Title: Free Indeed
Date: 2007-07-15
Reference: Acts 16: 23-31
"Recorded in the 8th chapter of John’s Gospel, is an interesting exchange between Jesus and the Religious Teachers of his day. Jesus said: “If you keep on obeying what I have said you truly are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered, “We are Abraham’s children! We have never been anyone’s slaves. How can you say we will be set free?” Jesus replied: “I tell you for certain that anyone who sins is a slave of sin. If the Son gives you freedom, you are free. If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
The more we become like the Lord Jesus Christ, the more freedom we will experience. Freedom in life is controlled by truth and motivated by love. Bondage in life is controlled by lies and motivated by selfishness. Freedom is a result of our living in relationship with Jesus Christ and walking with him, talking with him, learning from him, serving him.
From the very beginning, the enemy has always used lies and falsehoods to bring us into bondage that leads to destruction. God uses truth to bring us into freedom and that freedom leads to fulfillment. The enemy has always been able to tell the most convincing lies.
For instance many very religious people, in the world today, believe if they become a human bomb and kill themselves along with other innocent people God will reward them in Paradise. It would take a very accomplished liar to convince someone of that.
The serpent promised our first parents, Adam and Eve, that they would become like God. His promise is the same today.”You shall be like God.” The world today is worshiping the creature rather than the creator. We no longer see ourselves as creatures who must be obedient to God. We see ourselves as the creator. This attitude leads to enslavement. Physical, mental, and spiritual enslavement. Our society is Me Centric. We have been taught the whole world revolves around me. In letting go of our selfish agendas and timetables, we discover the freedom God has for us.
God’s purpose for us is freedom and God’s method for freedom is truth. The truth is.”If the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed.” The person who is bound to Christ is truly free.
This freedom is deeper than any circumstances we may find ourselves in. In today’s Scripture reading Paul and Silas recognized a young woman was possessed by satanic power. Paul prayed over her and she was set free of her possession and healed by the power of God. Paul did not know she was owned by men who profited from her fortune telling. Having lost their source of revenue Paul and Silas were arrested, stripped, beaten, and put in the city prison.
Paul and Silas didn’t go into prison asking: “Why?” “What did I do to deserve this?” Rather than questioning God and complaining they prayed and praised God. They understood that no magistrate on this earth could truly take away the freedom they had in Christ.
God responded by shaking the foundations of the prison and opening all the doors and loosening the prisoner’s bonds.
They could have fled the dungeon to freedom but they remained where they were. The other prisoners realized there was something very special about these two Jewish Preachers.
Paul and Silas went into prison anticipating how the Holy Spirit would use this set of circumstances to further God’s work. They were seeking the blessing that would come out of the difficulty rather than concentrating on the adversity. They were able to do so because they knew the Son personally and they understood if the Son makes you free you will be free indeed.
Paul’s attention was fixed on the jailer, a man he wanted to win to Christ. Roman law was if a guard lost a prisoner, the guard would take the prisoner’s place and was given the same punishment the prisoner would have received. There must have been men in that prison who had committed capitol crimes. The jailer would rather commit suicide than face the pain, shame, and execution. A vengeful person would have let this cruel hearted jailer take his own life. Paul was not that kind of man. In this case the jailer was the prisoner, not Paul. Paul not only spared his life but pointed him to Eternal Life.
The jailer asked: “What must I do to be saved? What must I do to be truly free?” The legalistic persons in that day and age would have replied.”Unless you are circumcised and obey the rules you cannot be saved.” People all around us today, are asking the same question.”What must I do to be saved? To be truly free?” Legalistic, religious people today have the same answer.”Obey the rules.” The rules may have changed over the years but the attitude has not.
Paul knew the right answer, faith in Christ.
Because if the Son gives you freedom you are truly free. Later the jailer washed the wounds of Paul and Silas who were now his brothers in Christ. When the jailer truly found freedom in Christ he willingly picked up a servant’s towel and took on the role of a servant.
Martin and Grace Burnham served in the mission field in the Philippines for 17 years. They had three children all born on the mission field. On May 27th, 2001 they were celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary at a beach side resort when they were taken hostage by a militant terrorist group with ties to Osama bin Laden. They were chained to their guards and marched through the jungles for over 400 days. Their food was rationed, they endured 17 gunfights. Their health deteriorated but their faith remained strong. Martin said: “We may not leave this jungle alive, but at least we can leave this world serving the Lord with gladness.” This premonition led Martin to write a farewell letter to the children he would never see again. On June 7, 2002 Government Troops attacked the terrorist camp. Martin and Grace were caught in the cross fire. One bullet entered her leg another took his life.
During their captivity they lived as people who were free. They not only spoke of Jesus but lived like Jesus. They didn’t complain. They did their work and volunteered for more. Every night they were chained to a guard. Martin always wished his captors a good night and told them about Jesus. The Burnhams, like Paul and Silas before them, allowed God to use their sufferings for God’s glory. In this case who was free and who was enslaved.
Martin and Grace were in chains but they were truly free.
Their captors held the keys but they were enslaved by a hateful ideology. Because of Martin’s death nations around the world heard the name of Jesus. Millions heard of this man who loved Christ more than life.
A Chinese Pastor was sentenced to hard labor in a work camp. His crime was teaching about Jesus in a church that was not approved by the government. He spent his days knee deep in a cesspool of human waste. There he labored each and every day. The guards wouldn’t come near him unless they had to. So long as he did his job they left him alone. In that cesspool he found freedom he would not have had other places in the camp. He was free to sing hymns at the top of his voice. He was free to pray and praise God, to share his faith with other prisoners. In the eyes of others he was a helpless inmate, a victim. In his eyes he was absolutely free because the Son had made him so.
Victor Frankel was an inmate in a World War II concentration camp. Writing of his experiences he said: “The world may take everything you have.your clothes, your wedding ring, even your health. But there is one thing the world cannot take. The freedom to choose how you will respond.” The same is true for each of us today.
We don’t enjoy adverse conditions or seek out hardships. We pray to be spared such things. But if and when they happen our faith allows us the freedom to choose our attitude and response. Perspective makes all the difference in the world. How you respond to problems at work, at home, health problems, all depends on perspective. Paul says the Christian can rejoice even in tough times because we have hope and because we know God is working in our lives. We have perspective.
So long as we are in relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, we have and enjoy a freedom the world never really understands.
In Christ we are free. Truly free. Free of regret over the sins and mistakes of the past. Free of fear of the future. Free of anger. Free of loneliness. Free to begin life in new and exciting dimensions. Free to become all God intended us to be.
Sometimes Bumper Stickers can preach a good sermon. I saw one that said: “Freedom is Not Free.” I agree. The freedom we enjoy this day has been purchased and protected by the sacrifices of many over the years. Ultimate freedom was purchased once and for all on Calvary’s Cross by Jesus. We are free in Christ not to do whatever we want, but to be all that God wants us to be. We are liberated to use all circumstances to God’s glory. This is what freedom truly is."
