[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on the 12th of July, 2015. Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
This is the time of year when we give thought to freedom and just what that means to us on a personal level. Our forefathers fought a long and horrible war to secure our freedom from foreign tyranny. And our fathers fought wars over time to maintain that freedom for us all. So if we ask where does freedom come from, we might easily answer it comes from the efforts of brave men and women, willing to fight at any and all costs. Or we may say it comes from the blood of patriots. And those are true, as far as they go.
We also learned last week that true freedom comes from the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, spilled for us to free us from the tyranny of sin. And if we think of it in any of these terms, I believe we might consider that freedom is not merely a concept, not just an ideal, but is an actual, tangible entity – a thing. And if freedom is a thing, it must be somewhere.
That train of thought led me to the question and title of today’s message: Where is freedom? Listen and follow along as I read from the Apostle Paul’s 2nd letter to the church in Corinth, chapter 3, verses 7 through 18…
We also learned last week that true freedom comes from the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, spilled for us to free us from the tyranny of sin. And if we think of it in any of these terms, I believe we might consider that freedom is not merely a concept, not just an ideal, but is an actual, tangible entity – a thing. And if freedom is a thing, it must be somewhere.
That train of thought led me to the question and title of today’s message: Where is freedom? Listen and follow along as I read from the Apostle Paul’s 2nd letter to the church in Corinth, chapter 3, verses 7 through 18…
7 The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. 8 Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? 9 If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! 10 In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. 11 So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever!
12 Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away. 14 But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. 15 Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand.
16 But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
--2 Corinthians 3:7-18 (NLT)
Let us pray… Heavenly Father, thank You so much for placing us in this great land, so rich in natural resources, so abundant in beauty. Thank You for inspiring all those brave men and women over the years who have fought so valiantly, and in too many cases have died, to gain and protect our freedom. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for giving us true freedom, so that we can live forever with You and our Father without fear of eternal death. Speak to us now, Lord, through Your word and the touch of Your Holy Spirit, that we might receive Your message and perceive Your will for us this day. In the wonderful name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Part of our scripture reading talks about old laws and old ways, and how the new way is so much better. Well, that kind of reminded me of some of the old laws still on the books today, and some are quite odd in respect to our modern culture. I dug up a few that pertain to churches:
Pretty crazy, huh. Well, more to the point of our scripture reading, one Sunday on their way home from church, a little girl turned to her mother and said, "Mommy, the preacher’s sermon this morning confused me."
The mother said, "Oh? Why is that?"
The little girl answered, "Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. Is that true?" The mother replied, "Yes, that’s true honey."
"And he also said that God lives in us? Is that true, Mommy?" Again the mother replied, "Yes."
"Well," said the little girl, "if God is bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn’t He show through?"
The Apostle Paul spoke of old ways, based upon old laws, and he mentioned that those old ways led to death. Some of those old laws I just listed might not lead to death, but we can clearly see how they just don’t seem to fit into the world today. They’re outdated, obsolete, even silly, to a degree. The new ways are better, aren’t they? Or are they?
And that little girl asks some pretty tough questions, doesn’t she? If God does live within us and is bigger than us, shouldn’t He show through? Shouldn’t other people be able to see God in us? Do they?
I wanted to continue our discussion on freedom this week since Independence Day is still fresh in our minds. A well-known and oft-repeated passage from our Declaration of Independence reads:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. -- That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”
Endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, rights that cannot be taken away from us. Thinking about today’s American society, I wonder how many people feel that statement ranks right alongside some of those old archaic laws.
Our Creator? While the majority of Americans still claim to believe in some “higher being”, I wonder how many actually believe in God as we do, as the men who wrote and signed that Declaration did. I’m not even getting into a discussion of whether they believe in Jesus as the Son of God, but just in God as the Creator of all, as the Sovereign Ruler over all, as a loving personal Father to us all who just happens to sit in heaven.
And of those across the US who do indeed believe like this, and those who accept Jesus as the Son of God our Father, as our Lord and Master, as our Savior… How many of those actually proclaim that belief to the world? How many do as Jesus commanded?
Noted author William Falkner once said: “We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.” Pastor and evangelist Francis Chan admonishes us all when he says: “God called you to be the church, not just gather in a room and listen to a sermon.”
Brothers and sisters, we must not only claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we must practice that belief. Jesus didn’t call us to be His Church just to sit here an hour a week listening to some preacher stand up here and orate for 15 or 20 minutes. He called us to be His Church to go into the world, baptizing in His name and making disciples, and spreading His Gospel to all the earth so that all might be saved if they would only believe!
Putting our belief into practice is not as easily done as said, for some folks. The world is becoming less and less tolerant of what we might have to say in proclaiming Jesus as Lord. Non-believers are less willing to listen to all the blessings that simple faith can provide. The voice of Satan drips with honey and entices more and more to follow him. Our task grows more difficult with each passing day, and in some cases seems downright impossible. But let’s look again at what Paul’s says.
As I told the kids a few minutes ago, Moses spoke with God on Mt. Sinai and came down from that mountain with the Ten Commands. He also came down with his face glowing so brightly with the glory of God that he had to cover himself with a veil so he could get near his people again. Paul sums all this up in verse 7 and then in verse 8 plants the seed that the new way should be even more glorious than the old that began with those Ten Commandments, because the Holy Spirit is now giving life to all who believe. The “new way” is what Jesus brings: the Gospel, eternal life through repentance and belief in the one true Son of God!
In verses 9 through 11, Paul continues that if Moses’ face shown so brightly just from speaking with God, how much more glorious must be those who know Jesus, the very Son of God, who have the Holy Spirit within them, sent directly from God our Father by Jesus His Son?!?
Then we get one of the kickers in verse 12. The new way of faith, the Holy Spirit living within us, gives us confidence. And with that confidence, we can be very bold. Not just bold, but very bold.
Paul points out in verse 13 that we’re not like Moses. We know more than he did because we know Jesus and the Good News He brings. But look at the last part of verse 13… The glory that shown on Moses’ face was destined to fade away. The glorious brilliance that came to that mortal man was not meant to be permanent, to last forever. In effect, Paul is saying that Moses covered his face for no real reason, except that the hearts of the people were hardened! They refused to accept the truth – it had to be veiled. The truth had to be hidden from the people.
Doesn’t that kind of sound like the world today? Even in some of our churches? Sadly, but there are too many good people who consider themselves Christians that simply will not listen to the full truth of God’s word. Paul confirms this, in his 2nd letter to his dear friend and protégé Timothy, chapter 4 verse 3, and this is how the Contemporary English Version of our Bible puts it…
Part of our scripture reading talks about old laws and old ways, and how the new way is so much better. Well, that kind of reminded me of some of the old laws still on the books today, and some are quite odd in respect to our modern culture. I dug up a few that pertain to churches:
- Young girls are never allowed to walk a tightrope in Wheeler, Mississippi, unless it’s in a church.
- In Blackwater, Kentucky, tickling a woman under her chin with a feather duster while she’s in a church service carries a penalty of $10.00 and one day in jail.
- No one can eat unshelled, roasted peanuts while attending church in Idanha, Oregon.
- In Honey Creek, Iowa, no one is permitted to carry a slingshot to church except police.
- No citizen in Leecreek, Arkansas, is allowed to attend church in any red-colored garment.
- Swinging a yo-yo in church or anywhere in public on the Sabbath is prohibited in Studley, Virginia.
- And in Slaughter, Louisiana, turtle races are not permitted within 100 yards of a local church at any time.
Pretty crazy, huh. Well, more to the point of our scripture reading, one Sunday on their way home from church, a little girl turned to her mother and said, "Mommy, the preacher’s sermon this morning confused me."
The mother said, "Oh? Why is that?"
The little girl answered, "Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. Is that true?" The mother replied, "Yes, that’s true honey."
"And he also said that God lives in us? Is that true, Mommy?" Again the mother replied, "Yes."
"Well," said the little girl, "if God is bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn’t He show through?"
The Apostle Paul spoke of old ways, based upon old laws, and he mentioned that those old ways led to death. Some of those old laws I just listed might not lead to death, but we can clearly see how they just don’t seem to fit into the world today. They’re outdated, obsolete, even silly, to a degree. The new ways are better, aren’t they? Or are they?
And that little girl asks some pretty tough questions, doesn’t she? If God does live within us and is bigger than us, shouldn’t He show through? Shouldn’t other people be able to see God in us? Do they?
I wanted to continue our discussion on freedom this week since Independence Day is still fresh in our minds. A well-known and oft-repeated passage from our Declaration of Independence reads:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. -- That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”
Endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, rights that cannot be taken away from us. Thinking about today’s American society, I wonder how many people feel that statement ranks right alongside some of those old archaic laws.
Our Creator? While the majority of Americans still claim to believe in some “higher being”, I wonder how many actually believe in God as we do, as the men who wrote and signed that Declaration did. I’m not even getting into a discussion of whether they believe in Jesus as the Son of God, but just in God as the Creator of all, as the Sovereign Ruler over all, as a loving personal Father to us all who just happens to sit in heaven.
And of those across the US who do indeed believe like this, and those who accept Jesus as the Son of God our Father, as our Lord and Master, as our Savior… How many of those actually proclaim that belief to the world? How many do as Jesus commanded?
Noted author William Falkner once said: “We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.” Pastor and evangelist Francis Chan admonishes us all when he says: “God called you to be the church, not just gather in a room and listen to a sermon.”
Brothers and sisters, we must not only claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we must practice that belief. Jesus didn’t call us to be His Church just to sit here an hour a week listening to some preacher stand up here and orate for 15 or 20 minutes. He called us to be His Church to go into the world, baptizing in His name and making disciples, and spreading His Gospel to all the earth so that all might be saved if they would only believe!
Putting our belief into practice is not as easily done as said, for some folks. The world is becoming less and less tolerant of what we might have to say in proclaiming Jesus as Lord. Non-believers are less willing to listen to all the blessings that simple faith can provide. The voice of Satan drips with honey and entices more and more to follow him. Our task grows more difficult with each passing day, and in some cases seems downright impossible. But let’s look again at what Paul’s says.
As I told the kids a few minutes ago, Moses spoke with God on Mt. Sinai and came down from that mountain with the Ten Commands. He also came down with his face glowing so brightly with the glory of God that he had to cover himself with a veil so he could get near his people again. Paul sums all this up in verse 7 and then in verse 8 plants the seed that the new way should be even more glorious than the old that began with those Ten Commandments, because the Holy Spirit is now giving life to all who believe. The “new way” is what Jesus brings: the Gospel, eternal life through repentance and belief in the one true Son of God!
In verses 9 through 11, Paul continues that if Moses’ face shown so brightly just from speaking with God, how much more glorious must be those who know Jesus, the very Son of God, who have the Holy Spirit within them, sent directly from God our Father by Jesus His Son?!?
Then we get one of the kickers in verse 12. The new way of faith, the Holy Spirit living within us, gives us confidence. And with that confidence, we can be very bold. Not just bold, but very bold.
Paul points out in verse 13 that we’re not like Moses. We know more than he did because we know Jesus and the Good News He brings. But look at the last part of verse 13… The glory that shown on Moses’ face was destined to fade away. The glorious brilliance that came to that mortal man was not meant to be permanent, to last forever. In effect, Paul is saying that Moses covered his face for no real reason, except that the hearts of the people were hardened! They refused to accept the truth – it had to be veiled. The truth had to be hidden from the people.
Doesn’t that kind of sound like the world today? Even in some of our churches? Sadly, but there are too many good people who consider themselves Christians that simply will not listen to the full truth of God’s word. Paul confirms this, in his 2nd letter to his dear friend and protégé Timothy, chapter 4 verse 3, and this is how the Contemporary English Version of our Bible puts it…
3 The time is coming when people won’t listen to good teaching. Instead, they will look for teachers who will please them by telling them only what they are itching to hear.
--2 Timothy 4:3 (CEV)
Family, that time is now. Too many Christians only want to hear about the salvation Jesus offers without worrying about the whole “Lord” and “Master” part. Being saved by God’s amazing grace simply because we believe in Jesus as His Son is wonderful! That is indeed the very best possible news. But that belief must be complete. We must obey Jesus as well. We must surrender to Him completely, do everything He says, just like a slave would obey their master. If we truly believe in and love Jesus, we will gladly give ourselves over to Him and be His servant, His slave.
But some people don’t want to hear that. They want to know they’re saved and won’t burn for eternity in the lake of fire, but they don’t really want to give up the life they’ve been living, the life that includes the little sins that they enjoy so much. They don’t want to give it all to Jesus and to trust in God to see to all their needs.
And that’s just the Christians! How much harder will it be to reach the non-believers?!? How tough will it be to get people to take the veil from their eyes and see the truth?
Look at the end of verse 14 from today’s scripture reading. Only by believing in Jesus as Christ, by fully accepting Him as Lord and Savior, only then can the veil be completely removed. That’s where the hope for both them and us lies, and it’s also the source of frustration.
We can only see the truth, unveiled, if we believe in Jesus, but we can only believe in Jesus if we can see the truth. Is that what Paul is saying? Well, yes, and no.
People’s hearts are hardened to the truth, but that shell is not impossible to penetrate. We begin with an internal audit of our own faith and belief, making sure we truly love and follow our Lord Jesus. We continue with prayer, fervent prayer, that those who are being misled will see the right path, and for those whose hearts are hardened that they will be made more pliant to the truth. And we accept the confidence that the indwelling Holy Spirit imparts to us and we go forth in boldness, not being afraid to testify for our Lord Jesus. And then maybe, by God’s will, verse 16 will come to pass and someone will turn to the Lord and their veil will be taken away.
Verses 17 and 18 bring us the second kicker of this passage, and speak a great and wonderful truth. The Lord Jesus is the Holy Spirit. That is the beauty of the Holy Trinity, God in three persons. Jesus is the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is God, God is Jesus.
And family, to answer our original question, wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom! It goes back to what we looked at last week, with the words of Jesus recorded by the Apostle John in his Gospel, chapter 8, verses 31 and 32…
But some people don’t want to hear that. They want to know they’re saved and won’t burn for eternity in the lake of fire, but they don’t really want to give up the life they’ve been living, the life that includes the little sins that they enjoy so much. They don’t want to give it all to Jesus and to trust in God to see to all their needs.
And that’s just the Christians! How much harder will it be to reach the non-believers?!? How tough will it be to get people to take the veil from their eyes and see the truth?
Look at the end of verse 14 from today’s scripture reading. Only by believing in Jesus as Christ, by fully accepting Him as Lord and Savior, only then can the veil be completely removed. That’s where the hope for both them and us lies, and it’s also the source of frustration.
We can only see the truth, unveiled, if we believe in Jesus, but we can only believe in Jesus if we can see the truth. Is that what Paul is saying? Well, yes, and no.
People’s hearts are hardened to the truth, but that shell is not impossible to penetrate. We begin with an internal audit of our own faith and belief, making sure we truly love and follow our Lord Jesus. We continue with prayer, fervent prayer, that those who are being misled will see the right path, and for those whose hearts are hardened that they will be made more pliant to the truth. And we accept the confidence that the indwelling Holy Spirit imparts to us and we go forth in boldness, not being afraid to testify for our Lord Jesus. And then maybe, by God’s will, verse 16 will come to pass and someone will turn to the Lord and their veil will be taken away.
Verses 17 and 18 bring us the second kicker of this passage, and speak a great and wonderful truth. The Lord Jesus is the Holy Spirit. That is the beauty of the Holy Trinity, God in three persons. Jesus is the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is God, God is Jesus.
And family, to answer our original question, wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom! It goes back to what we looked at last week, with the words of Jesus recorded by the Apostle John in his Gospel, chapter 8, verses 31 and 32…
31 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
--John 8:31-32 (NLT)
There’s the truth for you, the truth that sets us all free, the truth of exactly where freedom can be found. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there true freedom can be found.
And once we understand that, once we accept that truth of Jesus our Lord, then an amazing thing begins to happen. Our Lord – Jesus, the Spirit, God – will begin making us more and more like Him. We are changing into the glorious image of God. We will shine brightly with a glory that can never be veiled.
Where is freedom? It is in Jesus our Lord. Believe, and be free forever. Amen.
Let us pray… Lord God, the Apostle Paul tells us that where the Holy Spirit is, there is freedom. When we turn to Your Son Jesus as our Lord, then He sends Your Holy Spirit to live within us, and the veil that shields our eyes is stripped away so we can see You in all Your glory. Thank You, Lord, for allowing Your Spirit to live within us so that true freedom can be found within us. Help us, Lord, to allow Your glory to shine from within us so that all might see. You are so much bigger than us, Lord, so show through us, shine through us, that others might also bask in Your great glory.
Jesus, You are the Truth that sets us free, if we would only believe in You as the Son of God our Father in heaven and follow You as our Lord and serve You as our Master. Lord God, we repent of our sin and ask Your forgiveness in the name of Jesus Your Son and under the authority of Your most Holy Spirit. Cleanse us, Jesus, with Your blood that we may be able to stand clean of our wicked ways when we face our Father. Help us to practice what we claim. Encourage us to not just sit in this room listening to Your servant preach, but to go onto all the earth making disciples and spreading the wonderful Gospel, the Good News You bring to this hurting world.
Hear us now, please Father, as we cry out to You silently from our hearts…
Father God, we humble ourselves before You. We praise You and worship You. Lord Jesus, You are our salvation, our only hope in a dying world. To You be all power and all glory for ever and ever. This in the glorious name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
And once we understand that, once we accept that truth of Jesus our Lord, then an amazing thing begins to happen. Our Lord – Jesus, the Spirit, God – will begin making us more and more like Him. We are changing into the glorious image of God. We will shine brightly with a glory that can never be veiled.
Where is freedom? It is in Jesus our Lord. Believe, and be free forever. Amen.
Let us pray… Lord God, the Apostle Paul tells us that where the Holy Spirit is, there is freedom. When we turn to Your Son Jesus as our Lord, then He sends Your Holy Spirit to live within us, and the veil that shields our eyes is stripped away so we can see You in all Your glory. Thank You, Lord, for allowing Your Spirit to live within us so that true freedom can be found within us. Help us, Lord, to allow Your glory to shine from within us so that all might see. You are so much bigger than us, Lord, so show through us, shine through us, that others might also bask in Your great glory.
Jesus, You are the Truth that sets us free, if we would only believe in You as the Son of God our Father in heaven and follow You as our Lord and serve You as our Master. Lord God, we repent of our sin and ask Your forgiveness in the name of Jesus Your Son and under the authority of Your most Holy Spirit. Cleanse us, Jesus, with Your blood that we may be able to stand clean of our wicked ways when we face our Father. Help us to practice what we claim. Encourage us to not just sit in this room listening to Your servant preach, but to go onto all the earth making disciples and spreading the wonderful Gospel, the Good News You bring to this hurting world.
Hear us now, please Father, as we cry out to You silently from our hearts…
Father God, we humble ourselves before You. We praise You and worship You. Lord Jesus, You are our salvation, our only hope in a dying world. To You be all power and all glory for ever and ever. This in the glorious name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
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