Just one verse. And every firstborn of none ass,
a donkey, thou shalt redeem with a lamb. And if thou wilt not
redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck. Every firstborn, the firstborn
of none ass, thou shalt redeem with a lamb. And if you will
not redeem it, then break its neck. God is pleased in His condescending
wisdom and His goodness, His intelligence, to speak to us
and to speak of us, to speak concerning us in many different
ways. Sometimes He speaks plainly.
through His Word to us, ordinary English. Other times He speaks
to us through shadows. He speaks to us through types.
He speaks to us in dark sayings and parables. And He does this
to relate to us, that we might know Him better. We might know
ourselves better. We might know His redemption
better. that we might know His judgments
better. There are times that the Lord
describes us. He describes man under several
names and characteristics. He does so to describe our character,
our being, our actions. And He does so often, as He does
here in my text, by calling us. by different names and different
animals. He refers to us often in the
Scriptures under the character of many different animals. He sometimes addresses us as
His sheep. I know my sheep, and I am known
of mine. Other sheep I have which are
not of this fold. You believe not because you are
not of my sheep." A sheep is an animal, isn't it? A four-legged
animal, a creature. And he addresses people as sheep.
Sometimes he addresses people as goats. When the king shall
sit on his throne and before him shall be gathered all nations,
he said that he would divide them as a shepherd divides his
sheep. from the goats. And the sheep
he would set on his right hand and the goats he would set on
his left. He described Herod as a fox. Go tell that fox, I work miracles
today and the third day I shall be perfected. He describes the
Pharisees and the scribes as serpents and vipers. You serpents and vipers, how
can you escape the damnation of hell? He addressed the Canaanite
woman as a dog. Woman is not meant to take the
children's bread and give it to a dog. Paul described the false prophets,
the Jewish false prophets, as dogs, beware of dogs. Isaiah described them as dumb
and greedy dogs. Jeremiah said they are dogs that
cannot bark. They will not warn when danger
is near. The Lord addressed Jacob and
the children of Israel as a worm. Fear not. thou worm, Jacob, and
ye men of Israel. I will help thee, saith the Lord
thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." It's competent, it's
very, very competent when the Lord identifies His people under
such characters and then is pleased to condescend to identify with
them in the very way that He's described them. He identifies
his little flock as lambs, and then he has addressed himself
as a lamb. He shall feed his flock like
a shepherd. He shall gather them as lambs
and carry them in his bosom. And yet, he has identified first
and foremost as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the
world. He has led us a lamb to the slaughter. and as a sheep
before her shears is dumb, so he opened not his mouth." He
calls Jacob a worm. And then David in Psalms 22 speaking
in the person of Christ, he says, I am a worm and no man. A reproach of men and despised
of the people. Isn't it wonderful? Isn't it
amazing that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, condescends to
identify with us in our lowest estate as worms? He does this. He identifies us
this way to prove us. He does it to try our knowledge
and our faith and our sincerity by addressing us under such names
and terms. Let me ask you this question
this morning. What's your opinion of yourself? What's your estimation of yourself? Are you as low and earthy as
a mere worm of the dust? Are you no more to be esteemed
than a worthless dog? What's your estimation of yourself? It offended Goliath the giant
that David would come to him as he did. Am I a dog that you
should come to me with a stick or a stave to fight with me? Do I look like a dog? Do you
esteem me as a dog?" He was so offended. Yet, MacPhebershaft,
when he was told that he would sit at the king's table and eat
with David the rest of his days, that poor, crippled, broken man,
bowed himself and said, What is thy servant, that thou should
look upon such a dead dog as I? Me and my father's house,
we were as dead men, and you saved me. And now you tell me
that I would sit at your table." He was glad to own himself, not
only as a dog, but as a dead dog. What's our opinion of ourselves? Does it register with us when
the Lord addresses us under these terms? Can we say with a Canaanite
woman, truth, Lord, and then take the position as a dog, as
she did, and plead from that position and that character? I am a dog, Lord, yes, but the
dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the rich man's table. Do you stand in wonder and awe? that the eternal Son of God would
condescend to identify with you in your state as a worm or as
a lamb? Do you own your character as
one of His sheep? Do you stand amazed to think
you are one of His sheep when you remember all that that entails? If I address you this morning
as a sheep, do you begin to search and see what that means? Are
you thrilled to think that as His sheep, He has chosen you? You have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you. To think that you're a sheep
this morning, does this thrill your soul? To think that you're
a gift of the Father to the Son? The Father which gave them to
me is greater than all? That you're the object of such
redeeming love that the Shepherd has laid down His life for the
sheep? Do you stand in awe this morning
to think that He's gathered you with His arms and carries you
in His bosom? Oh, when He says, You're My sheep,
how does that affect you? Does it bow your heart in admiration
and thanksgiving? Oh, just to think that yes, indeed,
I'm His. I'm His. I'm His by gift of the
Father. I'm His by redeeming blood. I'm
His by calling. I'm His by a new life. I'm His. Oh, I may be a dog, but I'm His
dog, and that's fine. And I may be a worm, but I'm
a worm that He's redeemed, and that's fine. That's fine. However He identifies us, we
take that place and that name and that position. That brings
me here to my text. And I guess of all ways that
you and I could be identified All the characters that we could
be identified with. The ass. The ass. We've had many jokes made about
the ass. And we've called each other names
by the jokes that we've made. But this is reality, isn't it?
Let's look at the reality. What are we this morning but
asses? but donkeys. You say, Bruce, that sounds vulgar.
Well, I said the other day, sometimes the Bible gets right down where
we live. God communicates with us. He
does it to teach us. He does it to humble us, even
to humiliate us, to try our faith and our knowledge of Him. And
let's look this morning, just a little bit, at the ass, the
donkey, and see if that's our courage. I want to show you three
things quickly in the first part of this verse concerning the
ass itself and how the scriptures parallels the ass with us. I want to show you three scriptures.
I want you to put your marker in Exodus chapter 13 and look
with me in Job chapter 11. Job chapter 11. If you have your few Bibles,
that's on page 612. Here's the first way that you
and I are as human beings, as individuals, are parallel with
the ass. Here's the way we're alike. Look
in Job chapter 11 and look in verse 11. knoweth vain man, he seeth wickedness
also, will he not consider it? For vain man would be wise, though
he be born like a wild ass's coat." Being compared to the
ass takes us all the way back to our birth. You consider a
poor, wild ass when it's barned? It's not barned in a clean stable. It doesn't know its master's
crib. It's not cared for. It's not nourished. It's not
tamed. It's not trained. But it's barned
in the wild, Job tells us. It's not obedient. It's not profitable
for any man. It's born in the wilderness.
It's wild by its very nature. Can you imagine trying to catch
such an animal? It's very nature. It senses humanity. It's got a sense of humanity
and it's fearful of humanity. If it sees humanity, if it sees
a man, it flees from him. If you tried to catch it, it
would bite you, it would kick you, it would do great harm to
you. Can you imagine trying to catch such a creature and put
a bridle on him or a harness on him and try to work him or
use him? He's wild by his very nature. And it's not that he becomes
wild, he's born wild. A wild-ass is caught. Boy, isn't this man in his very
nature. No wonder Job likened him to
a wild ass's coat. Man is born untamed. He's born lawless. He's born
rebellious. He's not born in the kingdom
of God. He's born in the kingdom of sin
and in the kingdom of darkness. He doesn't go astray from God
when he's twelve years old. He goes astray as soon as he's
born, speaking lies. and let God come near him to
try to tame him. I tell you, he'll kick, he'll
squeal, and he'll bite. He refuses to be tamed. Why? Because he's like a wild ass's
coat. And he's that way by his very
nature. And Job said, your vain man would
be wise. Easter Island, setting up their
gods. and hear these other men brag
on them how wise they are. And what are they? Fools, aren't
they? Having their idols, they that
made them are just like them. They are empty too, Job said.
They are vain. They are empty as far as knowing
God is concerned. They empty and vein and holler
as knowing the love of Christ is concerned. They have no graces
of God in their spirit. They are empty. And yet they
want people to think they are wise. And they want people to
brag on them. And they think they are wise
themselves. But what did Job say they were? Just a dumb ass's
cold. No sense whatsoever. Isn't that man? Isn't that man? Oh, you can compare him to a
worm, that's bad. You can compare him to a sheep,
and that's good. But compare him to a dumb ass,
and say you're just as wild and untamable as the ass is. Man is born just like that. You say, Bruce, was I born? was
born just like that. I was born just like that. What's
your estimation of yourself? Go back to your birth when you
came forth from your mother's womb. When the doctor smacked
your butt, you begin to cry. What's your estimation of yourself?
When you look back, right there, what can you say about yourself?
I was born wild. I was born away from God, just
like this little ass is called. That's the first thing. I want
you to look over in Jeremiah chapter 2 and verse 24 at the
second thing. Jeremiah chapter 2 and verse
24. You'll find it on page 823. Here's
something else about the little ass and how he relates to us. Look in verse 23. How canst thou
say? I am not polluted. I have not
gone after Bella." How can you say that? Seeing your way in
the valley? See your way in the valley? Know
what thou hast done? Thou art a swift young camel. That's another way he describes
it. A dormitory, traversing, running to and fro, lusting after
every male camel, traversing her way. Look in verse 24. A
wild ass used to the wilderness that sniffeth up the wind at
her pleasure. In her occasion, who can turn
her away? All they that seek her will not
weary themselves. In her month they shall find
her." Now, notice this. This little ass is born wild.
It gets the scent of any human. But she lived just like she was
born. It doesn't change. She's born wild. She lives wild. She loves her pleasure. And it's
said there in her occasion, that word means there, when she's
maiden. When she's in heat, what does
she do? Well, she runs after an old jack. And that's when she's dangerous.
When she's in heat. And that's all she seeks after.
And there she is in the wilderness. And boy, she's got that nose
up in the air. She's sniffing and she's lusting. She loves it there in the wilderness,
seeking out her pleasures. And you can't turn her. I mean,
you can't tame her. You can't catch her. You've heard
of men talking about seeing some of these wild ashes out in the
desert. And they say you can't get anywhere
near them. They're worse than a deer to try to hunt down. And
they say if you do catch them, if you're not careful, they'll
kill you. They're mean, they're vicious, they're wild. Who can
turn her away? The prophet said. Nobody can
turn her. Nobody can catch her. Nobody
can tame her. Nobody can take this pleasure
that she feels. Running after her dumb jacks. They that seek her will not weary
themselves. They'll just wait until she's
heavy with a colt, until her belly looks like it's ready to
pop, and she's down and she can't get up. If you go to catch one
of them, the prophet said, that's when you've got to catch her.
That's when you've got to catch her. Oh, aren't you and I by
our very nature and our ways just like this wild-ass's colt? A miserable sinner is not only
born away from God, but he lives away from God. He takes great
pleasure in his sin. He fulfills the desire of his
mind and of his flesh. And just like that Gadarene that
was full of devils, no man can tame him. You cannot turn his
heart from his pleasures. He loves his sin. He loves his
darkness rather than light. And I'm telling you, you and
I have tried to tame ourselves. We've tried to tame others. And
we weary ourselves, don't we? There ain't but one that can
tame such a wild sinner. And that's God Himself. And you
know how He does it? He sends conviction. The heart
becomes pregnant with the knowledge of its sin and the knowledge
of its misery. God smites the conscience and
the poor sinner becomes heavy in his conscience. He can't take
pleasure in his roaming and in his sniffing and his sin. He
becomes heavy and he's so heavy that he gets down and he can't
get up. And that's where the Lord finds
him when he's fallen. And he can't take no more pleasure
in his sins. And that's when he begins to
cry, Be merciful. Be merciful to me, the sinner. Oh, God can tame a wild ass.
He can bring his heart down with labor and pains and save it. Look thirdly in this, because
I've got to hurry. I'm just hitting these high points. Look in Jeremiah
chapter 22 and verse 19. Right on to your right. Jeremiah chapter 22, and look
in verse 19. Here's a solemn thing. You and
I are like the walled ash when we're born, and we live that
way, untamable, except God tame us and change our very nature. But here it tells about the death
of an ash. We have the birth of an ass,
we have the ways of an ass, living while in the wilderness, and
here now we are told about the death of an ass. Talking here
about Jehoiakim in verse 18, he was a wicked king, rebellious
king. And in verse 19, he shall be
buried with a burial of an ass. How did they bury an ass? drawn
and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem." The burial of
Manasseh. The Lord said, when this man
dies, which is going to be soon, and he did, they are not even
going to bury him. And they didn't. This man was
exposed to the elements. The Son, we are told in Jeremiah
36.30, the Son baked him of the day, and the frost froze him
of the night. His body obviously wasn't even
buried. And the Lord said, I'm going
to give him the burial of man-ass. What did they do with an ass?
When an ass died in Jerusalem, around Jerusalem, they got a
horse or another ass, they tied some rope on his legs, and they
drug him usually down into a valley, a gorge, they called Gehenna,
where they heaped up their carcasses in the refuge, sometimes they
burned them, other times they just laid there to rot or dogs
to eat on their flesh. The death of an ass was dishonorable. Nobody cared for it. Just get
him out of here, he's stinking. Isn't that a cruel way to talk
about the death of a sinner? What's going to happen when a
man outside of Christ dies? What will heaven think of it?
What will hell think of it? What will angels think of it?
One of the saddest and most fearful things is to think of a man dying
outside a saving interest in the Son of God. Because heaven
won't pity him. The angels won't help him. They
won't aid him. Hell already despised him. There
is nothing the living can do for him. His body is put back
in the grave, a dark, cold, wet grave. Skin worms will devour
it. His soul is dragged from this
world unto hell to be tormented without one drop of water being
given it to cool his tongue. He will not have an honorable
death or burial or eternity. God will show him no favor. God
will not regard him. any more than he would regard
a death of a dumb beast." Brothers and sisters, that's fearful.
That's sad. The Lord upholds us here in this
life. Every day He awakens us and gives
us our daily bread and energy to go and exist and live and
move. He regards us. He helps us. He's mindful of His creatures.
But come to die apart from His Son, He'll show you no favor. He'll have no regard for you
any more than you and I would. For a dumb ass that died and
was decaying, we'd simply drag him off to a gorge and let the
dogs feed upon him and let his flesh decay. The death of an
ass. Back to my text. In Exodus chapter
13 again, page 78, page 70, page 80. Look at this now. Can you see then how the Scriptures
identifies us with an ass? How it parallels us, our birth,
our ways, even our very death? Is there any hope? Is there any hope for such a
creature? For such a dumb creature, for
such an unclean creature, for such a rebellious animal, is
there any hope? We'll look at our text again.
Every first one of them asks, Thou shalt redeem with a lamb. There's hope. Such a creature. God made provision for such a
creature. This is one of the most amazing
things, though, if I'm right about this. I don't find anywhere
else in the Old Testament where anybody else or anything else
was redeemed by a lamb only. If you redeemed a man under the
ceremony law, you could redeem him with money. You could redeem
him with a goat. You could redeem other things
by other sacrifices. But when it comes to redeeming
a dumb mule, a donkey, you can only redeem him with this one
sacrifice, and that was a lamb. Now, isn't God teaching you and
I something by that? And can't you get the picture
of this? Can't you just imagine this in your mind? A man has
this little donkey barn on his farm, and it's ugly. It's untamed. At the present
time, it's good for nothing. You can't work it. You can't
eat it. And he leads it over there to
the temple. And the priest comes out and
he says, I want to redeem this ass. And then he brings a beautiful
little lamb. And he's white as snow. And He has fur that you
could use to sell and maintain your lifestyle. He has meat that
you could eat and maintain your health. He is so useful. And He is without spot and without
blemish. And He brings this lamb and He
says, I want to redeem this dumb ass with this lamb. Isn't that
amazing? And the priest gets Him and the
lamb hollers Him. willingly to the slaughter. And he stands there while the
priest cuts his throat and the blood flows and he catches it
and he sprinkles it by the altar of sacrifice. And he goes back
and tells the man, take your dumb ass home. He is redeemed. Oh, brother, can't you see the
picture of this? Oh, Jesus Christ, the blessed Son of God. If He
died for good people, but to think that He gave His blood
for the basest of people, for the ungodly, for wretches as
we are, fit for nothing, untamed and wild. And the dear and blessed
Son of God steps forth, the holy, harmless One, separate from sinners,
and says, I'll redeem Him with my blood. And He turns to us
and He says, You are free. You are free. As vile and wretched,
as unprofitable as you are, I have bought you with Myself. I have redeemed you. And notice this carefully. Notice
verse 13. Again, the last portion. Notice
this carefully. This is very important. If the ass was to be redeemed
or his neck was to be broken, what was the determining factor
in that? Did you catch that? The will of His owner. If you will redeem Him, if you
will, if you will, You can redeem him with a lamb if you will. If you don't will, then break
his neck. There was two options. Either
redeem him or break his neck. And who helped that option? The
owner. The owner. Why hasn't God redeemed
fallen angels? Why didn't He redeem them when
they sinned, as soon as they sinned? I think in a way that
it probably would have been much easier to redeem than you and
I. I doubt seriously if it would
have cost Him as much to redeem them as it was to redeem us. I doubt if they would have been
as rebellious and stubborn about it as we are. But God did not
do that. Why? It was not His will. And there is a host, brothers
and sisters, of mankind. that are perishing daily. Hell
has enlarged itself to punish rebellious sinners who have been
cast in there. It has not been God's will to
redeem a great host of humanity, or they would have been redeemed.
Oh, but thank God He has redeemed a number that no man can number,
out of every kindred, tribe, and people, and tongue, and nation. Why are you redeemed this morning?
What can you trace your redemption to? I tell you, the will of God. The will of God. Christ gave
Himself for our sins according to the will of God. I came to do the will of Him
that sent me. And what was it? To redeem His
people. To redeem His ashes according
to His own Well, Jesus Christ Himself, He will put His heel
on the necks of His enemies and break them with His justice. But He will say to a great remnant,
Fear not, thou worm Jacob, for I have redeemed thee. One more point. I want you to
turn to Matthew chapter 21. You can let Exodus go. This is
our last passage. Look at Matthew chapter 21, beginning
in verse 1. I tell you the best use of a
redeemed ass. If you don't know the best use
of a redeemed ass, I'm going to read it to you. Look at Matthew
chapter 21. Look here in verse 1, And when
they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphagia,
unto the mouth of Olives, then sent Jesus to disciples, saying
unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway
ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her, loose them,
and bring them unto me. And if any man say aught unto
you, you shall say, The Lord hath need of them, and straightway
he will send them. All this was done, that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell
ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek,
and setting upon an ass, and a coat before of an ass. And
the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them, and brought
the ass and the coat, and put on them their clothes, and they
set him their own. And a very great multitude spread
their garments in the way. Others cut down branches from
the trees and strode them in the way. And the multitude that
went before and that followed cried, Hosanna to the Son of
David! Blessed is he that cometh in
the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest." What's a redeemed
ass fit for? I'll tell you what he's fit for.
To carry the Master from place to place. That's what he's fit
for. Balaam had a little ass, that
wicked prophet. that preached for reward, and
that little donkey willingly carried that wicked prophet around.
If that little donkey was so obedient and so useful to that
wicked prophet, how much more should we ask this? Carry our
prophet and our priest and our king as he goes to bless the
people. I want you to get this picture.
This is the way the Lord is making war. Did you know that? David
told us last week, remember him having the jawbone of an ass?
And he said that was the preachers of the gospel? You know this
is the way the Lord Jesus is making war against His enemies?
By the preaching of the gospel? And you get this picture, if
you will. You talk about the battle. And there's a large valley. And on this side, on the left
side, stands these men on black studs. And they're pawing and
the ground shakes. And they're dressed in their
armors like knights. And there's a huge roll around
the rim up on the hill. And just behind them are huge
chariots, and they're full of soldiers, and they have their
spheres, and they're dressed for the battle. And then beyond
them is their foot soldiers, a number that you can hardly
count. And all of them are ready for the battle. They've girded
themselves, and they have their swords and their spheres and
their shields. And all their faces look like
lions. That's the one army. And you
go across the valley, up on the hill on the other side. And there
stands a lone man. And he gets a straddle of a mere
ass, a donkey. And he reaches and he gets a
hold of a jawbone of an ass, of all things. And he nudges
his donkey forth. And he begins to walk. And then
he nudges him and spurs him and he begins to trot and then into
a gallop. And then all the army comes down
from the hill. And they are going to meet you
in the valley. And the donkey, he trembles with
fear. But the rider spurs him on. And he says not a word until
he looks his enemy in the eye. And the rider with the jawbone
of an ass begins to smite. And the donkey gallops on. He's
a wonder that he can stand facing such a battle. But his rider
is fearless, and he's determined, and he's irresistible. And he
begins to smite, and he begins to smite. And the first one he
smites is Apollon himself, the devil himself. And he smites
him with a jawbone of an ass. And down he goes with a wound
from which he'll never recover. And one after another of his
army, he smites. He's smiting sin, and he's smiting
sinners. Oh, he smites the great sin of
unbelief. And he lays there on the ground
bleeding out. He smites the sin of pride. And
down he goes from his horse. He smites the sin of self-will
and free will. And down they go. And the donkey
is amazed. But his rider continues to smite. The donkey has nothing to do
with it. The donkey is just carrying the rider. It is the rider that
yields the jawbone of the mast. And he rides through the valley.
And he rides up the other hill. And those who before were snickering,
those who before were laughing at the rider and his donkey,
those before were mocking, now they are silenced. And they watch
the rider as he heads to the top of the hill and he turns.
And down in the valley below, all his enemies have been subdued. Only one is left. He is the last
enemy. And that enemy is death itself.
And the Master who rides upon the donkey, oh, He shouts, O
death, I will be thy plagues! O grave, I will be thy victory! And with that, death dies to
live no more. And voices from heaven come,
and they sing, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms
of our Christ. And He shall reign forever and
ever. And brothers and sisters, how
is He reigning? Jesus Christ is reigning. And
how is He reigning? Is it not by the preaching of
the gospel? Oh, Paul said, we preach Christ
crucified unto the Greeks That's foolishness. And unto the Jews,
that's a stumbling block. But you who are called, you whom
He's conquered, Christ is the power of God. And Christ is the
wisdom of God. And you know what frustrates
hell? You know what frustrates the wicked? Jesus Christ is reigning
in this world today while riding on a dumb little donkey. Use him the jawbone of an ass. And he's going to reign until
he's made all his enemies his footstool. Oh, let's be willing,
brothers and sisters, to carry him wherever he's pleased to
ride us. Carry him near and far, here
in this community and abroad and to foreign countries. Set
him there. and send him off, all the little
donkeys, to conquer. Oh, bless his name. Bless his
name. Let's pray.