Ransomed

Please pray with me again before we get going.

Father,

Father,

Father,

Father,

Father,

Father,

just glorified tonight in every single person that is here.

And Father,

for those that are here that do not know you,

that are not following you,

whose life is not reflecting yours,

and who are spurning the grace of God,

who are cheapening the salvation they have received,

God,

I pray that you would just convict us,

and you would give us grace,

Lord Jesus,

to be free from these things,

and to glorify you as you are worthy to be glorified,

and to worship you as you are worthy to be worshipped,

and to just enjoy you as you are worthy to be enjoyed.

God,

you are the greatest thing that anyone can have,

and I just pray that you would help me to communicate that tonight,

for your glory,

Lord.

Amen.

About a year and a half ago,

a friend of mine was really going through some difficult things,

and some things that happened in his life that led to depression for him,

and just a lot of discouragement.

Some serious affliction had taken place,

and just a series of events that really kind of subverted his joy.

And this person,

while he was very much affected by it,

was a lover of Christ,

and he was a Christian,

and he would often,

I would often find him praying and appealing to God,

and he was groaning,

he was mourning,

he was sorrowful,

he was in pain,

but he was loving Christ,

he was going to Christ,

because that's what he knew was going to be the answer for him.

During that time,

he would say things like,

I only have a friend in Jesus,

he's the only one that I can go to,

he's the only one that I can find peace from,

he's the only one that can content my heart,

and if I'm not praying to him,

if I'm not with him,

then I'm just depressed.

I once asked him as well,

what do you pray for?

What is it that you pray for?

And he said to me,

I pray this,

Lord,

may my circumstances

not affect my relationship with Christ,

but may my relationship with Christ

affect my circumstances.

I thought that was

a really, really good word,

it was a good prayer.

It meant a lot to him,

and it meant a lot to me.

But essentially,

what he was saying was

he wanted the joy of his Lord

to overcome the joy,

or to overcome the sorrow of his flesh.

Right?

The joy that he had in Christ

to overcome the sorrow

that he felt in his flesh.

And during this time,

he had a keen sense of awareness

for the salvation

that he had received in Christ.

He was very much aware of it.

He would often quote this verse in John 16,

These things I have spoken to you,

this is Jesus speaking,

that in me you may have peace.

In the world you have tribulation.

But take courage,

I have overcome the world.

It was a long time before

my friend's situation improved.

But as time passed,

his heart did grow stronger

as God unveiled more and more

of the glory of that salvation

that he had received.

That salvation,

that ransoming work of Christ

in which he took on flesh,

he took on all the devil's temptations,

he took on the cross,

and he took on finally death.

That work that God did,

our salvation,

was the means by which God

redeemed us for himself

and for his glory forever.

When a man or woman

gains a real interest

in the real gospel,

the real gospel,

the tangible, felt, real gospel,

with true faith and tastes

of those delectable truths

and experiences

that effective power

to heal a broken heart,

to soothe an inflamed conscience,

to bring rest to a wearied soul,

to cleanse the filthy sinner,

to quench the thirst of the sojourner,

to strengthen the sick,

to enrich the poor,

to find the lost,

to free the slave.

When you taste of this gospel,

there's nothing less

that you can do

but totally surrender to God

who is that gospel.

Who is that good news

in loving obedience

and worship?

Some of you are characterized

by what I just said.

Some of you,

all of you,

if you're a Christian,

are sojourners

who are thirsting,

sojourners who need food,

who need sustenance

for the journey.

Some of you are sick

because of sin.

Some of you are poor

because of a lack of faith.

This gospel can change you.

It can renew you.

It can restore you.

And I pray that it does that tonight.

Let me say this statement.

The freest man in the whole world

is the one who's enslaved

to the greatest master.

The freest man

is the one who's enslaved

to the greatest master.

Everyone is enslaved to someone

or something.

Everyone.

I don't care what they say.

I don't care if they're an atheist

or what.

They're enslaved to something,

to an idea,

to their flesh,

to whatever they may be

following after

and serving.

Philippians says

that your God

is your appetite.

Many people are like that.

The freest man

is the one who's enslaved

to the greatest master.

I want to tell you

about my master

and what he's done tonight.

Number one,

he redeemed me.

He redeemed me.

You cannot rightly understand

the word ransomed

until you have an understanding

of the word redeemed.

For Jesus is our redeemer,

but he is also our ransom.

He redeemed us,

but he also paid the price

with himself

for that redemption.

It's kind of a paradox,

but it's not.

Jerry Bridges said this.

Listen to this.

This is a good definition.

To redeem

is to buy back

or secure

the release of

someone from slavery

or from captivity

by the payment of a ransom.

Redemption, then,

is the action

to secure release

and the ransom

is the price paid

to effect that action.

Does that make sense?

So you've got a redemption,

which is the buying back

of something

or someone,

and then a ransom

is the price you pay

to actually do that.

Bound up in the person

of Jesus Christ

is the unique ability

to be both redeemer

and yet to pay

for the redemption

with his own body

and with his own blood.

We were enslaved

as sinners

to sin

and as humans

to Satan.

Okay?

This is a way

that I'm going to try

to describe to you

what exactly

you were enslaved to

before you were ransomed

or redeemed from Christ

if you have been.

Again, I'm going to say this.

We were enslaved

as sinners

to sin

but as humans

to Satan.

It's kind of a tricky thought

but

because it's kind of like

splitting hairs.

It's almost one and the same

but there's some differences.

Sin

Okay?

This is the difference.

Sin ruled over

our interior.

Our insides.

Our desires.

Our personality.

Was all infected

completely by sin.

Totally and completely

affected by sin.

On the other hand

Satan ruled our exterior.

Or rules your exterior.

Your flesh.

Your outer man.

By provoking you

to bad deeds.

Kind of like

poking you.

Kind of like

a doctor

who may take one of those

tomahawk looking things

and hit you in the kneecap

and make you

kick forward.

That's

kind of in a sense

what Satan does.

He pokes.

He pricks.

He doesn't exactly

possess you

especially if you're a believer

he doesn't possess you

but he provokes you.

So he works on the external

side of things.

For evidence of this

biblically

you can look at Matthew 4.

That's

when Jesus was tempted

himself.

And you see a lot of

those kind of examples.

To use another analogy

envision a prison

a prison cell

and you in that prison cell.

Okay.

So you got the walls

you got the concrete

you got everything

in the prison cell.

The actual thing

that you are incarcerated

by is the cell.

Okay.

It's the

again

the walls

the iron bars

this is representative

of sin.

You are incarcerated

by sin.

You are enslaved

to sin

but at the same time

every once in a while

you are attended to

by a jail keeper.

Okay.

Who brings you food

and brings you water

and sustains you

in your poor position.

And that is representative

of Satan.

So you're incarcerated

by sin

but you're attended to

by Satan.

He keeps you

in that position.

He keeps you alive.

He keeps you doing

his bidding.

You are also

his prisoner

but he is not

your captor.

And therefore

the price

of your release

from that prison cell

or the blood

of our beloved

Jesus Christ

was not paid

to Satan.

Okay.

When you were ransomed

when God

made himself

a ransom

for you

it wasn't

to pay off

Satan

to free you.

He wasn't

your captor.

He was just

the simple

jail keeper.

But that price

was paid

to God

who could be

seen as the

warden

in this scenario.

Does that make sense?

The cell

and the jail

keeper

and the warden.

That make sense?

Now that's not to say

that God

has made you

a sinner

or that God

has enslaved you

into sin

but that he is

the ruler

he is the judge

he is the warden

over all matters

in the spiritual realm.

Okay.

And you must

directly consult

with him

if you wish

to be free.

So God

being holy

and just

cannot excuse

a single

transgression

he won't

do it.

It's against

his nature.

It's against

the idea

of being just.

All sins

have to be

accounted for.

All debts

have to be

paid.

Therefore

we learn

from Galatians

3.13

precisely what

it is

that we've

been ransomed

from

or redeemed

from.

It says this.

Turn there

if you want

to.

Galatians 3.13

This is a good

passage to go

back to

as you're

envisioning

or thinking

about this.

Everything's

got to be

paid for.

Every sin.

Every infraction

of the law.

So Galatians

3.13

says this.

Christ

redeemed us

from the curse

of the law

by becoming

a curse

for us.

Christ

redeemed us

from the curse

of the law

by becoming

a curse

for us.

So what is

the curse

of the law?

Because that's

what obviously

we've been

redeemed from.

Simply put

the curse

of the law

is that

perfect

zero sin

standard

that God

has

for all

people.

Perfect

standard

that cannot

be broken.

If you

wish to

appease a

perfectly

holy

and just

God

you have

to keep

that standard

completely

without any

infraction.

And have

you fallen

short of

this?

Have I

fallen

short of

this?

A trillion

times over

you have.

Ten times

a thousand

times a

day.

We all

do.

And yet

some of us

are still

trusting in

our goodness

and in

our faithfulness

to God

and in

our good

deeds

as a

means of

entering

into heaven.

Somehow

we think

and people

have been

deceived

that maybe

you're

around

think

that by

being good

enough

or earning

God's favor

through the

things that

I do

that are

good

that God

is going

to accept

us on the

last day

of judgment.

When he

looks at

our life

and he

says

although

you've

made all

of these

sins

against me

although

you've

hated me

in this

way

yet I'm

going to

forgive you

because

you did

this.

Serial

killers have

done good

things in

their life.

We don't

let them

off the

hook

though.

You're

dead wrong

if you

think that.

God

so not

one human

being can

ever do

enough to

achieve the

righteousness

that God

requires.

If somehow

we could

combine

Mother Teresa

Gandhi

and the

Apostle Paul

into one

person

one super

human

good person

and then

give them a

thousand lives

to live

to do all

the good

deeds they

want to

do

they would

still fall

short

of that

standard.

One

thing

one

thing

made them

fall short

of that

standard

and they

would still

go to

hell.

That

super

human good

person

would go

to hell.

So it's

an impossible

thing for us

to achieve

it on our

own.

Impossible.

Jesus said

himself in

Matthew 5

48

you are to

be perfect

as your

heavenly

father is

perfect.

Paul said

in Galatians

3 just

three verses

before this

one.

All who

rely on

observing the

law are

under a

curse.

So the

people that

put their

trust in

observing the

law and

doing the

things of

law,

they're under

the curse.

For as

it is

written,

cursed is

everyone who

does not

continue to

do everything

written in

the book

of the

law.

James also

says this

in the

New Testament.

Whoever

keeps the

whole law

and yet

stumbles at

one point

has become

guilty of

all.

So you

can't trust

in that.

I talked

to a guy

today,

I just

met him

sitting on

a bench

near the

drill field

and I

said,

hey man,

how did you

become a

Christian?

Or when

did you

become a

Christian?

He said,

I've

always been a

Christian.

I grew

up in a

Christian

home.

And I

just,

you know,

it was

baffled.

I mean,

again,

so many

people are

like that.

They don't

understand that

you aren't a

Christian because

you grew up in a

Christian home.

You're a

Christian because

you submit to

the lordship of

Christ.

Christ.

Because you

love Jesus.

Because you

hate sin.

Because his

spirit's inside

of you.

You're not a

Christian because

you grew up in

it.

Because you

were indoctrinated

with it.

Because you

have been

baptized.

None of

those things

save.

Our

redemption

then,

so this

truth that

we're speaking

of right

now,

this redemption

truth,

is the

rock upon

which we

stand as

Christians.

It is the

deed that we

hold when we

die and we

go to heaven

and we say,

look here,

angels,

this is my

deed to the

property that I

have in heaven.

This is my

right to it.

I have

ownership of

property in

heaven.

Redemption is

that deed.

It's an

engagement ring

we wear to

signify our

union with

Christ.

It's the

wedding clothes

we dress

ourselves with

for acceptance

into the

wedding feast.

There is

not a

greater truth

in the

world than

this.

How are

you

redeemed?

Go back

to your

verse.

Galatians

3.13

It says,

Christ

redeemed us

from the

curse of

the law.

How?

By becoming

a curse

for us.

This is the

whole essence

of redemption

and the

whole essence

of being

ransomed.

Christ

became a

curse for

you in

your place.

He was

treated as

if the

curse

applied to

Him so

that the

curse might

not any

longer apply

to you.

He died

in your

place.

That

scripture that

Melissa read

earlier just a

second ago,

turn to 2 Corinthians

again.

Read this

slowly.

Read this

in faith.

God made

Him,

who's that?

Jesus,

who knew

no sin,

to be

sin on

our behalf

that we

might become

the righteousness

of God

in Him.

He made

Jesus Christ

incarnate

to become

sin for

you.

think about

that.

To become

sin for

you.

To become

sin for

you.

To take

your sin

on Himself.

And I'm

the same way

as you are

right now

looking at

me with

no tears

in your

eyes.

And no

fear.

And no

love.

We're so

weakened to

it.

We're so

dead to

it.

We've

heard it

so many

times.

And we

don't

think about

it.

We don't

meditate

on it.

We don't

read the

scriptures

to gain

more of

it,

to get

a grasp

of it.

We should

all be

crying right

now.

With joy

for thankfulness

for what

Christ has

done.

But we

sit here

and we're

just

same story,

same story,

same thing.

Give me

something new.

Guys,

we have to

pray to

Christ.

We have to

pray to

Christ to

get this.

When you

start seeing

Him,

when you

start drawing

near to

Him in

prayer,

when you

start looking

at His

Word and

reading it

and cherishing

it as your

food for

your day,

I promise

you,

this will

become real

and felt.

And it won't

feel like a

dead faith

anymore.

It won't

feel like

dead works

anymore.

And the

songs you

sing will

feel enlivened

and real.

will.

This is

convicting.

It should

be.

That

holy God

who sits

above,

whose name

we should

never even

be able to

say,

because we're

sinners,

has seen

fit to send

His only

begotten

Son to

earth,

to become

like us

in all

things,

to die a

wretched

and a

horrible

and a

nasty

death,

to experience

that indescribable

thing that we

call separation

from the

Father.

We don't

know what

that is.

We can't

fathom that.

He experienced

that in our

stead,

so that,

so that,

we might

become the

righteousness

of God

in Him,

so that you

could be

seen as

holy on

the day

of judgment.

When you

come before

God,

He looks

at you,

He won't

see you,

He won't

see your

deadness to

His

redemption.

He will

see Christ

in that

union

that He

has

with the

Father.

It's called

imputation.

That's the

name for it.

And that

means that

we get

Christ,

and all

that that

means,

all that

Christ is,

all of

Him,

and our

beloved

Savior gets

us.

all our

sin,

all our

shame,

all our

guilt,

all our

pain,

misery,

punishment,

He got

all of

it.

Why,

you say?

Why?

Why did

Jesus get

this?

Why did

He want

this?

I guess

the answer

to that

question is

love,

which is

simply a

word that

doesn't

describe it

accurately.

That's the

best our

English language

can do.

God did

this because

He loves

us,

because He

cares for

us,

because it

gives Him

more glory to

do so,

and that's the

most loving

thing that He

can do.

He loves

us so

much,

and if He

loves us

that much,

He must

hate sin

that much.

I was

reading

something

today,

out of a

book about

the voice of

the martyrs.

this guy

named Richard

Wurmbron

back,

I don't

know what

it was

exactly,

but it

was back

during the

communist

regime that

was going

on in

Russia and

Romania and

all that

stuff.

The wall

hadn't fallen

down yet,

so he was

a missionary

kind of

underground in

Romania,

and he

suffered a

lot of

incredibly

horrible

things.

Then he

started,

when he

got out

of it,

he didn't

die,

he started

this thing

called

Voice of the

Martyrs,

and it's a

newsletter now

that they send

out,

and it's a

ministry.

Clay

subscribes to

him,

and he

gets all

these

magazines,

and these

updates,

and things,

and I was

reading through

this update

today.

I don't

exactly know

when this

happened,

but this

is a true

story about

a true

person and

his wife,

and what

they went

through,

and the

love that

they had

for Christ.

So,

somewhere near

the Roman

area,

I'm not

exactly sure,

it probably

was back

a while

back,

I'm not

sure,

but he

was arrested

for passing

out leaflets,

like gospel

tracts,

basically,

and they

were torturing

him,

and his

wife was

arrested

with him.

They were

torturing him

trying to

find out

where the

Bibles that

they had

were,

because they

knew they

had Bibles,

they knew they

had more

Christian

propaganda,

and they

were going

to try to

extinguish

that from

their land.

They hated

Christianity,

they hated

Christ.

So,

in order to

torture him,

they put out

his eyes

with coals,

hot coals.

Then,

they hung

him upside

down,

and tied a

chain around

his neck,

and a big

boulder to

that chain,

and he

just was

pulling on

his spinal

cord,

basically.

And they

gagged him,

and his

wife was

screaming at

him,

stop it,

stop it,

just tell

them where

it is,

just tell

them where

it is,

tell them

where the

Bibles are,

please,

I can't

deal with

this anymore,

I can't

take it

anymore.

They

finally

un-gagged

him.

He looks

at his

wife and

he says,

woman,

don't

ever

trade

your

love

for your

Savior,

for your

love

for me.

don't

ever

trade

that

love.

He

didn't

tell

them.

It

strengthened

her.

They

took

her

in the

back

room

to

show

her

a

lesson.

They

tortured

her

for

hours

on end.

Finally,

they

crucified

them

both

together.

They

never

relinquished

that

news

of where

the

Bibles

were.

That's

faith.

That's

real

faith.

that's

when

somebody

gets

this

stuff

in

their

mind

and

they're

willing

to go

to

any

length

to

glorify

the

God

that

saved

them

from

it.

Doesn't

matter

what it

is.

Doesn't

matter

if it

costs

them

their

life.

Oh,

by the

way,

that

couple

was

married

two

weeks

prior

to

that.

Newlyweds.

we

are

elementary

Christians

here.

Okay?

We

get

Christ.

We

get

Christ.

He

got

our

sin,

our

shame.

We

get

him.

This

is the

idea

of being

ransomed.

What a

redemption.

What a

glorious

thing he's

done in

paying our

ransom with

his own

blood.

That

man had

to be

thinking

something

like,

my

Savior

suffered

so much

more than

I ever

did.

My

eyes are

put out.

My

spine's

all

screwed

up.

My

wife's

getting

tortured

in the

back

room.

I'm

going to

get

crucified

soon.

And

God

did

so

much

more

for

me

than

I

could

ever

pay

him

back.

He's

worthy

of our

worship.

He's

worthy

of you

waking

up in

the

morning

early

to be

with

him.

!

He's

worthy

of you

honoring

God

with

your

relationships.

He's

worthy

of

everything.

Your

money,

your

time,

your

possessions.

God

has

bought

you

with

his

blood.

You're

not

your

own.

You

belong

to

him.

Who

or what

could be

better

than

Christ?

What

could be

better

than

that?

If

you're

wandering,

don't

wander

anymore.

Turn

back to

him.

If

you're

still

in

your

sins,

if

you

don't

know

this

Christ,

if

this

isn't

a

Jesus

that

you

worship,

that

you

know,

repent.

Don't

wait another

moment.

Repent

of your

sins.

Trust

in

him.

He's

done

this

already

for

you.

This

work

is

complete.

If

you

have

him,

but

you

are

neglecting

him,

why

would

you?

For

what

other

thing?

He's

worthy to

lose your

spouse

over,

your

child

over,

your

life

over.

There's

a woman

on this

magazine

as well.

This

is

horrific.

This

woman,

she's

been

burned

from

head

to

toe.

I

don't

know

how

it

happened,

but

she's

in

there

smiling,

trying

to

raise

money

for

more

Bibles

to be

sent to

her

village

so she

can share

more.

I don't

know what

happened to

her.

These

incredible

stories,

they don't

care about

the way

they look.

We do.

We

shouldn't.

The

writer of

Hebrews says,

how can you

neglect so

great a

salvation?

How can you

neglect this?

this is

priceless.

Repent,

return,

and rejoice

in Christ.

Let

him be the

source of

your joy.

Let

him be the

source of

your happiness.

Let

him be the

source of

your

contentment.

Not

sex,

not

drink,

not a

career,

not money.

Number

two,

he freed

me.

He freed

me.

Turn to

Acts 13.

Acts 13,

beginning in

verse 38.

Therefore,

let it be

known to

you,

brethren,

that through

him,

that's

Jesus,

forgiveness

of sins

is proclaimed

to you.

And through

him,

everyone who

believes is

freed from

all things.

from which

you could

not be

freed through

the law

of Moses.

Through

him,

everyone who

believes,

believes,

believes,

is freed from

all things from

which you could

not be freed

through the law

of Moses.

Understand this

from the

outset of this

verse.

Believing in

the Bible is

synonymous with

obeying.

Okay,

believing means

obeying.

It doesn't mean

intellectual ascent

to some truth

about Jesus

Christ.

It means a

total and

complete

surrender

mentally,

physically,

and spiritually

to the

lordship of

Jesus Christ.

When you

say,

I believe,

that means

you obey.

That means

I faithfully

trust in

Christ and

I will

follow him.

It does

not mean

you believe

in him or

that you

heard about

him and

that you

made a

profession

of him

when you

were seven

years old.

That is

not

believing.

Believing is

every day.

It's a big

difference,

believe me.

If you

don't believe

what I just

said,

turn to

John 3.36

and you

can see

that there.

I'm not

going to

go to it

right now,

but that's

a reference,

John 3.36.

So,

through Christ,

forgiveness of

sins is

offered as we

clearly see

stated in

our verse.

MacArthur

said,

referring to

the verse,

he said,

the atoning

death of

Jesus

completely

satisfied the

demands of

God's

law.

Making

forgiveness of

all sins

available to

all who

believe.

However,

this forgiveness

is accompanied

by a new

heart.

Okay?

With a new

heart comes

new desires

for new

things.

This is how

you know

you're saved.

This new

heart you

have,

that's been

given to

you,

it's a

spiritual

heart,

gives you

desires for

new

things.

If you

don't have

new desires,

you don't

have Christ.

And the

one thing