SELLING AND REDEEMING THE SOUL
Isaiah 52:3. For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought, &c.
The Jews had gone headlong into sin, and as a punishment they had been carried captive to Babylon. They found that iniquity did not pay. Cyrus seized Babylon, and felt such pity for the captives, that without any compensation he let them go home. All of this is typical of a higher truth.
I. “Ye have sold yourselves for nought.” There are persons who do not seem to belong either to themselves or to God; the title-deeds have been passed over to “the world, the flesh, and the devil;” but the purchaser has never paid up. They have made over their entire nature, but the holders of the deeds, when called on for the money, declare themselves bankrupt. The world does not keep its promises; it does not pay ninety per cent., nor twenty, nor one; it gives no solace when friends die; no peace when conscience rings its alarm. “Ye have sold yourselves for nought;” your conscience went; your hope went; your Bible went; your heaven went, all for nothing.
II. “Ye shall be redeemed without money.” You were cheated out of your soul; the world has no right to take the title-deed from you. It can be proved. You need not say you are afraid of lawsuits, they are so expensive; for “ye shall be redeemed without money.”
Money is good for a great deal, but it cannot do anything in this matter of the soul. Blood is here the only lawful tender. Neither is our blood rich enough; it needs a sinless stream. We have in this day some who do not want a religion of blood; but the Bible says, “In the blood is the life;” and an apostle (1 Peter 1:18-19). You put your lancet into the arm of our holy religion and withdraw the blood, and you leave it a mere corpse! No blood, no atonement, as prefigured in the Levitical sacrifices; “without shedding of blood there is no remission.” Some one says, “the thought of blood sickens me.” God intended it to sicken you with your sin; your sin caused Christ’s blood-shedding.
The highest price ever paid for anything was paid for your soul. The estranged property is bought back. Take it; “ye have sold yourselves for nought, and ye shall be redeemed without money.” Here is the price of your liberation—not money, but blood.—T. De Witt Talmage, D.D.: Christian Age, vol. ix. pp. 67–69.
Briefly review the circumstances under which these words were spoken. Israel had sold themselves as slaves, and for nothing. They were to be restored without money (Isaiah 45:13). All this equally applicable to us today. Israel’s captivity was temporal, ours is spiritual, and our redemption by Christ is “without money.” These words suggest—
I. SELLING THE SOUL. “Ye have sold yourselves for nought.”
1. What you have sold. Not your wares, your possessions, &c., but “yourselves.” “Not the body, not the mere bundle of intellectual faculties, but the conscience, the moral ego, the inner man,” that which works the faculties and which will live when the body is dust. It is your soul you have sold—the most precious thing God has given you—the gem of creation—the grand mark of man—the great possession. Put all the splendours of the visible creation into the scale, one soul outweighs them all (P. D. 3204). How many never think of the value of their soul, but sell it for the merest trifle.
2. To whom you have sold yourselves. To Satan. The worst being in God’s universe—the enemy of God and man—the enslaver and destroyer of souls (2 Timothy 2:26; Ephesians 2:1-2; Romans 6:17-19). To do his deadly work, and to be led captive at his will.
3. For what you have sold yourselves.
(1.) For worldly pleasure. But that is “nought”—unsatisfying, vanishing, leaves an aching void the world can never fill (Isaiah 55:2; H. E. I. 4609–4612).
(2.) For worldly wealth. But that is “nought”—will soon take wings and fly away. Wealth is not happiness—cannot procure the elixir of immortality—often degrades. Wealth is useless when, like Esau, we are “at the point to die” (Luke 12:15; Mark 8:36; H. E. I. 4358–4365, 4382–4386, 4389–4411).
(3.) For worldly fame. But that is “nought.” At best it is unsatisfying. Charles Lamb had fame, and what did he say? “I walk up and down thinking I am happy, but knowing I am not.” The great Dr. Johnson had fame, and what did he say? “I am afraid that some day I shall get crazy.” Such testimonies multiply daily. Verily, “all is vanity,” &c. (Ecclesiastes 2:11).
4. Who sold you? “Yourselves.”
(1.) It is a voluntary bargain. You cannot blame Adam, for, had you been in his place, you would have acted like him, &c. You love sin and sinful pleasures.
(2.) It is an unjust bargain. Reason and conscience say you have no right to sell your soul, for it belongs to God. “All souls are mine” (Hebrews 12:9; 1 Corinthians 6:19).
(3.) You must confess that you have made a bad bargain, and that the outcome of it is deception, disappointment, embarrassment, &c. (Hosea 8:7).
II. REDEEMING THE SOUL.
1. The redemption of the soul could not be effected by any human means. The state of fallen man was so desperate that there was no hope for him in himself—no redeeming principle in his apostate nature; no possible way by which he could pay the price of his ransom. Nothing that the whole universe could offer, would be accepted as the price of it (Micah 6:6-7; Luke 7:42). Obedience to the moral law could not secure it, for it has been broken, and whatever man did in the way of righteousness, he would render no more than is absolutely due to God; besides, he is unable to obey it perfectly (Acts 13:39; Romans 5:6; Romans 8:8; Romans 3:20; Romans 3:28; Galatians 2:16, &c.)
2. The redemption of the soul was effected by the Son of God. In man’s desperate circumstances Divine mercy interposed, for nothing less than the sacrifice of “the Son of God” could remedy the infinite evil which sin had entailed upon humanity. Christ, the Ransomer, was Divine—met and satisfied the infinite demands of inviolable justice—assumed our nature in a state of lowliness and humiliation, but free from every stain of sin, that He might obey the law which man had broken, and suffer and die “the just for the unjust, that He might,” legally, “bring us to God” (Isaiah 53:5; Isaiah 53:10; Romans 8:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 Peter 1:18-19). Our redemption by Christ secures the honour of the Divine character and law, &c. That would be no redemption which should cost the sacrifice of a single principle in the government of God, or make any compromise with the offenders. The justification of the penitent believer is perfectly consistent with the essential righteousness of God (Romans 3:24-26).
3. Personal redemption is realised by penitent faith in the Saviour’s atoning sacrifice (Mark 1:15; John 3:14-18; John 6:40; John 6:47; John 11:25-26; Acts 20:20-21). Thus, repentance and faith are the conditions of personal redemption; while it is faith—a faith that presupposes repentance—which is emphatically the means of connecting the sinner with Christ, so that he is admitted to the Divine favour, and receives the Holy Spirit to inspire filial confidence, and to renew his soul. What repentance implies. The nature of the faith which is emphatically the condition and means of personal redemption:—reliance, appropriation, trust, coming to Jesus, receiving of Christ, &c. (H. E. I. 1957–1968.) The warrant of faith—Christ’s promises (Matthew 11:28; John 6:35; John 6:37); the declared will and purpose of the Father, which assures the sinner that he cannot come to Christ in self-renunciation and be rejected (John 6:38-40; Romans 8:32). Personal redemption is therefore perfectly gratuitous—“without money,” without personal merit; and consequently is a manifestation of the abounding graciousness of God. St. Paul lays great stress on this (Romans 3:24; Romans 4:16; Romans 3:28). How excellent is this method of personal redemption, for it is adapted to all mankind (Romans 3:29-30); it shuts out pride from man (Romans 5:2-7); and it establishes the law (Romans 5:21).
CONCLUSION: Gratefully avail yourselves of God’s method of redemption offered to you in the Gospel, and constantly proclaimed to you by the ambassadors of Christ. It is suited to you. Let the redemption of your soul be your chief business—your “first” work. You may realise it now. The value of the present opportunity is unspeakably great. It may be now or never (Psalms 49:8).—Alfred Tucker.
I. THE LORD’S CHARGE AGAINST HIS PEOPLE. “Ye have sold yourselves for nought.”
It teaches us,
1. That we are a sort of trading creatures; indigent and restless, wanting something we have not, and looking about to find it, that we may be happy. Buying and selling to get gain, that we may be happy. “For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought,” &c. (Psalms 4:6; James 4:13.)
2. That which we part with for this supposed happiness is inestimably precious. Ourselves (Isaiah 1:1; Mark 8:36-37).
4. That the state into which we sell ourselves is deplorable. Like slaves. Joseph sold into Egypt (Psalms 105:17-18). The Jews sold themselves into Babylon. “Tied with the chain of our sins” (Psalms 9:17; Isaiah 52:5; Revelation 3:17).
4. That the enemy to whom we sell ourselves is the devil (2 Timothy 2:26; Luke 9:21). Seen in Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:1, &c), Judas, Ananias. Jesus Christ was tempted to this (Matthew 4:8-9).
5. That we are volunteers in the sale of ourselves. “For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought,” &c. Ahab sold himself to work wickedness (Hosea 13:9). The prodigal. Eve (Genesis 3:6).
6. That in thus selling ourselves we rob and offend God. Because we are His creatures (Psalms 100:1, &c.) We waste His goods (Luke 16:1).
7. That what we get in thus selling ourselves is nothing. “For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought,” &c. (Isaiah 55:1, &c.; Ecclesiastes 2:11; Hosea 8:7).
II. GOD’S GRACIOUS DECLARATION CONCERNING THEM.
“Ye shall be redeemed without money.” which teaches us,
1. That God recovers His people to their forfeited privileges and enjoyments. “Redeemed” (1 Samuel 30:18; 1 Samuel 30:20). Such as
(1.) acceptance with God. As to their persons and services (Ephesians 1:6; Genesis 4:4; Ezekiel 20:40-41).
(2.) Conformity to the glorious image of God (2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 4:24; 1 John 3:2).
(3.) Fellowship with God. Adam had this (Genesis 2:15, &c.) Believers have this (Ephesians 2:18; 1 John 1:1-2).
(4.) A system of providential blessings (Romans 8:28; 1 Corinthians 3:1, &c.)
2. That this recovery is by redemption. “For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought,” &c. By price (Acts 20:28). By power (Deuteronomy 7:8; Psalms 106:1; Psalms 106:7; Hosea 13:14).
3. That this redemption is without money or merit on our part. “For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought,” &c. (Isaiah 55:1-2; Ezekiel 20:42; Ezekiel 20:44; Luke 7:42).
CONCLUSION.—
1. To the young, with whom Satan is beginning to tamper and bargain.
2. To the Antinomian, casting the blame of his captivity upon God. Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:1, &c.)
3. To the captive—feeling his yoke, weakness and unworthiness (Jeremiah 31:18; Jeremiah 31:20; Romans 7:1, &c.)
4. To the ransomed returning Christian (Psalms 126:1, &c.; Isaiah 35:10).—New Pulpit Assistant, pp. 226–230.