Salvation from Sin’s Effects
Rev. Sean Lester
September 7, 2003
Isaiah 35:3-7, Mark 7:24-37, Isaiah 25: 8-10
Introduction:
A. Let me tell you about my Jesus. He saves people, me and you.
1. Isaiah spoke of what the Messiah was to do, and God commanded him to say it.
2. In fact, Isaiah has long since gone into the presence of the Lord, and the Messiah has long since come and gone into heaven also.
3. But, for many people, maybe you, the Savior has not come to them. They live with fearful hearts. They are trapped by fear, and they are trapped in their bodies as a result of sin’s effect on them.
4. Trapped by fear: The old looking lady in Kosovo laid muttering on her cot because of the horrible acts she witnessed, trapped by fear of humiliation.
5. Trapped in their bodies: We Americans spend many billions of dollars on medicine and research in an attempt to not be trapped by the limitations of our physical bodies. But the flesh rebels against righteousness, and would rather shut down than obey.
B. The message God gave to Isaiah still must be preached today, by all those who have been born again.
1. Jesus has come to save you.
2. Only Jesus can save you.
3. If Jesus sets you free from sin, you are truly free from sin.
Proposition: Jesus sets people free from sin, and that freedom has an effect on your mind and body.
Interrogative: What kind of an effect does salvation on have on your mind and body?
Transition: We can see by what Jesus did while he was still on earth what will happen to people because of the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, working through the saints.
I. Jesus heals the tormented soul.
A. A tormented soul is a person Isaiah said had a “liquid heart.”
1. A person who has seen the terrible things that people do to other people. Their innocence is gone and they know what kind of evil exists, and they fear that it could happen to them.
a. David’s son Amnon raped his half sister Tamar. The Bible says that she lived the rest of her life as a desolate woman.
2. Extreme, debilitating fear is the sign of demonic activity. It manifests itself in extreme behavior that is irrational, out of control, and harmful to the person with the tortured soul.
a. The fear is so intense that the person acts desperately, suicidal.
b. In the Bible, a young boy had a demon that caused him to try and faint into a fire or water in an attempt to kill himself.
c. Another man ran away from people altogether to live in the tombs. Whenever people tried to bring him back to society, he would break the chains and run back into the tombs. When Jesus cast out the demons into the pigs, the pigs committed suicide.
3. No counselor, psychiatrist, or psychologist can explain away or treat away the presence of demonic fear. The best they can do is to drug you into numbness to the fear, or give therapy to cope with the fear. But the fear does not go away, because it is a spiritual problem, a demonic one, and demons don’t go away as a result of therapy. They must be driven out by God himself.
B. Jesus drove out a demon from a little girl. (Mark 7:24-30, I Sam. 35:7)
1. The Bible does not say why the demon was there, only that it was there. The mother of the girl approached Jesus, who was trying to avoid doing any ministry because of his exhaustion. He told her no. It wasn’t time for people like her to have the blessing reserved, for the time, to Jews.
2. But, the mother persisted in her request. Jesus was clear when he said that it wasn’t right to throw the children’s food to the family pet. But, without a hesitation, she replied that the little children often sneak scraps of food to the family puppies who sit under the table.
3. The mother’s answer was “smart-alas.” Yet, Jesus grated her request, proving to us two truths about Jesus:
a. That Jesus notices the faith of those who approach him, and that
b. Jesus is by nature compassionate and is willing to grant the request of those who have put their faith in Him.
C. In the same way, Jesus still saves the tormented soul of those who come to him.
1. Those who come to him for salvation believe that He is good. He is good for you. He is good to you.
2. The very tact that your fear is out of control, that you have to drug yourself or get yourself on an emotional high proves your need to be saved from the effects of sin on your soul
3. Jesus drives out demons with a word, driving away the paralyzing fear with them. You are free to serve the Lord, to worship him in spirit and in truth. You will live out the truth of the bible which says: “He has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.”
Transition: Salvation does not only free the tormented spirit, but sets the disabled body free as well.
II. Jesus heals the tormented body.
A. Your body has no interest in trusting God. It resists the will of God, because doing the will of God involves sacrifice. Your flesh has a self-interest, and it wants to protect itself.
1. Righteousness is scary. As the saying goes, “If you want to get along, you must go along.” Righteousness acts against the will of the majority. It forces people to confront the world with the truth of God’s righteousness. The result is persecution and pressure, which your flesh wants no part of.
2. There was a man that Jesus healed who had been unable to walk for over 38 years. Now, not everyone considers healing a good thing. I knew a man who had been on disability because of a physical defect. When he was healed, he went out and got a job. The government had to be convinced to stop sending him the money. Healing means that you are free to worship the Lord. You are free to be responsible for your own well-being. This is why Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be healed?” The man had an excuse for why he was still lame, he couldn’t get into the healing pool in time. But Jesus took the excuse away and restored strength and responsiveness to the man’s legs. Then Jesus found him in the temple later, violating the Sabbath and probably showing off to the people who objected to his walking around on the Sabbath. Jesus warned him that using your healing for unholy purposes will lead to a worse ailment.
B. However, we know that Jesus is willing to free people from the prisons of their own bodies. (Mark 7:31-37, Isaiah 35:6)
1. The man I read about could not hear and he could barely speak. Since he could not hear, he could not hear God’s commands of righteousness. Since he could not speak, he could not fulfill God’s purpose for his life. His own body imprisoned him, keeping him secluded from the worship of the Lord.
2. When Jesus was done with him, he was free to worship the Lord. In his heart he can say, “Here I am, I am willing, and now I am able to do your will.”
C. Jesus said, “I have come to seek and to save the lost.” That means all people.
1. When Jesus told us to come, he gives the ability to come to him.
2. When Jesus said, “Go into all the world”, He also gave the ability and the means to go.
3. With the command, comes the promise to all people that they will be able to obey the command.
Transition: Jesus saves people, and whoever he saves, he also enables to carry out his will.
Conclusion
A. Jesus’ ministry was promised, then came to pass. You can trust Jesus. Following His ways brings freedom from fear and freedom to do His will.
B. When Christ returns, there will be no suffering, there will be no more fear. All who trusted in Jesus in this life, where sickness and danger are real, will spend eternity with Jesus, where sickness and danger do not exist.
