Real Freedom-Stanfill
HOW TO EXPERIENCE REAL FREEDOM
Luke 4:18-19 & Galatians 5:1
In Luke 4:18-19, the very first passage Jesus ever spoke -- it was His first public sermon, -- Jesus spelled out what was going to be the theme of His ministry.
“18The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, 19 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
Jesus, in His very first sermon, said, “I came to bring good news”. He said, “I've come to set people free”. He said in John 8:32, “I am the truth, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free”. And in John 8:36 he says, "If the Son will set you free, you will be free indeed."
I want to talk about freedom tonight. Jesus said, "I've come to set you free." Galatians 5:1 says, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free." Jesus promises real and lasting freedom.
From what? This evening, I want to give you a few things that Jesus said, "I've come to set you free from".
1. JESUS SAID, I WANT TO SET YOU FREE FROM THE BURDEN OF GUILT.
There are a lot of people bound up by guilt today. One of the wisest decisions that the executives on television did was to put reruns of Columbo. The other night the bad guy was Johnny Cash. They had him cast as a country-western singer (imagine that!). He murdered somebody. At the end, Columbo always figures out what happened, and Cash got caught. The closing words of the scene, Johnny Cash says, "I'm glad I finally got caught. The guilt was killing me."
You cannot live indefinitely with guilt. But the fact is all of us make mistakes and all of us are guilty. How do you live with it?
Jesus said, "I want to set you free from it." Ephesians 1:7-8 in the Good News Bible says this "For by the death of Christ we are set free. That is, our sins are forgiven. How great is the grace of God which He gave to us in such large measure." Guilt robs you of happiness. It causes depression. It can make you sick. Doctors say that 80% of the people in hospitals today could go home if they could get rid of guilt and bitterness. The number one killer of college students now is suicide. The number two killer of high school students is suicide. Why? Depression and guilt. Yet God says, "I want to set you free."
I talk to a lot of people who have been in therapy for years and years. Some of them just need to be forgiven. They don't know how to get rid of the past. "I am a prisoner of my past. I don't know how to let go of the past. It haunts me. I'm afraid somebody's going to find out about it. I've made mistakes. How do I get on with my life?" Jesus says, "I want to set you free from the burden of guilt."
The Bible says when we come to Christ, He takes us and forgives us instantly, He forgives us completely, He forgives us without question. The Bible says, "I've taken your sins and put them all behind My back." Out of sight. "I've separated them as far as east from west." Out of reach. "I've put them where I remember them no more." Out of memory.
Once you learn that God can forgive and forget, what God forgets then you can forget.
If you come to God and say, "God, I've really made a mess of my life. I've made mistakes and this is what I've done wrong and please forgive me." You're forgiven, and God says, "I not only forgive but I wipe the slate clean." It's like starting over. It's like being born again.
Then if you were to die and go to heaven and say, "God, about that sin..." He'd say, "What sin?" "About that mistake I made in that relationship..." He'd say, "What mistake?" "God, about that pain that I went through..." "What pain?" That is the freedom of forgiveness.
God says, "I want to set you free from the burden of guilt" "In Christ we are set free. That is our sins are forgiven." It brings me great joy knowing that I'm forgiven, that I can have a clear conscience. The slate is clean. But that's not all.
2. JESUS SAYS I WANT TO SET YOU FREE FROM THE PAIN OF RESENTMENT.
In life we end up hurting people and other people hurt us. When we hurt others, we feel guilty. When people hurt us, we feel resentful. Bitterness is a poison that will eat you alive. It is worse than cancer. It will affect your entire system and ruin you.
I remember reading about twin sisters in a little town in Georgia in a little tiny church. One of the sisters got engaged to a fellow and about half way through the engagement he broke off the engagement and married the other twin. Problems! Those two sisters developed a resentment and bitterness against each other. They even divided the church so that everybody had to divide up ‑- "Whose side are you on?" Even in this little church, one sister sat on one side of the church, with the other sister on the other side. You kind of chose. For the next 70 years, those sisters up in their 90's, the church was still divided. That's what bitterness can do. It can wreck you.
You will be hurt in life, either intentionally or unintentionally. It's not so important the fact that you're going to get hurt in life. But what is important is how you choose to respond. Are you going to be bitter or are you going to be better? Jesus says, "I want to set you free from the poison of bitterness."
Ephesians 4:31-32 in the NIV says "31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."
If you forgive, you can move on, but if you harbor resentment, it ruins you.
What we like to do when we are hurt is get even. We want revenge. We want to retaliate. We get resentful, but resentment always hurts you more than the person you're resentful against.
Always.
It's like a boomerang. You throw it and it comes back and hits you. It's like shooting somebody: You're trying to hit him but, with the kick of the gun recoil you hurt yourself! Remember the radio program "Amos and Andy", later it was on TV? One time this guy kept coming up to Amos at work and slapping him on the chest. Amos said, "I'm going to get that guy! I'm going to strap a stick of dynamite to my chest. The next time he slaps me, it's going to blow his hand off!" That's about as wise as being resentful.
If you come and I say, "You make me so mad!" You walk off and you forget it. You're not even bothered by it. I'm home stewing and spewing. You're out having a great time. Whose the one who's being upset when you're resentful? Not the person you're resentful against. They've forgotten it and are out living their life. You're the one.
Some people like holding on to a hurt. They let somebody hurt them 5, 10, 15 years ago. Maybe in a divorce, maybe it was their parents, maybe somebody at school, somebody hurt them badly. They’re still holding onto that hurt. It’s dumb! Let go of it.
The Bible says, “Get rid of all bitterness and resentment”. Let Jesus Christ set you free from the burden of guilt and let Him set you free from the pain of resentment.
Who are you bitter against today? A parent? An old boyfriend? A husband? A wife? Child? You say, "But I just can't forgive that person! They hurt me too bad!"
That's why you need Jesus Christ. You need that supernatural power to let go of it for your own benefit. Then you learn what real freedom is all about.
When you're free from guilt and you're free from resentment, you can face anything in life, but when you hang on to either of those life gets tough!
There's a third thing Jesus said He wants to set you free from.
3. JESUS SAID HE WANTS TO SET YOU FREE FROM THE EXPECTATIONS OF OTHERS.
He said, "I want to set you free from the pressures to conform." The fact is, there are a lot of things in life that cause us to conform.
1 Thessalonians 2:4 (Phillips translation) "We don't aim to please men but to please God who knows us through and through."
Jesus says "I want you to be free to be yourself." We spend so much of our time trying to dress like other people, act like other people, talk like other people. A few years ago there was this big non-conformist movement. What was funny was that all the non-conformists conformed to each other! They acted alike, talked alike, looked alike, smelled alike. They were alike. Even in our nonconformity we conform to each other.
One of the greatest relaxing decisions of life is when you discover that Jesus wants to set you free from the pressures of conforming to others. One of the things about becoming a Christian is it simplifies life. All of a sudden you just say, "I'm going to center in on pleasing the Lord because if I'm pleasing the Lord, it will always be the right thing to do." Regardless of what other people think, if I'm doing what God wants me to do then that's what counts. That's what is important! Even God can't please everybody. When you come to the point that Jesus sets you free when you say, "God likes me and I like me. If you don't like me, what's your problem?" He wants to set you free from the pressures of conformity.
I was the president of my high school band and I used to get invited to a lot of parties. They'd say, "Let's go smoke some dope." I'd say, "No, thanks. Jesus set me free!" "Let's go pick up some chicks!" "No, thanks. Jesus set me free!" They'd say, "See there! That just proves you're restricted. All the Christian life is, is a bunch of don’ts. You can't do all those fun things." I'd say, "I could take all the drugs I want to take. I could get drunk all I want to get drunk. I could mess around with all the women I want to mess around with. The thing is, Jesus Christ changed my want to. I don't want to do those things any more. They're fake. They're plastic. They're phony! They're cheap thrills."
I want to tell you, adults are just as bad at conforming. We fall into the same traps. We say, "Watch me!" by the way I dress, by the car I drive, by the kind of house I live in and what I put up inside of it, and the bumper sticker I put on my car, the kind of jewelry I wear. "Watch me!"
The pressure with us is materialism. We buy things we don't need, with money we don't have, to impress people we don't even like. We're trying to conform. Who cares what other people think? We get so caught up in making a living we forget to make a life. The Bible says God wants to set us free. Free to be ourselves.
4. JESUS SAYS I WANT TO SET YOU FREE FROM THE CONTROL OF DESIRES.
In other words, those habits that you just can't control. How many times have I heard this phrase: "I just can't stop!" I hear it all the time. "I just can't get control." I see so many lives out of control. "I just can't stop _________." You fill in the blank. Whatever. Name it. What's your pet habit?
The Bible says that Jesus came to set us free from our own desires. John 8:34 & 36 "Jesus said, `Everyone who sins is a slave of sin. But if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.'" He's talking about bad habits, wrong thoughts, strong desires. There's a philosophy going around today -- hedonism. It says, "Do your own thing! If it feels good, do it. Whatever you want to do, do it." I actually saw part of an Oprah Winfrey show for a minute the other day. It was about swingers. A husband and wife were on there who engaged in this practice. They were both PhD accountants and had children together. Both of them saw nothing wrong with their lifestyle. The husband had the nerve to say they were free and wanted to be open. They’re not free. They’re a slave to their own desires.
Jesus said anybody who sins is a slave to sin.
There are certain laws that are always in action -- physical laws and moral laws. If I were to take you up on top of the Empire State Building and you look down over the side and you say, "I'm free to jump off." You are exactly right. You are free to jump off. Nobody's going to stop you. You're free to jump off. So you jump off. As you're going down, somebody looks out about twenty stories down and says, "How's it going?" You say, "So far so good."
A lot of people are like that. They're breaking every law in the book and say, "So far, so good!" They haven't hit bottom yet. There's a certain law that comes into effect. It's called the law of gravity. It has serious consequences when you ignore it. You come face to face with yourself.
You here people say, "I break all of God's laws." No, you don't break God's laws. They break you. Eventually you hit bottom. It's just a matter of time. You are free to do anything you want to do in life. You are free to live anyway you want to live. But the moment you make that decision, you are no longer free from the consequences. You are free to choose any lifestyle you want. You are not free from the consequences of that lifestyle. Regardless of what it is.
Years ago there was an article about Ernest Hemingway. The article talked about how Hemingway had no regard for God. He lived his life any old way he wanted to. He was quite an immoral man. He drank too much. He smoked too much. He had many illicit relationships. He pretty much did anything he wanted to do. At the end of the article it was bragging on how this guy lived his lifestyle ignoring common standards of society and was a tremendous, smashing success. The closing line of the article was this quote from the Bible. It said this, "`The wages of sin is death.' But obviously for Earnest Hemingway it paid off." And it left it like that. It wasn't six months after that article that Hemingway put a shotgun to his head and blew his brains out. He committed suicide. His last words were, "My life is as empty as in a vacuum tube in a television with the plug pulled out." He wasn't free. He was a slave to his own desires.
Look at what the Scripture says. Galatians 5:16-17 “16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”
God will help you have self-control. Self-control comes from Christ control
Some people are so open-minded their brains fall out! They don't think things through. Anything goes. We have a number of national epidemics right now that prove that.
What drive is out of control in your life? Ambition? "I want something so badly that I'm willing to sacrifice family and health to get it." What's out of control in your life? Jesus says, "I want to set you free from the power of sin that binds us, from the control of desires." Maybe you've got a temper. You just can't get control of it. Alexander the Great conquered the world as a young man, but he had one problem. He had an uncontrollable temper. One day in a fit of rage he struck his best friend who was his right hand general. He struck him and killed him by accident. He cried out, "I've conquered the world but I can't conquer my own soul!" Have you ever felt like that? "God, how come I just can't get this area under control in my life?" That's why you need Jesus Christ.
There's one other thing Jesus said "I've come to set you free from."
5. JESUS SAID HE WANTS TO SET YOU FREE FROM THE FEAR OF DEATH.
That's probably the greatest fear of all -- the fear of dying. Hebrews 2:14-15 “14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”
People don't like to talk about death. We don't like it. If you don't believe that, invite some friends over, set them down for coffee and say, "Let's talk about death!" See what kind of response you get.
We don't like to talk about death because most people aren't prepared for it. They don't know what's going to happen. They don't know what's going to happen in relationship to God. We always fear the unknown, but death is inevitable. It's a fact of life. The Bible says, "It's appointed unto man once to die." That's one appointment I'm not going to be late for. That's one appointment you're not going to be late for either. It's inevitable.
Death is a great equalizer. It doesn't matter how much money you make, how much education you've got. All of us are going to die one day. I think it's foolish to go all through life unprepared for something you know is going to happen eventually. I'm not saying be morbid and think about it continuously. I'm saying prepare for it then put it out of your mind. Life becomes so much more relaxing when you're ready for what's going to happen at the end of it. One guy told me, "I enjoy life so much more, that I'm ready for death."
The test of a person's religion is not how he acts in the happy times of life, the weddings, the bar-mitzvahs, the confirmations, the happy experiences of life, graduations. The test of a man's religion is how he reacts at funerals. I've lived in the Far East. I've seen what happens at Buddhist and Taoist funerals. I've seen the fear in their eyes. They have no idea what's going to happen. Jesus said, "I came to set you free from the fear of death." God doesn't want you to fear death. He wants you to know Him. He wants to be your friend. He wants you to have relationships but when it does come inevitably it's just a transfer on to better things.
What is it that's got you enslaved? Television? A bad habit? A temper you can't get control of? Some regrets you just can't get rid of and you're hounded by them, and the past is controlling your future. Some resentment? You spend half your time worrying about, "What are they doing right now, that other person who hurt me?" So you can't get on with today. The expectations, the pressures to conform. It's a great way to get an ulcer. You can't please everybody. Even God can't do that. How about the power of bad habits? The control of desires? Legitimate drives out of control cause chaos.
Prayer:
Lord, I want to give this time to you to let you speak to our hearts. If something has you trapped I invite you to give it to Him now. Let Him cleanse your conscience. Let Him clean your slate. Say, Jesus Christ, please forgive me for those things that I know that were wrong. Then say, "Lord, help me to forgive myself. Help me to accept Your forgiveness."
Lord, I believe that right now You're setting some people free from their burdens. Right now they sense Your love. They sense Your Spirit in their lives. It's like a mountain of pressure just sliding off their backs.
Jesus Christ, thank You so much for the good news of freedom. Freedom we have from the things that would bind us up and keep us from becoming all that You want us to be. In Jesus' name. Amen.