Independence? - There Ain’t No Such Thing
Please stand with me as we go over our current memory Scripture:
Matthew 5:6-8
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
And our memory Scripture “refresher” verse(s) is(are):
John 3:16-18
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.
“Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
Today we will be reading from Romans 6:15-23
On July 1, 1776, John Adams wrote the following letter to his wife Abigail:
“The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”
History tells us that the Declaration of Independence was actually signed by the Congress on July 4, 1776 which is why we have this holiday.
There were many reasons leading up to this Declaration of Independence and you can read about them at your convenience, but, we are not here today to discuss whether the declaration of independence from British rule was justified or not.
I thank the Lord that in His providence He raised up the United States of America according to His will and to accomplish His purposes. And while the tyranny of the throne of England over the colonies was drastic it pales in comparison to the tyranny that currently exists in other areas of our world.
As grateful as we are for the Declaration of Independence and ultimate victory in the Revolutionary War, we are here for a much more important reason.
And, whether we like it or not, and, whether we admit it or not, we all exist in a state of slavery and will continue to do so throughout the rest of eternity.
But … it may not be what you think … while you listen to today’s Scripture please try to find words that involve slavery …
With that in mind let’s go ahead and read Romans 6:15-23
(Prayer for help)
We are born into slavery.
Now, you may say that we live in America, the land of the free!
But, in reality, it does not matter if you live in America or if you live in North Korea where you can be tortured and put to death if you do not cheer loudly enough for the self-proclaimed, “Dear Leader”.
I would assume that by now you all have guessed that we are not talking about slavery to an earthly master or to a tyrannical government, but, that we are all slaves in the spiritual sense.
We are either enslaved to sin or slaves of Christ!
Let me give you an earthly example.
Recently I have been watching some videos made by a young lady who was born in North Korea. As a teenager she escaped but she had to escape twice. The first time she was caught by the Chinese and sent back to North Korea. Eventually, she escaped again and then after traveling through several South Asian nations she made her way to the USA.
She was born into slavery. All of the North Koreans are slaves to the government. They are required to do what they are told when they are told to do it. Anything, food, medical care, housing, can be withheld from them at the whim of anyone who would bring an accusation against them. Their life can be taken from them for the simplest of reason without any trial or even being allowed to speak in their own defense. She was a slave in every sense of the word.
She was not alone in her hatred of the slavery enforced by her communist, socialist, atheist, dictatorial government but enslaved she was.
Now she lives in America. Now she is a slave of the USA. She is not a slave enforced by the government. She is a slave of obedience to the nation that has taken her in because of her love for America. Once she was a slave of brutal oppression. Now she is a slave driven by grateful passion. But, a slave she still is.
So, what does that have to do with anything that would be in a Sunday morning sermon on Independence Day in 2021?
Let’s try to use the story of Yeonmi Park to demonstrate just why we will always be slaves now and through eternity.
In this world there are a broad spectrum of nations ranging from totalitarian dictatorships to open and free republics such as America. But, in the spiritual realm there are only two kingdoms; the kingdom of this world and the Kingdom of God.
We were all born into the spiritual realm that is the kingdom of this world. The kingdom of this world is the equivalent to the earthly nation of North Korea with satan as the crushing dictator.
When we are born we are born with a sinful nature. We are slaves to that sinful nature. That is the supreme wicked desire of the dictator of the kingdom of this world.
In John 8:44 Jesus is debating with some Jewish leaders when He says to them, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
You see, the kingdom of the devil is the kingdom into which we are born and to which we are slaves.
Jesus also said in John 8:34, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”
And then if we look into the Scripture we read this morning it says,
Romans 6:20
“When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.”
Titus 3:3 describes us this way when we live in the kingdom of this world, “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.”
You may very well look at your life and think that you are a good person. You may think that you are NOT a slave to sin. You may think that you are NOT sinful.
But even such thoughts are sinful in themselves.
You see, the devil, the father of lies, wants you to think you are free. He wants you to think you are good enough. He wants you to believe that the temporary pleasures of sin are worth risking your immortal soul. The devil wants to keep you busy with the trinkets of this world until it is too late. He does not want you to think about escaping from his clutches and in reality you, yourself, can’t.
You were born into the kingdom of darkness and there you will stay for now and for all of eternity. It is hopeless.
Literally, for YOU it is hopeless.
But then came Jesus and the Kingdom of Light! Hallelujah!!!
God the Father knew you were a slave to sin and He knew that you needed to be set free or else you would be eternally lost.
So, the Father sent His son to rescue you; He came to set you free from slavery to sin and the devil! He didn’t sneak in the back door; He did it in front of the whole world!
How do we know this?
What were our memory refresher verses for the day?
John 3:16-18 (recite)
And what does believing in Jesus do for you?
Titus 3:3-5
“At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 6:22-23
“Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Now, this is VERY important. Unless a person comprehends the terrifying condition they are in, in their sinful state, this being, “set free from sin” will seem like a trivial thing. And yet in view of now and eternity it is the most important thing you can imagine.
When we think about the freedom we have in America it is easy to take it for granted. But if we were to be placed into a communist, socialist, dictatorship run by a madman like they have in North Korea we would no longer take our freedom for granted.
By the same token, it would be easy for Jesus’ deliverance for us to be taken for granted if we never came to realize how terrifying an eternity in hell will be for those who never come to Jesus for salvation.
After one moment in hell the consuming cry of those who rejected Jesus will be, “WHY DID I REJECT GOD’S CALL TO BE SAVED? WHY??????”
But WE DO NOT NEED TO GO THERE!
Jesus has made a way of salvation! It is through His blood that was shed on the cross of Calvary for you and for me.
And for those of us who are love driven slaves of Jesus, after one moment in the presence of the Lord God Almighty, our consuming cry will be, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord! Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!"
It is this great escape that causes us to become slaves of God; not out of fear but out of thankfulness and love.
Romans 6:22-23
“Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
So, you see, we will always be slaves both now and through all of eternity; either brutal slavery to sin which leads to an eternal death or love driven slavery to Jesus who rescued us from eternal death and gave us the gift of eternal life.
Here is the choice wretched slavery or glorious slavery, which will you choose?
Today could be the day when you trust in Jesus and you trade in slavery to the evil one and eternal death for a love driven slavery to Jesus Christ and eternal life.
Final thoughts. Communion. Prayer
