Would you turn back to Deuteronomy
chapter 15? Now this was a law. I try to think of what if there
was a law like this in our day. I just like to think about that.
This was a law in Israel. At the end of every seven years,
thou shalt make a release. All debts were forgiven. Whatever
you owed, you did not owe it any more. Can you imagine that? This was a law. Look in verse
two. And this is the manner of the
release, the remission. Every creditor, everybody that
had money owed to them, every creditor that lendeth ought unto
his neighbor shall release it. He'll forgive it. He'll remit
it. He shall not exact it of his
neighbor or of his brother. He won't try to get anything
out of him because it is called the Lord's release. Now, can you imagine a law like
that? I could see where it would be greatly abused. One week before
that year, I'd borrow money. I would. I'd borrow money. I'd
borrow plenty of it. And it would all be forgiven. This was a law. Now, verse three. Of a foreigner, thou mayest exact
it again, someone that was not an Israelite, but that which
is thine with thy brother, thine hand shall release. This was a privilege only to
the Hebrews, not the foreigner. Save verse four, when there should
be no more poor among you, no more debtors, then this law won't
be necessary. For the Lord shall greatly bless
thee in the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance
to possess it. Now, you'll be blessed in forgiving
your brother or your neighbor his debt. God's going to take
care of you. You're going to be blessed abundantly
in doing it, but we're called upon to do it. Verse five. Only
if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God
to observe, to do all these commandments, which I command thee this day.
For the Lord thy God blesseth thee as he promised thee. And
thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow. And
thou shalt reign over many nations, but thou shalt not, they shall
not reign over thee. Now, if there be, now he talks
about forgiving debts. Now he talks about giving. First,
he talked about forgiving debts. But not only were you to forgive
debts, you were also to give to those in need. Look in verse
seven. If there be any among you a poor
man out of thy brethren, within any of thy gates in thy land,
which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine
heart, nor shut thy hand from thy poor brother. Not only are
you to release your brother's debt, but you're to give to his
need. If you have a poor brother, don't
harden your heart, don't shut your hand toward him, but be
generous in helping him. Verse eight, but thou shalt open
thy hand wide unto him and shalt surely lend him sufficient for
his need in that which he wanteth. Debts are forgiven. and needs
are supplied. And beware, that there be not
a thought in thy wicked heart, saying the seventh year, the
year of release is at hand, and thine eye be evil against thy
poor brother, and thou givest him not, and he crying to the
Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee. Now, what if somebody
asks, if they could borrow $10,000 from you a week before the Lord's
release. That'd be hard to give it, wouldn't
it? Because by law, within one week,
they wouldn't owe you anything anymore. And yet you were required
to do it. And the Lord said, if you've
got a thought in your wicked heart saying, I'm not going to
do it because the Lord's released it, Ann, don't do that. Beware
of that. You give anyway. I'll bless you
in giving. You didn't trust the Lord to
take care of you, did you? They were commanded. Now, did they
keep this law? I don't know. I don't know. I
know I don't read where they ever kept it. You're a Jubilee.
And I don't know if they kept this, but don't you see the gospel
in this as we'll go on reading. Beware that there be not a thought
in thy wicked heart, verse 9, saying, the seventh year, the
year of release is at hand, and that I be evil against thy poor
brother, and thou givest him not. And he cry unto the Lord
against thee, and it shall be sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely
give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest
him. Now, I just don't, when I see
that, do it willingly, do it cheerfully, do it because it's
a privilege to do it. Because that for this thing,
the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works and in
all that thou puttest thy hand unto. You'll be blessed in giving
at this time. For the poor shall never cease
out of the land. Therefore, I command thee saying thou shalt open thy
hand wide into thy brother. to thy poor and to thy needy
in the land. So we see during this year, all
debts were released and whatever was needed was given. Isn't that
a glorious law? Can you imagine something like
that? Now let's go on reading. Verse 12. And if thy brother,
an Hebrew man or an Hebrew woman be sold unto thee, and serve
thee six years. Now this is someone who was unable
to pay their debts, and so they had to sell themselves into slavery. They couldn't pay you what they
owed you, so they had to give themselves to you. They became
your slaves, a bond slave. And if thy brother, an Hebrew
man or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee and serve thee six
years, then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from
thee. You remember the law in Exodus
chapter 21, the law of the bond slave, but let's go on reading
about this verse 13. And when thou sendest him out
from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty. Thou shalt
furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor,
and out of thy winepress, that wherewith the Lord thy God hath
blessed thee, thou shalt give unto him. You're going to set
him up so when he goes out from you, he's going to be able to
get started. You're going to give him a start.
You're going to be generous toward him. You're going to give to
him as the Lord has blessed you. Verse 15, And thou shalt remember
that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, And the Lord thy
God redeemed thee, therefore I command thee this thing today.
You're to redeem, you're to remember that you are a bond slave, that
you are a slave. And I redeemed you from Egypt.
And it should be, if he say unto thee, verse 16, I'll not go away
from thee because he loveth thee in thine house, because he's
well with thee. Now that's an amazing thing.
You got a choice. You can either go free with riches
and get started on your own, or you can stay a slave. And
this fellow says, I wouldn't stay a slave. I love my master. I'd rather be his slave than
my own free man. I would rather be under him.
Then, verse 17, thou shalt take it all and thrust it through
his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant forever.
And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise. It shall
not seem hard unto thee when thou sendest him away from thee.
You're not gonna be grieved by it, for he hath been worth a
double hired servant to thee in serving thee six years, and
the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest. Now, this is a heavenly law,
isn't it? filled with grace and filled with mercy, the Lord's
release, a release worthy of God. Now in this release, we
see the gospel and we see how we are to be in light of what
the Lord has done for us in the gospel. Now I see four things
in this passage of scripture that I read. I see a forgiving
of debt, I see a complete release. Secondly, I see a giving what's
needed. I see the bond slave going free. And that one who's been freed,
wanting to be a servant. What a glorious picture of the
gospel. Now in the releasing of the dead,
back to verse two of this chapter, and this is the manner of the
release. Every creditor, no one was accepted, that lendeth ought
unto his neighbor shall release it. And he shall not exact it
of his neighbor or his brother. He won't try to seek compensation.
He'll let him alone because it's called the Lord's release. Now,
sin is called a debt, isn't it, in the scriptures? Remember when
the Lord taught us to pray on a daily basis? And this is something
I'm made to pray every day, Lord, Forgive me of my debts. Forgive
me of my sin. That's always a prayer. Sin is a debt. And the reason
being is sin is against God and He's so good and He's so glorious
and He's so worthy of all of our worship and praise. And any
sin against Him is a debt against Him. God is of perfect, loyal,
and willing obedience. And in Christ dying on the cross,
we have the release from our sins. Our debts, they're actually
put away, they're paid for, they're gone. And can't you see the grace
in this? They didn't do anything to deserve
this. It was because God said it. It was a law of God. God
decreed it and there it was. All of a sudden, can you imagine
waking up that morning and everything you owed was wiped out? You didn't
owe a thing and you knew it didn't have anything to do with because
of any goodness in you. It's not like you came up, I
know every time I paid off a debt, man, I feel good. I feel great
when I pay. Don't you feel good when you
pay off a debt that you've owed? That last payment, I paid it
off. You feel pretty good about yourself, and you should. It's
good to pay a debt. And people ought to pay their debts. But
you didn't have that feeling on this one. It was given to
you because of the Lord. It had nothing to do with you.
All of a sudden, you woke up debt free. The word release means
remission. Matthew 26, 28, the Lord said,
this is my blood of the New Testament. which is shed for many for the
remission, the release of sins. That same word is translated
deliverance. It's translated forgiveness.
It's translated liberty and release. Now, what is the requirement
for a release? Debt. Are you debtor? then this release
is for you. And you know, it wouldn't have
been so spectacular if it was a small debt. Well, I owed $15. It's been forgiven. Well, good.
But what if you were in a million dollars in debt? What if you
were $50,000? Whatever. I mean, think of a large amount.
Oh, you see the greatness and the spectacularness of it when
you see the greatness of the debt that's just wiped out. And
God is going to bless that person in wiping it out. He's going
to give to them. They're not going to hurt for
it. He promises that. But can you imagine how that
debtor must have felt? Now, the scripture says in Hebrews
9.22, without the shedding of blood, There is no remission
of sins. But with the shedding of blood,
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is complete remission of
sin. So that there's not one left. It's all wiped out. It's all
put away. There's nothing there. Turn to
Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. beginning in verse 12. But this man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool for, by one offering,
He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, whereof
the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. You know, we couldn't
believe this unless God the Holy Spirit testified this to us from
His Word. This is the truth. I'm actually
perfected by what Christ did. He accomplished my salvation.
Whereof the Holy Ghost also is witness to us, for after that
he'd said before, verse 16, this is the covenant that I'll make
with them after those days, saith the Lord. I'll put my laws into
their hearts and in their minds will I write them and their sins
and iniquities will I remember no more. Now, where remission
of these is, there's no more offering for sin. Don't dare
try bringing one. How many times Have you committed
a sin and thought, well, I just can't come into God's presence
now after I've done something like this or thought something
like this? You want to wait until you're in a better frame of mind.
You want to wait until you're a little bit more, you're not
so. That's bringing another offering. Now, where the remission of these
is, When Christ died, all sin was remitted. It was released.
It was put away. When he said, it is finished,
it was gone. So that God says, I remember
it no more. Nothing there to remember. Where
the remission of these is, there's no more offering for sin. Don't
you dare try to bring an offering. You look to Christ and Christ
alone. Look in verse 19. Having therefore, brethren, boldness. confidence, liberty to enter
into the holiest. by the blood of Jesus, that blood
that perfected us, that blood that remitted sins, by a new
and living way which He hath consecrated for us through the
veil, that is to say the flesh, and having a high priest over
the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. What grace there is in the remission
of sins. I hear this release. It wasn't
me paying my debt and being so happy because I got it paid.
It was the Lord declaring it to be over, released, gone. Isn't that a beautiful, beautiful
law? I tell you who loved the law,
the folks who were in debt. It might be that the folks who had
money owed to them might not like this law all that much.
I understand that. I would have been one of them and said, man,
this isn't right, but it was the law. It was the law. And
then we have a picture of the gospel, but not only were debts
forgiven, we're given all that we need. Look back in our text
in verse seven, Deuteronomy chapter 15. If there be among you a poor
man, Perhaps he brought his poverty
on himself. Perhaps through mismanagement, irresponsibility, he became poor. There was no reason to be poor
in Israel, the way the Lord took care of him. If you'd be obedient,
you'd be blessed under the old covenant. And if this man was
poor, it was his fault. It was his fault. But here he
was, a poor man. If there be among you a poor
man of one of thy brethren within any of the gates of the land
which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou should not harden
thine heart, nor shut thy hand from thy poor brother. Well,
he deserves it. I mean, look what he's done to get himself
into that mess. Don't have that attitude. Don't have that attitude. Know that you're the same way. And apart from the grace of God,
you'll be worse. Don't have that attitude. Don't
harden your heart against him. Don't say, I'm not gonna give
to him. He made his bed, let him sleep in it. Verse eight,
but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and thou shalt
surely lend him sufficient for his need. Do you know that I
have sufficiency? My grace. is sufficient for thee. Oh, he gives us that which is
sufficient. One time a fellow was looking
at a car with, it was a Rolls Royce, and that's a very powerful
car. And he said, what's the horsepower
of that thing? And the fellow answered, sufficient. Sufficient. My grace is sufficient for thee. I don't care, my grace. Whatever
he needed, he was given sufficiency. And beware that there be not
a thought in thy wicked heart saying the seventh year, the
year of release is at hand and that I be evil against thy poor
brethren, but thou givest him not and he crying to the Lord
against thee and it be sin unto thee. Now, not only were debts
forgiven, we're given all that we need. He has given us all
things that pertain to life and godliness. Now turn to Isaiah
chapter 40 for just a moment. Isaiah chapter 40. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably, speak to
the heart of Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished. We sang as a closing hymn Sunday
night, This is my father's world, and let me ne'er forget that
though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet. This is my father's world. The
battle is not done. Jesus who died shall be satisfied,
and earth and heaven be one. Hold on. The battle is done. The battle is done. And Jesus
shall not be satisfied. He already is. Now I love that hymn. Don't get
me wrong. I love that hymn, but the battle is done. The battle has been done. Jesus
who died has been satisfied and earth and heaven be one. And my warfare, all the warfare
that's going on within me, Lord said, tell her, Tell her her
warfare is accomplished. The battle has already been won. And you tell her that her iniquity
is pardoned. You don't say it will be pardoned
if you tell her in the preacher, your iniquity is pardoned. It's
gone. It's put away. For she hath received
of the Lord's hand double. for all her sins. Now, this is the Lord's release.
Not only are all my debts forgiven, not only am I given sufficiency,
I'm given double. What's that mean? Well, not only
am I forgiven, I'm made the very righteousness of God. Not only
was my sin punished, but full and complete satisfaction was
made so that God, the Holy God, is completely satisfied with
me. Not only was I not given what
I deserve. Aren't you thankful for that,
that the Lord doesn't give you what you deserve? Not only was I not given
what I deserve, but I was given all that He deserves. That's
double it. Not only was my debt paid, I
was given the infinite riches of His grace. Not only was I
delivered from having nothing, I was given all things. Not only was I delivered from
hell, I was given heaven. Not only was I saved from my
sin, I was made perfectly conformed to the image of Christ. Not only
was I delivered from bondage, I was made a son, an actual child
of God. Oh, how wide the Lord has opened
his hand. Oh, the way he gives us double,
right? He gave me a new heart, a heart
that sees what I am. and that sees who he is. What
a blessed revelation that is. A heart that sees that I'm what
I am, but also a heart that sees who he is. And really, the reason
I see who I am is because I see who he is. That's that new heart
he's given. Do you know he has given me life? He's given me faith in Christ. That's the gift of His grace.
He's given me repentance. He's given me the fruit of God
the Holy Spirit. He's given me peace. He's given
me justification. He's given me sanctification.
He's freely given us all things. 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. Now, not only, not only are we
forgiven, not only are we given to But we're set free with great
riches. Look in verse, back in our text,
Deuteronomy 15, verse 12. And if thy brother, an Hebrew
man or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee and serve thee six
years, and in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from
thee. And when thou sendest him out
free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty. Now, I
remember reading about the Emancipation Proclamation when it was declared
that all slaves were free in 1863. Okay, all of a sudden they're
free. But what do they have? Nothing. What can they do? Starve to death. Nobody will
hire them. They weren't any better off at
first. Even after that emancipation
proclamation, they were kept under servitude, but not this
freeing. When the Lord sets somebody free,
he gives them everything. They leave with great riches,
the riches of His grace. Oh, the riches of His kindness,
the riches of His love, the riches of the knowledge of Him. Oh,
the unsearchable riches of Christ. They were laden down in blessing. Now, here is what is so glorious.
That person who had this opportunity to be free. and was given much,
what did he want to do if he loved his master? He said, I'd
rather be a slave of my master. You know, I would rather be a
slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. A bond slave, a willing bond
slave that have all this world has to offer. That's the truth.
That's the truth. I'd rather be his slave. That's,
that's every believer's desire. I want to be under him, his bond
slave. Now, doesn't this speak well
of the master when someone wants this, to be his willing slave. Now from this, isn't the gospel
so clear in this, the Lord's release, the Lord's release. But in this passage of scripture,
the Lord's release, We see the people we are to be. May God
give me grace to be this. Ready and quick to forgive debts. Ready and quick to forgive those
who have become indebted to me. ready and quick to forgive. And we're to do this for the
Lord's sake. Look what he says in verse two.
And this is the manner of the release. Every creditor that
lendeth ought unto his neighbor shall release it. He'll forgive
it. He'll remit it. He shall not exact it of his neighbor
or his brother because it's called the Lord's release. That's the
only reason. That's the only reason I need. Be kind, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake. That's the Lord's release. even
as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. And don't try to
exact anything. Freely you've received, freely
give, freely forgive. Don't... I don't know how to say this, but don't exact anything. Don't
have any expectations. Freely forgive for the Lord's
sake. That's what they were called
on to do. Not, I forgive and I expect this and I expect that.
No, freely forgive for the Lord's sake. Isn't it a wonderful thing
to be enabled to forgive? I mean, you're the one blessed.
He said, you'll be blessed in doing this. And what a blessing
it is to freely forgive for the Lord's sake. How blessed we are,
look in verse five. Only if thou carefully hearken
unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe, to do all these
commandments, which I command thee this day, for the Lord thy
God blesseth thee as he promised thee. And thou shalt lend unto
many nations, but thou shalt not borrow. And thou shalt reign
over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee. And look
what he says in verse seven, be a giver, not only forgive,
But be a giver, a giver of yourself to your brother. If there be
among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy
gates in the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, you
consider that poor man. You any different? Are you any
better? It's only the restraining grace
of God that's not left you in the position he's in if you're
not there. That's the only reason. You can't congratulate yourself.
You've been given so much. If there be any among you a poor
man of any of thy brethren with any of thy gates in the land
which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine
heart, nor shut thy hand from thy poor brother. But thou shalt
open thy hand wide unto him, as the Lord did to you, and shalt
surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wanteth. And be willing to do it over
and over again, even if it cost you. Beware that there be not
a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, the seventh year, the
year of release is at hand. And then I be evil against thy
poor brother, and thou givest him not. And he cry unto the
Lord against thee, and it be a sin unto thee. Don't be hard on anyone. Don't be hard on anyone. I mean, it'd be easy to be hard
on this person, wouldn't it? I mean, I tried to put myself
in the lender's place. Somebody comes up to me a week
before the year of release when I knew the money would be no
longer, I wouldn't owe it to them anymore. And I'd say, well,
you miserable jerk. What are you doing? How could
you do that? I mean, how could you do something
that thoughtless? That's the way I'd react to it.
He said, if that's in your wicked heart, don't do it. So in other
words, don't be hard on people. You can see where this fellow
would have been hard on these people. But the Lord said, if you have that
thought in your wicked heart, you better get rid of it. Don't
be hard on people. Do what you do willingly, open
your hand wide as the Lord has blessed you, and set the slave
free and give to him generously." You know, the scripture says,
God loveth a cheerful giver, someone who enjoys doing it. And be that one who becomes the
willing slave. Don't you want to be that? I
want to be that fellow who I love my master. My master's so glorious.
He's so glorious. You can have that freedom. You
can have the riches. I only want to be his willing
bond slave. That's all I want. And we do
all this because, verse 15 of our text, and thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman. in
the land of Egypt. Now, do you remember when you
were a bondman? You were a slave under bondage. You had no idea as to how you
could be set free. You didn't know the gospel. You
didn't know Christ. You didn't know God. You were
totally blind, a slave, a bondman in thick Egyptian darkness. Enwrapped in thick Egyptian night
and fond of darkness more than light, madly I ran the sinful
race, secure without a hiding place. There you were, and the
Lord redeemed you. The Lord set his heart upon you,
and when he was hanging on that cross, you were on his heart. Your names were engraven in his
breast, engraven in his hands and in his feet. The Lord set
his love upon you and redeemed you. And this redemption is irreversible. It can't be sinned away. It can't
be taken away. And what's our response? Lord,
let me be. that willing bond slave. May you and I experience and
live the Lord's release. Let's pray together.