[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on June 29, 2014.]
When seeking the Lord’s guidance for today’s message, He gave me one simple verse, from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia, the 1st verse of chapter 5:
1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.--Galatians 5:1 (NASB)
Let us pray... Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your many blessings over this nation. You have raised us above other nations and given us seemingly endless resources. Please help us remember, Lord, to use those resources to the benefit of others, to be a blessing to the less fortunate as You have been a blessing to us. Forgive us when we forget just how much we owe You, as individuals and as a nation. In the wonderful name of Christ Jesus we thank You and we pray. Amen.
A general of the Persian army always gave his condemned prisoners a choice: the firing squad or the big black door. Most chose the firing squad. The prisoners were never told what was on the other side of the door. Few ever chose the unknown of the black door. When asked what was on the other side of the black door, the general answered, “Freedom, and I’ve known only a few men brave enough to take it.” (From “The Big Black Door”, #815 on page 310 in 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking.)
That’s sad, isn’t it? All those condemned men chose the known, and a certain death, over the unknown. They were so close to being set free, literally on the threshold of freedom, but were too afraid to take a chance. In a way, freedom can be scary. Freedom is filled with unknowns. When we’re free, we are free to make choices, to make decisions that will impact our lives and the lives of others. Just thinking about some of the decisions we’ll be faced with can be quite scary.
This coming Friday we will be commemorating the 238th anniversary of the birth of the United States. Our forefathers were among the brave ones – they chose the big black door. They took a great risk when they signed that manifest declaring our independence from English rule, putting all their possessions and even their very lives on the line. They engaged in and fought a long, horrific war. Our freedom was won by the blood of patriots, some of whose remains rest in our cemetery out back. Meanwhile in our cemetery out front and across the street, the remains of those born into slavery lie in rest, many of whom never knew freedom. Not until after our War Between the States were all peoples considered free in this great land of ours.
I have to ask the question: are we truly free, or are we still held in bondage? According to Paul in Galatians 5:1, yes, we are free. And it was Christ Jesus that set us free, not a soldier or warrior or president. Which then begs the question: what did He free us from? Not from the rule of other men so we could govern ourselves. Not from slavery or ownership of other men. From what then?
Jesus Himself gives us the answer, as recorded in the Gospel of John, chapter 8, verses 31 through 36…
That’s sad, isn’t it? All those condemned men chose the known, and a certain death, over the unknown. They were so close to being set free, literally on the threshold of freedom, but were too afraid to take a chance. In a way, freedom can be scary. Freedom is filled with unknowns. When we’re free, we are free to make choices, to make decisions that will impact our lives and the lives of others. Just thinking about some of the decisions we’ll be faced with can be quite scary.
This coming Friday we will be commemorating the 238th anniversary of the birth of the United States. Our forefathers were among the brave ones – they chose the big black door. They took a great risk when they signed that manifest declaring our independence from English rule, putting all their possessions and even their very lives on the line. They engaged in and fought a long, horrific war. Our freedom was won by the blood of patriots, some of whose remains rest in our cemetery out back. Meanwhile in our cemetery out front and across the street, the remains of those born into slavery lie in rest, many of whom never knew freedom. Not until after our War Between the States were all peoples considered free in this great land of ours.
I have to ask the question: are we truly free, or are we still held in bondage? According to Paul in Galatians 5:1, yes, we are free. And it was Christ Jesus that set us free, not a soldier or warrior or president. Which then begs the question: what did He free us from? Not from the rule of other men so we could govern ourselves. Not from slavery or ownership of other men. From what then?
Jesus Himself gives us the answer, as recorded in the Gospel of John, chapter 8, verses 31 through 36…
31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.--John 8:31-36 (NASB)
Jesus says everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Paul tells us in Romans chapter 6 verse 23 that the wages of sin are death. So Jesus frees us from sin and death. And in today’s scripture Paul cautions us not to take on the chains of slavery again.
Now everything in the Old Testament points to Jesus. This is certainly true of Isaiah when he spoke for the Lord. Looking at the first part of the 9th verse of the 49th chapter of his book, God says…
Now everything in the Old Testament points to Jesus. This is certainly true of Isaiah when he spoke for the Lord. Looking at the first part of the 9th verse of the 49th chapter of his book, God says…
9 I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out in freedom,’
and to those in darkness, ‘Come into the light.’
--Isaiah 49:9 (NLT)
And that comes from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible, departing for just a moment from my usual New American Standard Bible version.
God promises in Isaiah’s scripture that all prisoners may now come out of their jails into freedom. All those in darkness can step into the light. Why now? Because Jesus has come to save all prisoners of sin. And who is the light of the world but Jesus, who frees us.
OK, so Jesus paid the ultimate price and freed us from sin. But what does this freedom look like? What is the practical application of this freedom? Do our actions show evidence of this freedom?
Along the same lines of the idea of once adopted, always adopted, that we discussed last week… if once freed, always freed, does this mean we can continue sinning? After all, Jesus already paid the price for us. He has forgiven us, so why not?
Paul has a definite answer to that particular question. Let’s look in that same chapter 6 of his letter to the Romans that I mentioned earlier, starting first with verses 1 through 7, and staying with the NLT for a bit longer. Paul begins…
1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined Him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. 5 Since we have been united with Him in his death, we will also be raised to life as He was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.--Romans 6:1-7 (NLT)
And then in verses 14 through 16 he says…
Wait a minute! What did Paul just say?!? We become a slave of whatever we choose to obey. We can choose to obey our sinful nature, which leads to death, or we can choose to obey God, which leads to righteousness. So our choice is to be a slave to sin or a slave to God??? First Paul says not to fall into slavery again but then he urges us to be a slave to God!?! What’s up with that??!!??
In New Testament times, there was a fairly common class of people known as bondservants. This may have been a slave that was freed or someone who had owed a debt that was finally paid off by being a slave, or perhaps the debt had been forgiven while they were still working as a slave. But for whatever reason, this would be a slave who was released from their servitude yet who chose to stay with their master and continue working for him just like a slave: for no pay other than room and board and being taken care of. There are a number of reasons a person might become a bondservant. This could be a good life for them, if their master is kind and generous. They may have married and started a family while a slave, likely with another slave of the same master. No matter why, they willingly chose to stay in servitude even though they had been set free and no longer had to serve as a slave.
In Philippians chapter 2 verses 5 through 7, Paul tells us Jesus Himself, the Son of God, served as a bondservant to God…
As Christians, when we acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and Master, we are in effect committing ourselves to serve as His bondservants. And as bondservants, we should reflect the attributes, characteristics, viewpoints, and actions of our Master. We should accept others as He accepts us. We should love others as He loves us. We should forgive others as He forgives us. We have been freed from the shackles of how we might appear to the world; of how the world looks at our acceptance, love, forgiveness; of how the world derides and ridicules us for our love of our Master, for serving Him even when the world sees no need to.
So how does this freedom to be a bondservant look on us? Do we wear it well? We know that when we accept Jesus, He sends the Holy Spirit to live in us. A little further on in chapter 5 of Galatians, Paul says that if the Holy Spirit is alive and well within us, people will be able to observe the presence of the Holy Spirit by His fruits. In verses 22 and 23 Paul says…
14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. 15 Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! 16 Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.--Romans 6:14-16 (NLT)
Wait a minute! What did Paul just say?!? We become a slave of whatever we choose to obey. We can choose to obey our sinful nature, which leads to death, or we can choose to obey God, which leads to righteousness. So our choice is to be a slave to sin or a slave to God??? First Paul says not to fall into slavery again but then he urges us to be a slave to God!?! What’s up with that??!!??
In New Testament times, there was a fairly common class of people known as bondservants. This may have been a slave that was freed or someone who had owed a debt that was finally paid off by being a slave, or perhaps the debt had been forgiven while they were still working as a slave. But for whatever reason, this would be a slave who was released from their servitude yet who chose to stay with their master and continue working for him just like a slave: for no pay other than room and board and being taken care of. There are a number of reasons a person might become a bondservant. This could be a good life for them, if their master is kind and generous. They may have married and started a family while a slave, likely with another slave of the same master. No matter why, they willingly chose to stay in servitude even though they had been set free and no longer had to serve as a slave.
In Philippians chapter 2 verses 5 through 7, Paul tells us Jesus Himself, the Son of God, served as a bondservant to God…
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.--Philippians 2:5-7 (NASB)
As Christians, when we acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and Master, we are in effect committing ourselves to serve as His bondservants. And as bondservants, we should reflect the attributes, characteristics, viewpoints, and actions of our Master. We should accept others as He accepts us. We should love others as He loves us. We should forgive others as He forgives us. We have been freed from the shackles of how we might appear to the world; of how the world looks at our acceptance, love, forgiveness; of how the world derides and ridicules us for our love of our Master, for serving Him even when the world sees no need to.
So how does this freedom to be a bondservant look on us? Do we wear it well? We know that when we accept Jesus, He sends the Holy Spirit to live in us. A little further on in chapter 5 of Galatians, Paul says that if the Holy Spirit is alive and well within us, people will be able to observe the presence of the Holy Spirit by His fruits. In verses 22 and 23 Paul says…
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
--Galatians 5:22-23 (NASB)
When we become bondservants of Christ, we take on His attributes, we begin to look like Him. People will begin to see Him through us. If nothing else, they will notice how free we seem to be.
Next Sunday we will observe the rite of Holy Communion. It is important that we have our heart in the right place before we partake of the elements of Christ. Listen to the way Paul puts it in 1st Corinthians chapter 11, verses 23 through 28…
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. 27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
--1 Corinthians 11:23-28 (NASB)
We need to examine ourselves, look carefully into our own hearts. Are the fruits of the Holy Spirit noticeable? Are we harboring ill-will or holding a grudge against a brother or sister in Christ? Is there someone we need to forgive, or seek forgiveness from? Do we reflect our Master Jesus in our thoughts and actions? Have we fully committed to being His bondservant? Are we willing to keep our end of the covenant Jesus makes with us when we drink from that cup? Are we worthy of the broken body and precious blood of our Lord and Savior? These are tough questions that we need to ask of ourselves in preparation for taking Communion.
So this week as we celebrate our nation’s declaration of independence from foreign rule, let’s also celebrate our independence from death and our dependence on Jesus. As we rejoice in our freedom from tyranny, may we also rejoice in our freedom from sin. All the while giving thanks that now freed, we are free to choose to be a bondservant to Christ Jesus.
Praise the Lord, for when we are freed by the Son, we are free indeed.
Amen.
Let us pray… Loving Father, You sent Your Son to earth to save us. While we were still chained in slavery to sin and death, Jesus set us free. Thank You so much, Lord, for that gracious gift. Thank You so much, Jesus, for Your sacrifice. Now that we are released from our shackles, may we serve our Lord and Master as His bondservant. May we reflect Jesus in all our thoughts and actions. May the fruits of Your Holy Spirit be evident in us for all to see, so that we might be a better witness for You. Above all, Lord, may Your will be done. We ask all this, we give our thanks, and we pray in the blessed name of our Christ Jesus. Amen.
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