John 8:31-36 (Set Free!)
Harry
Houdini was perhaps the greatest escape artist of all time. He broke out of
every prison, every set of handcuffs, every straight
jacket that ever tried to hold him except
a tiny jail cell in the
Usually
it took Houdini a couple of seconds to pick a lock, but he worked on this
particular, innocent-looking, cell-door for more than two hours.
Houdini
scrambled at a furious pace and became more and more frustrated as his efforts
proved futile.
Finally
in utter exhaustion he collapsed and fell against the door - and
surprise! The door swung open/
See it had
never been locked!
The
Great Houdini had tried to break out of door that wasn't even locked!
A)That is also the condition of many
Christians today.
B)they are trying to break
out of a door that is no longer locked.
1)self-help books, support
groups, twelve steps.
1)Theyve
been to the psychiatrist, therapist, hypnotist
C)Theyve tried will-power, pill-power, and positive-power
- but they can't breakout.
D)They are
frustrated when in reality they are trying to get out of a prison where the
door has already been unlocked.
E) They are already free they just Need to Know it
and enjoy it and walk in it.
Consider
the words of Jesus Here in John Ch.
8
RD V. 31-36
A)Notice first of all what Jesus says about
Sin. V.34
"Most
assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. Commit = Practices{ We all
sin!
B) This is what practicing
sin does ! Sin Blinds / Binds / Grinds Just ask Samson.
C) He was blinded by the sin
of pride & lust that made him think he was invincible.
1)
Left him blinded to Delilahs real motives in him asking the secret of his
strength.
D) Read the story and think
How Stupid could he be that is what Sin does
1)
It makes you stupid blinds you take
stupid risk and chances In order to gratify your lust and desires
E)
Sin Binds Samson ended up bound chained Eyes gouged out !
A)Sin Grinds Samson
grinder at the mill.
Here
was A man who had the giftings and annointings to be one of the greatest leaders
A)And yet He was reduced to
life as a blind animal
B) Meaningless work A meaningless
existence- going round and round day after day for hrs
C) That is what sin does !
It enslaves people.
The
biggest fallacy there is, is that the unbeliever will say to the Christian I
am free- Youre the one who is not free
A)I am free to do whatever I
want ! I can have sex with whoever I want you have to wait until marriage
and then only enjoy in marriage
B) I can drink and smoke and
toke whatever I want.
C) The thing the unbeliever
is blinded to is that all of those things He pursues are the result of the fact
he isnt free
1)
He is Empty he is lonely and so his
pursuits are all an attempt fill the emptiness Feel free!
D) The very things He is
pursuing in order to celebrate his Freedom he ends up being in Bondage to because
he cant quit it.
1)
And even if he gets over his addiction to one thing He ends up addicted to
something else. No longer drugs / but now a 12 step program
But
The moment a person becomes a Christian that all changes opposite of Bound
they become free
A)One of the Marks of a true
Disciple is that He is free! He is a person who has been set free from
something.
B) Free indeed! Absolutely
100% free!
C)In Christ we have been set
free from the Bondage of Sin. From Guilt
From Satans Power
This
Freedom is instant It is not progressive!
A)In
the same way When a prisoner of war is set free they are 100% free
B)but it might take him a
while to get used to his freedom
D) He might wrestle w/ the reality of his new
status
1) Might take time to learn how
to fully enjoy and experience his freedom
Often
times Christians struggle in the same way: When we accepted Christ we were set
free Instant not progressive
A)What is progressive is our
understanding of that freedom.
B)
The more I understand about who Christ is and what He did and who I am in Him
1)the promises that He has
made to me
C)The more I begin to enjoy
/ experience and walk in the freedom that is mine in Christ.
D)That is What Jesus meant
when he said
E) Know the truth- Embrace
it Experience it!
In
A)In
B)In
the first 5 verses of
C)I
now share in all Christ has acquired and
accomplished, including what He accomplished on the cross. And His Rez!
D)That means, when Jesus
died to put an end to sin I died to sin with Him.
1) When He rose that new
life was imparted to me
Its
a strange concept to think that I can share in an event that occurred 2000
years before I was born,
A)And in a place I've never
been, but its true!
B)When Christ died on the
cross you and I, and every believer, was crucified with Him.
C)So
Paul declares in v.6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him,
that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be
slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
Jesus
said the truth will set you free and this is one of the truths we need to Know
Christians Declaration of
independence
A)The Truth that your "old man was crucified with Christ"
B)Someone has suggested this proves that
Paul's father was one of the thieves on the cross
because he says, "my old man was crucified with
Christ"
C)but that's certainly not
what it is you need to know from this passage!
The
old man is my old sinful nature Bent on sinning rebellion sought only to
please self - please the flesh
A)That part of me has been
crucified with Christ
B)Think
of it this way. In the making of a movie scenes are shot first with the actors.
1)The
film contains no special effects, or music. Later the effects and music are
transposed on top of the original tape that pictured only the actors.
B)In God's mind when you
came to Jesus Christ you were dubbed in over the crucifixion.
1)God
transposed my old man onto His only
Son.
C)You died with Jesus, and
now when God rewinds the footage there you are crucified with Christ.
1)
Theologian Frank Gaebelein puts it, "Our spiritual history began at the cross."
The old man
was sinful. But when I came to Jesus this "old
man" was crucified. I died to sin.
A)God performed a complete
overhaul under the hood of my life.
B)In the spiritual part of me
a dramatic transformation took place.
C)In Christ I am now a new
Creation old things have passed away
behold all things have become new.
1)
God gave me a new nature to replace the old nature.
D)He
gave me a new nature that now wants to please God - wants to serve God and love
others!
I'm
no longer a sinner struggling to be a
saint.
A)I'm now a saint - transformed in the inner man -
learning how not to sin!
B)Guys, that's who I am, and
that's who you are - and Paul says its a truth we need to know and appreciate!
Paul takes it
one step further He says dont just Know it but OWN IT! Reckon it to be so
! v.11
Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to
be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
A)The Greek word translated "reckon" means "to consider it so", or "to treat it as if its true".
B)When Paul tells us to
reckon ourselves to be dead to sin, and alive to God
1)He's
telling us to consider it a done deal!
C) Guys, God wants us to
change the way we see ourselves.
1)To
reckon it so, is to learn to see yourself as God sees you.
D)Don't
just see yourself as a struggling sinner,
start to see yourself as a victorious
saint.
1) New You! New Status New
Power
E)This is not mental
gymnastics, or the power of positive thinking.
Paul
is not telling us to think into existence something that's really not true.
A)Envision yourself being
rich and successful which might not ever happen.
B)No Paul is saying I want
you to latch on to something that is an absolute REALITY!
C)I was talking to a young
newlywed the other day and he really blessed me
1)
he said the way I look at everything has changed. It is no longer just me
it is us.
D)So I am factoring that
into everything I do every decision I make.
1)I
told him keep that attitude and you will stay way ahead of the game.
E)So often in counseling I
have to tell men Hey Reckon realize You are not single anymore 1)Married That is your
Jesus
wants us to Know and reckon this to be a reality
A)We are a new creation
Old man is dead ! Alive to God New Status God sees you Holy righteous
B)There is a Freedom comes
when I see myself the way that God does
C) Seeing what I really am
New in Jesus!
Remember the story of the ugly duckling. He was actually a
beautiful swan but he'd been bred a duck. The other ducks considered him
strange and odd and always put him down.
He was an ugly duck, and every afternoon he would
look across the lake at the elegant swans, and wish he was a swan.
Until
one day he happened to notice his reflection in the edge of water, and for the
first time saw himself as he really was.
He was not an ugly duckling after all, but a beautiful, elegant swan. The
realization changed his life forever.
Folks,
if youre a Christian youre a beautiful swan, not an ugly duckling.
A)Its
time you looked in the mirror of Gods Word, and saw yourself as you really
are!
Growing
up one of my Favorite Actors was John Wayne Once the Old Duke made an very
revealing statement. He said, "When I take a role
I play John Wayne regardless of the character I happen to be portraying!"
- and that's exactly how he acted.
Dress
him in a Civil War uniform, or set him in World War 2 fatigues, or put a cowboy
hat on his head - put him in the jungles of
Call
him Big Jake, or Rooster Cogburn, or John Elder - it
didn't matter. John Wayne always projected the same persona.
He lived out and
communicated the same image. He knew who he was!
This
is how Paul is saying we should live our lives.
A)No matter where we're at, or what we're doing, or who
we're with - we need to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God.
B)If we see ourselves in
THAT LIGHT we'll surely act accordingly!
C)Our part is simply to
recognize what Hes already accomplished and to become fully convinced that
what God promised He has performed.
C) That is What Jesus meant
when he said
D)The problem occurs when
you have to react
When
another motorist cuts you off
A)when your child spills juice
on the brand new carpet
B)When you are off work and
idle & the temptation comes from the enemy to indulge your flesh.
C)The flesh has been trained
to react negatively in those situations.
1)It
automatically pursues the wrong options.
D)It
wants to follow the feelings, and thoughts, and emotions that were programmed
into us during the years we were living apart from Christ.
The
Flesh wants to satisfy itself.
A)It wants to take the easy
road, rather than please God
B) The key to overcoming sin in my life is to
stop reliving what I use to be, and keep my focus on who I've become in Jesus.
C)The goal of the Christian life is to allow what's on
the inside to begin to seep its way into how I think and act..
D)As
I grow in Christ I am learning how to react less
and less in the flesh and instead respond in the
Spirit. 1)That allows me to enjoy my freedom over the flesh &
Satans appeals
Now Paul continues here in
Romans V.12
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your
mortal body, [FLESH] that you should
obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of
unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the
dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
Now
there's an appreciation to KNOW and an appropriation, to RECKON but there's
also an application to PRESENT
A)Paul tells us to be
careful how we present our minds and bodies
.
B)He
gives us both a "do" and a "don't". Don't present your members -
that is your mind, memory, eyes, hands, and feet - as instruments of
unrighteousness.
C)But
do present them to God as instruments
of righteousness!
Listen
close
A)We need to understand that
our mortal bodies are nothing more than tools.
B)This is not the real you,
but this is meant to serve the real you. Your Inner man made new in Christ
C) Key to being free Know
old nature died with Jesus
1) Given a new nature made
alive in Christ
D)
Reckon that to be so and Present the members of your flesh to God -
Here
is the reason that Christians still get bound up in Sin! Even though the door
is unlocked a friend of mine explained it this way.
For
years my bank gave me free checking, until one month a $5 service charge
appeared on my statement. I was mad! I hate service charges. I vowed to change
banks, but I never did. And you know why? Because my bank was close, it was convenient, I knew the people,
and I didn't have time for the paperwork.
Some
of you are Christians - but you're hands are doing, and feet are going, and
eyes are seeing, and mind is thinking in the same old patterns.
A)And
Why?
For the same reason my friend never changed banks.
B)Because
the world is closer than the church,
sin is more convenient than service,
returning to old friends is easier than
making new ones,
C)
and studying the Bible is paperwork
you're not willing to do.
D)God has made
you something special a new creation in Christ
1)but
you are settling on being something far less than that Struggling saint
E)Brothers
/ Sisters Be Free today: My heart I want you to be the freest Christians on
the Planet.
One last thing: For some of
you this will be the most important thing I say all day.
A)Jesus audience some like
woman in adultery bound in sin
B) Others were bound in
religious ritual and legalism
C) Today: I call idealistic Christianity
Here is what I mean by that
In
the Church we can set up these ideal standards that are not really Biblical-
A)Most of the time the
standards are only being played out by those who have the most amount of time
and the least amount of responsibilities
B)For example: Daily Devos The struggling young mom! You older ladies dont
forget about the younger ones
C)They hear you talk about
how you spent 3 hrs in the word today that doesnt necessarily encourage
them
1)Can be frustrating they
cant do that and you didnt either when you were a young mom.
D)When I was single
Incredible times in Devos changed now that I am
married and have a family E)If I dont get up early
enough I often can get interrupted.
The
guy who struggles because He doesnt read very well.
A)Some of you are never
going to be scholars and that is ok you love the Lord love his word apply it
B_The student who struggles because crazy schedule.
Here
is what happens So many are living in condemnation not free not at rest
Bound by a standard
A)Be consistent Find what
works for you
B) Eating balance bar
some days my devos are that way little bit all day
long.
C)
Be Free Augustine said Love God and love each other and do what ever you
want
1)Key Loving God all my heart
2) How is what I am doing
going to affect others
Another
examples Family devos Husband and wife Devos
A)Standards Patterns
great to be in the word together
B) These days it is hard
everyone going in different directions
C) Talk about the Lord with
your kids / spouse in the car around the dinner table
Another
Witnessing Be a witness Go into all the world
A)Go into all the world
work tomorrow etc
Prayer: Prayer times great
Praying without ceasing
My point is to be free
Enjoy Jesus Love Jesus draw near to Jesus
Free to Be used by God!
In
one bold move Jesus died to make you His child, and you died with Him to put an
end to your sin.
To
make you free from all of that So the Lord says
Reckon
it to be so! God's key to victory is a one-step approach. Appreciate it spiritually, appropriate it
mentally, apply it physically!
Know, reckon, and present - and the door
that's already unlocked will suddenly swing open.