Beloved friends, we greet you in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We give you a sincere invitation to profit from the greatest book in the universe, the Word of God, and also to be blessed by the meditation of the greatest person in the universe, who is none other than the Son of the Living God. And particularly as we dwell in these days of ministry, upon his wondrous death upon the cross of Calvary. Ages past, time present, and eternal ages in the future will confess the magnitude of the work of eternal redemption that was done by the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross. And with God's servant the Apostle Paul, every one of us should say, if we will, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians six, verse fourteen. We continue our meditation upon the great theme, the glory of the cross, by studying another phase of blessing which Christ has provided for all mankind by his atoning death. In brief, permit me to say as we approach today's lesson, not only has sin plunged the human family, into the guilt and the bondage of sin, and brought us under the condemnation of sin, and also as entangled as in bondage of a fearful kind, a bondage from which we can only be delivered, not by ourselves, but by the Savior, so that we need another scripture word to declare to us the need of redemption. First of all, consider the need for redemption. Is it not because we have by nature in practice become the slaves of sin? We're in the bondage of sin by nature. How we need to realize that sin with its effect brings bondage. Note the words of Romans three, verse nine, where God himself summarizes the condition of both Jews and Gentiles. and says, They are all under sin. Now this expression means that the whole human race is under the power and the tyranny of sin. Sin reigns over men and women. They are held in bondage to it. Paul in Galatians chapter four and verse three, when writing to the believers of Galatians said, We were in bondage. under the elements of the world. And again when the apostle wrote to the believers at Rome in chapter six of that epistle, verse seventeen he declared, Ye were the servants or the slaves of sin. He repeats the same fact in verse twenty of Romans six, Ye were the servants or the slaves of sin. You have a very clear illustration of this fact. In the early history of God's earthly people from the book of Exodus, chapter one, there the condition of the Israelites is described when they were under the power of Pharaoh and the tyranny of the Egyptians. And in verses thirteen and fourteen of chapter one, we read, And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor. They made their lives bitter. with hard bondage, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of services in the field, all their service wherein they made them serve was with rigor. Let me just refer briefly to chapter two in the book of Exodus and verse twenty-three, where we read that the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage And they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of their bondage, and God heard their groaning. My beloved friends, is not that a clear illustration of the world under Satan's power? Enslaving men and women in sin? Are there not many today who know the bitterness of it, its power over their lives, which they long to be delivered? from it, and yet they may endeavor to break its power themselves, but all in vain. The bondage of sin and Satan is very real. Perhaps there is some listener experiencing the truth of this, and longing to be free, himself or herself, as the case may be, from sin's terrible bondage. Now all of this reveals the need for redemption. that is considered the meaning of the word redemption. First, a definition could be stated. It means freeing, to be free, to be delivered, to be liberated. Now is not this also exemplified in the story of Israel when they were in Egypt? God came in as a redeemer, as a deliverer, to deliver and to liberate his earthly people from all their conditions. under which they were groaning through the oppression of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Have you ever noticed what God told Moses at the burning bush in Exodus chapter three, when God was seeking to command him to be his chosen instrument and human deliverer? Let me quote verses seven and eight in part of chapter three of Exodus. Know what God said to Moses. The Lord said, I've surely seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt. I have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and lodge. Now, beloved friend, let me ask a question. Does God today see the afflictions of sin taking place within our lives? Oh, yes, he does. Yes, they do not escape the blessed eyes of the God of glory in heaven above. Then also may we question, does he listen? Does he hear the groanings that are ours, the groans of sin, which may escape our lips? Oh, yes. He hears every groan. But then, may I point out, there are some sorrows of sin within the human heart that may not be seen and may never be spoken of. But there they are, wounds of sin that are secretly buried within the heart, unspoken and unrevealed. Now does God know them? Yes, my beloved friend, he does. He says, I know their sorrows. Or may I bring out the precious truth, just as God said, I've seen the affliction of my people. I've heard their groans. I know their sorrows. There are indeed groans of sin from the bondage in which many are, that God always sees. But not only that, when the groans may escape the lips in audible sound, God says, I hear it. But then may I go further, and it's a blessed truth. Within the human heart there are groans that may never be expressed, that they could be heard and could never be seen. And beloved me, I say, God knows the inward heart. I know their sorrows. and the sorrows of sin and the groans of sin that permeate the human race. God sees, God hears, God knows. Now just as God said to Moses long ago concerning his people in Egypt, I am come down to deliver them. Now has not God declared to you and to me by sending his only begotten Son into this world that Christ His own beloved Son came down into this world to deliver us out of the bondage of our sin. He is our deliverer. He is our Redeemer. May I quote the inspired words of the beloved Apostle Paul in Galatians chapter one, verses three and four in part. Our Lord Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins. that He might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father. Once again we are brought face to face with the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have learned that through the cross we can obtain forgiveness for all our guilt. We have learned that we find justification to thus escape the condemnation which we fully deserve. And now we can learn we have deliverance or redemption, which is the same meaning of the word, provided and supplied in the need of our bondage. My beloved friend, are you laboring under the load and the burden and the curse and the bondage of your sins? You need someone to deliver you. And we can only find a deliverer in Christ. Or let me just quote very briefly in the closing moments that we have. From the words of Ephesians chapter one and verse seven, a verse we shall discuss in greater detail in our pursuing message. And leave with you these precious words to think about in relation to redemption or deliverance. Listen to the words. Paul writing by the Holy Spirit to say, In Christ we have redemption. Could I paraphrase it, for the meaning is there. In Christ we have a deliverer, through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. My beloved, there is only one person who is the deliverer, from the power of sin and Satan's authority? And that only one is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God? My beloved radio friend, unsaved, may I say with gratitude and with praise and with gladness, the Lord Jesus Christ is able to deliver you today and even now from the bondage of your sin? Well, did the hymn write a pen the precious words? Would you be free from your burden of sin? There's power in the blood. Would you all evil a victory win? There's wonderful power in the blood. Oh, my beloved, let me bring before your heart and conscience if unsaved. You need redemption. You need deliverance. And there's only one. And our Lord Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins. that he might deliver us from this present evil world. O blessed Father, we bow in thy presence, praying thee to sanctify the truth of thy word to the conscience and hearts of all believers and unbelievers, for thy glory in Jesus' name. Amen.