You don't have to turn there,
but in Malachi chapter 3, we're given this prophecy in verse
1. The Lord whom you seek shall
suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant
whom you delight in. Behold, he shall come, saith
the Lord of hosts. And in Luke chapter 2, we read
of him suddenly coming into the temple when he's brought in by
his peasant parents and they bring in the sacrifice of the
poor. And there were two people in
the temple at this time that recognized his coming. First,
there was Simeon. Turn back to Luke chapter 2,
verse 28. Simeon took him up in his arms
and blessed God and said, Lord, now let us thou thy servant depart
in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation
which thou hast prepared before the face of all the people. Simeon
recognized him, and there was a lady by the name of Anna, look
in verse 36 of Luke chapter 2, and there was one Anna A prophetess. Anna is the Greek for the Hebrew
Hannah. A prophetess, the daughter of
Phanuel, which means the face of God of the tribe of Asher.
She was of great age, a very old woman. She lived with a husband
seven years from her virginity. Just seven years after her marriage,
her husband died, and she'd been a widow for 84 years. And she
departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings
and prayers night and day. And she coming in that instant,
the same time that Simeon made this declaration regarding the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ, she came in that instant, gave
thanks likewise unto the Lord, and she spake of him to all that
looked for redemption in Jerusalem. She spake of Him. Now, I think that's very much
like Isaiah. These things said Isaiah when
he saw His glory and spake of Him. She didn't speak about Him,
but she spake of Him. And there's all the difference
in the world. What she said was of Him. What
she said was from him and she spake of him. And who was it she was speaking
to when she was speaking of him, who he is and what he did. Who was her audience? I think
this is very interesting. Look, once again, in verse 38,
she spake of him coming in that instant, gave thanks likewise
unto the Lord and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption. in Jerusalem. And I wonder if
that would be me. I wonder if that would be you. I've entitled this message, Looking
for Redemption. She spake of him to all that
looked for redemption. Now, what is meant by redemption? In our society, here's what redemption
means. You've overcome incredible odds and bad circumstances and
you've turned things around and everything's great now. It was
bad, but it's a glorious success story. All kinds of good things
have happened. Perhaps you've had help. Perhaps
something's happened that it's just caused you to turn around
this horrible situation. You know, when you read or hear
of movies, they always say it's a theme of redemption, something
bad happening. Then something good happening
and we have a story of redemption. That's how the word is used in
our society. But that has absolutely nothing
to do with what the Bible means by the word. As we're going to
see. Looking for redemption. Now, who is it that's going to
look for redemption? Well, I can answer that real
easily. I know who's going to look for
redemption. Someone who needs to be redeemed. That's who's
going to look for redemption. They need in their souls to be
redeemed, and they know they can't redeem themselves and they
need to be redeemed. Now, that's who she was speaking
to. She speak to all of those people who were looking for redemption. Now, the word redemption means
to buy back. If you lose something, if it's
redeemed, it's bought back. That's what the scripture means
by the word. It's to pay a ransom. Those who
need redeemed know they can't redeem themselves and they know
they can't come up with the price of redemption. If it requires
$10,000 or one penny, they can't come up with one penny's worth
of merit. They need redemption. They need
to be redeemed. They are sinners before God's
law, and they cannot pay the price of redemption. Hence, the
need for redemption. Now, you can't talk about redemption
without some understanding of this thing of sin. I need to
be redeemed from my sin. I need the Lord to do something
about my sin. Now, what is sin? Well, according
to Scripture, sin is the transgression of God's holy law. Now, there
are other scriptural definitions, but this was just leave it at
this. God's holy law, the thou shalt and the thou shalt not
God's holy law, the Ten Commandments. Sin is any lack of perfect conformity
to God's holy law. Now, before God's holy law, you
can't be 50 percent good and 50 percent bad. You can't be
1% bad, 99%. You're either perfect before
God's law, or you're nothing but a lawbreaker. There's no
in-between. Now, if you believe yourself
to be a lawbreaker, somebody who all you've done is break
God's holy law, all you've done is sin. You haven't kept one
commandment one time. Now, would that describe you?
All you've done is sin. You cannot not sin. Sin's your name. Sin's your nature. You were born that way. You realize
that. You are a sinner before God. Now, everybody that fits that
description knows this one thing about themselves. They need to
be redeemed. I need his redeeming work on
my behalf. Now, God requires righteousness.
He cannot accept anything less. And listen to this. The reason
hell is eternal, the reason there's no end to hell, is because the
redemption price in hell is never paid. God's justice is never
satisfied. That's why it goes on and on
and on. What about that one who is looking
for redemption? Now, somebody may be thinking,
Why can't God just forgive? I mean, why all this stuff about
redemption? Why can't he just up and forgive
and forget? Why does there have to be punishment
in the first place? Why cannot God just up and forgive
sin? It's a good question. Well, let
me give you the answer to that question. Because he's holy. Because he's just. He would cease
to be God He would cease to be the governor of the universe
if he could let sin go unpunished. He'd cease to be just. God must
punish sin. He said, I will by no means clear
the guilty. Now, what would you think of
an earthly judge? They're just up in society to just forgive
people, let them go. I mean, they've committed violent
crimes against society, but oh, let's forgive them. Without any
exceptions, just forgive them. I mean, maybe they won't do it
again. They promise they won't. What will we do with a judge
like that? We'd get rid of him, wouldn't we? Because it would
ruin our society. We couldn't even live in peace
if we had a judge like that. He'd just let criminals go free.
Justice must be satisfied. That's why redemption is necessary. Sin must be punished. Justice
must be satisfied. Now, in the Old Testament, we're
given so many different illustrations of the concept of redemption
and the need for redemption. But what is a Hebrew slave or
a Hebrew? Let's say he's in debt and he
loses everything and he's sold into slavery and there's not
one thing he can do to get out of his debt. Kind of like throwing
into debtor's prison until you pay your debt. Well, how are
you going to pay your debt while you're in debtor's prison? I mean, you can't work
while you're in there. You're stuck. This Hebrew slave is in
debt. He's in prison. He's lost everything. There's nothing he can do. However,
if he has in what the scripture calls a near kinsman, a kinsman
redeemer who is willing who is able to pay his debt, that kinsman
redeemer has the right to pay his debt and get him out of trouble
and thus redeem him. He's redeemed from destruction.
He's redeemed because someone was pleased to redeem him. Now
I would like for you, if you would, to turn with me to the
book of Ruth. We're going to come back to Luke,
but Ruth is right before 1 Samuel, right after Judges. The book
of Ruth. and the theme of the Book of
Ruth is the kinsman redeemer actually Boaz is the star of
this book it's not Ruth although Ruth is in it but Boaz is the
main character in this story in his redeeming of Ruth now
perhaps you know something of the story there was a man by
the name of Elimelech and he had a wife named Naomi and they
had two children and a famine hit the land of Israel And they
left Israel because they couldn't find anything to eat. And you
can understand if you couldn't find anything to eat in Lexington,
you'd probably go somewhere else, too, if there was another place
where you could get bread. They went into the land of Moab. And while they were in Moab,
Elimelech died. And Naomi was left a widow. And then ten years later, her
two boys died. And she is left absolutely destitute
with no way of paying her bills, no way of taking care of herself.
But she hears some 10 years later that the Lord had visited the
land of Israel in mercy and there was food there. So she wants
to go back. And she tells her two daughter-in-laws
who were married to her sons who both died. You all stay here.
I'm going back to Israel. And you know the story about
how Ruth said in verse 16 of Ruth chapter one, She said, go
back to your gods and so on. And Ruth said in verse 16, entreat
me not to leave thee or to return from following after thee, for
whether thou goest, I will go. And where thou lodgest, I will
lodge. Thy people shall be my people,
and thy God my God. Where thou diest will I die,
and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me and more,
if ought but death part thee and me. She was going to go with
Naomi wherever she went. Verse 18, when she saw that she
was steadfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking
unto her. So they too went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass when they
were come to Bethlehem that all the city was moved about them
and said, Is this Naomi? I mean, she was a very wealthy
powerful lady and a powerful family. And she comes back a
pauper and they look at her and they're moved. They're amazed.
They said, what has happened to her? Is this Naomi? And she
said unto them, verse 20, call me not Naomi, call me Mara. For the almighty has dealt very
bitterly with me. I went out full and the Lord
has brought me home again in I don't have a thing, I've lost
everything. Why then call ye me Naomi, seeing
the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted
me?" So Naomi returned in Ruth of Moabitus, her daughter-in-law
with her, which returned out of the country of Moab, and they
came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest. And Naomi,
chapter 2, verse 1, had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man
of wealth of the family of the Limelech, and his name was Boaz. Now, Naomi does have this hope. Her husband had a relative. And the scripture describes him
as a mighty man of wealth. And he had the right to buy back
all that Naomi had lost if he wanted to do it. You see, with
a kinsman redeemer, there were three things that were necessary.
First, he had to be near of kin. This picture of Christ. So Christ
became my kinsman when he became flesh. God became a man and he
became near of kin. Now, the kinsman redeemer, first
of all, had to be nearest of kin to have the right to do this.
But secondly, he had to have the ability to do it. He had
to have the money to pay to buy back what was lost. He had to
be a wealthy man. But not only did he have to be
a wealthy man, he had to be willing to do it. He had to be willing
to do something that he didn't have to do all he had to do is
be willing to take the money to do that. I'll recover in a minute. She had lost her land
and the Boaz, the kinsman redeemer, he
was He was able, and he was willing to redeem her. He was willing
to do something for her. And we see this in the Lord Jesus
Christ so clearly. Now, in those days, what had
taken place in this passage of Scripture, you know she came
at the time of the barley harvest. And in those days, what they
would do for poor people, poor people while they were harvesting
food, they would leave wheat in the ground. They would leave
stuff behind. let the poor people come and glean. And Bo and Ruth
was gleaning. And it just so happened that
she ended up in the field of Boaz. Now she didn't know Boaz.
She didn't know Boaz was the kinsman redeemer. She didn't
know anything about this, but she just happened to show up
in the field. And there, there she is gleaning
and Boaz sees her. Let's look at verse 19 of chapter verse fifteen chapter two. And when she was risen up to
blame. Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean among
even the sheaths, and reproach her not. And let fall also some
of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she
may glean them, and rebuke her not. So she gleaned in the field
until even, and beat out that she had gleaned, and it was about
an heap of barley. And she took it up, and went
into the city, and her mother and all saw what she had gleaned, and
she brought forth and gave her that she had reserved, after
that she was sufficed. And her mother and all said unto her,
Where is thou gleaned today? And where was that? Blessed be
he that did take knowledge of thee. And she showed her mother-in-law
with whom she had wrought and said, the man's name whom I wrought
today is Boaz. That mighty man of wealth who
was a kingdom and redeemer, perhaps Naomi had forgotten about this,
and Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, blessed be he, the Lord, who
hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead.
And Naomi said unto her, the man is near of kin to us, one
of our next kinsmen. And Ruth the Moabitess said,
He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until
they have ended all my harvest. And Naomi said unto Ruth her
daughter-in-law, It is good, my daughter-in-law, that thou
go out with the maidens that they meet not in any other field.
So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz, to glean unto the end
of barley harvest, and of the wheat harvest, and dwelt with
her mother-in-law. Now look in chapter 3, verse
1. Then Naomi, her mother-in-law,
said unto her, My daughter, Shall I seek rest for thee, that it
may be well with thee? And now is not Boaz of our kindred,
whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnows barley to-night
in the threshing-floor. Wash thyself therefore, and anoint
thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the
floor. But make not thyself known unto the man, until he hath done
eating and drinking. And it shall be, when he lieth down, that
thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie. And thou shalt
go in, and uncover his feet. And lay thee down, don't say
anything to him. Just wait to hear what he says.
And he will tell me what thou shalt do. And she said unto her,
all that thou sayest unto me, I'll do. Look in verse eight.
Now it came to pass at midnight that the man was afraid and turned
himself and behold, a woman laid his feet. And he said, who art
thou? And she answered, I'm Ruth. Thine
handmaid, spread therefore thy skirt over thy handmaid, for
thou art a near kinsman." Now look at his response. And he
said, "'Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter, for thou shalt
more kindness in the latter end than in the beginning. Imsomuch
as thou followest not young men, whether rich or poor, and now,
my daughter, fear not, I'll do to thee all that thou requirest.'"
For all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous
woman, and now it is true that I am not near kinsmen. However,
there is a kinsman nearer than I, tarry this night, and it should
be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part
of a kinsman well. Let him do the kinsman part,
he is closer than I am. But if he will not do the part
of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to
thee, as the Lord liveth, lie down until morning, and she lay
down at his feet until the morning. And she rose up before one could
know another, and he said, Let it not be known that a woman
came into the floor. And he said, Bring the veil that thou has
upon thee and hold it. And when she held it, he measured
six measures of barley and laid it on her. And she went into
the city. When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, Who art thou, my daughter?
And she told him all that the man had done. And she said, These
six measures of barley gave he me. For he said to me, Go not
empty unto thy mother-in-law. Then she said, This is Naomi
speaking. She said, Sit still, my daughter. until thou know
how the matter will fall, for the man will not be in rest until
he hath finished this thing this day." He's going to redeem. Now, the following day, here's
how the redemption worked. Verse 1, Then went Boaz up to
the gate, and set him down there. And behold, the kinsman of whom
Boaz spake came by, unto whom he said, Ho, such a one, turn
aside, sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down.
Now, this individual was a closer relative to Naomi than Boaz was. And he was the first one who
had the right to redeem. And he took ten men of the elders
of the city. Why ten? Think that has something
to do with the Ten Commandments? It has something to do with the
law. The law has to be satisfied first. He took ten men of the
elders of the city and said, set you down here. And they sat
down, and he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out
of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which is our
brother Elimelech's. And I thought to advertise thee,
saying, buy it before the inhabitants and before the elders of my people,
if thou will redeem it. Redeem it. But if thou wilt not
redeem it, then tell me that I may know, for there is none
to redeem besides thee, I am after thee." And he said, this
nearer of kinsmen said, I'll redeem it. Well then said Boaz,
what day thou buy'st the field at the hand of Naomi, in buying
back her field, thou must also by it of Ruth the Moabitess,
the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon
his inheritance. You're also going to have to go in to Ruth,
and she doesn't have any children. You're going to have to make
sure she has children, so there'll be people who have this land.
And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I
mar my own inheritance. Redeem now my right that I sell,
for I cannot redeem it. You see, the law cannot redeem. Because the law cannot bring
life. He said, I can't produce life.
I can't produce life. I can't do that. I can't do anything
for you. You go ahead and redeem it. Now
verse 7. Now this was the manner in the
former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing.
For to confirm all things, a man plucked off his shoe and gave
it to his neighbor. And that was a testimony in Israel. Therefore, the kinsman said unto
Boaz, buy it for thee. So he drew off his Now, Boaz, the law, she first
had to go to the law, the Ten Commandments. Can the law redeem? No, because the law cannot produce
life. She's dead in sin. She can't
save herself. The law can't produce life. So
Boaz says, I'll do it. And he, first of all, was the
near kinsman. He had the right to do it. He
had the means to do it. He had the money and he had the. Willingness to do it, as a matter
of fact, he ends up marrying her as you go on reading this
passage of scripture and their child, Obed, is the grandfather
of King David and the Messiah is going to come through this
line, this beautiful line in the scripture. But regarding
this thing of redemption. I need redeemed. Now, I want
to make it as personal as I can. I need redeemed. God's holy. God's just. I've sinned. I am sin. I can't do anything
about my sin. If I stand before God on my own,
he must send me to hell. I need redeemed. Now, is there
a kinsman redeemer? Is there someone who's near of
kin to me? That's Christ Jesus, the Lord.
He became near of kin when He took upon human flesh and became
a man. God became a man. And not only
does He have the right to redeem me as my kindred redeemer, He
has the ability to redeem me. He has the ability to pay for
my sins. He has the ability to make me
stand before God's law, perfect and holy. And not only does He
have the right, Not only does he have the ability, he has the
willingness to redeem me. Now, would you turn with me to
Galatians chapter 3? Galatians chapter 3. Remember,
she was speaking to all them who were looking for redemption
in Israel. And I'll tell you right now,
I'm looking for redemption. I need to be redeemed. I need the Lord
to do something for me because I can't do anything for myself.
I need a kinsman redeemer to come and redeem me and make me
acceptable before God. Look in Galatians chapter 3.
If you want to understand redemption, here it is. Verse 11. Let's begin in verse 10. For
as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. Now, that's what God says.
If I don't continue in all things, if I don't have a perfect standing
before God's holy law, I am under God's curse. And God's curse
is a curse that you and I could never stand up before. Now, he
says in verse 11, But that no man is justified by the law in
the sight of God, it is evident. For the just shall live by faith. For the law is not of faith,
but the man that doeth them shall live in them. And listen to this,
verse 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. Hath. being made a curse for
us. For it's written, cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree. Now, how does redemption work? How is this payment made? Well,
this passage of Scripture tells us so clearly, Jesus Christ the
Lord was made a curse for us. Now, what's that all about? How can he be made a curse? There's
only one way he could be made a curse. He was made sin. The sins of God's people, the
sins of all of God's elect, the sins of all who believe became
the sins of the Lord Jesus Christ. They came upon him. He became
guilty of them. Now, he never committed them.
You know that. But when they were imputed to him, they became
his so that he became guilty of them. He bore our sins in
his own body on the tree. And when God saw him like that,
he cursed him. He had no mercy. He had no smile
from his father. He felt nothing but his awful
frown. He bore the full equivalent of an eternal hell on the cross. He was made a curse. My sin became his sin so much
that he experienced everything about sin with the exception
of the commission of it. He never committed sin, but he
was made a curse. That's what was going on on the
cross. Christ Jesus the Lord was made a curse. He redeemed
us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. Turn to first Peter chapter one. First Peter chapter one verse
eighteen. Peter says to every believer
for as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of
Christ. That's what you were redeemed
with. The precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without spot and
without blemish. Now, why is the blood of Christ
precious? Let me give you two reasons. First, because of whose
it is. What if I shed my blood for you?
It'd be nice. It'd be nice. But would it take
away your sin? Would it do anything for you?
If I liked you so much that I would be willing to stand in your place
if you were going to be executed. And I said, let me take it on.
I'll be executed for him. What a nice gesture on my part,
wouldn't it? Who would justice be satisfied? Would that be right? No, the person who committed
the crime is the one who must be punished. And I can't do anything
for anybody. But he can. Because of who he
is. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died. Not just some sinful man, it's
the holy, spotless Son of God. His blood is precious because
of whose blood it is. It's the blood of God. Feed the
church of God which he purchased with his own blood. This blood
is precious because of whose it is, and His blood is precious
because of what it did. What did His blood do? His blood
wiped away the sins of everybody He died for, so that if He died
for me, I stand before God without sin, without guilt. Indeed, His
blood is precious. Turn to Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9, verse 12. This is what my kinsman Redeemer
has done for me. Neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained. Now do you hear that? Having
obtained eternal redemption for us. Now who's the us? Who did
he obtain eternal redemption for? Well, the same us as in
Revelation 5, 9, where the crowd in heaven said, thou has redeemed
us by thy blood out of every kindred, tribe, tongue and nation. Talking about everybody redeemed,
all of his elect. Now, notice it says he obtained
eternal redemption. Now understand this, when our
Lord died on the cross, he didn't make redemption available, if
you do something to take it. He didn't make redemption possible. He didn't make a potential redemption. When he died on Calvary Street,
he actually redeemed everybody he died for, so that I have no
sin. Remember what Naomi said about
Boaz? The man won't rest until he has
finished the thing this day. What were the last words of our
Lord from the cross? It is finished. Redemption accomplished. All my sins are paid for, wiped
out, they're gone, they're no more. He obtained, and I love
this word, eternal redemption, because he's the lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. And he obtained eternal redemption. Now, I stand before God's holy
law because of his redeeming work without fault. Now, Christ Jesus, this is so
important regarding this thing of redemption. Most people believe
that he died to redeem all men and to make all men redeemed
and to give everybody the opportunity to be saved if they do their
part. That couldn't be further from the truth. He said, I lay
down my life for the sheep. He redeemed his elect. He redeemed
those who believe. And everybody he died for must
be saved. It's effectual redemption. It's
successful redemption. It's particular redemption. Now,
the fact that his blood was limited to the elect. Now understand
this. Jesus Christ did not die for every man. He died for the
elect and only the elect. That's what the scriptures teach.
But the fact that his blood is limited to the elect does not
in any way take away from the plenteousness of it. David said,
with thee there's plenteous redemption, and you know what that means?
That means if you come to him for redemption, if you come to
him seeking mercy, you'll have it. That's a promise. There's never, ever been anybody
who came to him for mercy. Do something about my sin. I
can't do anything about it. My sin is ever before me. It's
pressing me down. It's a heavy burden to me. Take
away my sin. Redeem me from my sin. There's
never been anybody who came to him seeking redemption that he
turned away. And if you come to him, you'll
have complete redemption. That's a promise. You see, this
thing of him dying for the elect, that doesn't discourage anybody
from coming. You come, you'll be received. You'll be saved. You come to him and lay at his
feet, just like Ruth did, and you'll be redeemed like Ruth
was. Now, what do we get from his
redeeming blood? I want to give you three things. First, turn
to Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1. In whom we have redemption through
his blood. Now in the context, who's the
we? Is he talking about everybody?
Well, no, he says in verse four, according as he has chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before. And that's the way he's speaking
of. You can go on reading in the context, but look what we have
in whom we have redemption through his blood, which is what the
forgiveness of sins. Now, what is more precious than
the forgiveness of sins? I tell you what, if you're a
sinner, There's nothing more precious than the forgiveness
of sins. I've got so much sin. Like David said, they're more
than the hairs of my head. Therefore, my heart fails me.
In Christ, I have the full, complete forgiveness of sin. My sin, O
the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin, not in part, but the
whole, has been nailed to the cross, and I bear him no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord,
O my soul. Now, in redemption, I have the
complete forgiveness of all my sin. And God's forgiveness is
so unlike our forgiveness. Because when we forgive, we ought
to forgive, shouldn't we? We ought to forgive. If I forgive
you, I don't forget you ever did it. And it's wrong for me
not to. But boy, I tell you what, it's hard to do it. You still
remember. You still remember. But he forgives
in such a way that their sins and their iniquities, I remember
no more. You know why? Because there's nothing there
to remember. That's what his redeeming blood has done. It's
made it to where all sin is forgiven. In Isaiah 62, verse 12, we read
these words, and they shall call them the holy people, the redeemed
of the Lord. Now, here's what His redemption
has made me. His redemption has made me. His redemption has made
everybody He redeemed a holy person, a saint, a holy person,
partakers of the divine nature. The redeemed of the Lord are
a Holy people. They've got a holy nature. The
reason I've got a holy nature is because He gave it to me because
He redeemed me. He redeemed me and He gave me
a new heart. A heart that loves Him. A heart
that beats after Him. Every believer has this. Look
in Galatians chapter 4. Thirdly, here's what we have
because of His redemption. We have the forgiveness of sins.
We're a holy people. In Galatians chapter 4, verse
4, But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons. I'm a son of God. I'm his child. God is my father because I've
been redeemed. Now, this is the heritage of
every child of God, everyone he's redeemed by his precious
blood, every single one of them. All my sins are forgiven. I've
got a new nature. Still got the old one. I wouldn't
deny that for a second. I still have the old one. I can't
wait till I get rid of it, too. But I've still got it. But I've
got a new nature. And I'm an adopted son, and I
can cry, Abba, Father. Turn to Isaiah 43. Now, remember
the title of this message, Looking for Redemption. She spake of
him to all that looked for redemption. Well, I'm one of those people
who are looking for redemption. But do you know what the second
meaning the Greek dictionary gives that word looking for? to receive favorably. You hear
of his redeeming work, and this is good news. You receive this
favorably. I'm receiving it favorably. Right
now, I'm receiving this favorably. This is good news. His redeeming
work. Now look here in Isaiah chapter
43. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not,
for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name. When thou passest through the
waters, I'll be with thee, and through the rivers they shall
not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou
shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee,
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, and
I have loved thee. Therefore will I give men for
thee, and people for thy life. Fear not, for I am with thee. I'll bring thy seed from the
east, and gather thee from the west. I'll say to the north,
Give up, and to the south, Keep not back. Bring my sons from
far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth, even every
one that is called by my name. For I have created him for my
glory, I formed him, yea, I have made him." Now this is the heritage
of those who are redeemed of the Lord. Let's pray together.