Well, we love to sing as believers about many different things. The grace of God, adoption. We love to sing about Christ. And in particular, I would say we love to sing about Christ as our Redeemer. And there are many hymns. If you could do a little exercise and probably go through your hymnal, and you would find many songs that reference our Redeemer or redemption. We sing of our Redeemer often. Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise. I greet Thee, whom I sure Redeemer art, my only trust and Savior of my heart. Sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer. With His blood He purchased me. On the cross He sealed my pardon, paid the debt, and made me free. B.B. Warfield says that there's no one of the titles of Christ which is more precious to believers than this title of Christ as our Redeemer. It's precious to our hearts, he says. It's the name specifically of Christ of the cross. The Christ of the cross. Whenever we pronounce it, whenever we pronounce those words, the Redeemer, he says that the cross is placarded or posted before us, before our eyes. And our hearts are filled with loving remembrance, not only that Christ has given us a salvation, but also that He paid a mighty price for it. So, our Savior has paid a mighty price for our salvation. And our text this morning focuses on that price. Our text this morning is Mark chapter 10, a very familiar text, verse 45. Mark 10.45, I think in the Pew Bible it's maybe 8.46, 8.47. Just to let you know, I'm reading out of the New King James, so hopefully that doesn't throw any of you off if you have the ESV or something different. But this text in Mark 10.45 sets Christ before us as Redeemer. And more specifically, it sets Christ before us as Ransomer. You'll see that in the text. So Jesus says this to His disciples, and He's speaking about Himself. He says, for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. Let's ask the Lord for help as we look into His Word. Our God, again, we thank You for this privilege to be here, to worship You, to sing, about Christ, to seeing of Your grace and of our adoption, to seeing of the Holy Spirit, His work in our lives, to seeing about our Redeemer. We thank You, Lord, and pray that Christ would be exalted in this time. We pray, Lord, that He would increase and that everything else would decrease. We pray, Father, that You would bring Him before our eyes and help us to think this morning about the price that He's paid and about our redemption. We ask, Lord, that you would help us. Bring your Holy Spirit upon us and we pray that we would leave encouraged and leave with Christ set before our eyes and with greater love for him. We ask this in his name. Amen. Well, as you look at your text here, Jesus speaks these words of Mark 10.45 just as His ministry, His life on earth is coming to a close. So, His public ministry is about to end and very soon He'll be beginning His passion ministry. And Jesus, as Isaiah puts it, has set His face like a flint. He has set His face like a flint towards Jerusalem. And we read in verse 32 of Mark 10, so backing up a little bit, we read that, now they were on the road, this is Jesus and his disciples, going up to Jerusalem. And Jesus was going before them. So Jesus is here moving with absolute determination to Jerusalem. And he's resolved to go to Jerusalem. He's resolved to go there knowing exactly what awaits him. Jesus knows the suffering that awaits Him, the mockery that awaits Him, and the death that awaits Him. He knows the hour that the Lord has given to Him, that His Father has sent Him into the world for. So, His life's not going to be taken from Him. Jesus is going to lay down His life willingly. He's not a victim. He's not a helpless victim in this case. He's going to lay His life down, as He says, of His own accord in John 10. Now, apparently his disciples noticed something about the way that he's going to Jerusalem. They noticed a sort of intense determination, and perhaps it was his stride, perhaps it was something in his eyes, but they noticed something different. And look at the text again, verse 32. As they're going up to Jerusalem, Jesus is going before them. They're following, and it says here that they were amazed. And as they followed, they were afraid. So, something about the way Jesus is going to Jerusalem leaves them both amazed and afraid. Now, as they follow, Jesus is going to do what He did often. He's going to pull them aside and He's going to teach them a lesson. And in this case, He's going to tell them what awaits Him. And actually, this is the third time that He tells His disciples what awaits Him, the suffering and the death and even His resurrection. And we find that in verse 32, the second part of it. He took the twelve aside, we read, and He began to tell them the things that would happen to Him. He said, Behold, we're going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes. And they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles. They will mock Him and scourge Him and spit on Him and kill Him. And the third day, He will rise again. There's brutal suffering that awaits Him. This scourging was flogging. It was a Roman whip, and it had several tails on it, leather whip, and it had bits of bone and metal in it, and it would have torn His flesh. And there were people who were killed just by the scourging alone. And so Jesus knows exactly what awaits Him, and He tells His disciples. on the heels of this. Immediately after, he tells him for the third time about this suffering and what he must do. Immediately after that, we find, beginning with verse 35, that at least two of the disciples and the others might have been thinking the same thing, but at least two of his disciples are concerned, of all things, about their own glory. So look at this in verse 35. You have James and John, the sons of Zebedee, coming to Jesus. And we read, I think it's in Matthew, that his mother, their mother was with him. So they come to Jesus saying, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. And he said to them, what do you want me to do for you? They said to him, grant us that we may sit, one on your right and one on the other, on your left hand, in your glory. So they're wrapped up with their own glory, just as Jesus has said, I'm going to the cross. And now this actually infuriates the other disciples, which we see here in this text. It says that they were very displeased, greatly displeased in verse 41. And I can imagine they're asking themselves, how dare James and John make this sort of request of Jesus? I mean, who do they think that they are? And now, I think it's quite possible that their displeasure and their anger was really because they would have liked to ask that question first. Because they had these same thoughts of greatness in their mind. In fact, Mark has just recorded a similar incident in chapter 9, if you want to turn back there. But they're on the road again, and we see this in verse 33. We read that when he came to Capernaum, that's Jesus, and he was in the house, he asked them, he asked his disciples, what was it that you disputed among yourselves on the road? And then it says they were silent. And I imagine quite ashamed and embarrassed because what they were disputing about was which of them would be the greatest. And you see again, look up in the text and you see that Jesus has just predicted again, His death and resurrection, and it's on the heels of that that they're disputing about who would be greatest. So Jesus is going to pull them aside and teach a very important lesson, a hard lesson to them, and he's going to teach them about true greatness. He sits them down, verse 35 of Mark 9. He sits them down, calls the twelve, and he says, if anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant Now, what's the root cause of their behavior here in chapter 9? Disputing about greatness. And then again in chapter 10 with James and John coming and asking this question. What's behind this is their pride. There is pride in their hearts. And you see here that the essence of pride really is to be above others. It's this desire to be greater. It's a desire to be first, and that's the desire that we see here in these disciples, this pride that's in their heart. And this desire, Jesus is going to go on to teach, is very worldly. It's unchristian, and it's even unlike Christ. So after this selfish request of James and John in chapter 10, Jesus sees the anger of the others, And he sees behind that anger to the pride of their hearts. He knows exactly what's going on here. And so he calls them again for yet another lesson on humility and true greatness. And by now we're thinking maybe that the disciples are so stubborn, do they really need this lesson again? But we're reminded how stubborn pride is. It is a stubborn sin. And it's also a sneaky sin. And I mean that we don't always see it in ourselves, and it has many different forms that it takes. So here we see Jesus addressing their pride, and in fact, we're going to think more about pride this evening, so I won't get too much into that now. But Jesus' message to them is that they must not follow the pattern of the world. So look at verse 42. We're back in chapter 10, verse 42. Jesus called them to himself after this whole incident with James and John. He calls them to himself and he said to them, you know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them. He says, you know how things operate in the world and that they're great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you. And then he goes on and teaches them about true greatness. He's going to tell them it's not at all what the world thinks that it is. In fact, true greatness is found in the way of humble service. It's paradoxical. And so he says to them, verse 43, he says, whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant, your deacon. And whoever of you desires to be first of all should be slave of all. So he teaches them this lesson about true greatness. And Jesus, of course, is the perfect example of this. He is the perfect example of true greatness. As we think about it, has there ever been a greater man to walk this earth? Well, of course, there hasn't been. And has there ever been a more humble servant to walk this earth? So the example of Christ and his teaching here on true greatness turns the world's idea upside down. And it's this teaching of Jesus on true greatness in verses 43 and 44 that is the context of our text in verse 45. And it's important that we understand that context. And Jesus says then in verse 45, with all of this in the background, For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. and to give his life a ransom for many. And so we're going to open up this familiar text tonight. We're going to consider first, or sorry, this morning, we're going to consider first our Redeemer, secondly, the price that he paid, and then we will look at our redemption. So our Redeemer first, the price or the ransom that he paid, and then thirdly, our redemption. Now, the text very clearly sets Christ before us as Redeemer, or, as I said more specifically, as ransomer. Well, what do we learn in this text about this servant ransomer, about this one who came to serve and to give his life a ransom? Well, you notice that Jesus is speaking about himself, and he says, for even the Son of Man came. So he calls himself the Son of Man. And as we look at this text, I first want to draw our attention to that phrase, the Son of Man, as we think about who is this Redeemer. Because on the surface, this phrase really doesn't seem like much. It doesn't seem very significant. And in fact, you may just go over it. And we need to look a little bit more closely, because Jesus chooses His words carefully, as He always did. He chooses His words carefully, and this title, this name, Son of Man, is just that. It's a title, just like the President of the United States is a title. And what you need to know is that this title, the Son of Man, was Jesus' favorite title or name for Himself. He calls Himself this all the time. In fact, one person said that he applied the name to himself on more than 40 occasions. So you could do a little search in your Bible and you could come up with all of these occasions. You could see all the times that he refers to himself as the son of man. And you'll also see that really only Jesus uses this title of himself. Almost nobody else uses this for him. Now, if you were to examine all the occasions in the scripture, in the New Testament, these 40 or so occasions, you would find that this title, the son of man, not only is pointing to the fact that Jesus is truly human, but actually in saying that he's the son of man, Jesus is claiming that he's not just a man. He's not just a man, but actually He's fully and truly a man, but also fully and truly God. He's the eternal Son of God who became man. He took on flesh without ceasing to be God. And that's why Jesus Christ is the perfect and the only mediator between God and between men, as Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2, 5 and 6, that there's one God and there's one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all. Very similar to the words of our text. So we need to keep that in mind, that Jesus is both God and man, and that's why he can be a mediator between God and men. So Jesus is actually claiming to be divine when he calls himself the Son of Man. But you might ask yourself, well, how does the title Son of Man have anything to do with Jesus being God? Well, in using this title, he's referring, as many of you probably know, to a text in Daniel. He's referring to an Old Testament passage in the book of Daniel. If you want to turn there, it's Daniel, chapter 6. It's important that we see this. Daniel, chapter 6. I'm sorry, it's chapter 7. Look at verses 13 and 14. And just to paint the scene a little bit, This is a vision that Daniel is having. And he has this vision of what he calls the Ancient of Days. This is God. And here's His throne. And the books are open. So, this is judgment time. The books are open. And then he's watching, and we read verse 13, As I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the Ancient of Days, He came to God, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him, this is the One like the Son of Man, to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him." And then it goes on to say, His dominion is an everlasting dominion and so on. When Jesus picks this title up, He's referring to this text. He has this text in mind. And what He's saying is that He is that Son of Man that Daniel saw. He is the One coming with the clouds of heaven to whom was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. And now He's saying, even this Son of Man came not to be served. He's saying all people will serve Him, and yet He came not to be served. So you feel the weight of that. He said if anybody could have come into this world and demanded to be served, it was Christ, the Son of Man. And He came not to be served, but to serve and to give. So, we need to feel the weight of what he's saying. Even the Son of Man came not to be served. It's remarkable that the Son of Man even came. It's remarkable that Jesus, who is fully God and fully man, the second person of the Trinity, came into this world. We read in John 1 that he was in the world and the world was made through him. He came to the world and the world was made through him. And yet the world did not know him. He came to his own and his own did not receive him. So it's remarkable that he even came. And yet we read here that the Son of Man not only came, but that He came to be a servant and even a slave of all. Philippians 2, you know this text well, 5 and 7, Paul points to this example of Christ, this remarkable humility, and he says to them, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. He emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant. That's the word for slave. Taking the form of a bondservant. So he humbled himself. And that's our Redeemer. That's our ransomer presented to us in Mark 10.45. Even the Son of Man. did not come to be served. But what did He do? He took a towel and He girded Himself. He washed His disciples' dirty feet. He said, I've given you an example. And it was also a picture, wasn't it, of what He was about to do on the cross. About to wash them. He was about to shed His blood and they would be washed. So He came as the servant of servants. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, came to be a servant. And so, what of our pride? What of our pride? Is this not the great pride crusher when we look that Christ, the Son of Man, came to be a servant? And should we demand to be served? Should we refuse to serve and say, that's beneath me, when Christ, our Master, came to be a servant? We are not greater than the Son of Man who came to serve. So, he came to serve and that meant, in the end, that he came to give. He came to give himself as a ransom for many. So, let's think for a moment about what he gave. So, that was a little bit about our Redeemer presented in this text, but let's now think about the price or the ransom that our Redeemer paid, the mighty price that he paid. Now, sometimes words can be emptied of their meaning. I think you will probably have experienced this, but it's almost like a bucket full of water that's dumped out and words can be dumped out of their meaning and sometimes we just let it go, but other times we need to fill it back up with all of its meaning. So, for example, we say that we love somebody. Maybe a spouse or your parents or children, whatever it might be. We love somebody and yet we might also say we love pizza. And we don't mean the same thing, do we? But that word has been emptied a little bit when we say that we love pizza and yet we love our spouse, etc. Or that we love the Lord. And so that is an example of a word that's been emptied. And we also say, for example, that things are awesome. You say, oh, I got a new phone. I got the new iPhone. Someone says awesome. Was that really awesome? No. You know what awesome means? It's awe-inspiring. If you look at the Grand Canyon, you might say, that's awesome. That inspires awe. But even more so, God is awesome. God is awesome. The one who created the Grand Canyon. He's awe-inspiring. So, words like love and awesome can tend to be emptied of their meaning and we need to be careful to not let good words go away. And one of them is redemption. And this word is sometimes emptied of its meaning. And we need to fill it back up with its New Testament meaning. It's not just another word for deliverance. We can sometimes just think that redemption just means deliverance or salvation. But we need to fill it with a little bit more. And there's a specific meaning that comes out very clearly in our text. And John Murray, he's written a little book called Redemption Accomplished and Applied, and we're going through that in our Sunday school right now. Very helpful if you've not read it. And I'm going to quote Murray here a few times, but he has a great little section on redemption. But John Murray says this. He says that the language of redemption is the language of purchase. The language of purchase and more specifically of ransom, more specifically of ransom. That is the securing of a release by the payment of a price. So keep that in your mind. A ransom, the securing of a release from bondage. by the payment of a price. So you think of, you probably think of someone that's been kidnapped. That may be the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of a ransom. Somebody's kidnapped and they demand a ransom, say, of a million dollars. If you want the captive set free, pay us a million dollars. That's the ransom. That's the price to be paid to set somebody free. So we see here that a ransom had to be paid for sinners to set them free. And Christ is saying, I have come to pay that ransom. I have come to pay the price to secure a release of those who are in bondage. And now, what price did he pay? Well, we're not going to spend a lot of time on it because it's so clear in the text. The price that he paid was his own life. It was a mighty price. He said, I came to give myself. as a ransom for many. He paid the full price when He shed His blood on the cross. We read in Ephesians 1-7 that in Him, that's in Christ, we have redemption through His blood. We have ransoming through His blood and only through His blood. There's no other redemption. There's no other ransom price that we can look to. But Christ is paid the only ransom that can set us free. So, He paid the price. It was His own life which He gave as a payment to set sinners free. So, if Christ is your Redeemer, He's purchased you. He has purchased you. And that is a great comfort to us. In fact, it's our only hope and it's our only comfort in this life, in the life to come, that we have been purchased. We have been bought. Just as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6 and also in 1 Corinthians 7, he says, you were bought with a price. You were bought at a price. That's the precious price of the blood of Christ. So we are purchase, the church is a purchased people. And that's what I want us to have in mind as we look at this text. We need to keep when you think of redemption, think of purchase, think of ransom and think of Christ who paid that ransom, his own life, his own blood. So that's a little bit about the price or the ransom. So we've seen our Redeemer. We've seen this great Redeemer, the Son of Man who came to serve and to give His life. And we've seen also this price that He paid, the ransom. But let's look thirdly at our redemption. So our redemption, the redemption that He, the Son of Man, accomplished for many. Now, the question we might ask, okay, if a ransom is the securing of a release from bondage by the payment of a price, then it's quite natural that we ask the question, what bondage? What bondage are we talking about when we say that we've been set free? And I want us to think for a few minutes about the bondage of mankind, of all mankind. And I want to limit our thoughts. We could say a lot about this, but I'm going to limit our thoughts to two major categories, and that is the law and sin. So those two categories as we think about what bondage are we all in. So first, the Christian, and only the Christian, is redeemed from the curse of God's law. So the Christian, and only the Christian, is redeemed from the curse of God's law. And you'll notice what I didn't say is we are not redeemed from the law. The Bible doesn't use that language. We are not set free from the law. It remains a binding obligation that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus said, I didn't come to destroy the law. I didn't come to abolish it, but to fulfill it. So we need to be careful that we're not saying, oh, he set us free from the obligation to obey his commands. That's far from the truth. But he has redeemed us from the curse of the law. Now, none of us can perfectly keep the commandments of God, and you all know that very well. We break them every day. We break the commandments of God every day in thought, word, and deed. Even as we sit here in pews and we sing and we pray and listen to preaching, we can very easily sin in our thoughts. Maybe not in our words, but in our thoughts. We sin daily. And every single sin deserves the wrath of God. He has an inflexible justice. He is holy. He is righteous. Every sin deserves God's wrath and curse. The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. They've missed the mark. That's all of us. And that the wages of sin is death. Now, the Bible also says, Paul is going to make this argument in Galatians. The Bible says, Galatians 3.10, that cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. He's quoting the Old Testament, actually. So the Jews knew this. Cursed is everyone who does not obey the law perfectly. In other words, we're all under the curse of the law. Unless you've perfectly obeyed the law of God, you are under its curse. And so the question immediately we ask, is there any escape? Is there any way of escape? Any way of salvation offered? And of course, the answer is yes. Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. He alone can save sinners. God in mercy has provided a way of salvation. He didn't have to. God didn't have to save anybody, but it was out of his love that he sent his son. It was out of his love that he sent his son. He chose freely. It was his good pleasure to save sinners through his son. Well, Paul in Galatians 3 is making this argument that everyone who disobeys the law, everyone who breaks it is cursed. And then he says that Christ, Galatians 3.13, has redeemed us from the curse of the law. He's paid a price to set us free from that curse. And we ask the question, how? And Paul answers it. He says that Christ has redeemed us by becoming a curse for us. Substitution. You see, that's substitution. He became a curse for us. And we ask again, well, in what way did Christ become a curse for us? Well, He hung on the cross and He died. by giving His life a ransom for many, as our text says. That's how He became a curse for us. He hung on a tree, as the scriptural language has it. He hung on a tree for us so that He became a curse for us. Listen to John Murray again. He says that Christ became so identified with the curse resting upon His people that the whole of it, the whole of the curse, and all its unrelieved intensity became His. That curse He bore, and that curse He exhausted, so that there is no more curse for His people. There is no more curse. If you are a believer this morning, there is no more curse of the law that you are under, because Christ has redeemed you from the curse of the law. Christ's people, are all those who fully rely upon Him for their salvation, and they and they alone are redeemed from the curse of God's law. That's the first category as we think of our redemption. From what bondage are we set free? But let's think about that category of sin. That's the category of law. We could say more about it, but that's all we'll say now. We can also speak of the believer's redemption with respect to sin. We sing a hymn, or at least we do in Louisville, and I'm sure you do here. It's well-known, Rock of Ages. We sing, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from thy riven side which flowed, that's the riven side, the spear that was pierced. into his side and blood and water flowed. It says, let that blood and water which flowed from the side of Christ be of sin the double cure. Cleanse me from its guilt and power. From its guilt and power. So with respect to sin, we are in bondage to the guilt of sin and also to the power of sin. But in giving his life a ransom, Christ provided the double cure. He paid the price to set us free, those who trust in him, from the guilt and the power of sin. So let's consider those two categories briefly. We have been released from our bondage to the guilt of sin. The psalmist writes, Psalm 133, if you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? That's all of us. Well, Lord, who could stand in your judgment if you were to mark iniquities? Our sin, our iniquity, our transgression. These have left us guilty in the sight of God and not just guilty, but condemned. Condemned. Paul says in Romans 3.10, there's none righteous, no, not one. But a mighty price was paid for many to remove the chains of guilt. to remove those chains. Paul says that while all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, all who believe in Christ are justified freely by God's grace through the redemption, the ransoming that is in Christ Jesus, that's in Romans 3, 23 and 24. So we've been justified freely. If you're trusting in Christ, He's your redeemer. He is your ransomer who has set you free from the guilt of sin. He shed his blood and the effect of that for you is justification. Meaning you were forgiven and also accepted as righteous in the sight of God. Only for the righteousness of Christ that's credited to your account and received by faith alone. You were justified by grace. If you're a Christian, you're no longer bound by the heavy chains of guilt. And that is something to praise God for. Christ has ransomed you. And before God, you're no longer guilty. Ephesians 1.7, in him we have redemption through his blood. And then he says the forgiveness of sins. We're forgiven, we're accepted. There is, as Paul says, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So while we deserve to stand before God's judgment seat and hear the words guilty, we now who are in Christ can hear those words not guilty. So we are set free, released from our bondage to the guilt of sin, but also We have been released from our bondage to the power of sin. Now, John Murray calls this the triumphal aspect of redemption, the triumphal aspect of our redemption. Now, the Bible speaks of sin as a demanding king, a king who has desires for us and wants to rule over us. So, we read in Genesis 4, 7. that sin lies at the door and its desire is for you, but you should rule over it. He says sin is at the door. Its desire is for you. That's not for your good. That means to destroy you, to dominate you. Sin's desire is to rule over us. It's like a demanding king. But God says you should rule over it. Romans 6, 14. Paul says sin, shall not have dominion, in other words, be lord or be king over you. Believer, sin shall not reign over you any longer. So mankind, apart from Christ, is in bondage, we might say, to king sin. Sin has us all bound by nature, and it's a cruel and a relentless master. It's desire is to destroy us. But if you're a Christian, the power of sin is broken. The power of sin is broken so that King Sin has been dethroned. He's off his throne and you serve a new master, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we can read a text like Titus 2.14. where Paul writes that our great God and Savior Jesus Christ gave Himself for us. There's that language again. He gave Himself for us so that He might redeem us, purchase us, set us free from every lawless deed, and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. So, He's redeemed us. to be His people who are no longer seeking our own desires, seeking the things of this world, but living to please and to glorify God. Now, if you're in Christ, sin has been dethroned, but you will know, if you've been a Christian for longer than probably three days, you will know that sin has not been destroyed. Not yet. Not yet. It's been dethroned, but not yet destroyed. And so the battle continues. And when you enter into the Christian life, it really begins there. Satan begins to attack. And we might ask then, well, should we just give up fighting sin? Paul would say, by no means. By no means. In fact, Paul's going to go on to say in Ephesians 6, he says that we can be strong in the Lord and in the power and the strength of His might. He's given us resources to fight in this battle against sin. We have the whole armor of God. So maybe you're a Christian here and you feel like King Sin is still reigning. Maybe there's days, even recently, you feel like, how can I be a Christian if I've done this? And, you know, Paul struggled with that. And he looked immediately to Christ. But let me read the word of God from Romans, chapter six, something, some truths for us to remember as we face temptation. And in particular, for those of you who might be struggling and feeling like king sin is still reigning, but Romans Chapter 6 has much to teach and to encourage us. Chapter 6, beginning at verse 3. So Paul is again doing some of this dialogue. Should we who died to sin live any longer in it? He says, verse 3, Romans 6, or do you not know That as many of us were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death. Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death. That just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we've been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection. So you see what Paul is saying. He's saying as a believer, you have both died with Christ in union with Him, but also been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life, to have victory over sin, to be the people of God in this world who shine brightly. Look down then at verse 12. Paul's going to draw some conclusions. He says, Look at the language of ruling there. Again, sin like a king. Don't let sin reign over you. Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin. But present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. He's saying, remember, you've been buried with Christ and raised with him. And in verse 14, for sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. In the moment of temptation, these words are so practical. Remind yourself and say, I have been set free. Christ has paid my ransom and set me free from the power of sin. I no longer serve sin, but I serve a new master. And you need to remind yourself of these things. You need to say, I've died with Christ and I've been raised with Him. I've been raised with Him, redeemed from the power of sin. I serve a new master." So in that moment of temptation, you can preach to yourself a little bit and say, I serve a new master. Sin, you are no longer going to reign over me because Christ is my master. He has set me free. I have the spirit of Christ in me and I can put this to death. So preach to yourself that way. Remind yourself of the price Christ has paid and how he has indeed set you free from the guilt and the power of sin. So those are just a few things to think about. We could go on and on and on as we think about our redemption. and what exactly Christ purchased on the cross. But there we see our Redeemer in this text, the Son of Man, the great Son of Man, fully God and fully man, and yet He came. He came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. We've seen the price that He paid, His own life, and then we considered briefly our redemption. freed from the guilt and power of sin, but also from the curse of the law. Now, some of you might be asking, as you look here, and if you want to go back to our text in Mark 10, 45, you might be asking, as you read, that he gave his life a ransom for many. You might be asking, did Jesus give his life a ransom for me? Our text says that He gave His life a ransom for many. For many. And I cannot say, nobody can say, whether or not you are among the many that Christ gave His life for. But this is what I can say. I can say that if you will turn from your sins, And if you will turn to Christ and cling to Him and trust in Him, embrace Him alone as your Savior, as your only hope, then you can say that Christ loved me. He gave Himself for me. And He's my Redeemer. If you trust in Him, forsaking your sin, you can say that. And then you can sing. Along with other believers of your Redeemer, you can sing, On the cruel cross He suffered, from the curse to set me free. Sing, O sing of my Redeemer. With His blood He purchased me. On the cross He sealed my pardon, paid the debt, and made me free. Amen. Let's pray. Our Father, thank You for these wonderful truths. We thank You for the Lord Jesus Christ, for His humility, for His obedience, even to the point of death, the death of the cross. We thank You, Lord, that He has paid that price. He's given His life as a ransom for many. We thank You, Father, for our redemption. Those of us who are trusting in Christ, thank You that we can say we've been purchased, we've been bought, and that You've freed us from the curse of the law and from the guilt and the power of sin. Lord, we pray that we would walk in newness of life. Give us grace. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit. Help us to walk in step with Your Spirit, putting off the old man and putting on the new. Help us, Lord, in every moment of temptation to be strong in You and in the strength of Your might. Help us, Lord, to be clothed with your whole armor and to remember that we've died with Christ and raised with him, that we serve a new master. Father, thank you for these wonderful truths. Write them upon our hearts. And Lord, we pray that if there are any here not trusting in Christ, they're trusting in themselves or anything else. Lord, we pray that you would draw them to yourself. Pray that these words would be words of life to them, that you would open their eyes and ears and that they would see that there's life in Christ and Him alone. We ask, Lord, that you would do this for your sake and for your glory. Amen.