Every Spiritual Blessing Pt. 2

Intro

- Can I ask you a probing question...

Q. Are these blessings listed here in the reading special to you?

- We use the phrase, “taken for granted” every now and again to express the fact that from time to time, we do take things for granted

- Whether that be a spouse, friends, parents, our job, our health, our country, or our God, we can accept the blessing as a normal part of life and forget that it is not so normal for other people

- For example, the lifestyle we live here in Echuca is vastly different from the lifestyle in, say, Somalia

- This cannot be more true than if we read & understand this passage & yet be unmoved by it

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- Something IS terribly wrong if we are unmoved by this passage that has been described by William Barclay as a “lyrical song of praise”

- He says that Paul sees gift after gift and wonder after wonder from God pass before his eyes

- In Greek, verses 3-14 comprise the longest sentence in the Bible

- Perhaps he was so enraptured by the things God had done for men & women that he wouldn’t dare stop to take a breath

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- It may come as a surprise to you that there is genuine disagreement that has gone down through the centuries between godly Christians on some aspects of these blessings

- And I don’t believe it will be resolved this side of the Lord’s coming

- However, I don’t think that this in any way changes the truth that these blessings are special & are intended to be special – on that all Christians agree

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- These blessings have been given to us by God & are meant to instill in us an appreciation & sense of awe in how gracious God is & what He has done for us

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- We notice in v. 3 that these blessings are said to be “spiritual”

- Spiritual blessings does not mean that they are spiritual as opposed to material

- What it means, is that these blessings from God are communicated & dispensed to us through His Spirit

- It is the Spirit of God who is the presence of God in our lives giving us assurance, victory, hope, strength & renewal

- Like the apostle Paul says in Php. 4:13 “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me”

1. God has redeemed us (v.7a)

- Redemption has the meaning of “buy back”, “to pay a ransom” etc.

- But I think it is best to describe it as being “set free”

- Captured soldiers (POW’s) in the 1st C. could be purchased back (or redeemed) from the conquering nation

- So they were “set free” from being prisoners of war

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- Israel is said to have been redeemed out of Egypt

- In Deut. 7:8, it reads...

“...the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt”

- This, of course, speaks of their bondage – their slavery - in Egypt

- Israel was set free from their slavery & bondage in Egypt

Q. Now if we are said to have been “redeemed”, then what kind of bondage have we been released from?

Q. How have we been set free?

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- The fact that Christians have been enslaved & persecuted for years means that the deliverance was not from a literal slavery or oppression

- However, there is another sort of bondage that people are enslaved to

- The Bible calls it “sin” - a little 3 letter word that is so obnoxious to the secular world that they no longer like to use it

- The Bible describes sin as a bondage upon the person

Jn 8:31-36 ..... 31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35 “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

- Even Israel who experienced redemption from Egypt had not experienced redemption from sin

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- So too, the apostle Peter spoke of this same type of slavery that hangs over the human race when he spoke about false teachers in the church