We Are Free

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 7th of July, 2024, as we celebrate our independence from foreign tyranny and our deliverance from sin.  We also joined together in Holy Communion with our Lord.  A recording of our service should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

Each year, Americans celebrate our independence from foreign rule on July the 4th, which coincides with the signing of our Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress in 1776.  But our fight for independence actually started over a year earlier, in April of 1775 with the Battles of Lexington and Concord, after the British had tried to disarm the colonists.  What we call the Revolutionary War was a bloody and costly eight year fight that culminated in our victory over English rule and foreign tyranny.

In our Declaration of Independence, we also declare that all men are created equal, but, of course, all men have never been treated equally.  Neither have all men ever been free.  Humankind has enclaved its fellow man since before recorded history, and it still goes on to this day, in the form of human trafficking, sex slavery, and the like.

But there is another form of slavery that can hold us all, and that is slavery to sin.  And Satan is the slave master.  Fortunately for us, though, Jesus came to break those chains that bind us to sin.  He fought the war to free us.  But it’s up to us to stay free.

Since we do have Communion in a few minutes, and I have a lot of scripture to share with you, I’ll be brief in my own comments.  After all, I think God and those He inspired give us far greater insight into the things of heaven than anything I can say.

Now if you’ve looked in your bulletin or on the screens you might wonder if I’ve gotten a little confused regarding our primary scripture reading this morning, but I think once we get into it, you’ll see how it all fits together.  So please listen and follow along as a great prophet, our Savior Jesus, and arguably His most effective apostle tell us about freedom.

We’ll hear first from Isaiah, from the first 2 verses of the 61st chapter of his book of prophecy.  Then our Lord Jesus will speak to us, as recorded by the Apostle John in the 8th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 31 through 36.  And finally, the Apostle Paul will share his insight with us, from the 6th chapter of his Letter to the Romans.  I’ll be reading mostly from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning, with Paul’s writing and a later passage from the Apostle Peter coming from the New Living Translation…

Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,

Because the Lord has anointed Me

To preach good tidings to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives,

And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,

And the day of vengeance of our God;

To comfort all who mourn."

John 8:31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”

34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

Romans 6:1 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. 8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. 9 We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. 10 When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. 11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.

12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 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. 17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. 18 Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.

19 Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.

20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. 21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. 

--Isaiah 61:1-2 (NKJV); John 8:31-36 (NKJV); Romans 6 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Your Son Jesus to free us from our bonds to sin.  By His sacrifice, we are washed clean of our sin and forgiven.  He conquered death so that we might live.  Sadly, Father, not everyone knows the true freedom that can only come from trusting in You, from loving You and Your Son Jesus.  Please help us reach out to the non-believers of the world, sharing the Good News and showing Your love.  Help us spread the message that all anyone has to do is to believe in Jesus and accept Him as Lord and they will be freed from their bondage to sin.  And please forgive us when we hesitate to serve You and our Lord, even though we know we should.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand Your message today.  Thank You for forgiving and forgetting our sin.  Help us share the Good News of freedom in our daily walk.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

American clergyman and author Phillips Brooks, who lived from 1835 through 1893, once noted that, “No man in this world attains to freedom from any slavery except by entrance into some higher servitude.  There is no such thing as an entirely free man conceivable.”

Rev. Brooks lived and served God through arguably the darkest years in American history.  He saw the effects of human slavery first hand.  But his knowledge of and insight into God’s word – the Bible – led him to realize that we all serve some master.  We cannot be freed from one slavery without giving in to some higher servitude.

We Christians have done just that.  We have willingly given ourselves into servitude under our declared Lord Jesus, who frees us from the tyranny of sin.  Isaiah speaks of being freed from prisons, but there are many forms of prison, with sin building the greatest walls to hold us in.  But the truth that comes from our Lord Jesus sets us free, as only the Son can free us.

Paul warns us not to take our liberty for granted.  We have been freed, yes, but it is too easy to return to the bonds of sin.  The temptations to do so are many and great.  Freedom is not free, and we must work to maintain it.  Serving our new Master, Jesus, is how we do so.  The Apostle Peter backs up Paul’s declarations when, in the 2nd chapter of his 1st letter to the early church, verses 15 and 16, he says…

15 It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. 16 For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.

--1 Peter 2:15-16 (NLT)

We are free, yes – set free by Jesus.  But we are not free to continue doing evil, to keep on sinning.  Instead, we are to be an example to the world of what true freedom looks like.  So let’s follow Paul’s instructions in chapter 5 verse 1 of his letter to the Galatians when he says…

1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

--Galatians 5:1 (NKJV)

Christ Jesus broke the chains so that we could cast off the yoke of bondage to sin.  Let us not pick those chains back up and tie them around ourselves again.

In just a few moments we will come to the table of our Lord to share His last meal with Him.  The Apostle Paul warns that we must be right with God before doing so.  Otherwise, we share the guilt of His execution, of His death, with those who committed the act.

Now is the time to get right with God.  If you are feeling convicted by the Holy Spirit, if you are weighed down by the guilt of disobedience, if you are holding a grudge against a fellow believer, if there is anything in your life that God would see as sinful, lay it all at the foot of our Lord’s cross, repent, and seek forgiveness.

Get right with God.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Son of God, who gave of Himself to set us free from the chains of sin, and who is coming again to judge us all.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for giving us the faith to believe in Your Son, Your Christ, Jesus, who came to release us from bondage to sin.  It is only by Your mercy and His sacrificial act that we are freed and granted access to paradise and eternal life.  Thank You, Father – You are so very good to us!  Sometimes, though Father, we seem to miss the chains.  Sometimes we run the risk of ensnaring ourselves into a life of slavery once more.  We just can’t completely let go of the world and too often fall prey to its charms and temptations.  Please forgive us those times, Father.  Please help us be more forgiving, more merciful in our dealings with others.  Guide us around any pitfalls in this life and strengthen our spirits to do Your will.  And please help us do a better job of sharing Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and His sacrifice.  

Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith, trying to make us his own.  Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what the world throws at us or holds out before us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, when we gave ourselves to You, when we accepted You as our Master, we knowingly and willingly committed ourselves into servitude to You.  We are now Yours, we belong to You, You purchased us with Your blood.  Thank You, Jesus, for giving us new life that we may use in Your service.  Please help us be more understanding, more merciful, more giving and forgiving of others, remembering that You came to free us all from sin.  Not everyone believes in You, though, so not everyone is truly free. So Lord, please help us reach out to the non-believing world with the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Give us the words to say, show us what to do to help bring the lost to You.

Lord Jesus, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations and all the false teachings.  Help us fend off his attacks.  Please help us be faithful and true to You, putting all our trust in You, all our hope in You.  Heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.