Freedom in Christ

Jeff Miller

6/28/21

Freedom in Christ

Intro: Good morning. Well, next Sunday is the Fourth of July. Diana and I will be away that week and the next for a much needed break. Then, in one more week, it’ll be Labor Day Weekend. At least it will feel like it. Summer always goes by quickly.

Since I won’t be here on the Fourth of July, I thought I’d move into the Fourth of July week with a sermon on our Freedom in Christ, and what that means. I didn’t intend on doing this, it just seemed to work, and that is revisiting older sermons. I’ve felt compelled to do so, and I did. This is another one. 

We’re going to look at two verses today. One in the Old Testament, and another in the New Testament. So if you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Psalm 107. And with that, once you get there, put a bookmark there and turn with me to The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 4. We’re going to read the two of them together.

Once again, Psalm 107 and Luke 4.

A couple of months ago, when I had my ordination service, I was pleasantly surprised to see a passenger of mine who lives further away from here than we do, come to the service. She’s an older woman from South Africa. And one time we got on the topic of preachers that we like to listen to on the radio or TV, and she mentioned Robert Morris. I had heard of him, in fact we watched a video of him in our preaching class. And I have two books by him at home. One was required reading at Elim, it is called The Blessed Church, and another one called The Blessed Life, which was recommended to us. 

And so asked if I wanted to borrow a CD set of one of his sermon series that she had been listening to. And I gladly accepted it and listened to it on my drives. This was a couple of years ago. The title of the sermon series is called, Free Indeed. So today, I want to give credit where credit is due, and be open and honest and let you know that I am going to borrow a lot from Robert Morris’ 11-sermon-series on freedom, and blend it with my own, and condense all of that down into one sermon (as best as I can). By the way, if you are interested, that series is on Youtube, and I am going to post a link to it on our Facebook page this afternoon, so you can go there and have it if you want to see it. Each sermon is between 30-40 minutes long, so altogether, the whole series totals somewhere around 5 or 6 hours, but it goes by quickly.

So let’s go to our first scripture this morning.

Scripture: Psalm 107: 13-16.

13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

    and he saved them from their distress.

14 He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,

    and broke away their chains.

15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love

    and his wonderful deeds for mankind,

16 for he breaks down gates of bronze

    and cuts through bars of iron.

And that correlates well with another set of scriptures in Luke. Luke 4:14-20. In fact, I wasn’t going to read two scriptures this morning, but I felt compelled to do so. Luke 4, beginning with verse 14 reads:

14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. 16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,because he has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor.He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 

And I find it interesting that Luke goes on from there telling his readers about how Jesus broke free the man possessed by an evil spirit.

Central Truth: One of the many things that Jesus came to do was to set people free–spiritually. They had that scroll from Isaiah that Jesus read from, and the passage from Psalms that we read from and others. But for centuries they interpreted it to mean that their coming Messiah was going to give them physical freedom like we celebrate on the Fourth of July. Israel had been in physical bondage to different empires throughout the centuries. So it only made sense that they would think of that passage from Isaiah in that way. They thought they would be free from an empire in the same way that we were 245 years ago. Little did they know that the Messiah’s real intent was to set people free from a more powerful spiritual bondage just like that man who had been shackled in chains and possessed by a demon. And that freedom has been available for everyone, and has been the testimony of the saints for 2000 years, and it can be your testimony today, too.

Point 1: Let’s take a look first at what it means to be in bondage. Maybe some of you have been taught that a Christian cannot be in bondage. But that’s not true. Here are some statistics you probably were not expecting to hear in church this morning: 

68% of church-going men and over 50% of pastors view pornography on a regular basis. Of young Christian adults 18-24 years old, 76% actively search for porn. Only 13% of self identified Christian women say they never watch porn. 57% of pastors say porn addiction is the most damaging issue in their congregation. And 69% say porn has adversely impacted the church.

Now I shared that with you to point out that these are statistics regarding an addiction that is in the church body, among Christian people. As you know, an addiction is a bondage that people cannot break free from on their own. The Catholics have what they call, “The Seven Deadly Sins.” What are they? They are things we all struggle with.

Pride, envy, anger, gluttony, lust, laziness, and greed. How about other sins such as bitterness, unforgiveness, control, criticism, judgmentalism, legalism, and selfishness. How about things that are not necessarily sins but are emotional chains such as insecurity, fear, rejection, loneliness, depression, sadness and anxiety? 

These are just a few common things that we struggle with. And I think it’s appropriate to talk about freedom from these things, as we head into Independence Day.

So, how do we look at bondage? What is it spiritually and how do we get set free? There’s an old military saying, “Know your enemy.” I think the same is true in spiritual battle. 

And as we fought for American independence, we have to fight a spiritual battle for spiritual independence. And having said that, let’s look briefly at the enemy and how he captures us and holds us in bondage. The problem, of course, is that we are born susceptible to bondage because of our sinful nature. Because of that Satan has the advantage, but because of the cross, Jesus has the victory. The cross is not only the once-for-all sacrifice for the forgives us of our sins, but has the power to free us from our sins and redeem and restore us.

So how do we, and our sinful nature, make even those of us seasoned Christians susceptible to bondage? Robert Morris put it this way. He gave an illustration of a house. 

As a Christian, Jesus is standing guard at the door. You’ve seen those paintings of Jesus knocking at the door of your heart. You have invited Jesus to the door of your heart. You lock the door to Satan, but whether you know it or not, you have left a window open or your back door unlocked. And Satan, the thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy, sneaks into your house–your heart and mind–as a thief.

So how can we have Jesus and the devil in our hearts? It’s called temptation. Unfortunately, our sinful nature usually invites him in, and not only does he come in, he hangs around for a while and makes himself at home. He seems pleasant enough. He’s not hurting anyone. But after a while, he overstayed his welcome. You want him out, but he won’t leave. Not unless we call an authority to come and take him out. 

So, you’re probably wondering how did Jesus allow this thief in our house? Because we invited him, and Jesus isn’t going to turn the tables over and kick Satan out…unless we ask him to.

And Satan isn’t going to go out without a fight. Once he’s in there, Satan doesn’t want to go. But Satan’s way of fighting is by being that clever, crafty snake that he was in the Garden. He lies to us in some way, telling us why he should stay a little longer. You know, he tells us things like, “greed is good,” “Gluttony really isn’t a sin,”  “A little lust is fine, so long as no one knows. It’ll just be our little secret.” 

Or maybe Satan points at Jesus and says, “Jesus has no problem with it, right? If He did, I’d never have gotten in. So you can have a little sin in your life.”

Or he might say, regarding our negative thoughts, “If Jesus is at the door to your heart, then apparently these things about you must be true so you better just get used to it.” 

Or maybe you thought, I’m born with this sinful nature, so I’m just going to have to struggle with this sin for the rest of my life. Have you ever accepted your sin as a personality trait, so people are just going to have to get used to my greed, my pride, my selfishness, my judgmentalism, my laziness, my ‘fill in the blank?’ Those are just excuses to live in sin. And that’s how we stay in bondage. That’s how we stay influenced by the devil, by accepting his lies.

Here’s another way we stay in bondage. Maybe you want to be free but Satan convinces you of shame. What will happen if they find out? What if the church finds out I struggle with ‘fill in the blank?’ They’ll think less of me. I’ll be ostracized.

And then, our identity becomes based on how Satan makes us feel.Proverbs 23:7 says,

“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” We can’t let how we think about ourselves come from the devil. Jesus came to give us His truth. Jesus came to set us free. Jesus said, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” 

Point 2: So how do we get set free? 

There are four things we need to do:

1. The first thing that needs to be done is that we need to recognize that we are in bondage and that we do need help. Just like an alcoholic at an AA meeting, or someone coming to Christ for the first time. We need to acknowledge our need. 

2. Once we do that, the second thing we need to do is to confess our sins and repent. And if you need to, don’t just confess your sins to God, confess your sins to one another. 

In Matthew 5, Jesus says, 23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”

Jesus said to get things right with one another first. The breaking of the bondage includes confessing your sins to one another. 

James 5:16 says, “16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” 

When we quote that scripture, we usually focus on that last part, but rarely on the first. And where it says, ‘so that you may be healed,’ the word ‘healed’ in the Greek means to “be free from errors and sins.” So it’s not physical healing, it’s spiritual healing. God wants us to confess our sins to each other, to ask for forgiveness of one another if we need to, then we will see a breakthrough and be truly free.

And like I said, we also need to repent. Now, the word ‘repent’ is used a lot in Christian circles. It’s an old ‘churchy’ word, and when you hear it, you probably have an image of an old-timey preacher banging on the pulpit, or someone with a picket sign that says ‘repent for the end is near.’ But what does it really mean?

In the Greek, to repent means to change our mind or to change our thinking. In other words, as Paul said to the Romans, we are to “not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” So repentance is actually a continual process. We are to continually change our thinking and train ourselves to learn to think rightly according to what God’s truth is regarding sin, or regarding ourselves, whatever it might be.

3. The third thing we need to do is similar to repentance. It is to reject Satan’s lies. Robert Morris used the term ‘renounce,’ which, according to the dictionary, means “to formally declare one’s abandonment of a claim, a right, or possession.” Another word is repudiate, and its synonyms include ‘disavow, recant, desert, discard, disown, cast off, lay aside, and cut off.’ That’s what we need to do with Satan’s lies that we have believed. 

Robert Morris said that, “every bondage begins with a lie.” Think about that. Whether it’s a sin or wrong thinking, if it’s a bondage, it’s a lie. 

Jesus said that Satan is the father of lies. There is no truth in him and his native language is lies. And Paul said that Satan masquerades as an ‘angel of light.’

Everyone caught in addiction thinks, “It won’t happen to me.” Isn’t that the same lie Satan said to Adam and Eve? “Surely you won’t die. It won’t happen to you.” See, his tactics haven’t changed since the Garden.

Or how about people trapped by wrong thinking believe the lie that “I’m no good, I’m a loser.” Thinking like that can start from childhood, whether it’s from a parent or a group of kids at school. It can even happen later on in life as we enter the real world and experience failures.

We need to substitute Satan’s lies for God’s truth. And how do we do that? By the renewing of our minds through reading and listening to God’s word. We need to pray the scriptures, and we need to be around positive influences. We can’t seclude ourselves, and we can’t think of church as an option. 

4. The Fourth and final way in which we can receive freedom is simply to receive. Not only does God offer forgiveness, he offers the freedom from sin and from the stronghold that Satan has you in. A stronghold. What is a stronghold? It’s not a word we use a lot in the English language. It’s another churchy word. There are three definitions of stronghold. First, a stronghold is a fortress; a second definition is a prison; and a third definition is a tomb. Think about that. If you run into the wrong fortress, Satan will have you in a prison. 

We need to run into Jesus’ fortress. You know the old hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God?” 

Psalm 144:2 says, “He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.” How about subduing Satan?

Conclusion: I’m going to ask you to do something we haven’t done in a long time. I want us to bow our heads and close our eyes. Let’s take a few moments today and take whatever we may be in bondage to over to God. If you need to confess a sin to someone, and The Holy Spirit is leading you to do so, then by all means, do it. There’s a chance that there is a fear that is creeping up inside of you to confess to that person. That fear is coming from Satan who does not want you to be free. But if The Holy Spirit is leading you to do that, then it will lead to freedom. If someone does not forgive you, then that’s on them. Not on you. You’ve obeyed God. And God will still set you free.

What is it that you need to confess? 

What chain has Satan had you bound in? What fortress, what prison, what potential tomb, what lie has Satan kept you in? You might have thought it was a simple, harmless little sin that got out of hand; or you believed a lie about yourself that you thought was the truth. But the truth of God will set you free.

What is it that you need freedom from today? Take a moment to let The Holy Spirit talk to you. 

Prayer: Dear Lord, I pray for everyone here who needs freedom. Whether it’s freedom from sin or freedom from wrong thinking. I ask that you unshackle their chains right now. I pray that you would lead them to repentance. Teach them how to think rightly. Inspire them to seek your Word. Inspire them to kick that devil out of their house and renounce the devil’s lies and grip on them. 

Lord, I pray that the devil, the demons that are influencing the hearts and minds of believers in this room would be shackled, handcuffed and escorted out. As we talked about being your child last week, we have the authority as your children to shackle them and escort them out. So Lord, I pray that each and every demonic influence that is lying to each and every person in this room would leave them alone.

I pray that the spirits that torment our hearts and minds would leave and never return. May they go wherever you choose to send them. And I pray that your Holy Spirit would fill in the places where the demons have lived, and that the open doors would be locked and nothing but you would fill our house in Jesus name. Amen.

In regards to this week’s sermon, here is a link to Robert Morris’ final teaching in his “Free Indeed” series which expounds the subject even more. Enjoy, and may God bless.