It is not that I did choose thee, Lord, for Lord, that could not be. Yuba-Sutter Grace Church would like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Rick Warda. We currently meet at the Yuba County Library, located at 303 2nd Street in downtown Marysville, California, on the corner of 2nd and C Street. Weekly services are held on Sunday at 11 a.m. at the library. For more information, visit our website at ysgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Rick Warda. The scripture for our sermon today is found in Matthew chapter 17. Jesus is with his disciples. And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said to them, The Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of men, and they shall kill him. And the third day he shall be raised again, and they were exceeding sorry. And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He said, Yes, and when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him. That means anticipated his words. Jesus said, What thinkest thou, Simon? Of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? Of their own children or of strangers? Peter said to him, Of strangers? Jesus said to him, Then are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast and hook, and take up the fish that first comes up. And when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money, that take and give to them for me and thee. I have entitled this message, Ransomed by a Sovereign Savior. There are at least five lessons taught in this scripture. First, our Lord Jesus Christ speaks here of His imminent death, which He would soon accomplish. Soon he would give himself into the hands of wicked men in humiliation, in suffering, and in death. But on the third day, he would rise again. The second lesson is that as the Son of God, Christ is not obligated to any man. Moreover, all of his people are sons of God, and they also are free. Third, nevertheless, by example, Christ shows that it is better to bear personal cost to avoid offending men in matters of indifference, lest insignificant matters become a stumbling block between them and the gospel of Christ. Fourth, by the coin Jesus provided for Peter and himself, he shows that he is the all-knowing, sovereign God who rules over the smallest details of creation and providence. And fifth, though Christ is free as the sovereign Son of God, yet He Himself paid the ransom price God required to redeem His people. Let's consider these lessons one at a time. First, in these verses, Jesus tells His disciples that He will soon accomplish redemption for His people by His suffering and death. In the first part of this chapter on the Mount of Transfiguration, he discussed his death that he would accomplish at Jerusalem with Moses and Elijah. Now it is about to be done. May we ever see that Scripture is about Jesus Christ and Him crucified for the salvation of His people to the glory of God. If you see this in Scripture, you have seen the message of the Bible. If you understand this and are persuaded that Christ, in His sin-atoning death, is your justifying righteousness and eternal salvation, if you come to God by Him, trusting Him as your sovereign Savior and your only answer to God, then you believe the message of God's own Word. God makes Himself known and makes His glory known to His people in the Lord Jesus Christ by His redeeming death. This is why this statement of Christ to his disciples is so important. It is the message of all of scripture. By this, Christ saved his people from their sins. But why did the Lord Jesus Christ tell his disciples about his soon coming death? In Matthew 17 verse 22 through 23, Jesus told them that he must soon lay down his life. I believe it is because that as God, He always declares the end from the beginning. Isaiah 46, 9 and 10. God tells us what will happen before it comes to pass because He is God. And He told them this because He wants them to know that He is the Lord Christ. He is not a victim. He willingly endured the humiliation and suffering and death of the cross in the place of His people according to the will of God. He offered God His life for theirs. It is His offering to God that will obtain their eternal redemption. Hebrews 9.12 says, By his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Christ's blood obtained redemption, and the redemption he obtained is eternal. He offered himself to God once, and by that one offering he obtained eternal redemption for all for whom he shed his blood in ransom payment to God. By the Spirit of God, the Apostle Peter wrote, you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. And in John 10, Jesus said, I lay down my life for the sheep. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man takes it from me. I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. Thus, we see that Jesus' suffering and death were obedience. By His obedience, He made His people righteous with an everlasting righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5.21 Second, our Lord teaches here that as Son of God, He is not obligated to any man. Moreover, all of His people are sons of God, therefore they also are free. The tribute collector asked Peter if Jesus paid the half-shekel tribute. But Jesus told Peter that kings do not collect taxes from their children. Now, Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the heir of all things. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is greater than the temple. Therefore, He is not under any obligation to any man. Moreover, because all who believe Christ are children of God, they also are free. Believers are the children of God. Galatians chapter 3 verse 7 says, Know ye therefore that they which are of faith the same are the children of Abraham. Therefore believers as children of the King of Kings are free from all men. Every true believer is a son of God in three ways. First, by eternal adoption. God the Father chose his sons in eternal election before the world began. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3 says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in Jesus Christ his Son. Secondly, believers are children of God by the redeeming work of Christ. We were under bondage to sin, to God's law, to the world, and to Satan, but Christ redeemed us out of all bondage that we might receive the adoption of sons to which God the Father predestinated us before the world began. Galatians chapter 4 verse 4 says, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. God sends His Spirit into the hearts of His adopted and redeemed sons. And when He does, they cry, Abba, Father, my Father. Third, believers are children of God by spiritual birth. By the sovereign will of God the Father, the Spirit of God causes us to hear and believe the gospel of Christ and Him crucified. All who believe Christ have been born of God. The evidence of new birth is faith in Christ. In James 1.18 said, of his own will begat he us by the word of truth. It was the will of God the Father, not the free will of man. It was the truth of the gospel, not any other truth, by which God the Father birthed his children by his own spirit. All those Christ redeemed are free from sin, free from God's law, free from the damning doctrines and the judgment that will come on this evil world, free from death, free from the grave, and free from bondage to Satan. The third lesson taught in Matthew 17 is that though Jesus Christ is Son of God and King of Kings, and therefore under obligation to no one, though all must answer to Him and serve Him, yet He made Himself a servant to God and His people for their eternal salvation. In Matthew 20, verse 28, Jesus said, the Son of Man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. The word minister means to serve. If Christ had refused to pay the temple tax because he was not obligated to men, it would have offended them. Being offended, they would not be able to hear him. In this, we see that Jesus Christ, the Lord of Lords, is meek and lowly in heart. He did not come to assert his freedom or his rights. On the contrary, he made himself a debtor to God in the place of his people to save them from their sins. He bore the cost of the tribute tax for Peter and himself to avoid making his personal rights a barrier to the gospel. Payment of the tax was an insignificant matter. We also must not make an issue out of matters of indifference. We should bear personal cost to ourselves for the good of men's souls. As Paul the Apostle said, though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant to all, that I might gain the more. 1 Corinthians 9.19. The fourth lesson taught in Matthew 17 is that Jesus Christ is all-knowing God, sovereign over the smallest details of creation and providence. Though he was not there when the tribute collector talked with Peter, Yet he knew every word that was spoken. And to pay the temple tax, he directed the exact time and place for one fish out of all the fish in the open sea to come to Peter's awaiting hook. Psalm 135 verse 6 says, Jesus Christ rules heaven and earth, the seas and all deep places. He prepared that one fish beforehand. to locate and pick up and hold in its mouth a coin of the precise amount needed to pay the tribute for Peter and himself. He sent that one fish to the exact place where Peter would drop his hook. He ordered the fish to open its already full mouth and take Peter's awaiting hook. And Jesus told Peter to go to the sea and cast in his hook and draw up that little fish, though he did not tell Peter where in the sea to go. Nevertheless, he directed Peter's steps to the exact spot where that fish would be waiting. In all of this, Christ demonstrated that he has all knowledge and all power. out of His sovereign power He provided for both Peter and himself. In the same way, He orders and provides all things for His people at all times. The smallest details in creation and time, even the seemingly random circumstances of our life, are ordered by our sovereign Master for the good of His people to His glory. We should therefore reverence and adore and trust Him for all things small and great. And the fifth lesson, taught in Matthew chapter 17, is that though Christ is free as the sovereign Son of God, yet by Himself He paid the ransom price God required to redeem His people from their eternal debt to God's law. The tribute that was collected in this account originated from a half-shekel ransom that God told Moses to collect from the people when they numbered Israel. Our Lord Jesus fulfilled the original law God gave to Israel by Moses which required them to pay a ransom for their souls when they were numbered. Let's consider that law, because it gave rise to the temple tax here in Matthew 17. By His death, the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the law of the half-shekel ransom that God required of His people when they were numbered. In Exodus 30, verses 12-16, we read, When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul to the Lord when thou number'st them, that there be no plague among them when thou number'st them. This they shall give every one that passeth among them that are numbered half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary. A shekel is 20 giras. And half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord. Every one that passes among them that are numbered from 20 years old and upward shall give an offering to the Lord. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel when they give an offering to the Lord to make atonement for their souls. And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for their souls. The first thing we must understand about redemption is that we are debtors to God. We are in debt to God for our eternal souls, yet we have nothing to pay. God's law requires our obedience, and it requires a compensation for our sins. Therefore, by sinning, we have forfeited our lives, our immortal souls. Romans 6.23 says, the wages of sin is death. And Ezekiel 18, 4, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. We therefore owe God our immortal souls. In Old Testament scripture, God gave laws that allowed a near kinsman, a relative, to pay the debt that another relative owed to a man. A person in debt might be required to sell himself as a slave to pay his own debt. Now our sin has put us in debt to God. God is our creditor. Yet the price God places on our soul is so high that no man can pay what God requires. Payment to God for a soul requires payment of an eternal debt. The price God requires to redeem a man's soul is a price higher than any mere man can pay. Psalm 49 says, Psalm 49, 7 and 8. The second thing we must understand from Exodus 30 is that every person numbered in Israel must pay a ransom. If a ransom was paid, then the person for whom it was paid was counted in Israel. If no ransom was paid for any person, that person was not part of the numbered in Israel. The third thing we learn from Exodus 30 is that the ransom was paid to God, and it was an offering that made atonement for their souls, that no plague would come upon them when they were numbered. God is our creditor. The ransom is an offering. The payment of ransom made atonement to God. Only those who were part of the nation of Israel were numbered. For all who were numbered in Israel, a ransom must be paid. Therefore, only the chosen nation of God, Israel, were counted, and only those who were numbered and redeemed by ransom were counted in Israel. All for whom a ransom was paid were numbered. You could not be part of the number unless you were part of the chosen nation and paid the ransom. The sum of the ransom was the sum of the people who were numbered. One ransom payment was provided for every numbered soul. No ransom was overpaid and no ransom was underpaid from what God required for each person. Every soul required the same payment or ransom by offering that made atonement to God. Payment of the ransom prevented the plague from coming on Israel. Now, in all of this, we see the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ, by his death, fulfilled this law. He offered himself to God. It was an offering of his life, his life for the life of the people. It was a just payment. He made an equivalent restitution to God for the sins of his people. By payment of his blood, the debt his people owed was remitted. God's law received compensation in full satisfaction to His justice. The curse was removed, Peter said. We were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. And Paul in Galatians 3.13 said, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. Jesus shed his blood for his people, the sons of God. God chose them in Christ before the foundation of the world. Because they were chosen in him, he offered himself to God for them, a ransom payment. He took their sins. He shed His precious blood in full payment to God's law for them. Ephesians 1.7 says, In whom, in Christ, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. As in the law of the half-shekel ransom, only those in Israel could be counted, even so, only God's elect, the children of promise, are counted for the seed." Romans 9.8. Just as everyone who was counted in Israel must pay a ransom, and only those for whom a ransom was paid were counted, even so Christ only shed his blood for those God gave to him. All for whom he died are numbered in the redeemed. All who are not numbered as God's people are never redeemed by the blood of Christ. All who were chosen by God and given to Christ in eternal election were also redeemed by Christ. There is no difference between the elect of God and those Christ redeemed by His blood. Jesus said in John 639, This is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again in the last day. In all that we have considered in Exodus chapter 30, we now come to this. Our salvation rests in God's sovereign will, in His sovereign choice, in Christ's redeeming blood, and the sovereign life-giving power of the Spirit of God when we hear the Gospel. Jesus did not die for any man who will not also be given eternal life. That is His Father's will. Hebrews 9.12 By His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Jesus Christ as Sovereign Lord humbled Himself to complete the work of redemption for everyone given to Him by His Father. And that is what He did. He finished the work. He obtained their redemption. It is eternal. By one offering, offered once, He eternally redeemed His people. Salvation is not a possibility. It is a certain accomplishment because it is Christ that died. He finished the work. He fulfilled the will of God. But you may ask, and I may ask, how can I know if I am one of God's numbered, ransomed, redeemed people? How can I know if Jesus Christ the Lord paid the ransom of His atoning blood to God for my soul? Our Lord gave this answer in John 6, verse 40. This is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Is Christ my only answer to God for my sins and for my obedience? When I think of standing before God in judgment, when I search my conscience for an answer to give to God for myself in that day, when faced with the guilt of my sin in my conscience even now, When I see the foul corruptions of my mind and motives, my words and my actions, what answer do I bring to God? Do I run to a time when I made a decision? Or do I think of a prayer that I prayed? Maybe I think back to feelings I felt. Or do I rather say in my utter helplessness and barrenness of my soul, Lord Jesus, answer for me. Be my answer. Is my only answer and standing and hope before God the answer my Redeemer gave and even now gives? If Christ is all that I have, then I have God's answer for sinners. I am accepted by God in all of His holiness because He looks to Christ for me. Christ will answer for me in judgment, but if I have any answer in addition or in place of Christ and Him crucified, I will stand naked before God in all the guilt of my sins, speechless, with no defense, before an angry God whose holiness will demand my eternal damnation. Oh, may God give to you and me today to come to Him even now, looking to Christ alone. All whom Christ redeemed are given by God to come to Him by Christ's redeeming blood. And to every foul, ungodly sinner looking to Christ, God's own word says, when we were yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God made known his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, much more than, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Romans 5, verse 6 through 9. Tis not that I did choose thee, Lord, You've just heard a sermon by our pastor, Rick Warda. You may contact us by email or by phone, or download a copy of this sermon by visiting our website at ysgracechurch.com.