15 Minutes With Jesus / Robert Haymes
Freedom
Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
Isa 61:2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
Isa 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
Jesus came to set us free. Luk 4:16-21 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Joh 8:31-36 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
The truth shall make us free if we continue in it. What does it mean to continue in the Word of God? If we look in 1 John 2:27, the Apostle John said; …the anointing which you have received(which is the Holy Spirit) of Him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you of all things and is truth and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in Him.
Jesus said, in Joh 15:4&5; Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
So continuing in the Word of God is more than reading the Bible. When we come to read the Word of God and study it we must ask the Lord with all humility for understanding and grace, and He will reveal it to us by the Holy Spirit according as we are able to receive it, and the Spirit will lead us in applying what He has taught us in our daily walk. As we yield to the Holy Spirit and obey the Word of God in each situation it becomes a part of us, it is established more and more in our hearts. This is continuing. And as we continue in the truth our hearts will be cleansed more and more and we will be set free from the lies and sins that have had us bound, free to serve the Lord, yielding to the Holy Spirit as He leads us every day in the Word.
As we are led by the Spirit we are free from sin. They that are led by the Spirit are the Sons and Daughters of God. If we are led by the Spirit we will fulfill the righteousness of the law.
Jesus died for our sins on the cross, He bore all our sins in His body. God made Him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
When the Father raised Jesus from the dead He justified Him and us from all sin, whosoever believes in Him is justified from all things that the Law of Moses could not justify us from because of the weakness of our flesh. When we repent of our sins and are baptized in water in the Name of Jesus Christ we are baptized into His death and resurrection, our old sin nature is crucified with Him, we are raised in newness of life to serve Him, the author and the finisher of our faith. Then we need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit so that we can be led by the Spirit to do the will of the Father every day.
Jesus freed us from sin to serve God, not ourselves. Through His work on the cross He delivered us from the domain of darkness, we were the servants of sin, under the power of darkness; Col 1:12-14 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
The Holy Spirit will not lead us in sin. 2Co 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (freedom). So we are being led by the Spirit to do the will of the Father; we are free. We maintain a conscience void of offence toward God and man. If we sin, we can come to the Lord, confessing our sin, and be forgiven and cleansed by the Blood of Jesus, and walk on with a clear conscience, free from sin, serving the Lord.
Either we are going to be the servants of sin, the servants of the Devil, in the bondage of corruption, the Devil ruling our lives, or we will be free, serving the Lord. In serving the Lord, we are free. In doing the will of the Father we are free, but rebellion against God brings bondage.
In Jesus is freedom. Again, the Lord has delivered us from the domain of darkness. When we walk in darkness we are in sin, and we are under the dominion of Satan. That’s what Satan is doing right now with as many people as he can, especially Christians, is to bring us into sin, to keep us in sin. As long as we are in sin we are the servants of sin, even though we have been born again, baptized in water, baptized in the Holy Spirit; If he can get us involved in sin, not confessing our sins; he has false prophets all over the world right now proclaiming, as if they were men of God, that all our sins are forgiven, past, present, and future, a false grace that requires no repentance. Again, the Scripture says, shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace, God forbid.
Either we are serving sin, serving the Devil, or we are serving the Lord, and we are free. Again, as we obey the Lord, as we walk in the Spirit, we fulfill the righteousness of the law. Also we’ll be walking in love. God is love. When you obey Him, you’re walking in love, and He is love, and He will bless you as you walk with Him, walking in love, walking in obedience. Jesus said, if you love me, keep my words. The scripture says the things that God has prepared for those that love Him, it hasn’t even entered into the mind of man.
God created us. God saved us. God is God. We are His sheep, the sheep of His pasture. And Jesus said, My sheep hear my voice and they follow me. And the Lord is our good shepherd, and He will lead us to green pastures, and clear, cool water. We shall not want. Even though we walk through the valley of death, we will not fear for He will be with us, and He will comfort us. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, IF…. His promise is not without His conditions, and they are not grievous.