Deliverer

[0:00] 1 Thessalonians 1, verse 10. We'll turn there in a moment.

[0:14] But firstly, I'd like to just introduce this message by speaking about the Deliverer. In Romans 11, verse 26, it says that our Lord is the Deliverer.

[0:25] It's one of the names of our Lord Jesus, the Deliverer. One of His titles, just one of many. And it makes you wonder, what does that mean, the Deliverer?

[0:37] What has He delivered us from? What has He delivered us unto? In Romans 8, verse 37, in part it says, We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

[0:52] We are more than conquerors. We have more than the victory. We are more than conquerors. There is a blessed victory, blessed deliverance, a blessed setting free. And when we read God's Word, we see so many instances and types in the old and the reality in the new of who Christ is.

[1:10] He is the Deliverer. He is our Captain. He is our Champion. He is our Conqueror. And for every believer, we are seated with Him in that place of victory, in that position of victory, in that position of authority.

[1:26] And we can experience the victorious life because we are seated. We are reigning with Him. We are more than conquerors with Him, through Him that loved us. And we have a legal document in our hands, a legal document that guarantees His promises and it's a sure thing.

[1:45] And I was talking to someone lately about legal processes and about evidence. This is reliable. There's no doubting this. This is insurmountable.

[1:56] It's undeniable. It's indisputable. It's irrefutable. The Word of God. This is evidence. Faith is the evidence of things not seen.

[2:07] And the Word of God is a sure thing. It's an absolute undeniable thing. And it's a legal document. You know, in the Old Testament, it talks about God's Word, His message to man.

[2:20] It refers to it as the law, doesn't it? And this is the law. This is the legal document from the Almighty One, the Judge of all creation. And this document assures us of His delivering power.

[2:33] It's a certain thing. This is truth that we can count on. It's a sure thing. The Word of God assures us of His delivering power.

[2:45] And I'd like us to note three things this morning. Believe that you are delivered. Believe that you are delivered in three ways, in three capacities.

[2:57] Believe that you are delivered. You are delivered. Rescue. You are delivered. You are rescued. You are set free. You are no longer held captive and bound. Enslaved.

[3:09] You are no longer captured and captured. You are delivered. The first way that you are delivered of these three. Number one, you are delivered. You are rescued from the wrath.

[3:20] You are rescued from the wrath. The wrath. The anger. The rightful, righteous anger. The judgment of God Almighty.

[3:31] You are rescued from that. You are set free from that. We read that in this verse here. 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 10. Read it with me there. 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 10.

[3:43] Paul urges the believers. He prays for them. He exhorts them to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

[4:00] Paul says, the Lord Jesus Christ has delivered us, has present tense delivered us from the wrath to come.

[4:11] It's speaking here of God's rightful wrath, his rightful judgment, his rightful punishment against your sin and mine. Christ has delivered you and I from God's wrath, from God's anger, from God's punishment, from God's judgment against our sin.

[4:30] How? Because his wrath has already been vented. God's wrath, the Father's wrath, the Father's anger and hatred against our sin and our sinful hearts has already been poured out.

[4:43] It's been spent. It's been vented. And God's wrath, God's judgment has been averted for us. We've been rescued from it. We've been saved from it.

[4:54] How? Because it has already been poured out. It's been poured out in full. God's poured every last drop of the wrath of his anger against our sin. He's poured it out fully upon Christ, our Savior.

[5:08] When our Lord was on the cross, the Father's anger against our sin, the Father's hatred against our wickedness, our foulness, our flesh has been paid in full.

[5:20] The full brunt of God's judgment, of God's great wrath has been vented. It's been poured out. Every last drop has been poured out.

[5:31] And when we think of rescue, think of rescue, there's so many pictures we could think of rescue, of redemption, of liberation. Common themes, really different words for the same thing.

[5:45] The liberty that we have in Christ. Think of it. We can only paint some pictures that might just go a little way to comparing with what our Lord has done for us.

[5:58] When I think of the wrath of God, you could picture it for those that are ignorant of their state, of their sinful state.

[6:09] You could picture them as if they were in a little canoe, in a little boat, floating down a meandering river, just a little stream.

[6:22] Maybe with a newspaper over their face and snoring away and just enjoying the little lapping water on the side of the boat. But just ahead is the white water, the rapids and then the crashing waterfall.

[6:40] They're in great danger. Great danger and they don't even realise it. Great danger. People today, if you're without Christ, you're like that man in the boat thinking he's having a little pleasant day in the sun, down the river, but headed to destruction.

[6:57] Destruction, destruction, devastation and doom. And that's where men are headed without Christ. And yet, it's as if the chopper is over here. Handing down that, and someone's coming down that road, hanging down, saying, hey, wake up.

[7:16] You know, to this man in the canoe as he's going down towards the waterfall. Hey, wake up. Reach out. Reach out for your hand and come, they'll save you. It's a picture, isn't it, of the rescue.

[7:27] Of the wrath, of the danger. There's great danger outside of Christ. Perhaps you can picture rescue of a man behind prison bars. A man imprisoned in a dark dungeon, doomed on death row.

[7:44] His sentence has already been given. He's guilty. He's destined for the gallows. And then he hears the jailer.

[7:56] The jailer coming with those keys. Oh, it must be time for me to go to the gallows. Oh, and then the man unlocks the door of his cell and swings wide that gate and says, you're free.

[8:15] You're free. What? But I'm guilty. I'm, I'm, I'm, the judge has already said, I'm guilty. I, I'm, I'm meant to be walking to the gallows for my death.

[8:26] And the jailer says, someone has already taken your place. Someone has already died for you. They've taken your judgment. They've paid the price.

[8:38] He turns the key in the lock. You're free. That's what salvation is, isn't it? He rescues us. I know I was visiting some, uh, Yatla. And, and, uh, just as a visitor to have a tour, uh, of Yatla.

[8:53] And, uh, it was a dreadful place. A dreadful prison. An awful place. Just the dehumanizing feel of the place. The horror of the place.

[9:05] Of, of being in a jail. And, uh, and yet, whoa, I got to get out. But the gate opened for me. They let me out. Uh, but for many, they don't have that, do they?

[9:16] Some die in Yatla. Some die in prison. And people today, some people die without Christ. They never get set free. But he walks to the gallows for us. He took that dreadful, his bloodstained footsteps, took that path to the cross for you.

[9:34] That you can have rescue from wrath. And it says in 1 Corinthians 1.13, But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

[9:50] He is your wisdom. He is your righteousness. He is your holiness. Your sanctification. He is your redemption. And that word redemption means deliverance.

[10:02] It's the same sense of it. He is your deliverance. He is the rescuer. He is the one. And it goes on that we can glory. We can boast in the Lord. Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.

[10:15] Glory in the Lord. You have been delivered, believer. You have been delivered. But shouldn't you be glad? Shouldn't you be glad? I'm sure you are glad. I'm sure you are. That Christ is your wisdom.

[10:27] Christ is your righteousness. Christ is your holiness. Christ is your deliverance. Your redemption. For you today, there is full remission. There is full payment.

[10:38] There is full atonement. You're no longer in those prison bars. In that dungeon of your sin. It's like Martin Luther said, Lord Jesus, you are my righteousness.

[10:49] I am your sin. You have taken upon yourself what is mine and given me what is yours. You have become what you were not so that I might become what I was not.

[11:06] Set free. Undeserved. You deserve hell. I deserve hell. But he took it. He rescued us. He brought that rope down to that canoe that we were in and woke us up and saved us from our doom.

[11:25] And he saved us from our own worst enemy. Our sin. Our self. Our death sentence. He took it and he paid for it in full. There's many pictures we could paint, as I say, of rescue.

[11:37] And these just really are just go only a small degree in picturing what Christ has done as our great deliverer.

[11:52] Think of this story. He opened his eyes, but all he could see was pitch black darkness. His heart began to race faster and faster as he cried out for help.

[12:04] But it seemed that no one heard him. As he lay there, he realised that this may be the end of the road. Stuart Diver was trapped under the rubble of Threadbow.

[12:18] You could put lots of people's names there. It's like those miners in that disaster in Tasmania. Whoever it was, under a crushing weight of rubble, of this no way out.

[12:29] Absolutely no way out. Not even a chink of light to give hope. There was no way he could rescue himself. He could barely move under all that rubble. He was trapped.

[12:40] He was helpless. But a rescue worker heard a noise. Shh. Shh. He called for silence. Is anybody there? Is anybody there?

[12:51] Stuart hears him and calls back. I can hear you. I can hear you. And the reason Stuart Diver was rescued was because he had a rescuer. He had a rescuer.

[13:01] He couldn't rescue himself. And that's true about salvation. People today, there's some folk, well-meaning though they be, that think they can save themselves through all manner of good works or effort or strain of effort, of self, of trying.

[13:18] It's not about trying. It's about trusting. It's not about doing. It's about done. What he has done. It's his work. And it's all we can but do is call out like Stuart did, like people in light circumstances have done.

[13:34] He couldn't rescue himself. He just had to trust his rescuer. And you have a rescuer. You have a deliverer. His name is Jesus Christ. And are you willing to trust him to save you?

[13:47] I trust that you have or you will in this moment even. Trust him to take you out of that prison cell, out of that canoe, headed to the waterfall of destruction, out of that impossible situation of being buried under rubble.

[14:04] We can't help ourselves. We're totally without help. He delivers us from wrath. He delivers us from wrath. There is great peace in that for us.

[14:16] And there is therefore now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. It says we've been set free. Set free.

[14:29] Therefore now no condemnation. It's been explained that this means there is therefore now not even one bit of it.

[14:41] That's the Greek sense of it. Not even one bit of condemnation. Not even a smidgen. When he set you free, he set you free. Fully free. He delivers us from wrath. And secondly, he delivers us from the wicked one.

[14:53] From the wicked one in 1 John 2.14. Turn there if you like. 1 John 2.14. And John writes there, 1 John 2.14, how we rescue from the wicked one.

[15:09] It says, I have written unto you fathers because you've known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto young men because you are strong and the word of God abided in you and you have overcome the wicked one.

[15:21] You have conquered the wicked one. You've overcome the wicked one. You are victorious over the wicked one. Colossians 1.13. It says, who hath delivered us. He's delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son.

[15:37] He's delivered us from the power of darkness. He's delivered us. He's rescued us from the power of darkness. And he's translated us into a new jurisdiction. Into a new control.

[15:48] The kingdom of God. The kingdom of his dear son. In whom we have deliverance. In whom we have liberation. In whom we have the redemption by his blood.

[15:59] The deliverance by his blood. That's the sense of it there. There's a deliverance. There's a setting free from the wicked one. Now some Christians go about their lives like they're under a great cloud, under a great burden.

[16:12] People today leave the burden at Calvary. Leave it there. And whilst we have an enemy, we have nothing to fear about him. We have our saviour by us, with us, in us.

[16:25] In whom we have the redemption, the deliverance by his blood. And we've been transplanted, transferred, transformed, transported into another dimension.

[16:39] Into the kingdom of his dear son. Another dimension. You've been set free, you that were once in that prison cell. Consigned and condemned to the death sentence.

[16:51] In that death row, as it were, of the guilt and due punishment for your sin. And you've been made a citizen of the kingdom of God.

[17:02] The king himself has given you his personal pardon. He's written it for you. The king of kings and the lord of lords. He said you're set free. He said you're not going to be locked up anymore.

[17:14] He takes the chains off our hands. He takes the prison door and swings it wide. And this is what our saviour has done. He's rescued us from slavery, from imprisonment.

[17:26] And some folk don't get this. They don't get this. They still live the Christian life like they're somehow still bound and held captive.

[17:37] People, you've been set free. You've been set free. Realise that liberty that you have in Christ today. Don't live under that cloud of condemnation, of guilt, still shrouded in darkness, still dwelling in that domain, in that dominion of Satan.

[17:53] You're no longer his property. Amen. You aren't bought with a price. You have a new master. You have a new loyalty. You have a new king. And he is the Lord of lords, the master of masters.

[18:08] And while at times the battle still rages on the inside of us, as we know the flesh, the mind, we're still subject to sinful bombardments that come against us.

[18:20] You are rescued. You are rescued today from the bondage, from the enslavement. This legal document says you are free indeed. It has happened. You have been delivered from the power of darkness, translated into the kingdom of his dear son.

[18:35] That power of darkness has been broken. It's been broken by the blood of Christ. And sometimes we walk like we're still in bondage. We're still in captivity. The chains have been broken.

[18:47] Realise that and accept that, not by any virtue of your own, but because of his working at the cross. We're no longer under that rule, under that authority. We serve another master.

[18:59] And he set us free. And we're glad, as was earlier said, to be in his service, gladly in his service, because he is a master that loves and cares and looks after his servants.

[19:15] And it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do his good pleasure, it says in Philippians 2.13. It's saying God is working within you. God is operating and energising within you both to do and to will of his good pleasure.

[19:33] Notice it says to will and to do. The walk follows the will. The walk follows the will. The doing follows the willing. And the power follows the desire.

[19:46] As God creates in you a greater desire, a greater hunger, a greater longing, a greater thirsting, to do his good pleasure, then it'll happen. He'll help you.

[19:57] As God gives you that biblical thinking, like it says, as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23.7. And yet, son, as the world we know, is captive still.

[20:10] The minds are blinded. It talks of many. They're blinded in their minds. The mindset, the will of the world is godless and hellward. And yet, for you that are saved, it's Christward and heavenward and upward.

[20:25] His righteousness, his righteousness is yours today. His promises, his victory, it's yours today. Receive it. As saved people, we have an assurance that we're saved from wrath.

[20:38] We're no longer under God's wrath. We're no longer under any condemnation because it's been fully poured out on the sinless saviour. It says that his own body, our sins were in his own body on that tree, on that rugged hill.

[20:53] And as God saved people, there is an avowed enemy who's out to trip you and trap you, to thwart your steps, to halt your progress spiritually and make you go backwards if you can.

[21:07] But by faith you have overcome, you have overcome the wicked one. God's word and working within you, his Holy Spirit, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

[21:22] Your position is with Christ. It's in victory. It's ruling with him. And just to recap, he's delivered us from wrath. He's delivered us from the wicked one.

[21:32] And thirdly, and in closing, he's delivered us from the world. He's delivered us from the world. Galatians 1.4, it says that we're rescued from the world. In the day by day, your Christianity works.

[21:46] In the world, where the rubber hits the road, where you walk and live and go about your life. It says in Galatians 1.4, of Christ who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.

[22:04] He's delivered you from this present evil world. He's rescued you from it. Of course, the battle continues. It rages within and around us.

[22:14] As we face temptation's power, our feet are still walking on planet Earth, on this sinful planet, with all that that brings to our path. But your Christianity is real.

[22:27] It's working. It's practical. It's outlived in the day by day. This world, while it's been invaded by another power, a hostile power to our Saviour and God, whilst man, created free from sin, has fallen, and the human race is still in conflict, and still in his captivity by and large.

[22:48] For you that are saved today, he has saved you. He's delivered you from this present evil world. And from all that's in the world. For example, 1 John 2.16, For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

[23:05] And it goes on to say that you that do the will of God abide forever. So friends today, take heart. In this evil world, the battle that's raging within our hearts still, on occasion, the sphere of the world that we live and walk about in, and relate to the daily struggles of everyday life, your rescuer is with you.

[23:28] Your deliverer is with you. Whilst this world is evil at the core, really, isn't it? In its worship, the God of this world, we know who that is.

[23:39] By the denial of accountability to our Lord, the very culture that permeates, that impacts our lifestyle, that saturates the world's kind of thinking. It traps, it ensnares, it captivates.

[23:53] But you that are saved today, you have the victory. You are more than a conqueror. Through Him that loved you. And even though we're in this evil world that wants to overcome us, we are more than conquerors.

[24:11] We are overcomers. How? By not leaning on the arm of flesh. By leaning on His arm. Leaning on the deliverer. Finding that spiritual refreshment that He gives. Standing resolute on His word, His promises to you.

[24:25] Being loyal to the truth without apology. Being a strong and vibrant, uncompromising witness. When we think of this kind of rescue, to me it could be pictured as how we're living in hostile territory, but we have a security guard.

[24:48] We have a security guard. 24 by 7 surveillance. Because it says that His eyes go to and fro. And we know His eyes on the sparrow.

[25:00] We know that He watches over us. He overshadows us. Like the mother hen with her chooks. You know, over her chicks. Like the mother hen.

[25:11] There's an overshadowing of our deliverer. Day by day. Day by day. Each day that you walk on this sinful, evil planet, in this evil present age, this evil world, His overshadowing love.

[25:28] His protection is there. You could think of it as His safekeeping. As His all-encompassing care. And whilst we are in the world, we are not of it.

[25:40] And friends today, take heart that there is that wonderful, joyful assurance that you have. We're living in an evil world. We see it all about us. We know many are impacted in our families and lives as we have to grapple with it and wrestle with these forces that are godless.

[25:59] And many people are swept along in their tread. And we as Christians, we've got to mix at times with unbelievers and those that are godless. And we've got a lot of those influences all about us.

[26:14] And yet the rescuer is with you. And you are delivered from this present evil age. You are part of the rescue mission too. Think of it as we close. Think of your place.

[26:26] Here's the rescuer. Here's the deliverer. Here's the redeemer. Redeemer. All means the same thing. But you are likewise part of the work of redemption. You are part of the rescue mission.

[26:38] You are part of His mission. The one who came, as He said, I have come to seek and to save that which is lost. Are you about the work of rescue? Do you care that some are Christless and hellbound?

[26:52] The work of rescue. To rescue from danger. For those, maybe we've got to yell, yell out from the banks to those in that canoe as it saunces down that little stream and heads to its ultimate destruction and the occupants in it, down that waterfall crashing to its doom.

[27:09] Maybe we've got to rescue them from danger. Shout out. Shout out. While you've got a voice, tell another, tell another, another and another. There's danger from the wrath to come.

[27:19] But there is a deliverer. There is a deliverer who's taken the judgment. And we can rest in His judgment that we are guilty, but He has paid the price. He has paid the penalty. And there is rescue there.

[27:32] What about rescue from slavery? There's many blinded. They're in their minds. Blinded by the wicked one. They're in His service. They think somehow they're going to have a party time in hell or wherever they end up.

[27:45] But friends, there won't be any party there. There won't be any fun there in hell. People today, there is a wicked one. A wicked one. And He has come to rescue you. To rescue our world from the wicked one.

[27:57] And lastly, He's come to rescue us from the world system. The world and all its cares and traps and all its godless ways. He has come to rescue you from the world system.

[28:07] You are part of the rescue mission. The work of rescue is committed to your hands. To your hands. What will you do with Christ this morning? What will you do with Him? The one who comes to you and He says, Come now and let us reason together.

[28:22] Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. It's a reasoned decision that we must make. If you've not personally made that step, taken that step, He's calling out to you.

[28:38] He's crying out to you. Get out of that boat. Reach out your hand. Or call out for me like Stuart did. Out of the depths, out of the darkness, out of the blackness, out of the hopelessness.

[28:50] There is someone calling out. Is anybody there? He that calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Friends today, He's the one who wants to take that, take those chains and unlock the shackles and open wide that prison door to give you liberty, to give you rescue.

[29:10] And yet many, they say, No, oh, no, she's right, mate. She'll be right. Even though the pardon is there. You know, the King's pardon. The King's written it.

[29:21] He says, Look, here's your pardon. Receive it. There is pardon for guilt, for sin. There is liberty for you if you just trust Him. Trust the King's word, but yet they still refuse.

[29:33] Don't make that mistake today. Don't make that mistake. Use the pardon.

[29:56] Thank you.

[30:56] Thank you.

[31:26] Thank you.