Free Indeed
Text: Jn. 8:31-36
PPHC – July 2, 2006 A.M.
Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
How Important is Liberty?:
· Every year, thousands come to Ellis Island to pledge their allegiance to the U.S.
· Enemy pilots have flown their MIG 23’s to the U.S. to seek it (Liberty).
· Cubans build makeshift rafts and drift 90 miles in search of it (Liberty).
We search for liberty for the here and now, while sometimes forgetting that we are created as spiritual beings and that we will live eternally. And more importantly than our bodies, let’s look to see what Scripture says about the part of you that will live eternally.
Areas of Bondage:
I. Slaves to Sin – Jn. 8:34
A. Sin Defined
• One that has transgressed - broken the law of God – 1 Jn. 3:4
1. “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” (an active participator – a lifestyle)
· Therefore, he stands at a distance from God.
B. The State of the Sinner
1. He can find no rest. – Eccl. 2:23
a. “All his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night.”
b. “SENSORY OVERLOAD” – Too much sight/sound stimulation causing fatigue.
1. 1954; 3 de Havilland Comet jets broke apart in mid-air and crashed.
a. Metal-Fatigue – Airline Industry term* – failure of metal by cracking from repeated tension
1. All metal-fatigue accidents are caused from what starts as micro-cracks.(paperclip)
2. He is destitute of peace.
a. 50 – 80% of all illnesses are the result of Psychosomatic Disorders – that is the effect of
the mind on the body’s health. (Ulcers, intestinal problems, bronchial asthma, eczema, psoriasis, high blood pressure, and heart attacks – Psyche => Psuche [mind] soul).
· There is nothing within the person that is apart from God to supply the peace that is needed in their lives.
2. Many take pills, drugs to get them through the day; uppers, downers…a vicious cycle.
C. The Hope That is Set Before the Sinner – Is. 26:3
1. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because….”
a. To “keep” – shamar – “to guard with a garrison” as a city may be besieged without, but
within, all is well.
• Target >>>> The Christian
II. Slaves to Self – 2 Cor. 5:15
• “And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”
A. The Humanistic Mindset
1. A humanistic mindset is motivated by the soulish nature – it revolves around SELF.
2. Its earthly origin – in the Garden of Eden - Gen. 3:6
a. Satan appealed to Adam’s soul (mind, will, emotions) – prior to was Spirit-led
B. Prevalent in Much of the Church Today
1. There is an “Escapist Mentality” perceived by many regarding Church today.
a. There are going to be problems, difficulties, and trials to be worked through…and this,
AFTER committing your life to Christ.
2. Though one may receive Christ into their lives, a constant battle still rages for the believer.
· “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, [even] as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able [to bear it], neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas [there is] among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” 1 Cor. 3:1-3
a. These Christians were wrapped up in themselves – Humanistic reasoning at the core (ME)
1. This brought on envying and strife…at the root of all…PRIDE! ME!!
3. “Why do Christians sometimes act the way they do?” – Are they really Christians? Yes
a. Teknon – a son that is born into the family – emphasis on “position” only.
b. Huios – a son that is born into the family – yet, it does not emphasize the position as much
as it emphasizes the character of the father that can be seen in the child.
· Many believers operate in the gifts of the Spirit, but do not give evidence of the fruit of the Spirit. “Fruit must be cultivated, and that requires time and effort. A cost is definitely involved in the development of the fruits of the Spirit. Many are simply not willing to pay the cost to produce that fruit. This is also the reason why many believers who serve and function in the gifts and even operate in them under a tremendous anointing, are sometimes some of the rudest people imaginable.”1
C. God’s Answer to the Slavery of Self (Humanist Thinking) – The CROSS
1. Because we live in the world, we sometimes feel its pressure to be like it (conformity).
2. The message of the cross – to eradicate the nature that defies God within all of us.
a. Heb. 4:13 – “All things are open and naked before Him…” (“trachelizo”)
1. “To seize and bend back the neck in order to slay the sacrifice.”
OT sacrifice – prior to its being placed on the altar. It was alive; kicking and screaming, attempting to break free because it heard the agonizing sounds of the sacrifices of the ones before it. It was filled with terror and did not want to go to the altar. It knew that the altar stood for DEATH. Spiritually speaking, SELF* does not want to go there. It knows that whenever it’s placed on the altar, it will die!
III. Slaves to Scars of the Past
A. Many Christians Today
1. On a short leash.
B. God’s Will for the Christian – Jn. 10:10
1. The thief cometh not but for to steal…I am come that they might have life…”
a. Satan does not want you to grow to the place of maturity in the spirit.
b. Therefore he builds strongholds in your life that will not be easily surrendered.
C. What the Word Says About satan’s Strongholds
· 2 Cor. 10:4-5 “(For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds (castle built over time);) Casting down imaginations (reasonings), and every high thing (a lofty tower proudly displayed by the enemy) that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ…”
1. The Christian should know the enemy – 2 Cor. 2:11 “Lest he should get an advantage of us;
we are not ignorant of his devices.” (his plans or purposes)
a. When you know the truth about the enemy, you have a power over him.
2. Satan has been “given” (while in sin we gave this area away) prime areas of our lives. Because of that, he has built strongholds.
a. Yet, the truth is…the enemy has no portion.
1. NO “inheritance”- ancient culture – if you had no property, you did not have a vote!
2. 1 Cor. 6:20 For you are “bought with a price!”
a. Satan doesn’t own anything here, therefore, he has no vote, and no authority.
b. “He doesn’t have “squatter’s rights”!!!”…no legal permission…a trespasser!
3. We have been given authority to run him off of our land in the name of Jesus.
1 Portions borrowed from Greg Zoschak, "A Call for Character"
Dan Thompkins. (2008). Sermons of Dan Thompkins.
