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?