see that the month of their deliverance was made to be the
first month of the year to them. This month shall be unto you
the beginning of months. And then in verses 3 through
14, a special ordinance was established by God to be kept perpetually
by the children of Israel throughout their generations until the coming
of Christ the Redeemer. The Lord established that which
was the Passover, which in many ways was the prelude to that
which we observe now as the Lord's Table. The Passover was ordained
by God to be an annual New Year celebration in Egypt, so that
the children of Israel every year, as they watch the high
priests go in and make sacrifice to God upon the mercy seat, over
the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy of Holies, there to make
atonement for Israel once every year. They would remember how
that God brought them out of Egypt by the blood of a lamb
and how that that blood and that lamb and that deliverance typified
and represented a far greater deliverance yet to be accomplished
by Christ the Messiah. In verse 3, a lamb was to be
taken for every house. And the lamb was to be required,
in verse 5, to be a lamb without blemish, a male of the first
year. In other words, it was to be
an innocent victim in the prime of its life. What a picture of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. He who is holy, harmless,
undefiled, and separate from sinners. The innocent, holy Lamb
of God, taken as a sacrifice in the prime of His life, in
the full vigor of His manhood, and it was to be killed. The
Lamb wasn't just to be looked at. It wasn't just to be held
up as an example of modesty and humility. That Holy Lamb was
to be slain. Christ the Lamb of God is our
Redeemer and our Savior only by virtue of His death as our
sacrifice under the violent hand of divine justice. The Lamb slain,
His blood was to be sprinkled upon the doorpost and the lentil.
And thus, picturing the blood of Christ applied to our hearts
by God the Holy Spirit. As the Lord Jesus ascended into
heaven, by the merit of His blood He obtained eternal redemption
for us. And then in the time of His love
and grace, God the Holy Spirit comes and takes the precious
blood of Christ and effectually applies it to the hearts of chosen
sinners so that we now eat the lamb just like Israel did back
here in Exodus chapter 12. Eat the lamb? Eat his flesh and
drink his blood? Not literally, no. Not symbolically
in the Lord's table. That's not what the text is talking
about when our Lord commands us to eat his flesh and drink
his blood. What he's talking about is this.
We, by faith, take him in all that he is, in all his accomplishments,
And now, taking Him as our Redeemer and our Savior, taking His merit,
His blood, His atonement, His righteousness, He is ours forever,
and we're His in the blessed experience of redemption. Look
in Exodus 12, verse 13. And the blood, the blood, the
blood. Oh, don't ever let this modern
squeamishness about blood turn you against the Word of God.
It is the life that is in the blood. And so the blood in the
Scriptures is prominent. The blood in the Scriptures particularly
representing the blood of Jesus Christ our Savior. The blood
shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are. And
the Lord God says, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Oh, blessed word of grace. When
I see the blood, I will pass over you. He saw the blood back
yonder in eternity. He saw the blood when it was
shed at Calvary. He saw the blood long before
we saw the blood, and the time may come when we can't see it
anymore, and he'll still see the blood. He'll still see it.
I recall hearing Brother Scott Richardson preach on this text
one time years ago down in Virginia. We were in a conference, and
he was talking about one of his relatives who had spent years
and years and years in an insane asylum, didn't even know his
name and he said time may come when I may get that old-timers
disease and I'll be sitting around in a wheelchair and I can't remember
who I am or who you are much less remember the blood but the
text doesn't say when I see the when you see the blood it says
when I see the blood I'll pass over you and hear me now it is
not our seeing the blood that causes God's wrath to pass over
us. It's His seeing the blood that
causes us to see it and causes His wrath to pass over us. In
addition to the Passover ceremony, the Jews were required to instruct
their children in the matter of redemption. In chapter 6 of
Deuteronomy, verse 20, When thy son asketh thee in time to come,
saying, What mean these testimonies? What does all this mean, this
Passover, These ordinances, these commandments, this word. What
mean these testimonies and the statutes and the judgments which
the Lord our God hath commanded you? Verse 21, Then thou shalt
say unto thy son, Son, now listen to me, listen to me. I've got
to tell you something that I hope God will make you understand.
Oh, I pray God will seal it to your heart. We were Pharaoh's
bondmen in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of
Egypt with a mighty, mighty hand. That's the story. If this were the responsibility
of parents in those days, to instruct their children in detail,
word by word, rising in the morning, when lying down at night, when
sitting at the table, when going out in the field, to instruct
their children, word for word, in detail, constantly throughout
their lives, about typical redemption. Oh, my soul, Ron, how much more
responsible we are to instruct ours of real redemption, the
redemption of our souls by the blood of Jesus Christ, so that
when your sons and daughters Sit around your table while you
have opportunity. Oh, while you have opportunity,
while you have opportunity. Seize the opportunity to tell
them what God's done for His people in Christ. Why do we go to the house of
God? How come we spend so much time at church? We were bondmen
in the house of Egypt, and the Lord God redeemed us. Why do
we build our lives around the things of God? Why can't we live
like other people do? Because we were bondmen in the
house of Egypt and the Lord God redeemed us. Why is it that we
give and take our money and our time and our substance and our
energies and give them in the cause of Christ? We remember
that we were bondmen in the land of Egypt and the Lord our God
redeemed us. Let other men and women live as though these were secondary
matters, if they can. Let other men and women live
as though these things were just issues of the head, if they can. For me and my house, we remember. We were bondmen. In a dark, dark land. And the Lord God brought us out. Even in giving their law. The children of Israel were commanded
to remember their redemption from Egypt by the hand of God. You remember when the Lord gave
his law in Exodus 20? He said, I'm the Lord that brought
you out of the land of Egypt. He said, now this is why I'm
giving it to you. Repeatedly, throughout their history, the
Jews were commanded by God, thou shalt remember that thou was
a bondman in the land of Egypt and the Lord thy God redeemed
thee. They were carefully instructed
exactly how to do so. How much more shall we remember?
Our redemption by Christ. Our experience of God's grace
in Christ must always be held to the forefront, never cast
to the rear, never placed in the background. In all our worship,
in all our preaching, in all our teaching, in all our singing,
in all our praying, in all our witnessing, in all our living,
in all our thoughts, remember thou wast a bondman in the land
of Egypt and the Lord thy God hath redeemed thee. You remember
that? Redemption must always be the
primary matter of constant contemplation. The primary matter of constant
consideration. The primary matter of constant
devotion. Redemption. Redemption. That's
the motive for everything. That's the motive for everything.
The difference between Gospel truth. The difference between
genuine Christianity, the difference between worshipping God in spirit
and worshipping God in bondage, the difference between worshipping
God with the liberty of God's sons and worshipping God in the
bondage of drudgery and slavery is that those who truly worship
God bloody-darty do so because they're motivated by gratitude.
We're not here because we have to be. We're not here because
we're scared God's going to take it out of our head. We're not
here because we're afraid God's going to turn against us if we
didn't show up. Oh, no, no, no, no. We're here
because God redeemed us. He redeemed us. This is how Paul
constantly motivates us. In Ephesians chapter 2, when
he would promote unity between Jew and Gentile. Now, try to
put yourself in the position of the Jews and Gentiles in that
day. The Jews didn't have a whole lot of use for us. They thought
we were dumb and dirty. They did. They thought we were
cursed and cursed. They didn't have anything to
do with us. That was just the nature of Jesus. Kind of like
going down to North Carolina and finding a good southern boy
and telling him, now you and the black folks are going to
have to get along. Y'all had to learn to love each
other. After all, you're one in Christ. Well, how on earth
do you do that? Paul says Christ broke down the
middle wall of petition. That's how you do that. Oh, he
sure did. Now we're one in him. We're one
in him. Believers, walk together in peace
because you've been redeemed. When the apostle challenges us
to godliness and devotion, he does so by reminding us of redemption. He said, God, we thank you were
the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that
doctrine which was delivered to you. Being then made free
from sin, You became the servants of righteousness. He says, what? Don't you know that your body
is the temple of the Holy Ghost whose temple you are? And you're
not your own. Bobby Estes, you don't belong
to Bobby Estes. You're not your own. You've been
bought with a price. So glorify God in everything. When the apostle seeks to promote
mercy, Brotherly love, kindness, and forgiveness among believers.
He simply reminds us of the mercy, kindness, and love we've experienced
in redemption by Christ Jesus in Ephesians 4. You see, redemption
and grace by Christ is not just the primary thing in our doctrine
and in our religion. It's not the primary thing. Redemption
and grace by Christ is everything. It's everything, everything.
What's our doctrine? Christ redeemed me. What's our
glory? Christ redeemed me. What's our
hope? Christ redeemed me. What's our motive? Christ redeemed
me. What's our rule? Christ redeemed
me. How do you govern the house of
God? Christ redeemed us. That's sufficient
if you know anything about it by experience. And James, if it's not sufficient
to motivate, govern, and inspire you, you don't know anything
about it by experience. Oh, but what can be wrong with
teaching the law? What can be wrong with bringing
folks under the law? What can be wrong with saying,
now, we realize we ought to do this because we love the Lord,
but just in case that's not enough, you get this whip out because
you don't know anything about it by experience if you need
to win. You just don't. You just don't.
All right, now secondly, I want us to consider the bondage of
sin from which we've been redeemed by God's mighty hand. Man's natural bondage in sin
is very well pictured by the bondage the Egyptians held against
the Jews and upon them. The Apostle tells us we were
all children of wrath by nature. That is to say we all were the
servants, the slaves of sin. The servants, the slaves of our
lust and of Satan. Paul says you were the servants
of sin in Romans chapter 6. Before God saved us by his grace,
we were enslaved by a power against which we had no strength. That
at that time, Paul says, you were without strength. Without
strength. Now, this is what I'm telling
you. You who are yet without Christ, you who are yet slaves
to your lust, you who are yet slaves to the custom of this
world, you who are yet slaves to Satan. Listen to me. I'm not
suggesting that you behave in the most vile, ignominious way
you could. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Satan
would just as soon have you sitting in church three times a week
as have you in a bar. That doesn't make any difference. That doesn't
make any difference. He'd just as soon you be moral as be immoral.
That's nothing. That's nothing. Satan pretends
to be a minister of righteousness. Well, preacher, what are you
talking about? I'm telling you that you're without strength.
And this is where we were when God saved us. Without strength
to keep God's law at all. I mean, Lindsay, You and I, by
nature, have no ability to do anything good. Nothing. Nothing. Now, we do things that
make men smile at us and prove of us and say, boy, what a fine
fellow he is. But not before God. No human being has any ability
to keep God's law at all. We have no ability, by nature,
to resist temptation. We're all shocked in our self-righteousness by what transpired in Colorado. And I said that deliberately.
Shocked in our self-righteousness. We ought to be shocked it doesn't
happen every day. Every day. Every day. A preacher, what do you mean?
If God would turn loose our sons and daughters Just turn them
loose. If God would turn loose their
mothers and fathers, if he just turned us loose, if he just turned
us loose to ourselves, that'd look like a Sunday school picnic.
That's just fact. That's just fact. Oh, I couldn't
do that. You don't have any idea what
you're capable of doing. Neither do I. I have a first cousin, I think
I've told you some years ago. I was just a boy. Raised in church all her life.
Family raised in church. Good family as far as community's
concerned. Large family. Her husband walked in one day. Man, father of her children. As far as I know, Something may
be hid, I don't know, but as far as I know she's a good wife,
good mother. Without any reason. He just walked in one day, loaded
his gun, killed her right in front of the kids. How do you
explain that? Unless God holds the unregenerate,
unless God holds you by his providence, by his restraining hand, there's
nothing you won't do. Taken captive by Satan, what
does the scripture say? His will. That's all. That's all. Oh, we got to trust
our kids. If you trust them, you trust
a fool. Don't you dare trust them to themselves. No. No, no,
no. Understand, mamas and daddies,
there is a demon locked up inside your children. And that demon
is your own nature. They're just exactly like you.
Therefore, you govern them, and you guide them, and you direct
them, and you supervise them, and you lead them, and you watch
them, and you care for them. We were bondmen, and our bondage
was such that we had no ability to resist it. And if we'd had
the ability, we didn't have the will. We had no inclination to
escape the bondage. We loved it. Oh, we loved it. I'm a Southerner by birth and
by choice. I'm so much a Southerner that
if I weren't a Southerner, I'd be ashamed. But the greatest
blight on our Southern heritage, that horrible inhumanity which
many try still to defend, is slavery. It's one of those things I wish
somehow had never happened or we could just erase it from memory,
but that can't be. Slavery is one huge, ugly, oozing
sore on the side of the South that will forever bar the beauty
of the South. Now that's just fact. That's
just fact. But you know one of the worst
aspects of slavery? It so degraded man that men frequently
became content to be slaves. Happy to be slaves. Such contentment
is a moral castration of manhood. He is not truly a man who is
content to be the slave to any man. And yet such was our spiritual
condition and such is our spiritual condition by nature that we are
content to be in bondage to our lust to the course of this world
and to Satan. We hugged our chains and kissed
our manacles as if they were marks of beauty. Oh, Satan is a hard taskmaster. As Pharaoh made Israel to serve
with rigor, to make bricks without straw, compelling them by brutality
to build his pyramids, so Satan is a hard taskmaster. Of all
tyrants, there are no tyrants like sin, Satan, and the Word. You young people, please listen to this preacher.
Oh, God help you to listen to me. I speak with the memory of bitter
experience. Sin, Satan, and the world will debase you. bring you to nothing but contempt
in your own eyes. I know what it is to wake up
every morning, look myself in the mirror and pray for strength
to commit suicide. I know exactly what it is. It'll bring you to nothing but
contempt. It'll bankrupt you. You follow the path of this world.
I know, I know in this, mamas and daddies, none of us, none
of us have exercised enough good sense in this regard. Take five minutes, just take
five minutes, just five minutes. Sometime when your kids aren't
paying any attention to you, listen to what they're listening to
on the radio. Just five minutes. You think it was kinda, things
just kinda teased around when you were kids? Men are no teasing
around these days. If you had good sense, you'd
watch it. Just slip in the door and watch what they're watching
on television. And watch it. It'll destroy you. It'll destroy you. What preacher? The lust of your flesh, the course
of this world, the direction of Satan. Now, let me tell you something
else I've experienced. One of the most joyful things
I've ever known in my life was the bitterness of that bondage. There came a day when God caused
us to feel the whip of the taskmaster. He caused us to know the bitterness
of the bondage, the bankruptcy of our souls, the degradation
of our being. And we cried to God for mercy. And when we cried, like he heard
Israel in Egypt, he heard his people cry out and he sent deliverance. Remember, you were a bondman
in Egypt. And I redeemed you. Like Pharaoh, Satan's aim was
our destruction. The strong man armed would not
let us go. Though our hearts were pricked
by the preaching of the word, though we were deeply moved by
the gospel, we simply could not escape. Oh, how often I made
resolutions and resolved, and made resolutions and resolved.
But I couldn't break the chains, I couldn't free myself of the
manacles, I couldn't escape my lust. Then, oh blessed day, King
Jesus stepped in and entered into the strongman's house and
bound the strongman, cast him out and set up his residency
on his throne and made me like it. That's redemption. Redemption. I tried to picture The children
of Israel have crossed over now and take possession of the land.
I try to picture them. And as I do, I can see Joshua
and Caleb trying to explain things to them. You remember the Lord
commanding them, he said, you set up stones now as a memorial.
You set up these ordinances as a memorial. You set up this service
as a memorial. I can picture them. Old Joshua
and Caleb, the only two grown men who came out of Egypt to
enter the land of promise. Son, that old man says you see
these scars? They're scars of hard bondage,
let me tell you about it. You see these stones? These stones
are stones of memorial to the God of covenant promise who's
faithful in all things. Now then, you see this Lamb? This Lamb slain, this Lamb about
to be offered a sacrifice to God, this Lamb whose blood is
about to be sprinkled on the mercy seat. On the night God
redeemed us, He sacrificed the Lamb for us. And that Lamb portrays
and pictures the Lamb of God. One of these days, come and take
away the sins of the world. Believe God, son. Believe God. Believe God. Oh, God help you now. Believe
God. May God set you free. And when
He sets you free, You're free. Amen. Men, would you come lead
us in the hymn please?