1096. Jehoiachin or Bondage and Deliverance

Jehoiachin or Bondage and Deliverance

BONDAGE DELIVERANCE

To Sin (Joh_8:34). From Sin (Rom_6:18).

To the World (Gal_4:3). From the World (Gal_1:4).

To the Flesh (Tit_3:3). From the Flesh (Rom_7:24-25).

To the Devil (Luk_8:29). From the Devil (Act_26:18, f. c).

To the Law (Gal_4:24). From the Law (Gal_5:1).

To the Fear of Death (Heb_2:15). From the Fear of Death (Hos_13:14).

To Wrath (Rom_2:5). From Wrath (1Th_1:10).

There is a sevenfold bondage in which the sinner finds himself. The work of our Lord Jesus upon the Cross was to bring a sevenfold deliverance. Thus our Lord Jesus Christ has wholly undone the works of the devil.

The purpose of this study is to place before us the outline which will plainly set forth the contrast between the various aspects of bondage and then the deliverance that Christ brings.

Suggestive thoughts will be noted upon each point brought out.

Jehoiachin, king of Judah, had been thirty-seven years a captive in Babylon. Evil-merodach, king of Babylon, brought him a wonderful deliverance:

He took him out of prison.

He spake kindly unto him.

He set his throne above the thrones of other kings.

He changed his prison garments.

He ate bread before the king of Babylon.

He had a daily allowance all the days of his life.

Is this not just what our Lord does for us? He found us in bondage but He delivered us. He drew us with the cords of love; He made us to sit with Him in the Glory; He removed every semblance of the old bondage–the old raiment was taken away and the robe of righteousness was given us; He gave us daily sustenance for our soul–the bread of Heaven, and strength for every conflict.

IN BONDAGE TO SIN DELIVERANCE PROM SIN

Joh_8:34'97Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto yon, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. Rom_6:18'97Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

1. The bondage to sin. Jesus Christ was not slow to answer the ready boast of the Jews. Christ had told them, "The Truth shall make you free." They boasted, "We be Abraham's seed and were never in bondage to any man." Jesus Christ replied, "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin"–that is, "is in bondage to sin."

This bondage is referred to again in Rom_6:20, "When ye were the servants (bond slaves) of sin."

The whole race is under bondage to sin. Each individual is born in sin; each possesses a sinful, fallen nature.

The bondage to sin is one that the race cannot break. The race is helpless in its slavery. It is overpowered and undone.

Sin rules the natural man. Every man is brought into "captivity to the law of sin" which is in his members. There is but one cry that can be heard from the imprisoned soul: "Who shall deliver me out of this body of death?" (Rom_7:24, \1911 Bible).

2. The deliverance from sin. "Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." Where is deliverance? "I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord."

It is all in vain to seek help from other sources. Christ alone can deliver. How can He do it? Through the Blood of the Cross. "In Whom we have redemption through His Blood, the forgiveness of sins." Christ alone could be made sin for us. He alone could suffer for our sins. Upon Him and Him alone could our sins be laid.

Illustration: An incident is told of Luther. On one occasion as he was resting upon a couch, the devil seemed to enter; and unrolling a long scroll, he showed the startled dreamer the long list of his sins. It was only a moment that Luther wavered, half dazed; then suddenly, fixing his eyes on the face of the devil he said: "Your record is true. Those are my sins. But write over them at once, 'The Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.'" Immediately the devil rolled up his scroll and disappeared. Luther had overcome by the word of his testimony and by the Blood of the Lamb.

IN BONDAGE TO THE WORLD DELIVERANCE FROM THE WORLD

Gal_4:3'97Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. Gal_1:4'97Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver as from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.

1. In bondage to the world. The men of this world are borne along by the course of the world. They are in a swift moving stream, carried down with the current. They are in bondage because they are swept irresistibly along.

Now and then some one seems to grasp the oars, and for a while he seeks to stem the tide, pulling for the shore. But it is a useless task. Soon he is caught in some great whirlpool or borne along into the rapids to be forcibly carried down to death.

What a picture!

Illustration: Down in Brazil are the orchids. It is said that where they grow most luxuriantly and in beauteous abundance, the perfume is more than intoxicating,–it is deadly. One may become insensible, borne into a death sleep by the asphyxiating power of the perfume of the flowers, when their bloom is full.

Just so with this world–its gaities and its pleasures are the most deadly poison to the soul of man. Let one yield himself to the highly fragrant perfume of the glare of worldly pleasures or riches, and he will soon become immune to the power of God and dead to the Spirit's call.

He who is in bondage to the world will say to the Spirit of God.

"Spirit, cease Thy mournful lay,

Leave me to myself I pray;

I can get along without Thee,

Earth hath flung its spell about me;

Men of earth do thick surround me,

Pleasure's golden chain hath bound me,

I'm in bondage to the world."

2. The Deliverance from the world. "Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world." How blessed the deliverance!

Christ has called us out of the world. We are separated from a wicked and an untoward generation. Our place is outside the camp with Him.

There are two visions of songs before the throne, which are staged for those blessed days that shall follow the rapture. The first is an innumerable multitude who sing; "Thou are worthy * * for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy Blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation" (Rev_5:9).

The second group is the one hundred and forty-four thousand virgins, those who have refused allegiance to the antichrist. These were redeemed from the earth, redeemed from among men, and they sing their song.

Blessed purchase, precious redemption from among men–from every kindred, tongue and nation. From not only because they were formerly walking according to the course of the world and were among men; but from because they were delivered, redeemed, called out from the world.

Love not the world, nor love thou worldly things;

For he who loves the world and to it clings

Hath not the love Divine.

Leave thou the world, haste now to take thy cross,

For all the world is folly, count it dross,

Make now the Saviour thine.

IN BONDAGE TO THE FLESH DELIVERANCE FROM THE FLESH

Tit_3:3'97For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. Rom_7:24-25'97O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the Law of God: but with the flesh the law of sin.

1. In bondage to the flesh. Our enemies are not all without. We are not to be slaves of men; neither are we to be slaves of ourselves.

How many there are serving divers lusts–that is, in bondage to divers lusts.

The unsaved, all, have their conversation in the lusts of their flesh and of the mind. They are consumed with fleshly desires.

The works of the flesh are everywhere manifest. They are these: "Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like" (Gal_5:19-21).

The flesh stands for all those baser depths of the heart. The things which come from within and which defile the man, present all of the things noted above. Christ, in His statement, included many of the things above, but added these: "Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness" (Mar_7:20-22).

As the days of this age wear themselves out and the end-times come, the lusts of the flesh become more and more manifest and the times become more and more perilous: "For men shall be self-lovers, money-lovers, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, unforgiving, false accusers, incontinent, savage, haters of good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God" (2Ti_3:2-4, \1911 Bible).

2. Deliverance from the flesh. There is no wonder that the Word of God puts a cry upon the lips of those who are in bondage to the flesh. Hear the words: "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of this body of death?" (Rom_7:24, \1911 Bible). The cry is of one who feels himself chained to a dead and decaying form–the putrid corpse of his old self-life. No wonder there is a call for deliverance.

The deliverer is found! He is the Lord Jesus Christ! "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom_7:25). He gave Himself for us, "that He might redeem us from all iniquity" (Tit_2:14); He redeemed us from our vain conversation, with His "precious Blood" (see 1Pe_1:18-19).

The one who is saved, has deliverance. Christ died that the body of sin might be done away, made powerless. Thus in Christ we can reckon ourselves dead to the flesh, for "they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts" (Gal_5:24).

IN BONDAGE TO THE DEVIL DELIVERANCE FROM THE DEVIL

Luk_8:29'97(For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.) Act_26:18, f. c.'97To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of satan unto God.

1. In bondage to the devil. The consideration is not pleasant, yet it is true. The whole race lies in the lap of the wicked one (see 1Jn_5:19); the whole race is moving according to the prince of the power of the air, "the spirit which energizeth the sons of disobedience" (see Eph_2:1-2).

The men of the world boast their freedom. They cry: "We would not become Christians, because our liberties would be curtailed."

We grant that Christ does ask His own to take upon them His yoke; but that yoke is "easy and His burden is light" (Mat_11:28-29).

We do not grant that the men of the world are living in liberty. The fact is that they are taken captive by the devil at his will (see 2Ti_2:26).

The man of Gadara, mentioned in our key verse, is not the only man who is "driven of the devil."

Satan is a strong man and he is a man who keepeth his goods (see Luk_11:21).

Satan is the prince of this world and the world is in bondage to his lordship.

2. Deliverance from the devil. Paul said that he was sent to turn men from the power of satan unto God. This is true. It was the mission of Christ. It was the mission of Paul, and it is the mission of the Church.

Satan is a strong man, "but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, He taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils" (Luk_11:22).

The devil has many bound, but Jesus Christ can open the prison bars and give deliverance to the captive (see Isa_61:1-2).

The devil is king in his kingdom, and men are his bond-slaves, but Jesus Christ saves those who trust Him, from the one who hateth them, and from the hand of the enemy (see Psa_106:10).

Believers, both Jew and Gentile, bond and free, walked once according to the prince of the air, but now they are quickened, raised and seated together with Christ.

Blessed deliverance! We have left the castle of gloom forever; Christ met our enemy and vanquished him; He cast down his strong tower and set us free. Hallelujah!

Never again can satan lay hold upon us, for we are kept under the shadow of His wing; we are hid in the light of His countenance.

The devil may have great wrath, but God hath built a hedge about us; we are safe in Him.

"Fear not: though the dangers around thee

Come close and look large and grow great;

I will make thee a way through the waters

Till their strength and their fury abate;

I will walk through the furnace beside thee,

And the flame shall not burn, but refine;

I have called thee, and I have redeemed thee;

Fear not: thou art Mine.

"Fear not: I have called thee and named thee;

Thou art precious and dear unto Me.

I have chosen thee, loved thee, and saved thee,

My praise and My glory to be;

I have given My life for thy ransom,

My Blood is the seal and the sign;

Thy Saviour, thy God, thy Redeemer–

Fear not: thou art Mine, I am thine."

IN BONDAGE TO THE LAW DELIVERANCE FROM THE LAW

Gal_4:24'97Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. Gal_5:1'97Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

1. In bondage to the Law. We should not, for one moment, class the Law beside sin, the world, the flesh, and the devil. The Law is holy and just and good. The Law, however, holds men in bondage, because of their utter inability to keep its precepts.

The bondage of the Law expresses some distinct facts:

1. By the Law of knowledge of sin (see Rom.

2. By the Law every mouth is stopped and all the world become guilty before God (see Rom_3:19).

3. The Law worketh wrath (see Rom_4:15).

4. The Law came that the offense might abound (see Rom_5:20).

5. The Law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin (see Rom_7:14).

6. The Law was weak through the flesh (see Rom_8:2).

7. The Law was added because of transgressions (see Gal_3:19).

8. Under the Law means under the curse (see Gal_3:10).

The whole vision of the Law is one of God's holiness and man's collapse. The Law was given 'mid thunderings; the very mount from which the Law was given burned with fire; there was blackness, darkness, and a tempest. Who desires to enter that darkness? Who desires to hear those thunderings and to feel the quaking of that mountain? Who desires to be in bondage to a law life?

Mount Sinai has no promise of life and freedom. It spells no more than man's failure. It breeds only despair. It carries a sinner into the presence of a Holy God in an unwashed and unjustified state.

The Law, at best, can do no more than to drive us to Christ. It has no mercy, no pity, no pardon, no possibility of approach to God in peace.

2. Deliverance from the Law. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us" (Gal_3:13). "God sent forth His Son made of a woman, made under the Law, to redeem them that were under the Law" (Gal_4:4-5).

Blessed be God! Christ hath made us free. Let us rejoice in our liberty and not be "entangled again with the yoke of bondage" (Gal_5:1).

Did not the Law have its curse? Yes, but Christ bore it. He has opened up the prison bars and set us free.

There is a wonderful story in Romans 7 about the woman who is bound (in bondage) by the law to her husband so long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So we have been made dead to the Law through the body of Christ; that we should be joined to another–the risen Lord.

If the Law, our old bond-master, makes a dive at us some time, seeking to once entangle us under his control, let us quickly plead our new Master, Christ Jesus. He will settle with our former liege lord, and deliver us.

IN BONDAGE TO THE FEAR OF DEATH DELIVERANCE FROM THE FEAR OF DEATH

Heb_2:15'97And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Hos_13:14'97I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues: O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from Mine eyes.

1. In bondage to the fear of death. Think of it! There are some who break away from the Cross, and give promise of liberty, but who are themselves "servants of corruption; for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage" (2Pe_2:19).

Consider it! "It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment" (Heb_9:27).

The whole race hastens toward the grave. "And he died" is the sad obituary of all the unbelievers of all ages.

Belshazzar read over his head, on the plaster of the wall, "Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin." But Belshazzar does not stand alone. Every man has his death warrant over his head. "He that believeth not is condemned already."

The sinner lives under the shadow of the tomb. When he stops to consider, he trembles in fear. What, after all, is his success, his attainment, his accumulation–he must die and leave it all.

What lies ahead of him? Darkness and despair. He may not accept the Divine revelation; but as he looks beyond the grave, he can do no better than join Robert Ingersol in his weird and melancholy words: "We stand on the brink of two eternities and cry; and the only answer is the echo of our wailing cry."

2. Deliverance from the fear of death. Jesus took upon Himself flesh and blood that, "through death He might bring to naught him that had the power of death" (the devil); and, that He might "deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" Heb_2:14-15, \1911 Bible).

Jesus Christ has ransomed us from the power of the grave. The grave cannot hold a saint's body beyond the hour of the resurrection of those in Christ.

Jesus Christ has redeemed us from death. Death cannot plague the saint, it has no sting for them, for Christ has given them the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ.

The saints who live ofttimes have a desire to depart and be with Christ. They are willing rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Why? Because they have been delivered from death's bondage, from its fear, from its curse.

Death to the saint means no more than the doorway to the life with God. Why then should the delivered, fear? Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. God doth redeem their souls from the power of Sheol. To die is only to "depart and to be with Christ, which is far better."

"I stood beside the dying bed,

Where lay a saint, with aching head,

Waiting for Jesus' call;

I saw his smile, 'twas sweet as May,

And, as his spirit passed away,

He whispered, 'Christ is all.'

"I saw the martyr at the stake,

The flames could not his courage shake,

Nor death his soul appal.

I asked him whence his strength was given;

He looked triumphantly to Heaven,

And answer'd, 'Christ is all.'"

IN BONDAGE TO WRATH DELIVERANCE FROM WRATH

Rom_2:5'97But after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up onto thyself wrath, against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. 1Th_1:10'97And to wait for His Son from Heaven, Whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

1. In bondage to wrath. What! Is there no escape? Can it be that every day, every hour, the wicked are under the wrath of God? It is true. The wicked are "by nature the children of wrath" (Eph_2:3).

In bondage to wrath! Yes. "Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience" Eph_5:6).

Every day the wicked are treasuring up wrath, against the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God (see Rom_2:5). They cannot escape. "Thinkest thou this, O man, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?" Nay, verily. God knows how to preserve the wicked unto the day of judgment.

Even now there is wrath, but it is a wrath stored up. The day of wrath will come and that will be the signal for God to pour out His vials upon the earth.

2. Delivered from wrath. Is there deliverance? Not to the wicked, but to those who are justified by His Blood–they "shall be saved from wrath through Him" (Rom_5:9).

The redeemed are waiting for God's Son from Heaven! they have no anticipation of coming wrath, for they have been saved from the wrath to come.

Saints may suffer presecutions and tribulations, but God says: "To you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance upon them who know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2Th_1:7-9).

"God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him" (1Th_5:9-10).

Surely we may comfort one another, even as also we do. We have nothing to fear. No one can lay anything to our charge.

Once we were "children of disobedience" dwelling in darkness, and with the wrath of God hanging over us; now we are the children of light, giving thanks to God for deliverance, and saved from wrath through Him.

When the wicked hunt for the mountain fastnesses, and seek to hide themselves in their caves and dens; when the wicked cry to the mountains and to the rocks saying, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him Who sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb;" then will the righteous stand with Christ above the storm.

Illustration: Our friend, Evangelist R. V. Miller of Asheville, N. C, describes how he stood on a mountain crest, far above the storm. Beneath his feet lay great clouds. Across the clouds the lightnings flashed; from the cloud's the reverberating thunders roared; the rain deluged the valleys below. Above the storm, he stood bathing himself in all the glory of the full-orbed sun.

So shall it be one day. Those who are in bondage to wrath cry out as the storm clouds break, but we shall be at rest with Him, above the touch of the torrents of His wrath.

When the storm of wrath is breaking,

Tempest wild, on sea and land;

I will have a place of refuge,

In the shadow of His hand.

He will hide me, safely hide me,

Where the wrath can ne'er betide me,

He will hide me, safely hide me,

In the shelter of His hand.

–Arranged.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR