Let's open our Bibles this evening
to the book of Exodus, chapter 21. Exodus chapter 21. Now these are the judgments which
thou shalt set before them. If thou buy an Hebrew servant,
six years he shall serve, and in the seventh he shall go out
free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he
shall go out by himself. If he were married, then his
wife shall go out with him. If his master have given him
a wife, and she have borne him sons or daughters, the wife and
her children shall be her masters, and he shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall plainly
say, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go
out free, then his master shall bring him unto the judges. He
shall also bring him to the door, or unto the doorpost, and his
master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve
him forever. The willing Hebrew servant. That's the title of the message,
the willing Hebrew servant. We're all familiar with our Lord
Jesus' words in John chapter five, search the scriptures,
for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they
which testify of me. The amazing thing about those
words is to whom he spoke those words. He spoke those words to
men who spent all their lifetime, all their life rather, searching
the scriptures. but they had missed Christ. They
knew the scriptures. Many, from what I've heard, to
be a Pharisee, you had to be able to quote from memory so
much of the Old Testament law. So he told them, search the scriptures,
for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they
which testify of me. Now, this passage, which I've
just read here, Exodus chapter 21 is an example of how all the
scriptures some way testify of the Lord Jesus Christ in some
way or the other. And we see this, we see Christ. If we miss Christ when we look
at this passage of scripture, then we've missed the most important
part of the word of God. We must see Christ. Now, in this
example, or this type or picture, I have four marks of Christ that
I see here that I want to bring out to us tonight. First of all,
this servant was a Hebrew. Notice that in verse two. If
thou by an Hebrew servant. Now, they could have other servants
of the Gentiles. This law did not apply to them. This law was strictly for a Hebrew
servant. The first time that we see the
word Hebrew in our Bibles is in Genesis chapter 14, when it
is said there, Abraham the Hebrew. Abraham the Hebrew. And this
was the name given to those who descended from Adam's son, Shem. Remember, Adam had three sons
when they came out of the ark. And one of his sons was named
Shem. And he had a son named Eber. And they, we believe, are the
men who studied these things. At least they believe that that's
where the word Hebrew came from. Now, in the word of God, we know
the Lord Jesus Christ, the revelation of Christ is progressive. The
first thing we read about him is he's the seed of the woman.
The second thing is he's the son of Abraham in whom all the
nations of the earth shall be blessed. And the third revelation
is he's David's son. He must be the son of David. Have you noticed the first words
of the New Testament? The very first words, the first
line of Matthew chapter one and verse one, the book of the generation
of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. This law
applied to a Hebrew servant, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is
marking out Christ. Turn with me, keep your places
here, but if you will, look with me in Romans chapter nine. Romans chapter nine. The apostle writing said, I say
the truth in Christ, I lie not. My conscience also bearing me
witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual
sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself
were cursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according
to the flesh, who are Israelites, that is Hebrews, descendants
of Abraham. To whom pertaineth the adoption,
the glory, the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the
service of God, and the promises, whose are the fathers, now watch
this, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is
over all God blessed forever. In other words, the Lord Jesus
Christ was a Hebrew. He was a Jew. It's always amazed
me how some who at least profess to be Christians are anti-Semitic. Our Savior was a Jew. My Savior
was a Jew. And I never want to say anything
bad about the Jews, do you? No. My Savior was a Jew. He was a Hebrew. In Psalm 89
and verse 19, we have the words of God speaking. He said, I have
laid help upon one that is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. What people? Chosen out of what
people? The Jews, the Hebrew nation. So that's the first mark I see
here concerning this type or picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This concerned a Hebrew slave, a Hebrew servant. And the Lord
Jesus Christ, he fits that, doesn't he? He was a Hebrew. He was a
Jew. His mother, Mary, was a descendant
of David. His supposed father, Joseph,
was also in the lineage of David. Yes. The second mark I see is
this servant was free. Notice that in verse two. If thou buy an Hebrew servant,
six years he shall serve, and in the seventh year he shall
go out free for nothing. This servant was free. He shall go out free for nothing. And I like, as I thought about
this, thought how this pictures the Lord Jesus Christ as he was
free from Adam's headship. He was free from Adam's sin. When Adam stood as the federal
head of all men, it was all men who were of his seed. We know
that, which is everyone other than Christ. He was a representative
head. That is, Adam was a representative
head of all of his natural descendants. He represented you and he represented
me. You know, sometimes people have
said, well, I don't like that. I don't like that. Well, you
better like it. You better like it. Because if
you could be lost through a representative, you can be saved through a representative
also. And that's the whole point, isn't
it? Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ, he was of the seed of the woman. Now, that means Adam, all of
his descendants, they were his seed and they inherited original
sin, what we call original sin. What is original sin? Well, David,
when he was confessing Psalm 51, he said, in sin did my mother
conceive me. Now he's not saying the act of
conception between his father and mother was sinful, that's
not it at all. No, but what he is saying is
when he was conceived, he was conceived with sin. That is,
from the very beginning of our nature, or our existence rather,
we inherit that sinful nature from our father, Adam. A person doesn't become a sinner
by sinning. That's what so many people think,
don't they? They think that a child comes
into this world and it's like a blank piece of white paper,
you know, and whatever you write on it, you know, Man doesn't
become a sinner by sinning. Man sins because he is a sinner,
born in sin, original sin, as we say. The Lord Jesus Christ was free. This servant here, he's free.
He shall go out for nothing. He's free from original sin,
that is Christ is. Why? Because he's not the seed
of Adam. He's the seed of the woman. Not
only was he free from original sin, which he was, but he's free
from all or any personal transgressions of the law of God. God's law
is perfect, isn't it? It's holy. It's just. It's good. It's God's law. The problem never
was with the law. The problem is with us. with
our inability, our inability to observe God's law, to love
God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our being, and
love our neighbor as ourself. But the Lord Jesus Christ, he
obeyed that law perfectly, perfectly in every way. I thought about what Judas, Judas
was one of his 12 disciples who betrayed him, Judas Iscariot.
And you remember after he betrayed the Lord, what he said, I have
betrayed innocent blood. He confessed his innocence. And
Pilate was his Roman judge. And you remember what he said,
I find no fault in this man. There was no fault in him. In
fact, he asked his accusers, which of you convinces me of
sin? And no one responded. They couldn't,
because he had no sin. He was free, free from original
sin, free from all transgressions, all acts of evil. The third thing about this servant,
he's motivated by love, verse five. And if the servant shall
plainly say, I love my master, my wife and my children, I will
not go out free. He's free to go out. He's worked. He served for six long years. Now he's free. No, I won't go
out. I won't go out. Why? Because
I love my master. I love my wife and my children. And when he says, I will not
go out, this means I'm going to be a servant forever. Forever. And it is all because of love. I love. No other motive is mentioned
here at all. I love my master. I love my wife
and I love my children. And he must plainly say that.
You see how the word reads there in verse five? And if the servant
shall plainly say, plainly say. He didn't kind of mutter this
under his breath. Oh no. He plainly declares this. I love my master, my wife, and
my children. Well, how, I thought, how did
the Lord Jesus plainly say these things? How did he plainly say
these things? Well, when the covenant, the
everlasting covenant was made, when he agreed to be the surety
for God's chosen people, what was he doing? He was plainly
saying, I love my master, I love my wife and my children. He said it in the fullness of
the time when he left heaven and came into this world, took
upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness
of man. What was he doing? He was declaring
plainly, plainly, I love my master, my wife and my children. He said
it when he declared, for even the Son of Man came not to be
ministered unto, but to minister and give his life a ransom for
many. What did he mean by that? I love
my master, my wife, and my children. He said it at the cross when
he became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
What was he saying? When he cried out, my God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? What was he saying? He was plainly
saying, I love my master, I love my wife, and I love my children. The fourth mark that I see here,
this servant had to meet justice head on. Notice that in verse
six. He had to make justice head on.
Then his master shall bring him unto the judges. Judges have
to do with justice, don't they? Court of justice, court of law
is a court of justice. That's where the judge presides. He had to be brought to the judges.
And I said he had to make justice head on. That is the justice
of God. His ear had to be pierced. That
means he had a body. When we think of this in relation
to the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, he had a
body. A body that was prepared for
him by God the Holy Spirit. A body in which he said, I come
to do thy will, O God. And he had to meet the justice
of God head on. We know that man, or God's justice,
let me put it like this, that God's justice was offended by
man. A man did that. Adam did that. We've done that. It must be another person in
that same nature who satisfied the justice of God. The Lord
Jesus Christ, the eternal son of God, who was made flesh that he might have a body in
which to suffer. I was looking over these notes
a little while ago before I came over here and I thought, you
know, I believe I can see a fifth mark there. He said, well, what
is it? Well, what about the fact if
he came in with a wife, he could take his wife with him. Now,
if he came in, Without a wife, and his master gave him a wife,
and he had children. He went free, or could go free,
but his wife and children remained. But he came in with a wife, didn't
he? In other words, he had a bride
that had been chosen by God the Father from old eternity. There
never was a time And that's a term that doesn't
necessarily always apply to God, does it? Because he is eternal.
But in the beginning of time, if that was when God created
the heavens and the earth, God had already chosen a bride for
his son and given her, given us, if you're one of his children,
to him. He came in with a wife. He came
in with children. because we're called his children. He's the everlasting father.
That's one of his names, isn't it? Yes. In closing, I want us to thank these things that I've mentioned
to us tonight. First of all, in your mind, you
answer these questions. Was the Lord Jesus Christ a Hebrew? Was he? Scripture says he was. Number two, was the Lord Jesus
Christ free from all sin? Scripture says he was. Do you
believe that? Number three, was Jesus Christ
motivated by love? Was that his motivation in coming
into this world and giving himself? His motive could not be found
in us, could not be found in those who he loves. There was
nothing in us to call forth his love. Maybe it's pity, but not
his love. No, he was motivated by love. I love my master. He loved God
with all his heart, all his soul, and all his being. and he loved
his neighbor, his wife, his children as himself. And fourthly, did the Lord Jesus
Christ meet justice head on? Did he? Did he meet the justice
of God head on? Did God in any way draw back
or lessen the penalty that he was paying there? on the cross
when he suffered the equivalent. Now think about this. Those who
die lost and those who would have died, everyone would have
died lost apart from Christ, his suffering and death. He suffered
the equivalent of what you, if he has saved you, he suffered
the equivalent of what you deserve to serve and would have served
in hell for all eternity. And he didn't just do that for
one or two, he did that for the many. How many? As many as the Father gave unto
him. He's God's servant who came to
serve in redeeming his people. God Almighty now commands all
people All people, he commands you, he commands me, commands
all people. Behold, my servant, mine elect,
whom I uphold, in whom my soul delighted. And that word behold
doesn't mean you just cast a glance over there at him and look on
somewhere else. No, behold him. Behold him and
live. As that song we sing sometimes,
look to the Lamb of God. Look and live. Look and live. Behold my servant. Behold him. You say, how do you behold him?
By faith. In the message this morning,
we saw the Lord Jesus Christ telling Mary Magdalene, touch
me not. For I am not yet ascended unto
my Father and your Father, my God and your God." What did he
mean by that, touch me not? Well, you know there's a lot
of different opinions, isn't there? But think about this. Until he told her that, she had
always been able to touch him. Like that lady who had that issue
of blood for 12 years, and she said, but if I can but touch
the hem of his garment, I'll be made whole. Well now, as a
resurrected Christ, we may touch him, but not with these hands. We touch him by faith. Touch
me not, Mary Magdalene, because the time has come now, when you
touch me, It must be by faith, not physically touching me, as
she had been able to do up to that point. No, touch me, touch
me, touch me and live. That's his word, isn't it? By
faith, by faith we lay hold upon him. And I encourage all of us
here tonight, if you've never looked to Christ or if you have,
Look again. Look again. Keep on looking.
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. And what a privilege it is for
you and I tonight to come here with our brothers and sisters
in Christ and obey one of our Lord's commands. You know, John
tells us his commands are not grievous. This is one of his
commands, isn't it? to remember him by observing
the Lord's table. And this does not grieve us.
It doesn't grieve us to do this. We rejoice in it. We're thankful
for it, for this service to remind us of our Savior and what he
paid to redeem our souls from eternal hell. His body had to
be broken. His blood had to be shed. And
they're separate, right? The life of the flesh is in the
blood. The blood has to be separate
here on this table to remind us of his death. It wasn't, he had to die, that
was the curse, death. And he was made of a woman, made
under the law that he might redeem us from the curse of the law,
from eternal death. I'll ask the man, if you will,
to come at this time.