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Exodus 6:1-8 THE BLESSINGS OF A REDEEMED PEOPLE Intro: The crack of the taskmaster’s whip told the
whole story. The people of Israel were
slaves in Egypt. They had been slaves
for 400 years and it looked as though they were going to stay that way forever. Tens of thousands of their forefathers had
been born, lived and had died slaves in Egypt.
Then, one day, a man named Moses shows up; a man who had been born into
one of the poor slave families of Egypt.
A slave that had even been adopted into Pharaoh’s house, but one who was
still the offspring of slaves. One of
their own! He came to them telling them
stories of meeting the God of their Fathers.
Moses claimed to have met God on one of the mountains of Sinai. His stories were of God’s love for them and
of God’s great plans to deliver them from their present bondage. At the first, it had been exciting for the
people of Israel to think that they would be set free, but Pharaoh had not been
amused. He had increased their work and
had ordered the taskmasters to be more cruel than usual. Most of Israel had come to believe that
Moses was just an old fool who was trying to get the people killed. They even shared their feeling with Moses, Ex.
5:20-21. Moses, in turn, takes
their complaint before the Lord. In
response, God issues the people of Israel a splendid promise. As you read the Lord’s response to His
people, you will find there are seven “I will” statements made by
the Lord. These are things He intends
to do on their behalf. As these
promises are considered, it becomes clear that they must have gendered hope in
the hearts of the people of God. They
were being told all about The Blessings Of A Redeemed People. I would
like for us to look at those promises ourselves this morning. While we are not Israel, the promises made
to them have application to those who are saved by grace this morning. So, while God gives me liberty I would like
to preach for a while on the thought, The Blessings Of A Redeemed People. The blessings that those who are saved enjoy
can be seen in the “I wills” of God. If you are redeemed this morning, these blessings should serve to
encourage your heart and should challenge you to a closer walk with the
Lord. If you are not saved, I pray they
will help you see what you are missing by not coming to Jesus for
salvation. Notice with me The
Blessings Of A Redeemed People. I. v. 6 THE “I WILL” OF UNCONDITIONAL SALVATION A. Saved
From The Burden Of Slavery – Ill. Israel’s cruel slavery in the land of
Egypt, Ex. 5:6-19. God knew all
about it and promised deliverance from their burdens.) (Ill. Sin brings with it plenty of
baggage. Sin brings with it guilt,
conviction of heart, separation from God, it brings entrapment and slavery,
ultimately sin brings with it an eternity in Hell. Jesus promised to intervene in the lives of all those who came to
Him by faith. He promised that He would
set them free from the entanglements of sin – Ill. A new creature – 2 Cor.
5:17! Everything that was against
us is now forever taken away and we are free from it – Col. 2:13-14!
There is no Hell, there is no judgment, and there is no condemnation for those
who have come to Jesus by faith! There
is only freedom and glory and communion with the Lord God! (Ill. Sin gone – Psalm 103:12; Isa.
38:17; 43:25; Jer. 50:20; Micah 7:19; 1 John 1:7!) Everything changes when you come to Him! (This
would correspond to the Penalty of Sin being broken!) B. Saved
From The Bondage Of Slavery – Their salvation produced more than mere
freedom from their heavy burdens. Their
burdens could have been taken away and they could have remained there as slaves
in Egypt. God not only changed
their situation, He also changed their identification! He broke the bonds that held them and let
them go! This is what He also does for
every sinner who trusts Him by faith for the soul’s salvation. He doesn’t just take away the past and the
guilt, but He breaks the chains of sin asunder and recreates the sinner in His
image a saint of God! Salvation sets
the saved one free, John 8:36; Rom. 6:6-18! This is what Jesus said that
He came to do anyway, Luke 4:18! (Ill. Set free because the King’s
Son took my place!) (This would remind us that the Power of Sin
has been broken as well!) C. Saved
From The Barrier Of Slavery – God’s promise to them is that they will
be redeemed (bought back) out of their slavery by the mighty
power of God. For Israel, this
redemption would take the form of the Passover Lamb, Ex. 12. That blood marked them as a redeemed people
and saved them from the power of the plague that broke the backbone of Egypt
and Pharaoh: the death of the first-born.
Symbolically, they were purchased back to God by the blood of the lamb
and by the power of God. So it is for
every person who will be saved in our day.
There is but one method available for the saving of your soul! The remedy that sinners need is still be
blood of the Lamb, 1 Pet. 1:18-19!
Of course, this Lamb was none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
Who died on the cross that we might have life! If you are saved, or if you ever will be, it will come to pass
through the blood of Jesus and the power of God, Eph. 1:9. By the way, nowhere is God’s power more
clearly visible than in the transforming of the sinner into a saint! Have you
experienced the glory of salvation through the blood of Jesus? II. v. 7 THE “I WILL” OF UNEQUALED SATISFACTION A. The
Satisfaction Of His Adoption – God promises Israel that He will take
those old slaves and transform them into His people. They will be His “peculiar treasure”, Ex. 19:5;
Duet. 14:2; 26:18; Psalm 135:4.
That is, of all the people who lived upon the earth in that day, they
alone would be His people. He would
have a special relationship with them.
There would be a closeness and a state of blessedness that no other
people would know. Why this special
standing? Why this choice of this
people? Because, they had followed His
plan of redemption to the letter. They
had trusted their future to the blood of a little lamb. They had believed God, by faith, and He had
accepted them on those grounds alone!
That is why they were special!
That is why He adopted them as His people. By the
way, that is still how it works today!
If a person wants to be in a relationship with God, it will not come to
pass through joining a church or doing some religious calisthenics. The plan of
salvation has never changed. Heb.
9:22 says, “…without shedding of blood is no remission.” Old sinners are made into saints of God by
merely placing faith in the blood shed by Jesus Christ on the cross of
Calvary. When a person trusts the
blood, and nothing else, that person enters into a special relationship with
God. Just as Israel is called a “peculiar”
people in the Old Testament, the redeemed are called a “peculiar”
people in the New – Titus 2:14; 1 Pet. 2:9. Are you part of the chosen people? Are you involved in a special relationship with the God the
Father through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ? B. The
Satisfaction Of His Approval – Not only did He promise to accept these
people in Himself, He also promised to prove His acceptance of them by
demonstrating His power on their behalf.
As they journeyed toward the Promised Land, they received blessings that
could have only come to them from the hand of God, pillar of cloud and fire,
Red Sea, Manna, water from the Rock, victory over all their enemies, etc. His approval of Israel as a people was
demonstrated to them every day! Such is
the experience of those who have trusted Jesus as well. Every single day of our lives, we enjoy the
manifestation of His approval in the blessings we enjoy as His children, this
is His promise, 2 Cor. 6:16 and this is what He does, Psa. 68:19. That is why those who know Him and walk in
close communion with Him are a happy, satisfied people. God is so good to us every day of our
lives! (Ill. The needs He meets, the
prayers He answers, the burdens He lifts, the glory He bestows, the gifts He
extends, the grace He passes out, etc.) III. v.
8 THE “I WILL” OF UNENDING SECURITY A. Promised
A Habitation – Here were people that God had promised to deliver. He promised to free them from their burdens
and to deliver them from their bondage.
However, His promise extended way beyond the simple idea of bringing
them out. His promise to
them was to bring them in as well. He did not deliver them to leave them wandering in a wilderness
forever. He delivered them from bondage
that He might bring them into the place of blessing. He set them free in order to set them up! His promise carried the idea of keeping them
safely as they journeyed and of delivering them safely to the land of
promise. And, that which He promised He
delivered! Friend, we
enjoy the same precious security this morning!
God did not save a single one of us to lose us along the way! He saved us from this world to deliver us to
that world and He will see to it that it is done. He will not lose a single one of His sheep along the way home, John
6:37-40; John 10:28; 1 Pet. 1:5. If
you are saved, you are going home! If
you are not, then you need to give serious consideration to getting right with
the Lord. If you started this journey
through faith in the shed blood of Jesus, then friend, you are going home! B. Promised
A Heritage – God’s promise to Israel was of a land where they would
enjoy the best of God’s blessings. They
knew the Promised Land as a land that was “flowing with milk and honey”,
Ex. 3:8. His purpose in
redeeming them was not finished with them being delivered from bondage. It was not finished when they left Egypt for
the wilderness. It was not finished
until they stood on the ground that He had promised to their fathers. God’s plan for them was not complete until
they were safely home! He saved
us to take us to a place He was preparing in Heaven, John 14:1-3. It is a place called Heaven, where He makes
His home, Rev. 22:1-5, and where we will enjoy an eternity of unending
glory in His presence, Rev. 21:4. He
didn’t just save us so that we would miss Hell and enjoy victory over sin; He
saved us so that one-day we would step out of this life and into His presence
in a place called Heaven. He brought us
out of a hopeless situation to bring us in to an eternal heritage! (Ill. Just think about how good God is today
as we enjoy the “earnest of the inheritance”, Eph. 1:14. What will it be like to experience Him face
to face! Rev. 4:1-11!) Conc: I thank God for the blessings of the
redeemed this morning! How about
you? Are you in a position to honestly
say that you are enjoying the best God has to offer you today? Are you saved? Are you walking with Him like you know you should be? Are the shackles of sin firmly clasped
around you life this morning? Jesus is
the Key to getting them off! If you
experience doesn’t line up with what I have been preaching today, then you need
to get that thing settled with the Lord this morning. I know He is speaking to you if your heart is not where it should
be. The question is, how will you
respond to His call? |
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