Get Out Of Jail Free

GET OUT OF JAIL FREE

Psalm 50:15

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. Kids often have an interesting perspective. A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. Trying to make the matter clearer he said, “Now boys, if I stood on my head, my blood, as you know, would run down into it and my face would get red.” “Yes, Sir,” the boys said.

2. “Then why is it, when I’m standing uprightly, that my blood doesn’t run into my feet?” A little fellow shouted, “Cause your feet ain’t empty!”

B. TITLE & TEXT

1. This message is titled, “Get Out Of Jail Free.”

2. The old board game called Monopoly has a “Chance” card (also one in Community Chest) that players can pick up and it means that they don’t have to miss three turns nor do they need to pay $50, if they land on the jail.

3. By simply possessing this little card they can effect an escape from prison. Without the card and without $50, they have to ‘do the time’ & miss 3 turns!

4. I always liked getting one of those cards, because you never knew when you might end up in jail and it would mess up your game.

5. Sometimes landing in “jail” happens in real life or other times you can face things that seem worse than jail! So tonight I want to address our need – in real life – for a way out of the potential jails of life. Our text is Ps. 50:15, “Call upon Me on the day of trouble; I will rescue you, and you will honor Me.” NASB

I. PRISONS/JAILS ARE REAL

A. PHYSICAL JAILS

1. There are, of course, physical jails. If you ever visited some of the prisons around here, you know that life is not a GAME. Those who’re incarcerated face:

a. Real brick walls

b. Real Guards

c. Unpleasant people who haven’t gotten “Get Out of Jail Free” cards. There are more kinds of bondage than physical walls & chains.

B. THERE ARE SPIRITUAL JAILS/PRISONS

1. SCRIPTURES

a. Gal. 3:22, “The Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin...” (Rom. 7:23). This is a crowded prison, with the whole world in it! This means that every person, before they come to Jesus, is a prisoner, regardless of whether they drive a Maserati, have their own yacht or plane, or whether they seem happy or not. They are prisoners! Their great jailor is Satan; they’ve been taken captive to do his will

b. In Luke 4:18, Jesus said, “He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners...to release the oppressed...”

2. So just because a person is in the “free world” (outside prison) doesn’t mean they’re free; many are still in bondage!

3. It’s possible to be an inmate in prison and be freer than a person outside the walls.

II. THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF PRISONS

A. DIFFERENT TYPES DESCRIBED

1. 2 Cor. 4:4, “...the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe...”

2. John 12:40, “He (satan) has...hardened their hearts...that they should not understand with their hearts and be converted.”

3. Many people are Prisoners of Fear, Pleasure, Pride, Food, evil desires, lusts/perversions, drugs, alcohol, superstition, depression, etc.

4. There are also prisons created by cultic religions, which keep people bound by threats and constant requirements, not by grace.

B. COMMON CHARACTERISTICS: Rom. 7:14-24

1. You know what you ought to do (or stop doing), but you can’t stop it. Sometimes we set expectations so high, so that we can’t possibly reach it.

2. Your prison isolates you from others.

3. Your prison incarcerates you – binds you. The doors are locked and there appears to be no escape.

4. One man told about his 2½ year-old daughter who, when she was caught doing something wrong, would say, “It was not me who did that; that was another little girl in me.” [All God’s Chillun]

III. THE “GET OUT OF JAIL FREE” CARD

A. MANY PROMISE FREEDOM

1. COMMUNISTS promise political & economic freedom to the oppressed.

2. THE CULTURE LIES TO YOUNG PEOPLE:

a. Self-Determination – “Do what you want to do.”

b. Drugs & Alcohol – they promise freedom and pleasure, but instead they give addiction and slavery.

c. Illicit Sex – which degrades people, contaminates them and cheapens them. All these lead to deeper sin & bondage.

B. FALSE FREEDOMS ARE DANGEROUS

1. Bob Bartlett, Zoologist, went to Africa on a ship to search for RARE BIRDS. He was lucky to find a key location and snare a number of unique and rare birds.

2. On the return voyage, one of the birds escaped from its cage, at mid-ocean. As it flew away from the ship, if it could have talked, it would have said, “I’m Free! I’m Free!” (That’s just like us – we think we can get freedom apart from God!)