Remember!

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, MARCH 31, 1878,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"You shall remember that you were a bondman in the land of Egypt, and
the Lord your God redeemed you." Deuteronomy 15:15.

IN an autobiography of William Jay we read that on one occasion he
called to see the famous Mr. John Newton, at Olney, and he observed
that over the desk at which he was accustomed to compose his sermons,
he had written up in very large letters the following words–"Remember
that you were a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God
redeemed you." To my mind this story invests the text with considerable
interest–it was most fitting that such a remarkable convert as he
should dwell upon such a theme and place such a text conspicuously
before his eyes. Might it not with great propriety be placed in a
similar position by each one of us?

Mr. Newton lived and acted under the influence of the memory which the
text commands, as was seen that very morning in his conversation with
Mr. Jay. "Sir," said Mr. Newton, "I am glad to see you, for I have a
letter just come from Bath and you can, perhaps, assist me in the
answer to it. Do you know anything of So-and-So (mentioning the name)?"
Mr. Jay replied that the man was an awful character, had once been a
hearer of the Gospel, but had become a leader in every vice. "But,
Sir," said Mr. Newton, "He writes very penitently and who can tell?
Perhaps a change may have come over him." "Well," said Mr. Jay, "I can
only say that if ever he should be converted, I should despair of no
one." "And I," said Mr. Newton, "have never despaired of anybody since
I was, myself, converted."

So, you see, as he thought of this poor sinner at Bath, he was
remembering that he, also, was a bondman in the land of Egypt and the
Lord his God had redeemed him. And why should not the same redemption
reach even to this notorious transgressor and save him? The memory of
his own gracious change of heart and life gave him tenderness in
dealing with the erring and hope with regard to their restoration. May
some such good effect be produced in our minds–we are not all called
to be preachers of the Gospel, but in any capacity a holy, beneficial,
sanctifying effect will be produced upon a right mind by remembering
that we were bondmen, but the Lord our God redeemed us. May the Holy
Spirit, at this hour, bring the amazing Grace of God to our remembrance
with melting power!

As to the particular fact of the redemption of Israel out of Egypt,
great care was taken that it should be remembered. The month upon which
they came out was made the commencement of the year. "This month shall
be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the
year to you" (Exo. 12:2). A special injunction was issued, "Observe the
month of Abib and keep the Passover unto the Lord your God: for in the
month of Abib the Lord your God brought you forth out of Egypt by
night." An ordinance was established on purpose that the deliverance
might be commemorated–and the eating of the Passover lamb was made
binding upon the whole of the people–so that they should not forget
the sprinkling of the blood.

The Word of the Lord ordained, saying, "And this day shall be unto you
for a memorial; and you shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout
your generations; you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever."
They were enjoined, also, to instruct their children concerning it, so
that in addition to a ceremonial there was an oral tradition to be
handed from father to son. "And when your son asks you in time to come,
saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments,
which the Lord our God has commanded you? Then you shall say unto your
son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt and the Lord brought us out of
Egypt with a mighty hand" (Deut. 6:20, 21).

Their law of the Ten Commandments commenced with a reminder of that
remarkable fact–"I am the Lord your God, which have brought you out of
the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage: you shall have no other
gods before Me." All through the book of Deuteronomy you will observe
that this is the one weighty and oft repeated argument for obedience
and faithfulness–"Remember that you were a bondman in Egypt and the
Lord your God redeemed you."

Now, Beloved, if the Jew was so carefully instructed to remember his
deliverance out of Egypt, should not we, also, take heed to ourselves
that we by no means forget, or cast into the background, our yet
greater redemption through the precious blood of Christ by which we
were set free from the yoke and bondage of sin? See how Paul, in
Ephesians 2:11, 12, 13, speaks to us who have been called by Grace from
the ends of the earth–"Why remember, that you being in time past
Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is
called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that time
you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
and strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope, and without
God in the world: but now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far
off are made near by the blood of Christ."

He puts the same thought into other words in Romans 6:17, 18, when he
says–"God be thanked, that you were the servants of sin, but you have
obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Being then made free from sin, you became the servants of
righteousness." Paul would have us remember our redemption. And God the
Holy Spirit who spoke by Paul would have us remember it! Will we not
give earnest heed to such solemn counsels? The blessed effects that
will flow from such a memory urge us to remember it and because of this
our discourse of this morning is intended to be a humble assistance
towards such a memory.

O my Brothers and Sisters, forget all else, just now, and give your
heart to the work before you and, "remember that you were a bondman in
the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you." First, then,
let us consider our bondage. Secondly, our redemption. And thirdly, the
influence of the memory of the two facts. I shall not try to say
anything fresh or new–it would be out of place to attempt it, for my
present duty is to awaken your memories as to former days. I have only
to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance. He who is only a
remembrancer for the past must not look about for novelties. We speak
what you know and ask you to testify to what you have felt.

I. First let us consider OUR BONDAGE. It was exceedingly like the
bondage of the children of Israel in Egypt. There are many points in
which a parallel might be drawn. We will indicate them in a few words.
First, when we were unregenerate and sold under sin, we were enslaved
to a mighty power against which we could not contend. It would have
been of no use for the Israelites to have commenced an insurrection
against Pharaoh–he was too firmly established upon the throne and his
soldiers by far too strong for poor, feeble, shepherd tribes to be able
to resist. They scarcely dared to think of such a thing and, Brethren,
if fallen man single-handedly had the heart to contend with sin and
Satan, he would certainly be unable to achieve a victory.

The Fall has left us "without strength." The Law, with all its force,
is "weak through the flesh." Alas, man has no heart for spiritual
liberty, otherwise the Lord would lend him power. But apart from Divine
power, what man can break loose from his sin? Shall the Ethiopian
change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then shall he that is
accustomed to do evil learn to do well, unassisted by Divine strength!
No, Brothers and Sisters, the fetters which enchain the mind of the
carnal man are much too strong for him to snap them. He may resolve to
do so, as in moments of reflection some men do, but, alas, he is soon
weary of the struggle for liberty and resigns himself to his prison.

If man had been capable of his own redemption, there would never have
descended from Heaven the Divine Redeemer, but because the bondage was
all too dire for man to set himself free, therefore the eternal Son of
God came here that He might save His people from their sins. Our
natural bondage was caused and maintained by a power tremendous in
energy and craft. The Prince of the power of the air, the spirit that
now works in the children of disobedience, held us beneath his iron
sway and sin exercised a tyrannical dominion over us from which we
could not break.

Worse still, we were like the Israelites in another respect. Our
slavery had so degraded us that we had no heart to desire an escape!
One of the worst points of slavery is that it frequently degrades men
into contentment with their condition. That would be thought by some to
be a benefit, but it is a giant evil, for a man has no right to be
satisfied in slavery. Such contentment is an ensign of debased manhood.
Freedom is the right of every human being and he is not truly a man if
he can be happy in bondage.

The Israelites were so trampled down that they crouched at their
oppressors' feet and made themselves as content as they could in their
enslaved condition. As they were turned into beasts of burden, so were
their minds brutalized until their chief joy lay in the onions and the
cucumbers with which they refreshed themselves–and the fish of which
they later spoke so longingly. They declined from a thoughtful family
into a clan of groveling laborers without heart or hope, so

that when Moses went to them, the first time, he was not received. And
when he was sent of God with his brother, Aaron, the people at the
first hour of conflict shrank into their former cowardice and would
willingly have remained slaves sooner than excite Pharaoh's wrath.

They had been ground down so terribly with their hard labor in mortar
and in brick that they scarcely dared to think of freedom–and that was
just your case and mine, beloved Friends–we, too, were willing slaves
of death and sin. If we are free this morning it was not because when
left to ourselves we fought for liberty and refused to wear a fetter.
No, our bonds were on our hearts and we chose our own degradation. The
slave from the south, of old, watched the northern star and followed it
through brake, swamp and forest to obtain his liberty, but our eyes
refused to look to Jesus, who is the Star of Freedom. We boasted that
we were born free and were never in bondage to any man and so we most
effectually proved our bondage under our own pride.

We, perhaps, called ourselves freethinkers and, at any rate we meant to
be free actors, yet, all the while we were in bondage and did not care
to seek true liberty. Can you not remember when you hugged your chains
and kissed your bonds–and like a madman who crowns himself with a wisp
of straw and calls himself a king–embraced the foolish pleasures of
this world and thought yourselves supremely blessed in such base
enjoyments? Remember again, dear Brothers and Sisters, that you were in
a bondage similar to that of Egypt, for while in that condition you
toiled hard and found that all the service wherein Satan made you to
serve was with rigor.

The Israelites built treasure cities for Pharaoh and they are supposed
to have erected some of the pyramids. But their wage was very small and
their taskmasters were brutal. Laborers engaged upon royal works
received no wages, but were simply served with sufficient bread to keep
them alive. The Israelites were called upon to make an enormous
quantity of bricks and, at last, the chopped straw, which was necessary
to make the clay bind together, which had been given out of the royal
granaries, was refused them and they were bid to go over all the land
to hunt up what they could of stubble instead of straw–thus their
labor was increased beyond all bearing.

Could not many a sinner tell of horrible nights and woeful mornings
when under the power of his passions? Who has woe? Who has redness of
the eyes? Who is filled with dread of death? Who flees when no man
pursues? Of all tyrants sin and Satan are the most cruel! How are men
worn out in the devil's destructive service! What an expense does sin
entail! It is a costly thing for many, to obey their own vices! They
are impoverished by their passions. Those who complain if they are
pressed for subscriptions to holy causes should consider how much more
they would have spent in the pleasures of the world. Why, men squander
fortunes upon their frivolities or upon their lusts–and encumber
future generations to indulge a vice which ruins their health, destroys
their reputation and sends them to an early grave!

If you will have your own way, that way will be the hardest you can
choose. It does not matter in what position a man may be, whether rich
or poor, illiterate and fond of the more vulgar pleasures, or tutored
and educated and prone to more fashionable vices–sin leads on to hard
service everywhere–and its exactions increase from day to day. If men
were but in their senses, drunkenness, gambling, gluttony, wantonness
and many other vices would be punishments rather than pleasures–and
yet they live in them! There was a time, dear Brethren, when, in
addition to our hard toil, our bondage brought us misery.

Do you remember when you dared not think a day's conduct over for the
life of you? When if you had been compelled to sit down and review your
own character it would have been an intolerable task? I recollect,
also, when a sense of sin came over me and then, indeed, my life was
made bitter with hard bondage. I labored to set up a righteousness of
my own, for I could not yield to the righteousness of Christ. That was
laboring as in the very fire! I strove by my own good works to
accomplish my own salvation and tried by prayers and tears to pay the
debt I owed to God, but all in vain. I was sinning all the while by
refusing Christ and endeavoring to rival my Savior.

So far I speak for myself, but I know that you have done the same. Do
you remember, Brothers and Sisters, when your pleasures ceased to be
pleasures? When all the amusements of the world lost their flavor and
became flat, stale, nauseous and you turned away and asked in vain for
something that would content you? Do you remember when at last you saw
yourself in your true condition and bewailed yourself before the living
God as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn? Ah, then you felt
like Israel in Egypt when they sighed and cried by reason of the
bondage!

And, blessed be God, the parallel runs further, for in your case, also,
God heard the groaning and remembered His covenant (Exo. 2:24). All
this while our enemy was aiming at our destruction! This was what
Pharaoh was driving at

with Israel–he intended to cut off the nation by severe tasks, or at
least to reduce its strength. As his first policy did not succeed, he
set about to destroy the male children. And even so, Satan, when he has
men under his power, labors by all means to utterly destroy them, for
nothing short of this will satisfy him! Every hopeful thought he would
drown in the river of despair, lest by any means the man should shake
off his yoke. The total overthrow of the soul of man is the aim of the
great enemy. What a mercy to have been redeemed out of the hand of the
enemy!

And like Israel in Egypt, we were in the hands of a power that would
not let us go. There came a voice by Moses which said to Pharaoh, "Thus
says the Lord, Let My people go," but Pharaoh's answer was, "I know not
the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." And such was the language of
our corruptions! Such the language of the devil who had dominion over
us. "I will not let you go," said the fierce Prince of Darkness and,
like a strong armed man, he kept his goods in peace. You remember that
telling sermon which thrilled you and awoke in you desires for liberty?
You recollect how there seemed to ring in the halls of your nature the
resounding voice, "Let my people go"?

But you did not go, for that slavish will of yours held you in bondage.
Your sins captivated you! Then came the reading of the Scriptures, or a
mother's exhortation, or another earnest sermon and again the voice was
heard, "Thus says the Lord, Let My people go." You began to feel uneasy
in your condition and to venture somewhat into the border country, but
you could not escape–the iron had entered into your soul–your heart
was captive. Blessed was the day when the strong armed man that kept
you as a man keeps his house was overcome by a stronger than he and
cast out forever! Then Jesus took possession of your nature, never to
leave it, but to hold His tenancy world without end! Glory be to God,
we were bondmen in Egypt, but the Lord our God redeemed us–let His
name be praised!

I would assist you still further to remember that bondage. It cannot be
hard for some of you to do so, for you are "from Egypt lately come."
Some of you have been set free, now, these 20 years, some perhaps these
50 years! But it cannot be difficult for you to remember what must be
so indelibly impressed upon you. I can imagine, 30 years after coming
out of Egypt, some of the gray fathers who had crossed the Red Sea
telling their sons the sad story of the bondage in Egypt. "I, your
father," one of them would say, "was beaten with rods by the taskmaster
because when I had made up my full tale of bricks I was required to
make twice as many. I toiled far into the night at brick-making, but I
could not accomplish the task–and I remember how the blows descended
upon my back like burning hail. Look here, my son," he would say, as he
stripped himself to show the scars, "these are the memorials of
Egyptian bondage."

Ah, glory be to God, we are free! No more do we carry clanking chains
upon our souls–but we still bear the old scars about us. Sometimes the
old temper rises, or the old lusts flame up. When a man has had a bone
broken, it may have been well set and he has, for the most part,
forgotten the problem, yet, in bad weather I have heard it said, "The
old bone talks a bit." And, alas, the bones we broke by our sins will
talk a bit at times–and their talk is a sad reminder of our former
state. Snatches of ill songs, recollections of old lusts and I know not
what besides, are scars which remind us that we were bondmen in Egypt!

Many a mother that came out of Egypt when she looked at her boy would
say, "And I might have been the joyful mother of seven sons, but they
were one after another snatched from my bosom by the remorseless
servant of the Egyptian tyrant and put to death." With her joy for what
was left her would be mingled sorrow for what she had lost. Yes, and in
your families it may be your younger children have been brought under
religious influences, but your older sons are as irreligious as you
were when they were lads at home. Many are led to think of their own
evil example in former years as they see their wayward sons persevering
in sin.

As you think of them you may say, "I see my bondage in my son. I see my
sin repeated in my child." These are mournful memorials of our carnal
state. But, indeed, I need not thus remind you, for everything may
refresh your memories as to your former bondage. Is it not so? The task
set before you in the text is an easy one and I charge you, therefore,
remember that you were once bondmen in Egypt.

II. In the second place, we have to think of the blessed fact of OUR
REDEMPTION–"The Lord your God

redeemed you." Here again there is a parallel. He redeemed us first by
price. Israel in Egypt was an unransomed nation. God claimed that
nation to be His firstborn. As it is written, "Sanctify unto Me all the
firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both
of man and of beast: it is Mine." That portion had been His claim from
the first. And the Law was afterwards carried out by the setting apart
of the Levitical tribe to take the place of the firstborn–but Israel
in Egypt had never set apart its firstborn at all–and was, therefore
an unredeemed people.

How was all that indebtedness to be made up? The nation must be
redeemed by a price and that price was set forth by the symbol of a
lamb which was killed, roasted and eaten, while the blood was smeared
upon the lintel and the two side posts. Beloved, you and I have been
redeemed with blood! Blessed Lord Jesus, "You were slain and have
redeemed us unto God by Your blood." "You were not redeemed with
corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." You cannot, you
must not, you shall not forget this. You were bondmen, but Jesus your
Lord redeemed you. He took your nature and was thus next of kin to
you–and it became His right to redeem you, which right He has
exercised to His own cost but to your eternal gain.

The price by which you were set free He counted down in a wondrous
coinage, minted from His own heart. The ransom is paid and the Jubilee
trumpet proclaims that you and your heavenly possessions are now
delivered from all mortgage and encumbrance through the blood of Jesus
Christ. Remember that with a great price you have obtained this
freedom. The Lord says, "I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and
Seba for you." But there would not have been a coming out of Egypt
unless there had been a display of power as well as a payment of
price–for with a high hand and an outstretched arm the Lord brought
forth His people.

There are always two redemptions to every man who is saved–redemption
by price and redemption by power. You know what power God put forth in
the land of Egypt when He worked all His plagues in the field of Zoan.
But that was nothing compared with the power of Christ when He broke
the head of the old dragon! When He utterly destroyed the kingdom of
sin and led our captivity captive! Greater than Moses' rod were
Christ's pierced hands! He has done it! He has done it! Our tyrant has
no more power to hold us in chains, for Christ has vanquished him
forever!

Another form of redemption was also seen by Israel, namely, in the
power exerted over themselves. I think sufficient stress has never been
laid upon this. That they should have been willing to come out of Egypt
was no small thing– universally willing so that not a single person
remained behind–so unanimous and so eager were they to come out of
Egypt, though almost rooted to the soil, that a number of Egyptians
came up with them. According to the word of Moses, "Not a hoof shall be
left behind," they all left the land and neither sheep, nor goat, nor
ox–much less man, woman, or child–remained.

Israel was glad to come out and even Egypt was glad when they departed.
It is wonderful that they were all able to come out of Egypt. There was
never an army, yet, but what had some sick in it–the ambulance and the
hospital are always needed–but of this grand army we are told, "He
brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one
feeble person among their tribes." Marvelous display of power was this!
And so, Beloved, we will tell it to the praise of God this day that He
made us willing to come out of the Egypt of our sin to which we were
rooted! And making us willing He made us able, too! The power of the
Spirit came upon us and the might of His Grace overshadowed us and we
did arise and come to our Father. Let Grace have all the glory!

Shall I need to press upon you, then, to let your minds fly back to the
time when you realized your redemption and came up out of the land of
Egypt? It was a Divine interposition. "The Lord your God redeemed you."
And it was personally experienced, for, "The Lord your God redeemed
you." It was a matter of clear consciousness to your own soul. You were
a bondman–you knew it and felt it–the Lord your God redeemed you and
you know it and feel that, also! You know it as much as a galley slave
would know it if he no more tugged the oar! As much as the captive who
has pined away in the dungeon through weary years would know it when
once more he breathed the air and felt that he was free!

"You were a bondman, and the Lord your God redeemed you." There can be
no doubt about it! Satan himself could not make some of us doubt it!
The chains were so real and the liberty so delightful! It was a mental
phenomenon for which there can be no accounting except upon this
belief–that the Lord our God, Himself, came and set us free!

III. Thus, Brothers and Sisters, I have set before you the subject for
your memory. I shall now try to show you THE

INFLUENCE WHICH THIS DOUBLE MEMORY OUGHT TO HAVE UPON YOU. We should
naturally conclude,

without any reference to Scripture, that if a Christian man kept always
in mind his former and his present state, it would render him humble.
You have been preaching and God has blessed you to the conversion of
many–do you feel elated? "Remember that you were a bondman in the land
of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you."

You are getting on in knowledge and your character is evidently much
improved. Your inner life is full of peace and comfort. Do you feel as
if you were some great one? Do not play the fool! You are less than
nothing! Remember that you were a poor miserable slave–brown,
sun-dried, smoke-tinged–and that not long ago! You would have been in
Hell if

it had not been for Sovereign Grace! Or if not there, perhaps you would
have been among drunkards and swearers, and lewd men and women, or at
least among the proud, self-righteous Pharisees. When you are honored
of the Lord and happy in the full assurance of faith, remember that you
were a bondman–walk humbly with your God.

In the next place, be grateful. If you have not all the temporal
mercies that you would desire, yet you have received the choicest of
all mercies–liberty through Jesus Christ–therefore be cheerful, happy
and thankful. Remember that you were a bondman and if you have but
little of this world's goods, be thankful for the great spiritual
blessing you have received in being set free from the galling yoke. Do
not receive such a liberty as this without blessing those dear, pierced
hands which was nailed to the tree that you might be delivered! Let
gratitude abound, as you remember the wormwood and the gall.

Being grateful, be patient, too. If you are suffering or ailing, or if
sometimes your spirits are cast down, or if you are poor and despised,
yet say to yourself, "Why should I complain? My lot may seem difficult,
yet it is nothing in comparison with what it would have been if I had
been left a prisoner in the land of Egypt! Thank God I am no longer in
bondage to my sins." The slave of the sad times in America would leap
on the Canadian shore! And though he came there with all his earthly
goods wrapped up in his handkerchief and knew not where his next meal
would come from, yet he would spring upon the shore, dance for joy and
say, "Thank God, I am free! I am penniless, but free!" How much more,
then, may you, whatever your suffering or sorrow may be, exclaim,
"Thank God! I was a bondman, but the Lord my God has redeemed me, and I
will be patient, whatever I am called to bear."

Next, be hopeful. What may you not yet become? "It does not yet appear
what we shall be." You were a bondman, but Divine Grace has set you
free! Who knows what the Lord may yet make of you? Is there anything
that He cannot, will not do for one whom He has already redeemed by His
blood? He has set you free from sin! Oh, then, He will keep you from
falling and preserve you to the end. "For if when we were enemies we
were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being
reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Are you thus hopeful? Then
be zealous! Here earnestness should find both fire and fuel–we were
bondmen, but the Lord has redeemed us. What, then, can be too hard for
us to undertake for His sake? We must give all to Him who has purchased
us to Himself and we must continue to do so as long as we live.

John Newton persisted in preaching even when he was really incapable of
it, for he said "What? Shall the old African blasphemer leave off
preaching Jesus Christ while there is breath in his body? No, never!"
He felt that he must continue to bear testimony, for our text was
always before him, "Remember that you were a bondman in the land of
Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you."

But now kindly follow me while I, as briefly as I can, show you the
Lord's own use of this remembrance. And the first text I shall quote
will be found in Deuteronomy 5:14. This is what He says–"The seventh
day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God: in it you shall not do any
work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor
your maidservant, nor your ox, nor your ass, nor any of your cattle,
nor your stranger that is within your gates; that your manservant and
your maidservant may rest as well as you. And remember that you were a
servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord your God brought you
out of there through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm:
therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day."

You were a bondman. What would you have given for rest? Now that the
Lord has given you this hallowed day of rest, guard it sacredly. When
you were a bondman you knew the heart of a servant and you sighed
because your toil was heavy. Now that you are set free, if you have
servants, think of them and so order your household that they may, as
much as possible, enjoy their Sabbath. Certain household duties must be
performed, but plot and plan to make these as light as possible, "that
your manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you." If you
meet with any that are in bondage of soul and cannot rest, obey the
text in its spiritual teaching.

Rest in the Lord Jesus yourself, but endeavor to bring all your family
into the same peace, "that your manservant and your maidservant may
rest as well as you." Surely if you have been set free from the iron
bondage you ought not to need urging to keep, with all sacredness, this
holy day which the mercy of God has hedged about! Nor should you need
exhorting to rest in the Lord and to endeavor to lead others into His
rest.

In Deuteronomy 7 we have another use of this remembrance. Here the
chosen people are commanded to keep separate from the nations. They
were not to intermarry with the Canaanites nor make alliances with
them. Israel was to be

separated, even as Moses said, "you are a holy people unto the Lord
your God." And the reason he gives in the 8th verse is this–"The Lord
redeemed you out of the house of bondmen." Ah, Brothers and Sisters, if
we are redeemed from among men. If there is a special and particular
redemption, as we believe, by which Christ loved His Church and gave
Himself for it, then as the specially blood-bought ones, we are under
solemn obligations to come out from the world and to be separate from
it. Did not Jesus say of His redeemed, "They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world"? Therefore come you out from among them and
be you separate.

In the 8th chapter, redemption is used as an argument for obedience,
and they are exhorted not to forget the laws and statutes of the Lord.
And above all they are warned, lest in the midst of prosperity their
heart should be lifted up so as to forget the Lord their God who
brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
The same argument runs through the 11th chapter and it is a very clear
one. We ought to render glad obedience to Him who has worked us so
great a deliverance! We find in the 13th chapter that the redemption
from bondage is used as an argument for loyal attachment to the one and
only God.

The tendency of the nation was to idolatry, since all the countries
round about had many gods and lords–but the Lord commanded His people
to put to death all prophets and dreamers of dreams who might seek to
lead them away from the worship of Jehovah. "You shall stone him with
stones that he dies," says the 10th verse, "because he has sought to
thrust you away from the Lord your God who brought you out of the land
of Egypt, from the house of bondage." You must not have another God,
for no other God delivered you–worship Him to whom you owe your all.

Our own text is set in the following connection. If a man entered into
forced servitude, or came under any bonds to his fellow man among the
Jews, he could only be held for six years. In the seventh he was to go
free. "And when you send him out free from you, you shall not let him
go away empty: you shall furnish him liberally out of your flock and
out of your flour, and out of your winepress: of that which the Lord
your God has blessed you, you shall give unto him. And you shall
remember that you were a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord
your God redeemed you."

The Lord's people should be considerate of those who are in their
employment. The recollection of their own bondage should make them
tender and kind to those who are in subservience to them and never
should a Christian man be ungenerous, illiberal, severe, churlish with
his servants, or with any who are dependent upon him. Be large-hearted!
Do not be angry at every little fault, nor swift to observe every
slight mistake. And be not forever standing on your exact rights,
litigious, sticking out for the last half-farthing as some do.

I am almost sorry if a mean, stingy man gets converted, for I am afraid
he will be no credit to Christianity. There should be in a man redeemed
with the blood of Christ something like nobility of soul and
benevolence to his fellow men. Even this stern Book of the Law teaches
us this. I have no time except to remind you that they were bound to
keep the Passover because of their deliverance from Egypt as we find in
the 16th chapter at the 1st verse. "Observe the month of Abib and keep
the Passover unto the Lord your God: for in the month of Abib the Lord
your God brought you forth out of Egypt by night."

So let us, also, take heed unto ourselves that we keep all the statutes
and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly. Let us keep the ordinances as
they were delivered unto us and neither alter nor misplace them. Hold
fast the Truth of God and be not moved from it by the cunning
craftiness of men. Walk according to the teaching of Scripture in all
things, keeping the good old way, because the Lord our God redeemed us
and His Truth is unchangeable. Again, in the 16th chapter, verses 10 to
12, you have the great redemption used as an argument for liberality
towards the cause of God. They were to give unto the Lord rejoicingly
of that which the Lord had given to them. "Every man shall give as he
is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has
given you."

And that because of the 12th verse, "You shall remember that you were a
bondman in Egypt: and you shall observe and do these statutes." In the
26th chapter the same teaching is reduced to a set form, for they were
there commanded to bring each one a basket of first fruits and offer it
unto the Lord, saying–"The Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a
mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness,
and with signs, and with wonders. And He has brought us into this
place, and has given us this land, even a land that flows with milk and
honey. And now, behold, I have brought the first fruits of the land,
which You, O Lord, have given me."

Need I, even for a moment, impress this duty upon you? Last of all, in
the 24th chapter there remains one more lesson. We are there exhorted
to be careful concerning the fatherless and the widow (Deut. 24:17). A
generous spirit was to be

exhibited towards the poor. They were not to fetch in all their sheaves
from the field if any were forgotten, nor to scrape up every single ear
of corn from among the stubble, as some do these days, nor to beat
their olive trees twice, nor to gather the grapes of their vineyard a
second time. Rather, they were to leave something for the poor! This
was the argument–When you were in Egypt, when you had to make bricks
without straw, how glad you were to turn your children in among the
stubble to gather a few ears to make a loaf of bread. And now the Lord
has given you a better land, therefore deal well with the poor.

Brethren, let the needy never be forgotten by you! Do not be miserly.
Do not imitate those farmers who would comb their fields with a
small-toothed comb if they could–sooner than the poor should
glean–raking it and raking it again and again! No, the ransomed
Israelites were not even to pick all their fruit, for the argument was,
"Would not you, when in Egypt, have given anything for a bunch of those
grapes which grew in the gardens of the rich?" Think, therefore, of the
poor and deal kindly with them, even as you would wish others to deal
with you.

With this I close. Be thoughtful of all your fellow men. You that have
been redeemed with price, be you tenderhearted, full of compassion,
merciful. In spiritual things take care that you never rake the corners
of your fields. Do not rob the Gospel of its sweetness. There is a
class of preaching out of which the last ear of wheat has been taken.
Their Gospel is criticized into nothing. The skeptical commentators
come in and pick nearly every bunch of grapes and then the
modern-thought gentry devour the rest!

The preaching of modern times is as an olive tree beaten till not a
trace of fruit remains. Let it not be so with us, but let the preacher
say, "I was a bondman and therefore I will drop handfuls on purpose for
poor souls in trouble." Brothers and Sisters, be very considerate to
seekers. Look them up. Talk to them after the sermon. Say a word to
those sitting in your pew which may encourage their poor trembling
hearts to lay hold on Jesus Christ.

Remember that you were a bondman–the smell of the brick kiln is upon
you now, my Brother, my Sister–you have not yet cleansed all the clay
from your hands with which you did work in mortar and in brick. Then do
not become selfish, unloving, unkind, but in all things love your
neighbor as yourself and so prove that you love the Lord your God with
all your heart. God bless you. Amen.