Kingdom Freedom – Week 5

At some point in your life you have delt with fear, guilt, shame and condemnation. Let’s see how Adam and Eve dealt with them in Genesis 3:6-7

⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,^[a] she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

The first instinct was to hide and this is the first step in isolation. We are not what we used to be so we try to cover up what we are. It’s like a mask we put on anytime we feel ashamed of who we are. We hide from ourselves just as much as we hide from others.

We think if we put on enough fig leaves and praise the lord at the same time nobody will realize we have any problems. Thankfully the real you will come out and you will be exposed in the presence of God. He doesn’t condemn you. Romans 8:1 says “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” and nothing will separate you from the love of Christ. (Romans 8:39).

Not only are you valuable but you are fearfully and wonderfully made. You contain a spark of the divine.  You have your Father’s eyes.  There is something within you so powerful, so majestic that once it encounters the divine love of God it tends to blossom into joy and peace and an irrational love of your neighbor.  It is there waiting.  It is glory. It is Kingdom Freedom.

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Kingdom Freedom – Week 4

We’re in the 4th week of a series called Kingdom Freedom. We’ve been talking about how we can never truly be free unless we are set free by God. All other freedom is temporary, but Kingdom Freedom is eternal. If you are still a slave to sin, it doesn’t matter how much to pretend to be free, you’re not truly free.

But I can’t finish this series without addressing what the Bible says about slavery. There’s this rumor spreading around the world that the Bible condones slavery, or that at least the Old Testament condones slavery, but is that true?

When we study Scripture, we can’t look for the verses to prove what we already think. We have to follow it, to trust it, to bow to it.

“When we come to the Bible and try to listen to its claims, we can easily misjudge those claims if we hear them only from within the framework of our own modern assumptions. Letting the Bible speak for itself, that is, letting it speak in its own terms, includes letting the Bible speak from within its own worldview rather than merely our own.”

– Vern Poythress

Luke 4:17-22
¹⁷ The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
    that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
¹⁹     and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.^[a]”

²⁰ He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. ²¹ Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”

²² Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

This passage is so helpful. Jesus is telling us WHY He game & what his goal is. “He has sent me to:” So listen up! Did He come to defeat Islam? To overthrow governments? To make the world more moral? No, He came to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free. Two of the Three things are about setting people free! Sin enslaves. So sinful people enslave. Sin enslaves eternally. So forgiven people are saved and are welcomed into Heaven.

Jesus came to give freedom! So what happened? Why doesn’t the world see the church as the world’s purveyors of freedom? I think it is largely because the church became moralists and moralism makes us judgmental separatists.

When the church becomes moralistic, we are nothing like Christ, who spent his time with prostitutes. So if we’re not moralists, what are we?

We are emancipators.

But that’s not the rumor. The rumor is that we’re racists and that the Bible is proslavery. So let’s look at what the Bible actually says about slavery.

Ephesians 6:5-6
⁵ Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. ⁶ Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart.

Yes it says slaves should obey masters, but that was for their own good, to protect them. If they didn’t obey their masters, their earthly masters who harm them. Then Paul says, “Masters, treat your slaves in the same way.” In the same way? He just told slaves to serve their masters sincerely. So now he’s telling masters to serve their slaves. That sounds like his advice for husbands and wives. Serve each other.

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Kingdom Freedom – Week 3

We’re in a series called Kingdom Freedom, and we’re focusing on the freedom that being a part of God’s Kingdom gives us. What is the Kingdom of God? When you read the phrase Kingdom in Scripture, I think it would be helpful for us to replace the word kingdom with rule, reign, or dominion.

God’s Kingdom is everything that he rules over. So if you have a big view of God’s power, then you think it’s a great kingdom, but if you have a weak view of God, it’s a weak kingdom.

The strength of a kingdom is determined by the strength of its king.

There’s this terrible idea that’s dominated our world since Adam in the garden. It’s the sin demonstrated in King Arthur (the Sword in the Stone) or in any Guy Ritchie movie or any Disney movie. They’re perpetuating: The great lie of you are the master of your domain.

If you are the king of your kingdom, your kingdom is weak.

You can pretend to be strong, but deep down you know your weaknesses. You know there are chinks in your armor. Well, eventually the enemy will find the weakness in your defenses. The world’s dominant worldview is Humanism.

When we pretend we’re in control, we really just hiding our flaws. How much time do you spend hiding your flaws? But you always get caught don’t you. Someone sees them. Jesus said

Luke 12:2-3

² The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. 

If you’ve got a secret sin, it’s not going to be secret for long. You will be found out. So surrender to God. Bring everything out into the light. Jesus continues:

³ Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!

The world talks a lot about “managing” mental health, managing anxiety, and managing addictions, but Jesus doesn’t want us to manage our addictions & our anxiety. He was to destroy them, to set us free!

If you are righteous, it’s because God made you righteous.

We are powerless to make ourselves good, to make ourselves holy. But what’s the result of being in a relationship with God? We call it the fruit of the spirit. When we are in relationships with God, HE changes us.

Galatians 5:22-23

²² But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

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Kingdom Freedom – Week 2

There is one goal for this message and it’s an invitation. I want all of us who call ourselves Christians to make a commitment to the Church. Recommit your life to the Church, prioritize it, to sacrifice for it. Why? Because without it, very few of us would have ever become Christians and those of us who did become Christians, wouldn’t have stayed that way.

My whole life I’ve heard people say, “Oh, church is old school. I don’t need church to be a Christian.” And there’s a little truth in both of those statements. The problem is, that person is almost always wrong. They almost always end up losing connection with God and run back to the church to reconnect. Christians who don’t make church a priority have two problems.

Dangers of trying to be a Christian apart from the Church:

1. De-conversion
2. Ineffectiveness

So today I want to make the case that these relationships (relationships with God and with people) actually help us grow. They help us become the people God created us to be.

Acts 12:5-7
While Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him. 6 The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. 7 Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists.

When we are in trouble, when we’re in pain, we need the church! There’s going to be a time in our life when you’re going to be alone or in pain, and you’re going to desperately want someone to help you, to be there with you. When everything seems good, we’re tempted to point fingers and judge people. But when we’re in chains, it’s hard to point fingers. When things get bad, we just hope and pray that people we judged will come to our rescue.

We like to point fingers at people who are in chains, but at some point, we’re all going to be in chains. So get this: The chains had to fall off of Peter first! Peter was in chains, and HE needed to be set free. Jesus said,

Matthew 7:5
Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

Make a commitment to take a next step in deepening your connection to the Church. Make a commitment to come to other Christians when you’re burdened and to support other Christians when they are burdened. Join a Life Group, volunteer, start tithing, take a step.

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Kingdom Freedom – Week 1

I want to tell you about a Navy Seal named Michael Monsoor. Michael was serving in Ramadi, Iraq. It was a terrible place then. There were loudspeakers all around the city with men yelling, “Kill the Americans!” and on September 29, 2006, Mike made the ultimate sacrifice for two of his friends.

They were on a roof and a grenade bounced off Mike’s chest. Mike could have escaped, but his friends couldn’t. So, he threw himself on the grenade & absorbed the blast. He died. His friends survived. One of the survivors said:

“Mikey looked death in the face that day and said, ‘You cannot take my brothers. I will go in their stead.'”

I watched the award ceremony where President Bush gave Michael’s Medal of Honor to his family, and it’s the only time I’ve ever seen a president of the United States cry.

The greatest act of love is giving up your life for someone else. It’s what Jesus did for us, and it’s what Michael did for his friends. – So what’s the point? Well, what does freedom require?

• Freedom requires sacrifice.
• Freedom requires responsibility.
• Freedom requires rules.
• Freedom requires surrender.

There is always someone trying to take your freedom from you, and that is true spiritually too. The satan wants to take your freedom. So he will tempt you with sin to make you a slave to sin.

¹² For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.

Ephesians 6:12-13

So we fight, but we don’t fight the way we would if we were fighting a physical battle. We don’t use physical weapons. When the church talks about freedom, too often we’re talking about physical freedom. But our freedom is better than physical freedom. God will set our minds & spirits free. It’s eternal, not temporary.

For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

2 Corinthians 3:17

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