OPEN: His name was Harry Houdini, one of the greatest escape artists of all time. He freed himself from handcuffs, chains, ropes, and straitjackets and even jails. He first attracted notice in vaudeville in the US and then, later, as "Harry Handcuff Houdini" on a tour of Europe where he challenged police to keep him locked up. Which they NEVER could… except once. As good as he was, there was one jail Houdini didn’t really “escape” from. It was a Scottish town jail. He was searched and manacled, and then the old turnkey (the jailer) shut him his cell and walked away.
Houdini had an added advantage over other escape artists. Apparently, he had a pouch of skin in his mouth where he hid his picks – so that even a thorough search would not find the tools of his trade. When the jailer left, Houdini used his picks to quickly free himself from his shackles and then turned his attention to the lock on the cell door. He worked at it hard and long, but the lock just wouldn’t budge. It didn’t seem to respond as other locks had. So, despite all his efforts, he couldn’t get it unlocked. Finally, exhausted he fell against the door in frustration.
APPLY: He couldn’t get out! The master of escape was trapped! And no matter what he did, or how hard he tried… nothing worked!!!
The Bible tells us that sin is a lot like that. Sin is a prison cell from which we can’t escape no matter how hard we try.
Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah (Jesus) would come “… to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.” Isaiah 42:7
Peter wrote that false teachers were influencing new Christians in the churches and “They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.” 2 Peter 2:19
And Jesus told Paul that He was sending him “to open (sinners’) eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” Acts 26:18
Our text this morning tells us - that the only way to escape the prison of sins is by turning to the power of Christ. By dying to our sins, being buried with Jesus in a watery grave, and the rising with Jesus from that water to walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:4 says “We were buried… with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
When we surrender to Christ He changes us. He restores us, remakes us and re---forms us into His image. And when He does that… we’re freed from the prison of our sins and we’re made into a totally new person.
Of course, that all happens when we become Christians, but God promises that when we sin (and it does happen) even AFTER we’ve been saved, we have the promise that “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
Essentially, God repeatedly renews our lives and gives us hope to be freed from the guilt of sin.
But now, a lot of people have a problem with that. I mean, they know they are trapped in sin. They feel the guilt and shame. They know their failings and shortcomings, and they don’t like themselves very much. And so they try to fill the silence of life with noise so they don’t have to think about their disappointment in their morality too much. The TV blares all day, or their music shakes the city blocks as they drive down the road, or the noises of their computer games surround them as they play. Silence makes them uncomfortable. They seek anything to shut out the feelings; anything to make it so they don’t have to “think” because when they have time to think their minds drift off to things they’d rather not think about. When God says “Be STILL and know that I am God” doesn’t work for them.
When they DO think, they try to fill their thoughts with “How can I make this right?” They’re constantly striving to do good stuff to pay off the debt of guilt. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing since it makes them generally nicer to be around. But it doesn’t really solve their problem of guilt. It’s still there!
Still others play the tough guy. They harden their hearts because they figure – hey, if I’m going to feel bad I may as well go all the way! They’ll often just give up and surrender to their sin and say “That’s just who I am!”
The child molester will say “I can’t help myself… that’s just how I’m wired.”
The adulterer will say “I couldn’t help it. I know I’m married, but I could tell we were made for one another.”
Or the homosexual will say “I couldn’t help it... that’s how I was made.”
You see, many of these folk say essentially the same thing. They’ll say: “I was born this way!” To which Jesus responds:” I can help you if you’ll be Re-born my way!”
Jesus offers HOPE that we can change. He offers HOPE that we can be forgiven. And He offers HOPE that we can be made new.
That’s what Romans 6 says… we rise from the waters of baptism to walk in newness of life (newness = rebirth).
And Peter echoed that truth when he wrote: “Baptism, which corresponds to (the waters of Noah’s flood), now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” I Peter 3:21
Baptism is where we make an appeal to God. It’s where we ask God for a clear conscience. That’s why baptism is such an important part of us becoming Christians! When we RISE from the waters, God clears our conscience of all the shame and guilt that imprisoned us.
But we’ve got to be careful here. (PAUSE) If we’re not careful we can fall into the trap of thinking that getting wet is the key to our salvation. It’s Not!
ILLUS: When I was interviewing Saw Banardo to be preacher for Burmese church I asked him “If someone were to ask you, how they can become a Christian, what would you tell them?” And he gave me the wisest answer I’ve ever heard. He spent the first 5 or 6 minutes telling me all about Jesus. He talked with passion about what Jesus did on the cross, and about the empty tomb, and about how only the blood of Jesus can save us from our sins. He went on and on and on… and then he said “then they get baptized… and they become Christians.”
That Was A Great Answer!!! And why was it a great answer? Because JESUS is what it’s all about.
John 3:16 says “Whosoever believes in (JESUS) shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
Acts 2:38 says “Repent and be baptized in the name of JESUS Christ… and you shall be saved”
Romans 10:9 if you confess with your mouth that JESUS is Lord … you will be saved.”
I Peter 3:21 says “baptism now saves us… through the resurrection of JESUS Christ”
WHAT saves us??? It’s Jesus. Jesus saves us. If it weren’t for Jesus all the rest of that stuff – our faith, repentance, confession and baptism - ALL OF IT would be worthless!!! It would be just so much pointless ritual.
And people do that! Too often, people will come to church and they’ll do what ever the preacher tells them to do. They come to church… but they don’t come to Jesus. You see, Jesus is the one who puts the POWER in all the rest. Our faith, repentance, confession and baptism are our way of accepting Jesus. But make no mistake… without Jesus, nothing happens!
Now, that’s important for several reasons. Mostly, it’s important because too often people think they can do this ALL by themselves. Have you ever heard someone says “I want to become a Christian, but I need to clean myself up first?” I know I have. They want to come to God, but they want to do all the heavy lifting themselves. They don’t want God cleaning them up. That would be embarrassing.
ILLUS: It’s kind of like the folks who wash their dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. I’ve always puzzled over that. It kinda defeats the purpose. It’s a dishwasher – it should (pause) WASH DISHES! It shouldn’t need any help.
Now I think I understand the rationale behind washing the dishes first. But frankly, even IF that makes sense with dishes, it doesn’t work that way with Jesus. People who think they need to clean themselves up first apparently think their soul is so dirty that Jesus couldn’t possibly clean them. He can’t do it ALL by Himself! He needs their help.
ILLUS: (We put a graphic of a person washing dishes on the screen). When people try to clean themselves up for Jesus, they think that THIS is what Jesus sees. But that’s not actually what He really sees. What He sees is this (we put another picture on the screen that showed a cat and dog licking the plates in the dishwasher. The picture read: “Pre-wash cycle”). Jesus doesn’t need a pre-wash cycle!
Now, all joking aside, the whole message of the Gospels is that you couldn’t clean yourself up if you wanted to. It’s not possible! You don’t have the power to do it for yourself. So Jesus offers to do it for you.
And that’s good news. Because most people - who try to “clean themselves up” - suffer from doubts that they had done enough to please God. No matter how hard they try and how many good works they do… they’re never quite sure that they’ve done enough to make God love them.
You see Christianity is based on the promise that Jesus can change us. We’re not trapped by the bad choices we’ve made in the past. Jesus can set us free from all that!
ILLUS: Last week I went down to laundromat to wash an item that was too big for my washer/dryer. As I sat reading a book and waited for the washer to do its thing a man and woman walked in. I actually didn’t pay much attention to them to start with (I was reading my book) but then the guy started talking. He was slovenly, fat, and ugly and he cursed like a banshee and was loud and offensive. And I thought to myself… what a jerk!
I looked closely at them and suspected they’d been down to the bar WAY too often (you know what I’m talking about?) In fact, by their behavior I guessed that these were the kind of people that even the bars probably didn’t even want. And you could forget their ever being welcomed in most churches.
Most people would look at them and think – these folks are never going to change. This is just who they are, and this is ALL they’re ever going to be. They’re trapped in the prison of their choices.
But then… a thought occurred to me. Jesus died for folks like this. Jesus died so these people could have hope and could change. When we surrender to Christ… He can change us. He restores us, and remakes us, and re---forms us into His image. And when He does that we’re freed from the prison of our sins and we’re made into a totally NEW person. That can happen because Jesus doesn’t see us as we ARE. He sees us as we CAN BE - with His help.
ILLUS: A revivalist spoke of the end of a meeting in the New York slums where a man approached himlooking like he was probably wanting some money for more wine. He walked up to the preacher, and when he got within about five feet of him the preacher nearly gagged. The smell was overwhelming and the preacher had to look away to inhale by looking away, and then talk to him, then look away to inhale - otherwise he couldn’t breathe.
He asked him, "What’s your name?" "David."
"How long have you been on the street?" "Six years."
"How old are you?" "Thirty-two." He looked at least fifty. His hair was matted, front teeth missing, obviously he was a wino and his eyes were slightly glazed.
"Where did you sleep last night, David?" "Abandoned truck."
The preacher was ready for this conversation to end, and reached into his pocket for some money so the man would go away. But as he did so, David put his finger to stop him. He said, “I don’t want your money. I want this Jesus, the One you were talking about because I’m not going to make it. I’m going to die on the street.”
The preacher felt ashamed. Here he had just wanted to give the guy some money to go away because he’d seen him as just another loser. But David didn’t want money… he wanted Jesus.
The preacher said “Something came over me. Suddenly I started to weep, and David began to weep. He fell against my chest as I was sitting there. I put my arms around him, and there we wept on each other.”
And Christ changed David’s life. He started coming to church and started memorizing incredible portions of Scripture. They got him a place to live. Hired him to do church maintenance, and we got his teeth fixed. He was a handsome man when he came out of the hospital. They detoxed him in 6 days. Eventually, they ordained David and he became an associate minister of a church over in New Jersey. (F. Jim Cymbala)
God NEVER gives up on anyone no matter who they are or where they’ve been. Because when we surrender to Christ… He can changes us. He restores us, and remakes us and re---forms us into His image. And when He does that… we’re freed from the prison of our sins and we’re made into a totally NEW person.
CLOSE: One last thought. No one can free themselves from their own sins… only Jesus can do that. Without Jesus you can work and work and work, but you’ll fail. It’s only when you lean on Jesus that the door opens.
You remember the story about Houdini in that jail cell in Scotland? He’d worked and worked to unlock the door to his cell, but nothing seemed to work. Finally, totally frustrated and exhausted he leaned against the door (dramatic pause) and it swung open. He was so surprised… he nearly fell to the floor. You know why? The jailer had never locked the cell. (Readers Digest 4/82 p. 160)
My point is this – Jesus has already unlocked the door to your guilt and shame. You don’t have to work at picking the lock, because the work has already been done. All you need to is trust that the door will swing open when you lean on Jesus.
INVITATION
