True Freedom: Choosing the Right Master

Oh, good morning.

It's not lunchtime yet, so hold on.

I'm going to be sharing today, and so I want to thank Pastor Stephen for the opportunity.

Today we're going to be talking about three things.

Probably a little bit more than that, but it was just this year that we celebrated the 250th anniversary of the United States of America, right?

July 4th, 1776.

It signified a turning point of inclusions and freedoms in a land that was occupied by several countries and people groups all fighting against one another for power and dominance.

With the establishment of one free nation, a declaration of independence was drawn up and signed as the law of the land.

The declaration declared rights that we were endowed with by our Creator, which included what?

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The right to life gives you a right to live.

You're allowed to live here.

The right to liberty gives us freedom and personal preference as to our religion, the things we say, and how we even vote.

It allows us to make choices about our own lives.

The Declaration of Independence also declared the freedom for the pursuit of happiness, which provides freedom to pursue our goals and our desires, things that make us happy.

The need for such a declaration can only signify that there once existed a time, a life outside of these rights, a time when people didn't have the right to live in freedom.

Between the early 1600s and the mid-1700s, driven by the promise of freedom, the colonists came, built communities, became established, and were tricked into thinking that they'd be free.

Yet they remained taxed and subject to British authority and rule.

And their only way out was prayer and the shedding of blood.

Can you imagine the celebration that came of finally being set free from bondage?

We sing songs about it every year.

We host fireworks, we walk in parades, we even go to carnivals, we eat hot dogs and hamburgers and macaroni salad.

Nothing says freedom like macaroni salad.

I've had pesto and it is one of my favorites.

Well, if you're familiar with God's word, you'd know that freedom is what the Bible is all about.

That God, through the blood of Jesus Christ, set us free before the foundation of the world.

There was freedom before becoming free.

And although this freedom is provided for all, all are not free.

Instead of living, many choose to stay bound to the very chains that they were loosed from and continue to live in slavery.

Slavery, you ask, yes.

Slavery to many things.

There are different kinds of slavery, you know.

There's slavery to sin, to unforgiveness, to wickedness, to bitterness, to sickness, to money, to thievery, to food, to drugs, to alcohol, to power, to vengeance, to work, to seduction.

And the list goes on and on and on.

Some unwillingly are slaves even to other gods, and they call it freedom of choice.

They endure the taxing of their very soul without representation.

Today I want to talk about freedoms that many have given up.

And it's really only because their view of what freedom is has become distorted.

They're looking through the wrong glasses.

They don't have the right prescription.

They see the things that they only want to fulfill their lust of their flesh, the lust of their eye and the pride of their life.

Did you ever put someone else's glasses on?

And they're not your prescription, and everything is blurry?

You know, you're doing like this sort of thing because you can't see.

Maybe you put somebody else's glasses on, and it's the first time you've seen clearly in a while.

I watched a video about a gentleman who found his wife's missing glasses.

And when he put them on, the house was a mess.

There was food all over the counter, trash overflowing out of the out of the barrel, clothes everywhere, and when he took them off, the house was sparkling clean.

He put them on, it's messy.

He takes them off and it's clean again.

And what does he say?

I gotta get rid of these things.

My dad used to find glasses laying around.

He'd put them on and say, These ain't Mayan.

As though the flower print didn't give it away.

I think of a dog with a cone on his head being offered a buffet table of the finest meats, the finest Valencia peanut butter, and all he has to do is turn around to enjoy them.

But his view is so tunneled that instead of seeing God's glory, he's only attracted to the vomit in front of him and he eats it.

The freedom of life was given long before 1776.

Genesis 2.7 says that God created man and breathed life into him at creation.

John 15, 5 says that apart from me there is no life.

You have the right to exist simply because God made you.

You exist to bring him glory.

You say, Well, this isn't freedom.

My choice is freedom.

Then I would say to you, to live any other way would be held captive by your finite thoughts.

It's like listening to the devil say, You shall not surely die.

Philippians 1.21 says that to live is Christ.

The freedom of life means waking up and knowing that the battle is won.

That there's no more chains holding you, but it requires a different view.

Having once looked through the eyes of sinful men, thy glory may not see.

And now looking through the eyes of Jesus, redemption draws near to me.

Let's look at John 10 10.

It says, the thief only comes to steal, to kill, and destroy.

But I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.

Freedom to live comes from Christ.

Another freedom many give up is liberty.

They use their free will to do whatever they want in sin, only to be held by the chains of moral accountability and the consequences for their actions for generations to come.

Where is your freedom?

You will answer to God for your conduct.

We pray for God's blessing on our finances, our health, our job, and take the liberty to abuse our vulnerabilities, become stressed and slave over provisions as though we're the ones who provided it in the first place.

It's a distorted view.

We practice liberty by putting chains on God and how He wants to bless us and bring favor on our life.

Galatians 5, 1 says, stand fast in the freedom, therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and not to be entangled again by the yoke of bondage.

You want true liberty?

Lay down your life for his will.

That's what Jesus did as an example to us when he said, Not my will, but thy will be done.

And because of what he did, liberty came for all.

Another freedom we give up is the pursuit of happiness.

Going after things that bring true joy.

We desire good things because God desires good things for us, because God can only give good because he is good.

But with distorted views, our eyes are bigger than our plate.

Our pursuit for happiness instead of contentment winds up being a pursuit for more.

We want more.

More sweets, more pasta, more chips, more sweet tea to wash down the more salt, more stuff, more power, more addiction to help alleviate the more, more money, more bills, more lust, because why not?

More is better, isn't it?

The more the merrier?

You ask a person, how much more do you need?

And what do they say?

A little bit more.

The pursuit of happiness turns into lust.

And because the worship and it becomes the worship of another God, a God that cannot redeem you from the very pit that He's lured you into.

We need to swap out the word happiness for blessed and make it our pursuit to be blessed by God, to seek his blessings, because his ways make us prosper.

Jeremiah 29, 11 says that he has plans to give you a hope or a future and a hope.

Matthew 5, 3 through 12, you'll see what blessed people are.

They're the ones who seek God.

They're the ones that are gentle, they're the ones who hunger and thirst after righteousness.

The blessed ones are the merciful, the ones that are pure in heart, the ones persecuted for righteousness' sake.

We must not fall into bondage of seeking the lusts of our flesh, the lust of our eye, and the pride of our life.

By them we are not free, but in fact we give up our freedom.

After removing the ties that bind us, we need to start freeing others.

You mean telling them the good news?

Absolutely.

But there's more.

As though we are slave owners of them.

Ask yourself, does the world revolve around you?

Are your feelings always hurt and everyone has to know it?

Does everyone walk on eg shells because you're so up and down and volatile?

Because you had a bad day?

We hold people in contempt because of our emotions, triggered by our weaknesses, our anger, mental health issues, our past, high blood pressure, hormones, a bad childhood, growing up poor, growing up rich, unforgiveness, bitterness.

And now everyone around us feels the wrath because we can't seem to function.

It's an outburst, it's a shutting down, it's a throwing something at them across the room, walking away, using violence, vulgarity, screaming, slamming the door, giving the silent treatment.

You've become the master of your domain, only to become a slave to your own mastership.

But the Lord redeems.

But you're not.

Because true freedom comes from a life of Christ and letting go of the chains that bind you.

If not today, you will have to decide at some point.

You can't escape it.

Eventually, you will have to pick a master.

There's no way out of it, and not even death can separate you from it.

Even your unbelief won't change it.

You just have a choice as to whom you will serve.

And you can't serve more than one.

Let's look at Matthew 6, 24.

It says, No one can serve two masters, for either you will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.

You can't serve God in wealth, God in possessions, God or the evil desires of your heart.

Joshua 24, 15 had it right when it challenged us to choose today whom you will serve.

1 Corinthians 6, 19 through 20.

It reminds us that you are not your own, that you have been bought with a price.

Therefore, glorify God in your body.

In God's love and mercy, he purchased you and yet still gives you a free will to choose him or not.

He doesn't lord over you.

But if you do choose him, he will set you free.

And you will no longer be a slave to sin, but a slave to righteousness.

Look at Romans 6.22.

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification, and in its end, you get eternal life.

Because of the one and only true God, you can have eternal life.

And that is far better than eternal damnation.

Maybe you're here and not ready to give up control.

And that's your right.

John 1.12 says, but as for many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God who believed in his name.

Are you tired of fighting a battle for freedom?

Matthew 11, 28 says, Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you.

For I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is comfortable and my burden is light.

And I want to ask who or what is your master?

And I want to claim freedom over your life by the power of the name of Jesus.

For if it is God you serve, then the love of the Father needs to be in you and evident in your life, in your speech, in your habits, in your text messages, in your movie choices, in the comedians you listen to, how you walk, how you behave, how you worship, how you conduct your businesses.

Galatians 5, 19 says that the acts of the flesh are obvious and they lead to death or the death of somebody else that you lord over.

If God has spoken to your heart today and you need true freedom, I want you to stand with me.

And I want you to just begin to say his name, Jesus.

Freedom over anything.

Maybe you've already given up, but the Lord's reminding you of that other thing.

Say the name of Jesus.

And why do we say his name?

Because the Bible says, whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

They shall be delivered.

The Bible says he will do it.

He will give it.

John 16, 24 says, When you call on his name, your joy will be made full.

His name casts out demons and bring forth a new tongue.

It will make you rise up and walk.

And there will be signs and wonders.

That's what his name does.

And we will call on him because he will answer.

That at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord.

Don't use your freedom to choose to live a life as a slave.

Proverbs 14, 12 says that there is a way that seems right unto a man, but in the end thereof it leads to destruction.

That if the Son has set you free, you are free indeed.