A Heart of Freedom - Tim Martin

Good morning and welcome. It's good to see you all and a good many

new faces, so welcome here. I also want to welcome my son.

He came to join us here at Oregon today, maybe for more reason than

one. So that's all right, you know, last week or yesterday,

not last week or ready. Thank you brother Jordan, by the way,

for those for those devotional thoughts, and how easy it is for us to

to uh to just judge each other and to write each other off. And

I've been blessed by what I've seen you all, the way you all interact

with each other. And I especially enjoyed watching you all last night and talking

about lots of different things to each other. So that was great. Good

work to the committee we talked about yesterday. We began this with a disciplined

heart, and I told I made mention to the fact that this is quite

an aggressive start to the meetings. It was nine to twenty in the morning,

and we were going to get right into a disciplined heart. And I

think we had a bust time together thinking about that and wrestling with that.

And there was a couple items that I just wanted to review just a little

bit. First of all, I wanted to just recognize that change doesn't happen

quickly. And I would like to believe that through any of the teaching that

you received this weekend, that a major step happens in your life. Victory,

freedom, yeah, just success, your heart's desire, whatever it might

be. And that is a possibility. It's very real possibility. I would

never say that it's not. But as a rule, growth happens very incrementally.

It's a little step here, it's a little step there, right,

And that's what I'm praying for. I'm praying for those little steps and you

know I'm here. I'm here to wrestle with you through those. And yesterday

as we were as we were going through the sermons, we were thinking about

some hard things. I could see that playing out in some of your faces,

and that's okay. And for for someone who's speaking, that feels like

success and it feels like that that is where God's working. And I also

was very impressed with this truth is that it's really about what It's really about

what God does. You know, you can get the most dynamic speaker and

someone who can just unpack truths and do lots of things, and that's good.

I also appreciate that and I enjoy that. However, growth happens where

God works, and God works where you allow him to work. He's a

gentleman that way, and you know he would like to he would like to

work in your heart today. He'd like to work in my heart. This

whole weekends about the heart. When I first saw the program, I was

like, Wow, that's a lot of heart, and I'd like to give

you my heart in this as well, in this in this work, in

this study of freedom today. How important that is. So before we go

on any further, though, I would like to just pray about what I

talked about, that it's really the work of God's spirit that's going to make

the moves today. And i'd like just to recognize that in prayer. Let's

pray, Father God, we do come before you this morning. Lord,

Thank you. It's a new day. There's fresh possibilities and fresh grace.

Lord, you know that we're weak, and Lord, you even know all

about the brokenness. That well, it's here because there's many souls here,

and there's places of brokenness, there's places of bondage that I know you would

like to touch. I just pray this morning, that you'd help us not

to be resistant to that, but help us to have an openness to that.

Lord, I pray that you would do what only you can do,

and may you receive honor and glory. And we ask it in Jesus' name.

Amen. Amen. So one of the questions that I posed yesterday was

up here is up here behind me? Is it possible to be fulfilled?

Is it possible to be a fulfilled human being without violating the laws of God?

And I think we did acknowledge that on one hand, Well, let

me ask the question. What's the answer? Yes or no? What do

you think I'm listening? Yes, the answer is yes. Do we agree?

I see heads nodding. Could we answer that together? Yes, a

little bit more clearly? Yes, thank you. Now, I think the

question has an obvious answer, especially for those of us who've been around truth

for many years. However, why are we asking it? Because we struggle

in this area, don't we? We struggle around this question of fulfillment,

and certainly that it is the playground of our enemy to suggest that fulfillment is

found in areas that are at the very least gray, but likely beyond that

into sin. It's just the way it is, and so we we say

yes clearly this morning, but we struggle in this area and this. If

there's anything that you take home from you this weekend, if it sort of

rings in your mind, is this question, can I find fulfillment if I

just do what God wants me to do here? And the answer to that

is yes, you will. And that is I think key to this whole

area of freedom as well. You know, the heart of freedom is our

topic, and we've freedom's a big Freedom is a big deal. You know.

I did want to do a little search. How many lives have how

much blood has been shed, how many lives have been given in the pursuit

of freedom. Well, it's sort of a broad statement. First of all,

everybody's fighting for freedom, right, so it sort of fits. But

it just shows you how critical this idea and how big this idea of freedom

is. Everybody wants to be free, and obviously the US was based upon

that, this idea of this idea of freedom. Freedom to assemble, you

know, we have this, we're experiencing freedom this morning. We haven't asked

anyone for permission to meet in this building today. There wasn't any authority out

here that signed off was their brother Jean. Yeah, no one has criticized

the program, I mean out there, you know. And I haven't submitted

my sermon notes to anyone. Quite frankly now brother Kendall's song and I had

to think about that because I don't have a printer with me, and I

made some adjustments, so I had to have him print them off. Thank

you, by the way, for your work in the back and for supporting

this. I want to acknowledge that appreciate it. I didn't submit these notes,

and that's really really really important. Actually, I mean that means a

lot to us. That's how we've built our lives. It's all we know,

is my point, right, It's basically all we know. Oh,

we know how to bump up against the law. You get out here on

these streets and you go forty five in a twenty five, and you know

you're going to face the law. But our lives been built in a stable

freedom. So that's our that's our worldview, that's our experience. I would

suggest to you that the fact that we've experienced such broad freedoms also has maybe

dulled us in some ways as well. To what bondage or to what law

in order like that can look like. We'll think about that some more as

we go along. Turn with you to Luke chapter chapter chapter four as sort

of a inspiration verse for this topic. Now, I don't know this is

this is one of my one of my favorite This is one of my favorite

passages because we get to see into the heart of Christ here. It's really

a powerful moment, and Luke sort of compresses a story. But Jesus has

been baptized, he's gone into the wilderness, he's faced forty days a fasting,

he's faced Satan, and he's gone out now from there, and he's

already done some miracles. There's been some things going on, and he can

back to home, back to his home communities, and they invited him into

the tabernac or into the I'm sorry, into their place of worship synagogue to

read the Bible, to read the Old Testament. And so he got up

in that. He has arrived here. And you'll notice in of sixteen he

came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as his custom

was, he went into the synagogue and the Sabbath day and stood up for

to read. And there was delivered on him the book of the prophet Isaiahs.

And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it

is written, the spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath

anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to

heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of

sight to the blind, and to set at liberty them that are bruised,

to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book and

gave it to the minister and sat down, and the eyes of all them

that were in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began to say

unto them, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears? And they

all there was something about the reading of this verse. And as Jesus sat

down, everybody was like, where's he going with this? And he went

on then to let them know that this prophecy is about me. And we

know the confrontation that took place there. Liberty, freedom. Jesus is talking

about liberty. He's talking about healing broken heartedness, preaching deliverance, eyesight to

the blind. Wow, you know what do those verses mean to you.

Where does your go in those verses? Oh? Yeah, Jesus did heal

lots of people. He did that. See, as we go into this

study of freedom, one of the things that we need to understand is the

opposite of that. One of the things that we need to own. Freedom

is stands out in relief against the opposite, which is bondage. It's brokenness,

it's everything that Jesus was describing here. Jesus also said in John eight,

verse thirty six, if the Son therefore shall make you free, you

shall be free. Indeed, now, we just like to be free,

There's no doubt about it. We like the feeling of freedom. And yet

we also recognize that along with that comes a lot of possibilities, and our

flesh and the problem that we have brings us into captivity in ways that I

want to I want to consider today and I want to explore that here as

we go along. I think there's there's three there's three truths that are key

in understanding freedom, and I want to go through those three here this morning.

First of all, I already alluded to it. It's simply this great

need, great need. I must understand my slavery and bondage and brokenness.

I'm going to tell you a little story about a moment that I got to

see freedom being realized. About a year ago or so, I had the

I went to a home depot near our house on a Saturday afternoon, pulled

into the parking lot and the park I saw an older Ford camper sitting across

the parking lot and somebody underneath it. I could see somebody underneath it and

a lady sitting beside the camper on the curb, and I was like,

oh, wow, they must be having some problems. I wonder what's going

on with them. Well, i'll tell you what. I'm going to go

in and get what I need, come out, and if they're still there,

I'll talk with them. So I went and came back out. Yeah

they're still there, Okay. So walked over and began a conversation and it

began a friendship and relationship with a family, probably thirty year old Romanian family,

and they had literally I was as I heard their story as time went

on, as I understood their story because our relationship has extended for every year.

They were exactly they are the story of a family who sold everything they

had, maybe even borrowed and use that money to in the basically in the

black market to buy tickets to hopscotch across through different countries so that they could

end up in Mexico and be able to get a visa to come out on

the street and then walk across the border. That's what they did. Three

boys, little boys, and they made it. They made it into California.

They made it through the initial arrest. They ended up getting given the

usual come back and see us in two years paperwork, and they were come

back to the other as a family and through a Remainian connection, ended up

buying a cheap camper and they were just wondering about looking for work. Well

as I helped them. We helped them get a little of their camper situation

fixed and just became friends and had connections that went on for They traveled off

to Texas, but ended up coming back and living in a house trailer we

had on a property, and we're just trying to sort out their lives.

In many ways, there's some sort of impressive characteristics in many ways just you

know, a lot of brokenness as well. Right we're talking about bondage freedom.

He connected with somebody in the black market world who was selling knockoff Oakley

apple stuff, and he ran into the law. He ran into the law,

and the law ran into him hard, and he was throwing it.

He was picked up in Pennsylvania, and as soon as that flag popped up

in the federal system, the Feds came and picked him up, and he

was he was toast. He was locked up. And his wife they were

not living. They had they'd been out and about, you know, looking

for jobs and so on, and for a month or two she lived in

a car, and it was it was, it was pretty bad. It

was just we we were somewhat connected to that and listened to it and really

couldn't help. The only way we could help him is they came back to

our community, etc. However, as time went on, it sort of

became clear to us that the best way that we could help them was to

get him out of lock up. So my brother and I decided we were

going to do it. We were going to put up bond and get him

out of jail. So one day, one day, I drove four hours

east to Philly downtown to a little office, spent the day there, or

at least four hours there, from eight to noon and got the paperwork in

order and left from there and drove five hours back because he ended up being

locked up like an hour west of our house. And pulled into the parking

lot. It this huge complex back in the woods. I wasn't even aware

of it. I had seen the lights from it, knew there was some

big facility in there, huge federal facility. It's just interesting. Thousands of

people there from all over the world. And walked into this office and the

lady said, okay, she looked at my paperwork, looked at her paperwork.

Match she said, all right, pull over there along that fence and

watch the door on that side of the building. You'll see him come out

there. And then drive up around to the top side where the main gates

are up there, and he'll meet you. He'll be escorted up there.

Okay. So I sat there for the next hour and suddenly the door open,

out comes the lazar and out comes the guard and they walk up across

through this gated, through this fenced area, and I pulled up around and

parked and he was let through another checkpoint and there was about four guards standing

there and I'm standing there with my pickup and he walks out and haven't I

haven't had a man hang on to me like that ever before. He just

was he just was so thankful, so thankful. He just couldn't believe it.

He was sitting there with no hope because we weren't communicating hope to him.

We really didn't know what we were going to do. And he was

simply there in that jail that day and guard shows up and says, come

on, and he walked out the door. And you know, the other

thing was interesting for all the order that the guards were keeping when he was

given approval to come out, Hey wish you well, hope the best for

you. You know, they were giving them their encouragement. And as we

were leaving, he just he just it was a beautiful fall day and he

just was like, I have I just can't believe this. And as I

was pondering this sermon, I thought about that as an example of freedom he

really didn't appreciate. In fact, we thought sure he didn't appreciate his privileges

very well because he wasn't figuring out he was way outside of the laws of

the land to begin with. But there's a whole subculture of that in America

today. That's a whole other subject. So he's way outside of that.

It's like, how does this work? I mean, he's he looks like

he's in danger of being arrested any day. For some of us who were

close looking on, we wondered about it. And then he veered off to

the side and he did go over and do something illegal, and that's what

got him. What's my point? My point is is that he really didn't

understand his freedom until he was locked up. And I believe that's the same

for us. We need to understand our need. And I can tell you

the story a little, a little snippet of my own life. You know,

I was I was a pretty rambunctious young man. Still consider myself somewhat

of that. But I knew how to get into trouble and I had some

problems in my youth. I assume that's probably sort of similar to some of

the rest of you all. But my one need in particular that I thought

I had broken. Remember, remember you weren't here. Let's review information plus

inspiration plus will power equals and the question that I had yesterday does it equal

transformation? That was a question that we asked yesterday, does a whole bunch

of good teaching here this morning and me having inspiration and excited about it,

and you said, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it. We're

gonna make a change. Is that gonna get you? Transformation? Was the

question? And second we put up this equation a life of practice which means

incremental discipline choices repeated again, came up short here, press on again.

Does that plus the assembly the body, the local body, your friends,

your peers, your counselors, your parents, your church, that peace right

here, super important life of practice plus in community plus the power of the

Holy Spirit equals transformation. That does equal transformation. That's where transformation is more

than a possibility, It'll happen. And we conclude it up here. Now

we ended up with informed but defeated. Do you know what I'm talking about?

I thought so, and I think that's what we're thinking about this great

need this morning. My point is this morning, if you want to enjoy

and experience and treasure freedom, you need to understand we need to be refreshed

in our brokenness and our need. And that doesn't mean that we need to

walk around with our heads down saying I'm just a bad person. I'm just

a bad person. We need to know in our heart that's who we are

naturally, and we will naturally veer to that place unless we allow God to

keep doing what only he can do. And there'll be a little bit more

to that as we go along. Of course, there is great need.

My point is one of my needs was that I had a particular habit and

bondage around tobacco as a young man, and I thought I had I thought

I had informed, inspired and will powered my way out of that one.

Because it wasn't. It wasn't in my life. But as a young married,

young married man, one time I was shocked that I could fall into

that sin again. And it so frightened me because I realized that this will

power thing didn't cut it, and the possibility for me to fall into some

other great sin was there unless I was willing to do some really hard things.

And I was willing to do those hard things. So my point is

is that even as a young man, as you are, as a middle

aged man, and even as an old man, a brother, an older

brother who I respect, told me one day said Tim, I am more

impressed about my need of the blood of Jesus and the grace of God in

my life than I ever have been. And so my point is, this

is a life journey of understanding this need. And I would suggest to you

this morning that if you understand your need, that's so important, it's necessary,

but you will understand it more as you go along in life. It'll

become more clear to you. And that's okay because right along with that comes

a better understanding of freedom and salvation in Jesus Christ. And so a heart

of freedom I believe springs from an understanding of our need. Secondly, obviously

it springs from a great salvation. It springs from a great salvation. Obviously,

when Laser saw me that day, I was his savior. I had

saved him from that pit. Oh, he said, it's terrible in there.

And he talked about, you know, we got I brought him to

our house for supper, and my wife makes the best chicken and rice,

you know, And so we had some supper together and and I forget who

asked the question or what And he was like, well, I said,

we had rice every day. He was sort of hoping for something else.

Is just a little side note, but My point is is that salvation a

savior. I don't. I don't believe that I'm anybody's savior. My point

is is that that's what I felt like to him at that time, and

still today they have ended up returning to Romania, sort of went full circle

and are back there, and I think it's the right place for him to

be. But he's still you know, I'm still I'm still like his father,

and that's that's that's sort of special great salvation. Well, we understand

the plan of salvation, don't we? Is this too simple? See?

I believe that that we can have all of the best theory and and and

and I could throw out all kinds of beautiful quotes to you this morning,

but it comes down to very simple, solid truths of God's word, and

that is that. Well, if you'll turn with me to Romans chapter five,

I just want to read a couple of verses there. I want to

just refresh our understanding of our Savior, our salvation, and why it is

that we can experience freedom Romans five versus one on into therefore being justified by

faith. We have peace with God through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,

through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith

into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

There it is we have peace with God through our Lord Jees. We

have freedom through our Lord Jesus Christ first Timothy three to five, not by

works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy He

saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy goost. We're

thinking about, we're thinking about the kind of we're thinking about the kind of

capital, the kind of capital that I brought to that jail sale that day,

to that big federal lock up. There was nothing that he could do

to move himself outside of that circle. But I had some possibilities from the

outside. And that's what we're talking about in these verses. We couldn't move

ourselves outside of that. And I can take you to Bangladesh twelve years ago,

to a Muslim man, a man who's more passionate about his faith than

any one of us here. But he was misguided and he had some questions

about his own faith. And sat down with one of the believers there,

and I had the wonderful opportunity to sit down and listen to them discuss and

debate. And he kept asking, and then finally he asked a question.

He said, are you telling me that Mohammed is a wicked man? And

my friend looked over at me and said he'd asked the question to the two

of us that were sitting there. And my friend looked over at me and

said, be very careful. And so I just sat there and listened.

And my friend after a little bit, we were sitting there in the on

some plastic chairs under a tree, you know, in the dusty, dusty

lot in Bangladesh, and he took his finger, he drew a circle in

the dust, picked up little leaves, started laying him inside the circle.

He said, now, these leaves represent you and me. These leaves represent

all humanity. He didn't say, Muhammad, it represents all mankind. Now,

the Koran does teach that Jesus was perfect. There's only one person,

there's only one man that isn't inside the circle. My friend said, picked

up an underleaf, sat it on the outside, and he said, that's

Jesus Christ. All of us are trapped inside of this area of brokenness sin

everything we've just been talking about there's only one man, the man Jesus Christ,

and he said that man is the one who is offering the way,

the possibility, has the capital to open up that wall to bring others outside

of that circle. I don't know if we can understand how deeply a Muslim,

especially a sincere Muslim, holds his faith. But this was just shattering

this man's mind in his world. And he went home and he was sick.

He didn't eat for a couple of days because he couldn't deny that truth.

And to this day that man has become the greatest evangelist of Bangladesh,

and by the work of God, most certainly by the work of the Holy

Spirit through this man and others. There's a church, there's churches. There's

hundreds of souls baptized, committed, there's leaders, bishops, deacons, ministers,

ten to eleven years. That's what we're talking about. We're talking about

that kind of salvation. We're talking about that kind of understanding. And this

morning, if you and I want freedom, we need to lay hold on

that. That's where freedom is, that's where our salvation lies. That's what

breaks that bondage, and that's what changes everything. There is no other offer

that we can that we can give. And you have he quickened who were

dead. Ephesians two tells us who and you have heat quickened made alive who

were dead in trespasses and sins? Is that you was that you? Yes?

Yes, it is true that you can go up here to Portland,

or down here to Eugene, or over here to Salem, and you can

see brokenness that's beyond any brokenness that you've experienced in your life. Most likely

I don't know the story of all your lives, but most likely you could

see brokenness that's far beyond. But that doesn't change who's inside the circle.

And you and I need to understand that, Yes, even in our stable

environments and good homes and a number of other things that we have existed,

we we at some place understood that we were inside that circle with just as

condemned to persons as that person down there on the street. We have to

understand that when we understand that, we can begin to understand freedom, and

when we can begin to understand freedom, we can we can begin to experience

freedom. Isn't that what this is all about? Isn't this about understanding my

life of freedom. Isn't it about understanding the possibilities that exist in God's kingdom?

Isn't it about understanding the fulfillment of a human being that is not violating

the law of God? Isn't that what we're talking about. Isn't that what

we want? I would suggest you this morning, that is what every one

of you wants. However, you and I all know that there's some layers

that stand between it, and for some there's more than others. I would

acknowledge that I do it kindly. I do it in love. I just

know my life story and I know that we're that much alike. And so

in all of this, you and I also need to understand that we have

the choice. It's our choosing. Again, isn't that freedom? Freedom isn't

forced upon you. It's something you choose and we have been given. We

need to understand, we must understand. It. Almost sounds like we're back

in original instruction class. I'm sorry, but we must understand that we have

a choice. You decide choices everything, and so, young people, this

morning, our freedom is in Jesus Christ, free hearts, free minds,

No looking over your shoulder, no hidden closets, no fears, but peace

and rest and joy. Wow, is it just pie in the sky.

I understand, we're in the flesh and we do battle, and in that

battle there's pain, there's doubt, there's fear, there's failure. I recognize

all of that, and that's what sort of clouds some of this from time

to time. But I would I want to just push back against that,

and I hope I have and helping you to understand where you're going to find

freedom and understanding your brokenness as we already explored. And my second point this

morning, as we think about experiencing what we're talking about, See, freedom

is more than an idea. If it's just an idea, have you experienced

freedom? If this is just like pie in if this is just like an

idea, like a theory, a philosophy, I ask you, have you

experienced freedom? No? I think I don't think freedom is experienced as an

idea. Freedom is experienced as a reality, as something that you move out

into. And if the government could tell us you have freedom of religion all

day long, freedom to assemble, but if we never if we never actually

go do it. Have we experienced the freedom? I say, no,

we have it, and So this morning, that's what I'm thinking about.

How are we going to have this freedom? How are we going to actually

feel what we believe? I'll go with the feelings for a moment. How

are we going to experience that we're going to experience? And that's my third

point, and that is our great responsibility that you and I have. I

would also think of it as an opportunity that would be a little bit more

of a I actually sort of was split on should it be a responsibility or

should it be an opportunity. I'm going to go with responsibility because we need

that extra little push, I think, but it is an opportunity to experience

freedom. And this morning, again I understand that you are many of you

are, and I believe that all of us, even in our neediest situations,

do know what it's like and have experienced the freedoms of Jesus Christ.

And I would like us to think about, now, how do we grow

that, How do we walk out a little further into that? How is

that more part of my life every day? So I want to try to

work at tying together just a little bit from our thinking yesterday of discipline and

also the suggestion here in the program says this, how does freedom and relate

to biblical disciplines? And how can we learn to balance jesus teaching of law

and liberty in him? And I guess you all know there is a study

period here, no a discussion period coming up. And I have a number

of questions back here that you all were going to take back in the other

room and answer. And I'm not covering all those questions in this sermon this

morning, so it's not like it's some kind of test or something. But

then we're going to bring it back here. We're going to do some discussion.

But yes, it has some of these themes in it. And what

I'm thinking about right now is is this thing of responsibility? What is my

responsibility? How do I exercise this freedom and live and walk in it?

Well, if salvation is a gift and we receive it from Jesus Christ,

and the Bible teaches that if we confess with the mouth, if we believe

in our heart and we confess with our mouth, we will be saved,

that's true. What are our responsibilities? And I want to think about that

here In this fine point the word synergism is used. What's synergy? Well,

It is an interaction or cooperation of two or more agents that produced a

combined effect greater than the sum of their separate efforts. There isn't a thing

that you and I can do. Lazar was not able to break himself out

of that jail. Cell already brought that out. In that situation. I

was like the Savior. We talked about the circle and the leaves and Jesus

Christ being outside of that. We cannot produce that in any way possible.

We cannot do it. We understand that God provides that. It's through Jesus

Christ. It is grace, it's mercy, it's the provisions of salvation,

and we cannot do that of our own can't do it. There's talking about

synergy. Now we're talking about these two things coming together. This other piece,

this other component that comes together is your and my choice. It involves

faith, and it's more than that. Even it involves our exercising our disciplines.

Absolutely, and we're going to see that in scripture here as we go

along. But when those two come together, it does produce more, and

it produces and it opens up this possibility of freedom that I'm talking about.

Where we were actually walking out into that and experiencing it. And I think

I mentioned this yesterday, you know the old song, each victory will help

you some other to win. See, there's also a compounding effect of this

that as we experience that freedom and we broke this bondage and we find rest

in that, that does give us some additional fuel in the gas tank to

face more challenge, to win more victories. It absolutely does that. To

put it another way, or to maybe just to clear it, clean it

up a little bit. Man could never do for himself what God does for

him. God will never do for man what man has the ability to do

in response to God's provisions. And I think that pretty much in my mind,

that is the best way to lay out the Gospel and God's call upon

our lives. So if you would just turn with me to Romans six,

if you still have your Bible is open, I think these verses there's obviously

numerous places you could go that explores this, but these verses I think bringing

out so clearly we're thinking about responsibility. And you'll notice in verse well,

this, these these verses in the first opening number of verses, is teaching

about first of all, Christ was put to death on the cross, died

and was resurrected. And verse four, therefore we were buried with him by

baptism into death. That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by

the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of

life. Four. Right, Christ was buried, raised up. We two.

There's a death experience has to happen, must continue to happen in our

lives. It's not just a once and done. It's a journey. And

I see that my time is nearly nearly run out. Let's continue on,

knowing this that our old man is crucified with him in verse six, that

the body of sin might be destroyed. That henceforth we should not serve sin,

for that it is dead, is freed from sin. Now, if

we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.

Knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more death,

hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he

died unto sin once. But in that he liveth he liveth unto God.

Likewise, a couple verses here that we're going to look at likewise, reckon

you yourselves to be dead. Indeed, unto sin, but alive unto God

through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Therefore, let not sin. Therefore reign

in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lust thereof.

Neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto

God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as

instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you,

For you not under the law but under grace. What then shall we sin?

Because we are not under law but under grace. God forbid. Know

you not that to whom ye yield yourself servants to obey his servants, you

are to whom you obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto

righteousness. Notice verse twelve, let not sin, therefore rain. I actually

wanted to look at these verses in the negative they and talk to us about

bondage and how reigning is part of that. But here the actual heart of

this vers is don't let it happen. Don't let sin, therefore rain.

And that's when we think about our responsibilities. We're looking at instruction about what

we're to do and what we're to do is don't let sin rain. That

word rain means to be ruled, to king, to be king, to

reign in our lives. One of the ways that I've sometimes people can become

very disturbed because we haven't we just haven't got to perfection. It's just not

right. And because of that they become very discouraged and actually lose out.

And I want to make I want to make this clear that these verses are

talking about rain. As you'll see here, it's talking about dominion. In

verse fourteen, that word means to be lord of. Don't let send be

lord of your life. Also in verse sixteen, that verse means that word

servants means slave. It should just say slave. Know you not that to

whom you yield yourselves slaves to obey his slaves, you are to whom you

obey, whether of sinnace to death or of obedience into righteousness. So there

we're being taught that there is two masters in our lives possibilities, and we're

going to be slaved to one or the other, and to be slave to

our savior, to the one who says, come unto me, all you

that labor in our head, lady, and I will give you rest,

learn of me from meek and lilly and heart. That master is saying,

you're going to either be slave to me or you're going to be slaved to

the one that is here to destroy and to kill. And the one that

we recognize yesterday does not bring anything beautiful, does not bring pleasure or love,

but brings a twist of it all. And so there it is.

There's the relief, there's the there's the possibilities reckon. How in the world

are we supposed to reckon ourselves to be dead? That's also another word,

conclude, number reason. Yesterday we talked a lot about the mind. I

got a little carried away with the mind. I think there's a whole lot

that happens in the mind. Obviously the heart is a very treasured plot spaces

as well, but the mind is where the battle takes and and that's what

Fresh Corinthians is teaching us. We're not in a war that has guns.

We're in a war. We are in a war that has to do with

our mind, in our heart. And this idea of reckoning, concluding,

concluding, numbering, reasoning yourself as dead. And so it is true that

as we accept Jesus Christ by faith, that we need to begin to tally

to reason and to understand that He is our lord and we're not. That

we are no longer under the lordship of the powers of darkness. It's very

important. So there's a lot that goes on in the mind. How are

we to how are we to not be? Says here in verse twelve,

Let not send therefore rain. It is true. We talked about this some

yesterday. We're going to need to develop those disciplines. We're going to need

to cut some things off. We're going to need to decide that we're going

to have to stay busy. Maybe that's what we need to do. Maybe

we find a place. How do we do this to invest in others,

to become involved in other people's lives, and to give ourselves to that.

How else can we take responsibility to be part of this development in our lives

and experiencing freedom. We may need to I mentioned the young man who runs

five miles a day. We may need to just really involve ourselves in some

hard physical labor if that's what needed, or or development of ourselves as a

person that might help us. We may need to just cut out some apps.

Just do it. Just do it. Have you tried it? Just

do it. I would consider these meetings a success if at least one of

you, when you walked out of here, we just go over and delete

an app that you know is just a thorn in your spiritual life. Just

do it and experience the freedom overall. How are you going to this thing

of reigning over you? How are you going to do it? You need

to disrupt the patterns that are bringing the temptation and failure. Think about how

I end up in this spot. How does this thing no longer reign over

me? And disrupt the patterns experience freedom. See, there's a synergy here.

God said, I'm giving you this. The power of the Holy Spirit

is here for you. I'm going to be there with you in it.

Let's do it together. That's what God's asking for. How are we going

to this thing of dominion? How are we going to deal with that?

Here in these closing thoughts, how are we going to deal with dominion?

This word dominion is to be lord of, to have lordship over wow.

And so this morning I just want to challenge you. Don't bow to the

devil's lordship over you. What you and I must remember that we are dealing

with the lordship. Is you either either the powers of darkness are going to

have lordship over me, or the God of Heaven and earth, creator,

God who has provided my salvation and his promises to meet me there with the

grace to take me through that lordship. We need to decide. We need

to see the hard edge of death and destruction. And I suggested in the

outstart that perhaps we are softened very much by a life, but we haven't

really seen it. We haven't really felt the hard edge of death and destruction.

We haven't seen as much of it, and that's a blessing. However,

we may have lost sight of the actual struggle of life and death that

we're in. It's lost sight of it. And so i'd like, I'm

trying to wake us up to that again this morning. We've become lethargic,

and I would suggest we've become lazy. Same word. I wanted to add

another word. It's not very nice. We've become obese. We just sort

of we just sort of we don't really see it. And I think that

word I want to include just the technology that presses in upon us and all

the ways that we're distracted. So bear with me in that word. I

know that we all struggle with different things, but we've become soft, and

that's what's going on. We will be slaves. The question is to whom,

The question is to whom? You know? On one hand, there's

a task mask that's pressing upon us and lying in our ear and promising immediate

gratification. There's a lot right here. It's a good deal. You're gonna

love it. You're gonna love it. And then there's the burn of the

emptiness, the sting of the brokenness, and just the vacuum. There's more

to be had experiencing freedom, and so the others. The other task masker,

the other master, is reaching out with his hand and asking us for

your service, for your allegiance and the quiet swell of peace and rest and

yes, fulfillment, fulfillment. Mmmm. There's so many more verses. Wherefore

one Peter says one thirteen. Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind.

I can take it a bungle the ash again. I've been there a

few times. Take the loongy you know, gerd, when's the last time

you save someone that saw somebody gird something up. Well, not very often,

but you'll see it every day. Walk out to the rice field,

and that that skirt they wear, that's very very very very logical piece of

dress, actually believe it or not. And they'll gird that thing up so

basically it's just tied up around them like this, right, and they'll be

out there in that water and they'll be out there working with mud up to

their thighs, doing just fine. And that's what this verse is saying.

Gird up your loins of your mind like that, Get ready to do some

work. Gird up the loins of your mind. Be sober hope for the

grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Is obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance.

And so again I just see this work Romans twelve, verses one and

two. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,

that you present your bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable onto God, which

is your reasonable service, And be not transformed to this world, but be

conformed by the renewing of the mind, that you may prove what is that

good and acceptable and perfect will of God transformed doing, producing the perfect will

of God. That's God's call upon our lives, and we can do that

living sacrifice, reasonable service, proving the perfect will of God more great responsibility.

Colaussians one three, Verse one, If ye then be risen, familiar

verses right. If ye then be risen, seek those things which are about

mortify. Therefore your members. There it is upon us, young people,

if you want to experience freedom, about the grace of God and the provisions

of salvation. Those provisions of salvationation include the washing away of your sins,

the cleansing of your heart and soul. That salvation. When that is your

this morning, you can experience freedom today. Freedom. You see, we've

been created in the image and likeness of God, and God is still looking

for people to partner with him, to partner in this journey of freedom and

productivity. God's about productivity. He would like to see production. I'm telling

these people around here know how to make these fields produce. They're good husbandman's

and that's what God's doing. He would like to see fruits. He desires

fruits, and beyond that, he wants you to experience the freedom and success

of fruits in your life. That's what God's looking for, and he has

given us the tolls to do it. Will you be those people? Will

you be those young people? Free? Free to live and to show the

love and holiness of Almighty God in your eyes, in your actions, in

your speech. Be free. So I think we must move on. I

have abused my time, but we have we have questions at the back,

brother, how many groups do you think we should break into? Ten?

That's the that's the conclusion. So we're going to number one to ten across.

We'll start, just go across. Would that make sense? Back and

forth or start