Sermon Title: I Am Free!
Scripture: Romans 6:17-23
Wesleyan Community Church
Terry, Mississippi
Sunday Morning – July 7, 2002
Scripture Introduction:
Some of you might just be interested as to why I would give an Independence Day message after the fact. First of all, the Spirit never directed me that way last week, and there is a greater significance to the events that followed the declaration then the actual declaration itself. It is one thing to make a statement, and then quite another to back it up. We see it often in our election process, where a candidate makes a promise or takes a stand, but when the moment arrives where he must forever commit himself, he backs down or does less then initially promised.
The declaration that our founding fathers signed could place them all in jeopardy. The excitement of the moment added a degree of carefree abandon to the decision that they have made, and pay they did, not at the moment of signing, but through the course of the battle that lay ahead.
We see the altar oftentimes fill to capacity when a speaker has given a rousing sermon, one that taps the very emotion of the listener, perhaps compelled not so much by conviction, but through an overwhelming need to quiet the emotions that may be racing far faster than the mind could process, they reach the altar, not really sure what to do next, and oftentimes unaware of the consequences or prepared for the aftermath that will assuredly follow. We are going to be covering several different sections of Scripture this morning, let us read Paul’s letter to the church of Rome to assist us in tying it all together.
Scripture Reading: Romans 6:17-23
17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness 19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. 20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. 21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed for the end of those things is death. 22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Sermon Introduction:
Amen, praise be to God for the Word that He has given us all to follow.
Looking back during the time that I was growing up and in school, I can remember certain kids that were singled out. Now being singled out was not always a bad thing, it depends on what you are being singled out for. There are those that are singled out for their popularity, there are those that are singled out for their intelligence, and there are those that are singled out to be ridiculed. Where does the Christian fit in that? How a Christian is viewed has much to do with the time period as well as the location. Not to long ago, it was considered un-American to not go to church and now some are considering the mention of God’s name as unconstitutional. In Russia, it used to be a crime that carried the death penalty to spread the Gospel, and now the Gospel is being preached and accepted like wildfire. This country used to send out missionaries and now we are considered the third largest mission field. The nations we once converted are now returning in an effort to restore us.
Just why is it that some seem to get all of the breaks and at times it seemed that a dark cloud passed along the path that we walk. I praise the Lord for the people who answer yes to God’s call upon their lives to intervene in our lives. We listen to the testimony of some of our fellow Christians and we see how they were removed out of a sinful lifestyle, sometimes just in the niche of times, and yet we look at the different news reports and we see the senseless loss of life. Were they all prepared for the judgment? Praise the Lord for the fact that we are Plucked out of a bad situation!
How about the time that we spend in those bad situations? It seems that we are almost overwhelmed to the point of despair. "I WILL NEVER FIND A WAY OUT!" This is often the cry from the lost soul, and so many seek suicide as the manner in which they will escape. We cannot get far enough away where the love and caring of our Lord cannot reach us. We raise our hands as far heavenward as we are able, and our Lord Jesus reaches the remainder of the way down and as a result, we are Delivered from overwhelming odds!
Delivered from overwhelming odds, and yet many of try to shoot ourselves in the foot. We at times do the most ridiculous, because it is next to impossible to grasp the awesome Creator accepting us back when the world, evil and all has turned its back on us. We are Saved in spite of ourselves! We do more to hamper our chances of an eternity with Jesus then to help it, and I must say that the churches of today are equally lame in adding a supportive influence to those that come off of the street. We preach internal cleansing, yet we expect external perfection before someone is accepted into our fellowship.
Let us pause for a moment of prayer!
Point 1: Singled out of a crowd!
If we are looking for an example of someone who was singled out from a crowd, what a better example of that than Noah. Let us read a little about him in Genesis chapter 6:
5And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
Look at the situation that Noah faced, the entirety of mankind is doing contrary to the will of God, and yet Noah and his family has remained true. It would have been far easier for the Lord to have wiped mankind from the face of the earth with a spoken word then to save the one righteous family. I think we are often to interested in looking at God in a cute and cuddly way and forget that just as He spoke us into existence, He can speak us out as well.
Noah remained faithful despite the overwhelming pressure from everyone else. Noah then faced an even greater challenge to his faith. God told him to build an ark to hold the animals because it was going to rain and as a result the whole world would be covered with water. This is usually as far as we look at the story, but we need to look deeper. Up until that point, it had never rained. The prospect of flooding would be caused by a concept that the people had no way of visualizing. Noah was building a boat, and I am sure was the brunt of many a joke. We still have a problem visualizing the earth flooded, but many scientists say, that if we were to melt both the ice caps, the resulting added water would indeed cover the face of the earth. Noah was not only singled out for his faithfulness at the time, he was singled out for his enduring faithfulness
Point 2: Plucked out of a bad situation!
If we are looking for an example of someone who was plucked out of a dismal situation, let us look at the story of the calling out of Abram. Let us look once again to the book of Genesis, chapter 12 - beginning with the 1st verse:
1Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
The Lord told Abram to leave his country, a country that was filled with idol worship and false gods. The Lord told Abram to leave his family, a family that was involved with this idolatry. The Lord told Abram to leave his father’s house, it is said that his father was involved in the fabrication of the idols that were used in the worshipping of false Gods. You will also notice in this Scripture that God does not call us out without giving us a destination as well. The Lord will show and lead Abram in the search of where to go.
If Abram had never listened to the call of God upon his life, he would never have received the blessings that God had in store for him. If we fail to heed the call of God, how can we expect to be delivered out of often futile situations?
Point 3: Delivered from overwhelming odds!
God does not empower us to do things in the capacity that we already have at our command, He empowers us to do what is impossible to do on our own. If we seek an example of a situation against all odds, let us look for a moment at the account of Moses and the Pharaoh in Exodus 14, beginning with verse 21:
21And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. 23And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, 25And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians. 26And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. 27And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.
Moses drove on despite the fact that there were insurmountable odds before him. With the sea to his front and the rapidly approaching Egyptian army at his back he looked not at failure but instead sought the Lord, whose guidance had led him to this very point. The people were in despair, but Moses had hope in the Lord. The people saw defeat while Moses saw victory. The people saw their own meager abilities, yet Moses relied solely on the empowerment of God. The victory was won, the weak were made strong, the despair was turned into hope.
What do we do when we run into the obstacles? How do we react when after first making a profession for Jesus we encounter the inevitable opposition of those that we once ran around with? At camp, the evangelist gave the perfect illustration of this. We encounter a brick wall in our life, and because of all of our pride and masculinity [and feminine stubbornness for the women], we bang our heads against the wall until we become a bloody mess, only after we are totally defeated to we call out for Jesus, then a few weeks down the road another brick wall appears and once again because of pride, masculinity, or feminine stubbornness, once again the forehead beating against the wall begins, the blood begins to flow and once again, only after a personal beating do we call out to Jesus. How man times must this be repeated before we know that all we have to do is call out to Jesus and even the most impossible odds can be removed.
Point 4: Saved in spite of ourselves!
Even when the world around us fails to bring us down, we are often our own worst enemy and fail to forgive ourselves. "We have gone too far!" "I have done so much wrong that God will never accept me or use me!" The apostle Paul said of himself that he was the worst of the worst and yet we read of his stunning conversion in Acts
3And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
13Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: 14And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. 15But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: 16For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. 17And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. 18And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.
Paul was made whole, Paul was created anew, Paul was spiritually healed and put to work, despite what he was or what he thought.
Conclusion:
As we close this morning, let us consider again the last two verses of our text in Romans 6:
22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We are made free from sin, even if God has to Single us out of a crowd! Look at the example of Noah’s enduring faithfulness. Even when all around lived contrary to God’s will, he persevered. When the society around us becomes as pagan as the in the days of Noah, as in the days of Jesus and the early church, we decide which direction we are going to lean. Is that our choice to follow the crowd? Or do we stand our ground for Jesus. The argument is a loving God wouldn’t send millions of people to hell, the answer is a righteous God will not tolerate anything sinful in heaven, if it means that millions or even billions are sent to hell, His holiness will never be compromised.
If we have been fortunate to have been Plucked out of a bad situation, what are we doing about making the most of the break that we have received? Abram listened to God’s call out of an idolatrous lifestyle and into the promise of the Father. Are we following the path that leads us to living in the blessings of God?
It is far from uncommon to hear the testimonies of those that have been snatched from the very mouth of hell, we regularly hear of those that were Delivered from overwhelming odds! We can learn so much from God’s servant Moses. While the people were in despair, Moses had hope in the Lord. The people saw defeat while Moses saw victory. The people saw their own meager abilities, yet Moses relied solely on the empowerment of God. Let us not look at what we can do for God’s Kingdom, but what God can do through us.
We have been gloriously saved from an eternity in Hell, if that is the way we have so chosen. We have been pardoned despite the evil that we have allowed in our lives, we have been spared while an innocent man went to His death in our stead. We have been Saved in spite of ourselves!
Let us look again at Paul’s word’s to the Roman church, sixth chapter, verse 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Our compensation that is due us for our carnal living is death, however we have a gift that has set us free, a gift that is through and is our Lord Jesus Christ. A gift however is not a gift until it is received, have you received Jesus and the freedom that He offers?
