SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Good morning, church.
SPEAKER_00: Man, this is a wonderful day that the Lord has made and given us to live in.
SPEAKER_00: Anybody wants to rejoice and be glad in it?
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I must say, Pastor Jared said he wasn't preaching today, but uh he was all in my business, him and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: I love it when the Lord just confirms what it is that he wants to say to his people.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And listen, I've got like, I normally don't have very many pages of notes, but you know, I uh I got so many I decided to go digital this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Uh but I thank God for what he has to say to each and every one of us today because we're going to be talking about being free indeed.
SPEAKER_00: And what does freedom really look like?
SPEAKER_00: Freedom to some people looks very different than what it looks like to others.
SPEAKER_00: And so today, whatever it is that you need to be freed from, released from, today you need to know that Jesus can make you free.
SPEAKER_00: No matter what it is, whether it's a burden, whether it's a heartache, whether it's an addiction, whether it's a habit, whatever it is, Jesus can set you free.
SPEAKER_00: And some people have showed up today, and you're probably just like I was for over 20-some years coming to church, did not know Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, knew what church looked like, knew how to act, knew how to play the part, but truthfully, I was just checking the box and calling myself saved because I was showing up and involved in volunteering.
SPEAKER_00: But that does not make us saved.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: That does not set us free.
SPEAKER_00: It's only when we know the Son, Jesus Christ, the one who truly sets us free.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: So let us pray.
SPEAKER_00: Father in heaven, I thank you for this awesome opportunity and privilege to proclaim your word today.
SPEAKER_00: I pray, Father, that you would speak to me and speak through me, Father.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that you would give your people tender hearts, tender ears, attentive hearts, attentive minds and ears to not just be hearers of your word, Lord, but to be doers of your word.
SPEAKER_00: I thank you for even the message last week about how good is our soil.
SPEAKER_00: Father, I pray that this word today falls on good ground, good soil.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that no one here has a hard heart, Lord God.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that there's anyone that showed up today with a heart of stone, I pray that it would be made a heart of flesh to receive your word on today, God.
SPEAKER_00: So have your way, Father.
SPEAKER_00: And I pray that today, that no one who feels convicted would see that as condemnation.
SPEAKER_00: Father, it's you calling your people to yourself.
SPEAKER_00: And for those that need to let go of something, whatever it is, Lord, I pray that they would come to know freedom in Jesus Christ today.
SPEAKER_00: And never ever walk in that bondage again.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name I pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So let's look at John chapter 8, starting uh at verse 31.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna focus in on verse 36, but I I I'm gonna read the verses, then we're gonna walk through them because today's message is more application.
SPEAKER_00: But I do want to give you the understanding and the context behind the scripture.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So, John chapter 8, starting with verse 31, it says, So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciple.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody say, Abide, then you are a disciple.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
SPEAKER_00: What sets us free?
SPEAKER_00: The truth.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 33.
SPEAKER_00: They answered him, we are offspring of Abraham.
SPEAKER_00: We're talking about the Pharisees here.
SPEAKER_00: We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone.
SPEAKER_00: How is it that you say, You will become free?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus answered them, Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
SPEAKER_00: The slave does not remain in the house forever, the son remains forever.
SPEAKER_00: So the son sets you free.
SPEAKER_00: If the son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
SPEAKER_00: I know that you are offspring of Abraham, yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.
SPEAKER_00: I speak of what I have seen with my father, and you do what you have heard from your father.
SPEAKER_00: So let's walk through these verses.
SPEAKER_00: In 31, Jesus is speaking to those who have genuinely accepted him or trusted in him.
SPEAKER_00: So uh to believe in him in this particular passage still means to believe him.
SPEAKER_00: Some people just believe the words, but they don't believe in the word, the living word, who is Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So to abide just simply means to remain and to continue in him, abiding by his word, abiding by his ways, doing what the word of God tells us we should be doing.
SPEAKER_00: But now notice this Jesus does not say, you shall know the word, but that you shall know what?
SPEAKER_00: The truth.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of people know the word, but they don't know the truth.
SPEAKER_00: Many people can speak and and and spit out scripture and quote scripture, but don't know the actual meaning of the scripture.
SPEAKER_00: There is a difference.
SPEAKER_00: So let me encourage you.
SPEAKER_00: This was not a part of my sermon, but let me just parenthetically throw this in.
SPEAKER_00: You need to be in a Bible study somewhere.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: In a life group somewhere.
SPEAKER_00: We need to be learning about the word of God and what it says and what the meaning of it really is.
SPEAKER_00: I get that people can sit at home, watch television, read books, listen to YouTube, watch YouTube, all of that.
SPEAKER_00: But we need to be under some teaching.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: So that we just don't know the word, but we know the truth.
SPEAKER_00: 32.
SPEAKER_00: One who abides in the word of God knows the truth, not just the word.
SPEAKER_00: The word free refers to freedom from the bondage of sin.
SPEAKER_00: Now, we know that Jesus died to set us free, but how many of us know that we still are struggling with sin?
SPEAKER_00: I'm raising both of my hands.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: We're still struggling with sin.
SPEAKER_00: And there are some sins that we make excuses for, but there is no excuse for it because we have been made free through Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Part of the problem is that we just don't walk in that freedom.
SPEAKER_00: We just don't live free.
SPEAKER_00: We are free, but we don't live free.
SPEAKER_00: But we're gonna talk about that later on.
SPEAKER_00: Let's not make excuses for our sin.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 33.
SPEAKER_00: They answered him.
SPEAKER_00: Now, look, there's some antagonists here, okay, and that's what they're doing.
SPEAKER_00: They're antagonizing Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So they answered, and and check out this exchange that they have.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus and his antagonists, which are the Pharisees, uh the Jewish leaders, they claim to be descendants of Abraham.
SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
SPEAKER_00: Taking credit for someone else's faith.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I used to do street ministry, evangelism.
SPEAKER_00: And what was interesting to me is that when I would walk up to a person and ask them, are they saved?
SPEAKER_00: Have they confessed Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior?
SPEAKER_00: Their answer was, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: My grandmother goes to church down the street and around the corner.
SPEAKER_00: My grandmother prays for me all the time.
SPEAKER_00: But I didn't ask you about your grandmother.
SPEAKER_00: And so they are claiming to be descendants of Abraham, who we know that faith comes through Abraham.
SPEAKER_00: Or faith has been, uh Abraham has been called a great man of faith, and righteousness was imputed unto him because of his faith, but they're trying to claim to be descendants of Abraham, not to know the truth.
SPEAKER_00: So understand something.
SPEAKER_00: Your mother, your father, your grandmother can pray for you, but they can't have faith for you.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Two different things.
SPEAKER_00: And so here's a rejection to the truth that we find in the scripture.
SPEAKER_00: They said that they have no need, and they have not been in bondage.
SPEAKER_00: They have never been in bondage.
SPEAKER_00: That's interesting because in the past the Israelites had been in bondage with the Egyptians, with the Assyrians, and the Babylonians, and they were currently under bondage under Roman power.
SPEAKER_00: And they claim to not be under bondage.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what happens: when the truth truly comes out and it challenges us, we tend to reject it and try to come around or walk around it.
SPEAKER_00: Claim that, oh no, that's not me.
SPEAKER_00: And let me just pause for a moment again.
SPEAKER_00: This is not in the in the sermon, but you know, people don't come for prayer because they're trying to hide, they don't want to admit that they have a problem or a burden or something that they need to bring to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Let's get real.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Let me just tell you.
SPEAKER_00: When you have an opportunity for God to do something in your life, don't miss that opportunity because you're trying to hide behind either fear or pride or whatever it is that's holding you back from saying, I stand in the need of prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Church, let's not be that kind of church.
SPEAKER_00: Please don't be that kind of church.
SPEAKER_00: It burdens my heart almost to the point that it makes me want to cry to know that people can walk into a place that is considered to be a hospital and yet not come and ask for help.
SPEAKER_00: So let me throw this scenario out there as the Holy Spirit is leading me to do it.
SPEAKER_00: You would not go to the hospital with a problem.
SPEAKER_00: Go sit in the waiting room and don't ever go to the receptionist and tell them what's wrong with you so that you can go see the doctor.
SPEAKER_00: That makes no sense, does it?
SPEAKER_00: So, why do people come to the church, which is a hospital, sit, won't say a word, but walk right on out with the same ailment, sin, sickness that they had when they came in and never told anybody what was wrong.
SPEAKER_00: The church was never meant to be that way.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna let the Holy Spirit go right now.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: The church.
SPEAKER_00: We were never meant to be a group of people who meet, come together, carrying our burdens and our issues and the need for salvation, and then just leave sick and repeat the same thing over and over again.
SPEAKER_00: Prayer and decision partners are like the receptionists that you go see when you go to check in.
SPEAKER_00: The receptionist just simply simply takes the information, passes that on so that it makes it to the doctor, so that when you get to see the doctor, the doctor can help you.
SPEAKER_00: All prayer and decision partners are here to do is to receive the prayer request, take it to the one that we know can make a difference.
SPEAKER_00: To Dr.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, to our God.
SPEAKER_00: And you don't have to worry about somebody sharing your business.
SPEAKER_00: They've been trained, they know that whatever you tell them stays between you, them, and the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So no longer let Satan cause you to miss having whatever's wrong with you attended to because of your pride, because of your rejection, and because you feel ashamed.
SPEAKER_00: To say that I stand in need of prayer.
SPEAKER_00: If I go down there, people are gonna know something's wrong with me.
SPEAKER_00: Something's wrong with every one of us in here.
SPEAKER_00: And if you say it, I ain't you lying.
SPEAKER_00: There's a whole bunch of stuff wrong with me.
SPEAKER_00: Don't you testify with something.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Let's just get real, people.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if I'm gonna preach what's on this paper, uh on this iPad or whatever.
SPEAKER_00: But listen, let's just get real, church.
SPEAKER_00: Let's get real.
SPEAKER_00: Because the only way that we get better is that we get real and we admit what's wrong and then we try to get something done about it.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So anybody in the house today, still feel like you can't come for prayer if the Lord is leading you to pray.
SPEAKER_00: Anyone in here, raise your hand.
SPEAKER_00: I want to know who you are because we want to disciple you.
SPEAKER_00: We want to let you know.
SPEAKER_00: All right, praise God.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus can make you free.
SPEAKER_00: So, what we want you to do, if the Lord is speaking to you today, next week, anytime whatsoever, feel free to be set free.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Feel free to be set free and released from whatever it is the enemy has been holding you back with.
SPEAKER_00: So they rejected the truth.
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus says something here in verse 34.
SPEAKER_00: It speaks of the slave being a slave of sin.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was speaking about spiritual slavery.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, the battles that we fight are spiritual battles, and and that battle that Satan is fighting within your mind right now is oh, you're good.
SPEAKER_00: You don't need to go to Jesus, you're good.
SPEAKER_00: You don't you don't need prayer for this or that.
SPEAKER_00: You're good.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you heard what the preacher said.
SPEAKER_00: You received that, you heard the word, right?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah, you understood it, right?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I got it.
SPEAKER_00: And then you walk out of here and don't use it.
SPEAKER_00: Or know that there is a need that you have because you're struggling with this sin, and yet instill don't do anything about it.
SPEAKER_00: This this bondage that he's talking about is the thing that keeps us from effectively witnessing to others, from effectively being who he has called us to be, from effectively living out the plan and purpose that God has set for each and every one of our lives.
SPEAKER_00: God's got plans for you.
SPEAKER_00: You may not think he does.
SPEAKER_00: Just because you come to church on Sunday morning and you haven't found your place to get involved with church yet does not mean that God doesn't have a plan for you.
SPEAKER_00: There is a plan, there is a place for you.
SPEAKER_00: Receive that.
SPEAKER_00: You see, when we're in a in bondage, a slave can't free themselves.
SPEAKER_00: When you're in bondage in chains, you can't free yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Now I know there's a guy called Lane Houdini that performed all kinds of, you know, we're talking about us, right?
SPEAKER_00: We're talking about the bondage of slavery of sin.
SPEAKER_00: But you gotta have somebody who's able to set you free.
SPEAKER_00: And that's when we surrender.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody say, surrender.
SPEAKER_00: Surrender it all to him.
SPEAKER_00: And so in verses 35 and 36, a slave was not a permanent resident of a house, but the son is a permanent resident of the house.
SPEAKER_00: So when the son says he can set you free, the son has that authority, the son has that permission.
SPEAKER_00: So when Jesus says that whom the son sets free is free indeed, Jesus has the authority to set you free.
SPEAKER_00: And why not go to the one who has the authority to do that?
SPEAKER_00: And then verse 37 talks about Abraham's descendants.
SPEAKER_00: Now, they may have been physical heirs of Abraham, but they were not spiritual descendants unless they had faith.
SPEAKER_00: And when you talk about being a descendant of Abraham, where is your faith?
SPEAKER_00: When we're linked to Abraham, we're linked to him by faith.
SPEAKER_00: And so they were trying to get around the subject, but Jesus wouldn't let them off the hook.
SPEAKER_00: And today, I don't think he's gonna let any of us off the hook today.
SPEAKER_00: Because here's the thing about freedom there's an illusion of freedom.
SPEAKER_00: We live in a time where the word freedom is everywhere.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody wants to be free, and they want to live freedom.
SPEAKER_00: We want financial freedom.
SPEAKER_00: Hallelujah, amen.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: But some people say, I just want to be free, okay?
SPEAKER_00: But nobody can tell me what to do.
SPEAKER_00: That's what freedom means to some people.
SPEAKER_00: You can't tell me what to do.
SPEAKER_00: I'm free to do whatever I want to do.
SPEAKER_00: And then some people uh say this I'm living my truth.
SPEAKER_00: I had a conversation with someone, and and they made that statement.
SPEAKER_00: Truth is whatever you want it to be.
SPEAKER_00: I was like, wow, what?
SPEAKER_00: And I, you know, my wife has to tell me this all the time.
SPEAKER_00: She says, You need to watch your facial expressions.
SPEAKER_00: Because I know I looked real crazy when that person said that, but I had to tell them, I'm like, no, no, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: Truth is not whatever you want it to be, because if truth is whatever you want it to be, truth can change tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: Truth can change by the moment.
SPEAKER_00: Truth is truth.
SPEAKER_00: It is fixed, it does not change.
SPEAKER_00: And the one that we know who is the truth is Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: But truth, not everything that feels like freedom, produces life, is what we need to understand.
SPEAKER_00: There are habits that people are bound by, things like habits that they can't break, thoughts they can't silence, pain they can't escape, cycles they keep repeating.
SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about these cycles, these cycles that are circles.
SPEAKER_00: If you keep going in circles and ending up in the right place, why don't you turn on your GPS?
SPEAKER_00: Get you some help and some direction.
SPEAKER_00: And GPS for the one who's lost spiritually is connecting with someone, a spiritual leader, who can give you some direction, who can give you some help so that you don't keep going through the cycles over and over and over again.
SPEAKER_00: You see, if if we put our little beautiful Oreo, our little dog on a leash, and she got away and ran off into the road, she might feel freedom, but if she ran into the road and got hit by a car, that feeling of freedom caused her destruction.
SPEAKER_00: And we have to be careful about the freedom that we claim we walk in, because some freedom will cause destruction.
SPEAKER_00: See, not everything that feels like freedom really produces life.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus defines freedom not as doing what you want, but as being delivered from what controls you.
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
SPEAKER_00: Being delivered from what controls us.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to think about this.
SPEAKER_00: What in your life is something that you want to get away from, but for some reason you keep going back to it?
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
SPEAKER_00: What is it that you're trying to get away from, but for some reason you keep going back to it as if you can't break away from it.
SPEAKER_00: Now we're gonna have some fun.
SPEAKER_00: Mine or golden Oreo cookies.
SPEAKER_00: That's just one of them.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just being nice, y'all.
SPEAKER_00: There are certain things that we crave, right?
SPEAKER_00: Now, there are some bad things that I crave too that ain't good.
SPEAKER_00: But there are some things that we crave that we seem to not be able to break the cycle from.
SPEAKER_00: But it's only when we let it go, when we truly turn it over, when we separate from it, there is a practical sanctification that has to take place in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: That practical sanctification is I am going to separate myself from this thing.
SPEAKER_00: And then I'm gonna spend my time with God so that there is a spiritual sanctification, because in that God gives me the strength, the ability to say no when I really want to say yes.
SPEAKER_00: The only way I can be free is that I have to surrender the thing that has control over me.
SPEAKER_00: But the truth of the matter is nothing should have any control over me because God has set me free.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, somebody.
SPEAKER_00: John 14 and 6 says this Jesus said to him, I am the way, I am, he is the truth and the life.
SPEAKER_00: No one can Comes to the Father except through him.
SPEAKER_00: If you want to know truth, you've got to know Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: If you want to be set free, it's the Son who is Jesus that can set you free.
SPEAKER_00: But you can't be made free on your own.
SPEAKER_00: Person says, This is just who I am.
SPEAKER_00: No, that's not who you are.
SPEAKER_00: I wasn't made to be tending a grave.
SPEAKER_00: I was born and raised, called by name, back to life again.
SPEAKER_00: I was made for more.
SPEAKER_00: That's the song that we just got done singing.
SPEAKER_00: That's not who you are.
SPEAKER_00: I know who I am.
SPEAKER_00: Because I know who He is.
SPEAKER_00: And today somebody might need to know who Jesus is so that you too can come into the reality of where your identity really is.
SPEAKER_00: You are God's creation, but not everybody who God created is saved.
SPEAKER_00: That's the thing.
SPEAKER_00: And if you let the world tell you, is hey, God made you, so you're his.
SPEAKER_00: If you're in a dark room filled with furniture, you're walking and bumping into everything, don't know how to get out.
SPEAKER_00: But when the light turns on, you know exactly where you need to go.
SPEAKER_00: You find your way when the light comes on.
SPEAKER_00: Nothing in the room moved, nothing changed.
SPEAKER_00: It's the same room that you were in, it's just that now you're walking in the light.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what makes all the difference in the world.
SPEAKER_00: The light changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: Oh my God.
SPEAKER_00: Y'all pray for me.
SPEAKER_00: Y'all know how I am.
SPEAKER_00: I was walking in darkness at one time.
SPEAKER_00: Right here in the church.
SPEAKER_00: I was a member of a church.
SPEAKER_00: Coming to church Sunday after Sunday, but walking in darkness.
SPEAKER_00: But I heard the word of God and the light came on.
SPEAKER_00: And I found direction.
SPEAKER_00: I found freedom.
SPEAKER_00: I got some things I'm still struggling with.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not what I ought to be, and I'm not what I want to be.
SPEAKER_00: But thank God I ain't what I used to be.
SPEAKER_00: I thank God for that.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're struggling today, because you don't feel like God can set you free, don't let the devil lie to you.
SPEAKER_00: Because you got to start somewhere, somebody.
SPEAKER_00: You got to start somewhere.
SPEAKER_00: And we're not perfect.
SPEAKER_00: We don't all have it together.
SPEAKER_00: The church is full of people with issues, but we know where our help comes from.
SPEAKER_00: That's the difference.
SPEAKER_00: We've got somebody that we can go back to.
SPEAKER_00: We have a calibration that we can go back to.
SPEAKER_00: It is the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: When we start walking astray, away from where God wants us to be, the word of God judges us and it realigns us.
SPEAKER_00: It is a part of that roadmap, that GPS that each and every one of us needs to get us back on track and back in place.
SPEAKER_00: To keep us from going in cycles, to keep us from going in circles.
SPEAKER_00: Freedom is not self-produced.
SPEAKER_00: We don't make our own freedom.
SPEAKER_00: Christ died so that we would be made free.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't come from discipline alone, doesn't come from religion, it doesn't come from good intentions.
SPEAKER_00: There are a lot of people with good intentions, a lot of people that do good deeds that are not walking in the light.
SPEAKER_00: And they're not walking in true freedom.
SPEAKER_00: See, if a man is locked in prison, they can shake the door, try to bend the bars, make all sorts of promises, but they don't have the authority to set themselves free.
SPEAKER_00: Only when the one who comes with the key that has the authority to set them free, then can they be set free.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus holds the keys to every issue, every problem, every situation, every position that you have or that you are in.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the authority who can set you free.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to what the scripture says in Luke chapter 4, verses 31 through 37.
SPEAKER_00: This is when Jesus heals a man with an unclean spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and he was teaching them on the Sabbath.
SPEAKER_00: And they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority.
SPEAKER_00: And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon.
SPEAKER_00: And he cried out with a loud voice, Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
SPEAKER_00: Have you come to destroy us?
SPEAKER_00: I know who you are, the Holy One of God.
SPEAKER_00: Even the unclean spirit knew who Jesus was.
SPEAKER_00: And I love it because Jesus didn't play.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be silent and come out of him.
SPEAKER_00: And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm.
SPEAKER_00: The demon meant to do him harm when he threw him down, and all Jesus had to do was speak the word for him to come out.
SPEAKER_00: And he had to leave.
SPEAKER_00: But the demon was upset.
SPEAKER_00: And don't you know that anytime that Satan's got to go, he's going to try to tear some stuff up every time.
SPEAKER_00: Because he knows he's got to go, but he wants to make sure that he's done something to you before he has to leave.
SPEAKER_00: And guess what he won't do?
SPEAKER_00: He won't leave you alone until somebody makes him leave you alone.
SPEAKER_00: And who can make him leave you alone?
SPEAKER_00: Nobody but the one who has the authority.
SPEAKER_00: And that's Jesus, and that's our God.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 36 says, And they were all amazed and said to one another, What is this word?
SPEAKER_00: For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they came, they come out.
SPEAKER_00: And reports came about him, or reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus does amazing things, if he transformed your life, it's hard to keep it to yourself.
SPEAKER_00: But there is authority in him.
SPEAKER_00: You don't break your own chains, you hand them to the chainbreaker.
SPEAKER_00: Point number three.
SPEAKER_00: Free indeed means complete freedom.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus didn't just, he didn't say you're kind of free.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: He said, you are free in free indeed.
SPEAKER_00: You are free for sure.
SPEAKER_00: You are free.
SPEAKER_00: That's the end of the story.
SPEAKER_00: For those who have truly received Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, that means that you are completely free.
SPEAKER_00: You are fully free.
SPEAKER_00: You are undeniably free.
SPEAKER_00: And you can take a little baby elephant tied to a tree.
SPEAKER_00: As powerful as that elephant is, if it doesn't think that it can get free, it's going to stay tied.
SPEAKER_00: And it's a little bitty rope that it could actually break.
SPEAKER_00: And some of the things that Satan has us bound with are little bitty threads that can be broken with a little bit of effort.
SPEAKER_00: But we're bound because we think that we're tied to it.
SPEAKER_00: Some relationships that you don't think you can break away from, that you can walk away from.
SPEAKER_00: Some of the habits that we make excuses for, they're not hard to break.
SPEAKER_00: You just got to break it.
SPEAKER_00: It just takes the action to break it.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes the reason why things are not happening is because we're not doing anything that is counteracting the thing that has us bound.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us are giants, spiritual giants, we're physical giants, and yet we're bound by little things that are easy to break.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the one where self-sanctification comes in.
SPEAKER_00: The practical part.
SPEAKER_00: Where you just have to say in your mind, I'm not doing this anymore.
SPEAKER_00: God has set me free.
SPEAKER_00: Just because Jesus died to make you free doesn't mean that you walk in your freedom.
SPEAKER_00: There's a choice that we all have to make if we want to be free.
SPEAKER_00: Are we making that choice?
SPEAKER_00: So let me move to this point.
SPEAKER_00: What Christ sets you free from is sin's power.
SPEAKER_00: That's the first thing.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 6 chapter 6, verse 14 says, For sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under the law, but under grace.
SPEAKER_00: Sin may try, but it doesn't own you anymore.
SPEAKER_00: You are free.
SPEAKER_00: Then the second thing is condemnation.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 8:1 says, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Now let's talk about freedom from this.
SPEAKER_00: Because here's the thing that the enemy holds Christians back on.
SPEAKER_00: You're not perfect.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, you make some mistakes.
SPEAKER_00: And you think that you lost your salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you, if God saved you, he saved you.
SPEAKER_00: The question is, did you really get saved?
SPEAKER_00: Did you really give your life to Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Because he doesn't make mistakes, y'all.
SPEAKER_00: And what Satan wants to do is cause you to look at every little mistake you've made for those of us who are saved.
SPEAKER_00: Look at every little mistake you make and say, see, I thought you said you were saved.
SPEAKER_00: You ain't saved, you ain't walking with God.
SPEAKER_00: So how are you going to go out and tell somebody about Jesus Christ?
SPEAKER_00: How are you going to share the gospel?
SPEAKER_00: Look at what you just said.
SPEAKER_00: Look at what you just did.
SPEAKER_00: Look at what you just looked at on your phone.
SPEAKER_00: Look at all, look at that lie that you just told.
SPEAKER_00: Huh.
SPEAKER_00: No, you better keep your mouth shut.
SPEAKER_00: You better not tell anybody about Jesus because you're a hypocrite.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Satan wants to tell you.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm reminded of a scripture that says the just man falls seven times, but he gets back up again.
SPEAKER_00: And understand that number seven does not mean you just count seven times and that's it.
SPEAKER_00: The number seven represents the number of completion and perfection.
SPEAKER_00: That means that you keep on getting back up until you don't fall to that thing anymore.
SPEAKER_00: But you get up.
SPEAKER_00: You don't stay down.
SPEAKER_00: And you don't let Satan ruin your life or run your life and tell you that you don't have a word for somebody who needs to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ because it still saved you, but you're still struggling.
SPEAKER_00: All of us in here are saved but struggling.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Every last one of us.
SPEAKER_00: And if the qualification for sharing the gospel was that you didn't have a struggle and you didn't have a sin in your life, none of us in here would ever be able to open our mouths.
SPEAKER_00: I would not be able to grace this pulpit.
SPEAKER_00: But that's the lie of the devil.
SPEAKER_00: There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We don't walk after the flesh, but we walk after the spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And then the third thing is fear.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Timothy 1, verse 7 says, For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control.
SPEAKER_00: You need to know this.
SPEAKER_00: Fear is not your inheritance.
SPEAKER_00: God didn't give you that.
SPEAKER_00: If you're walking in fear, that is not from God.
SPEAKER_00: The only fear that translates to what God wants from us is respect.
SPEAKER_00: To fear the Lord means to respect the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: But this fear that makes you shy and timid, not not able to move forward, that didn't come from God.
SPEAKER_00: When Moses was standing at the Red Sea with Pharaoh's army to his back, with the children of Israel with him, he stood there at the Red Sea and he cried out to God.
SPEAKER_00: And God says, Why do you cry out to me, Moses?
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, what else was he gonna do?
SPEAKER_00: He didn't know what to do.
SPEAKER_00: But God had put a staff in his hand, he put a rod in his hand.
SPEAKER_00: And he already showed Moses what that rod could do.
SPEAKER_00: God says, Why are you crying out to me, Moses?
SPEAKER_00: Stretch out your rod.
SPEAKER_00: And it parted the Red Sea.
SPEAKER_00: Guess what?
SPEAKER_00: Moses had everything he needed to deliver himself and the children of Israel across the Red Sea.
SPEAKER_00: He just didn't know he had it.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't realize it.
SPEAKER_00: What I'm saying to you, hallelujah, is God has given each and every one of us something that will get us out of the bundage that we're in.
SPEAKER_00: We already got Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We know the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: We have this available to us.
SPEAKER_00: He's already given you something that will help you part your Red Sea and walk right on over to the land of promise.
SPEAKER_00: But don't you hold what God has given you and allow it to be tied up because you're too fearful to use it.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let fear paralyze you.
SPEAKER_00: You've got it.
SPEAKER_00: For those of us who know Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And if you haven't found out what it is, maybe you just need to read the word more.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you need to study more.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you need to join a life group or discipleship group.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you just need to come forward and say, I need help.
SPEAKER_00: Not just pray for me, I need somebody to help me walk this thing out.
SPEAKER_00: So that I too can live in this life that God has promised me, and I can stop living under fear and be set free.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the last thing death.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Corinthians 15, 55 just basically tells us, oh death, where is your sting?
SPEAKER_00: We have overcome death through Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Even death has lost its power.
SPEAKER_00: For those of us who have received Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior.
SPEAKER_00: And every time I preach, you will hear me say that.
SPEAKER_00: I will give that caveat because I don't assume that everybody in the house is saved.
SPEAKER_00: I don't assume that just because you've been in church for 20, 30, 40 years that you're saved.
SPEAKER_00: When I pastored a church in Missouri, there was a lady that was 80 years old.
SPEAKER_00: Her last name was Smith.
SPEAKER_00: The church I pastored was Smith Chapel.
SPEAKER_00: She was in the founding family.
SPEAKER_00: But one Sunday morning, that woman walked down and said that she had not given her life to Christ and she needed to be saved.
SPEAKER_00: I never assume.
SPEAKER_00: Because even myself, although people knew my name and people still see me and whatever, they they they know me and respect me, but what they gained their respect on was a man who didn't know the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I just knew church.
SPEAKER_00: I knew what it looked like, and I was a faithful churchgoer.
SPEAKER_00: I had something to do at church, so I was always interested in church, and I was too scared to run the streets because I don't like pain.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to get beat up, I don't want to get shot.
SPEAKER_00: So I didn't run with those people.
SPEAKER_00: So church was safe.
SPEAKER_00: But the truth of the matter is, I had been in church for all of those years, but I had not given my life to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So I cannot assume that everybody in this house is saved and know the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Because you could be just like me, sitting out there, coming to church, saying you know him, and living off your own self-proclaimed salvation because you do some good stuff, because you show up on Sunday morning, because you do attend a Bible study, because you do hang with people who are Christians.
SPEAKER_00: And they all assume that you're a Christian too.
SPEAKER_00: But you know and God knows.
SPEAKER_00: And it's your life.
SPEAKER_00: I had to realize that people can't live for me, neither could they die for me.
SPEAKER_00: So I had to drop my shame and say, I'm the one that's been living a lie, been in church all this time, and I don't know Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And it was that Wednesday evening that I gave my life to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So understand something.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what the enemy wants to do to each and every one of us.
SPEAKER_00: The enemy reminds you of your past.
SPEAKER_00: God reminds you of your pardon.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ died for our sins.
SPEAKER_00: Our sin has been pardoned.
SPEAKER_00: For those who have accepted Jesus through faith.
SPEAKER_00: If you have not received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, your sins are not pardoned.
SPEAKER_00: And I wouldn't walk out of here today without knowing that.
SPEAKER_00: And here's my last point what you are set free for.
SPEAKER_00: Freedom is not just from something, it is for something.
SPEAKER_00: It is so that you can live a life that honors and pleases God, and that you and your life will glorify Him.
SPEAKER_00: So that when people see your walk, when they hear you talk, when they see you as a person, your life aligns with the life of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You are the express image of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Because that's who we were made to be like.
SPEAKER_00: Walking in freedom daily, freedom is received instantly, but maintained intentionally.
SPEAKER_00: If I want to be set free, God can do it at that moment.
SPEAKER_00: The question is, are you intentional about your freedom?
SPEAKER_00: Do you intentionally walk in that freedom?
SPEAKER_00: And as I as the worship team comes, I have a few other things I want to tell you.
SPEAKER_00: And that is this freedom is given instantly, but it's guarded daily.
SPEAKER_00: But you got to guard it.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes uh some of those relationships that we that we have, some of the people that we are yoked up with, some of the people that we call our friends, that are those influences that maybe cause us to talk like we know we ought not be talking, maybe influence us to go places that we know we ought not go.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe cause us to not share when we know we ought to share.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe there's a scripture, a word that you ought to say to somebody, but you won't say it around those people because you don't want them to think that you think you're holier than them, or you're a holy roller, or whatever the case may be.
SPEAKER_00: We have freedom in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Freedom may feel unfamiliar to some people because they've been in bondage for so long.
SPEAKER_00: Change might feel uncomfortable to you, and it might even feel risky.
SPEAKER_00: But understand something.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus already unlocked them.
SPEAKER_00: So why are you still holding on to them?
SPEAKER_00: Whatever that is, Jesus is giving you the freedom.
SPEAKER_00: Walking.
SPEAKER_00: And as we move into this moment of invitation, I'm not gonna tarry real long.
SPEAKER_00: Because I think I made it real clear that every one of us are dealing with something.
SPEAKER_00: And you know what it is that you've been carrying.
SPEAKER_00: You know what you carried in here last week and walk right out of here with.
SPEAKER_00: You know what you carried in here this week.
SPEAKER_00: You can make a choice to be set free and to walk in that freedom intentionally and on purpose, or you can choose to walk right back out that door today and carry that same burden, carry that same sin along with you and complete the cycle over and over and over again.
SPEAKER_00: But today the cycle can be broken.
SPEAKER_00: If you just trust God and give it to Him.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm just going to ask.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to do anything fancy.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I have this, I feel some kind of way about the thing that when people don't want anybody else to know that they stand in need.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not ashamed to own Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Because I don't want him to say that he's ashamed to own me before his Father in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: I can't be a closet Christian, y'all.
SPEAKER_00: You're either going to be a Christian or you're not, right?
SPEAKER_00: And we don't get to bow our heads and secretly raise our hands and never identify with the fact that we need Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Because the truth of the matter is here in the church body, people want to know.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the reason why is because you need a community of people to help you walk it out.
SPEAKER_00: And if we don't know who you are, if you do it in secret, then how are we supposed to help you?
SPEAKER_00: We're a family.
SPEAKER_00: I want to know when a family member is disconnected.
SPEAKER_00: I want to know when a family member is struggling.
SPEAKER_00: Because I love them and care about them enough to help them with everything that I've got.
SPEAKER_00: So today, be bold.
SPEAKER_00: God has not given you the spirit of fear.
SPEAKER_00: No longer let the devil tell you, you don't need to raise your hand, you don't need to go down there for prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Just you're good right where you are.
SPEAKER_00: I lived that lie.
SPEAKER_00: I know that's a lie.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're here today, I don't care what the struggle is, if it's salvation, if it's a sin that you've been dealing with, if it's unforgiveness, whatever it is, if you desire prayer and you need salvation, I'm gonna ask that the prayer and decision partners would come now.
SPEAKER_00: Be bold.
SPEAKER_00: You come against the devil because he's fighting against you right now, telling you, you stay in your seat.
SPEAKER_00: Don't confess.
SPEAKER_00: Because a part of being saved is confession.
SPEAKER_00: A part of being delivered is confession.
SPEAKER_00: A part of being healed is confession.
SPEAKER_00: When you go to the hospital and you tell those people what's wrong with you, that's exactly what you're doing.
SPEAKER_00: You are confessing.
SPEAKER_00: And you're confessing to someone that you believe can get you some help.
SPEAKER_00: They may not be able to want be the one that's able to help you, but you believe that they can take it to somebody who can help you.
SPEAKER_00: That's all that we're doing up here today.
SPEAKER_00: So if that's you, we're here as the worship team sings.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna ask you to come forward.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever it is that you're dealing with, I don't care what it is, just don't let the devil tell you.
SPEAKER_00: Stay where you are.