What If I Don't Want To Be Free? JOhn 8:32

Bye. Sit at this time. Alrighty, alrighty, alrighty.

We're going to do the inspirational reading at

this time, or inspirational moment. as we call

it. This is that moment in time where we ask

ourselves, how has the Lord been moving? What

have we seen? What have we heard? What did you

read in the Bible this week? What's exciting

to you? Or maybe what speaks to you about the

last seven days? And then I will share, to close

this time, I'll share about our new six -month

emphasis. As you may or may not know, we do emphasize

one spiritual discipline for six months at a

time. We closed out the spiritual discipline

of stewardship with the end of the month of December.

We're beginning a new one, which will take us

through the end of the month of May. And so that's

where we're at. So how has God spoken to you

this week? What did you see? What did you hear?

So many of you know my dad, you know, was this

week. Pastor Dan gave the... And for the life

of me, I can't remember at this moment what verses

he used. But what touched me was the fact that

Pastor Dan said he learned from the verses from

my dad's life. And that was inspiring because

that was the guy. He was a fantastic Christian,

so I know where he is. All of you in here, you

don't know Jesus is your Lord and Savior. Please,

let him as your water. Thank you. Alright, who

else? The crazy part is, I kind of shared this

with Chris. I have been doing a Bible study.

You know, there's a lot of good devotionals.

If you don't know, check out 2Version. They have

a devotional for everything. I read this devotional.

It was like three days. But, you know, when people

lose someone, we're so quick to say my condolences.

I'm sorry for your loss. They call them the bereaved.

And the one deep thing that I read, and I want

to share with everybody, because you never know

when it might, you know, we don't know when we're

going to lose someone. Tomorrow's my promise.

They kind of explain when you lose someone, especially

a Christian. You know, you can't call someone

bereaved because when you get a job and you're

invested in your 401k, they don't call you bereaved

when you put your money, when you invest your

money in your 401k because you're going to get

that back. And so you have to remember our loved

ones, our Christian loved ones, our saved family

members, we're not losing them. We're investing

them into Jesus and we will see them again. We

will get them back as long as we continue to

live our life the way we're supposed to. One

of the best scriptures that I got from that...

Let's see if I can pull it back up. One of the

best scriptures that I found this week with that

Bible study was... is 1 Thessalonians 4, verse

1 Thessalonians 4:14

14. And it says, For if we believe that Jesus

died and rose again, even so God will bring with

him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. So

as long as you continue to believe those loved

ones that we invested in Jesus, we will see them

again. I know that means a lot to you with what

you want to hear. Okay, who else? Who else? I'm

behind you now. I'll get to you quickly. So,

I know I've shared this verse recently, but I'll

share it again for a different purpose this time.

In Romans 8 .28 says, And we know that in all

things God works for the good of those who love

Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

So, As an example, you feel called to do something,

but you feel that you don't have the ability

or the skill to do said thing. God loves you,

and if you are called according to His purpose,

He's going to equip you to do whatever it is

that He's calling you to do, regardless of your

feelings of your ability or not. One of the things

I like to say is God equips the called. He doesn't

call the equipped. Meaning, he's calling you

to a specific task, he's going to make sure that

you have everything at your disposal to complete

that task. Not the other way around. He's not

going to call people who already have those skills

or abilities because what kind of miraculous

thing would that be if he just called people

that already knew how to preach or people who

already knew how to play instruments or whatever.

Continue to seek God in all things. And when

something comes up, an opportunity comes up that

you think is outside your box, I would strongly

recommend that you consider it through prayer

and see if this is something that God is calling

you to do because He's going to make sure that

you have everything at your disposal to do it.

That's a good word. That's a good word. When

I got saved, I got to tell you that it was everything

in me that crossed the line of the box. All the

years since then, trying to stay kind of outside

the box and do the things that God has called

me to do that I don't necessarily feel comfortable

to do. Yeah, sometimes it rears its ugly head

and I'll fall back in. I'll go, I don't want

to do that. Maybe I'll be lazy or I'll be weak.

But by, you know, repent, confess unto the Lord

and he strengthens me. And he is faithful and

just and cleanses me from all unrighteousness.

I'm grateful. The pet's true because I eat that

every day. But that box, it's like it's stalking

me. Because in my box, I don't talk to you now.

I don't preach. I don't teach. I don't talk to

strangers. That's my box. And so most of everything

that I've been called to do is way so far outside

the box that I can hardly remember where it's

at. But then it's real easy for me to, it creeps

up on me and I don't want to stop doing what

I'm supposed to be doing. So that's a really

good word. Okay, anybody else? All right. So

let me share with you. So our spiritual emphasis.

For the next six months, roughly, and we'll actually

be a little bit less than six months, we'll be

through the last week of May. And so with the

Christmas season, our emphasis on the birth of

Christ and celebrating that and so on, we've

held off until the beginning of this week. Today

is the beginning of the week, right? We don't

celebrate on the seventh day of the week. We

celebrate on the first day of the week, the day

that Jesus rose from the dead. And so today is

the beginning of the week, and we go through

our anniversary, which is May 22nd. And so that

was the anniversary for the birth of the church,

the constitution of the church, and also for

the birth of Brother Tony. And so we'll celebrate

through that day. And that's the second one,

just a coincidence. But anyway, so our discipline

will be silence and solitude. Silence and solitude.

So very briefly, I'm going to describe to you

what it is. And we're not going to get into how

to do it. We'll talk about that during our lessons.

It'll be in a certain time. We'll do a little

bit more during our special reading later. But

not to belabor the point, but silence is solitude.

So silence is being quiet when there is no noise

or no disruption, no distraction. You're not

talking. And that might be a chief thing. You're

not talking when silence. But ideally, no one

else is talking. So you're not in the middle

of a conversation. You just stop and be quiet

and try. to focus or whatever while somebody's

still yammering at you, maybe about something

important, maybe not about something not important.

So silence is when there's very little sound.

Total silence would be no sound. So that would

be not the hum of the lights, not the hum of

the heater, not the breathing, not the rustling,

not the moving of cloth in the room, not the

scratching on the chairs, not the children playing.

Total silence is when there is no sound whatsoever.

But the silence that Scripture is talking about

is something, nothing that will interfere with

your ability to focus on God. And then solitude

is aloneness. Solitude has that same beginning

of the root word, solo. Sol means alone, oneness,

independent, apart. And so you have to get away.

To have solitude, you have to get away from people.

So with people, you can have silence. You can

be with other people and have silence. And yet

sometimes, especially now, believers will have

a moment of silence. During that moment of silence,

we should be talking to and listening to God.

So they may not be because they don't believe

in God or they're not there in their relationship.

But if somebody has a moment of silence, we should

be talking to and listening to God. Not necessarily

talking out loud, because then that would be

creating the silence. But in our minds, directing

our attention to the Lord and listening to the

Lord. And in solitude, you cannot do that with

other people. You cannot even go... Now, a man

and a woman who are married and have a good,

healthy relationship in their marriage... could

theoretically do it together because they are

generally considered one person. So you could

go away with your spouse and have solitude. That

is possible. Although, because both people are

still humans, it is also challenging to have

solitude with your loved one who is your spouse.

But solitude is aloneness. So just to give you

one piece to take with you, Psalm 46 .10, which

says, Be still. and know that I am the Lord,

that I am God. And it is peace in the Lord. What

you'll find a lot of times when you try to have

silence is that there are other voices that don't

come from models. It could be your self -talk.

You're talking about yourself. Do I look good?

Did I do right? Did I do that wrong? How am I

going to get my bill paid? Is the heat in the

room too warm? Whatever. Did I wear enough deodorant?

Whatever your self -talk is, those kinds of things.

you need to shut that down. It's not silent until

you shut that down. And then there's evil spirits

as well. The enemy will speak. And usually the

enemy will speak things that either intentionally

make you feel bad, so it's clear and obvious

that they intend to make you feel bad, or by

a roundabout way to make you feel bad. And be

aware that the enemy, just like I could say to

you, to start a sentence with I, the enemy can

do the same thing. So he can speak into your

heart or mind saying, I am a bad person. And

then you can be confused because you're hearing

a voice in your head saying, I am a bad person.

So you think you're saying, you think it's you

thinking you're a bad person. And so the enemy

can do that kind of thing. So silence is when

we rebuke our own self -talk and we rebuke the

talk of the enemy and we listen only to the voice

of God. Okay? You can't rebuke God and tell him

not to talk. If we ever did that, it would be

very disrespectful. So, silence and solitude.

So, one last thing. In the interest of understanding

the beginning of the pursuit of silence and solitude,

we are going to strive as a larger group, not

for solitude, because we can't do that together,

but for silence, for exactly 30 seconds. Okay?

So, If you have a young child with you, you can

caution them. We're going to play the silent

game for 30 seconds. We're going to strive for

silence for 30 seconds. During this time, if

you hear voices that are not your own in your

head, then in your head, or even if you have

to whisper out loud, you better say it out loud.

You say, leave me alone in the name of Jesus.

Say it out loud because they can't necessarily

read your thoughts. And if it's your own talk,

then you just shut up inside you. Just keep saying,

no, I'm not going to think about that right now.

Just let 30 seconds of silence. Here we go. Give

it a try. You still know that he is God. Beginning

now. quiet time, a little singing, a little prayer,

and a little whatever helps. would say. Word

of God has been I find myself in the midst of

you. Is to be with you. And in the quiet. Hear

your voice. Word of God speak. Please stay with

us. Don't organize us. We're God's people. Thank

you. I want to share with you that the references

that you see on the screen, if you're a person

who follows along, and I encourage you to do

so, the John reference is from John chapter 8,

John 8 · chapter mention

not John chapter 3. However, we will be briefly

John 3 · chapter mention

in John chapter 3 while we're through. And I

John 3 · chapter mention

have two more things to share with you, and then

we'll jump into this. The first thing is, I want

you to understand that when I began this sermon,

preparing for this sermon, which I really did

on Tuesday, I thought, man, this is going to

be simple and easy, and I love this topic, and

it's something I've talked about before. But

by the time I was through, I discovered that

there was much more here than meets the eye.

And so you'll need your thinking caps, and you'll

need to be prepared to listen to what God has

to say, and I hope I will do a good job of conveying

what I've discovered. I hope. The second thing

is we're going to do a little object lesson.

So I need two people, two young people preferably,

who would volunteer to come up here and play

a little game. Back up. In here. Okay. So we're

going to play the world's smallest game of tag.

Okay? The boundaries are right here at the chairs.

You can't go past that. Right here at the edge

of the door here and right there at the edge

of the door there. Okay? That's the entire field

for tag. Alright? So we're going to start. Becca's

it and tap backs are allowed. Go! Who's it? Okay.

Aaron thinks it's him. What do you think? Could

you tell? Okay. Thank you very much. It's kind

of hard to tell, isn't it? If you play tap backs

or a lot and you play with somebody who's pretty

quick to tap you back, sometimes it's hard to

tell whether you're it or they are. You feel

that tap and you're like, you're pretty sure.

But somebody else is watching and they're not

sure. So you get in there and tap back real fast

like that. And then both people run and everybody's

going, who's it? Who's it? because they're all

trying to run from the person that's it. So I

want you to bear that in mind as we look at the

text today. I want to share a little story with

you. Years ago, I was in fourth grade, and I

fell madly in love with a young girl who was

in my class. She was not my first love. I fell

madly in love the first time in kindergarten.

I was an early bloomer. Anyway, she was cute.

She was short. Most of me are cute. She was shorter

than everybody in our class by at least a foot.

She had long hair. And I used to try to catch

her eye, try to get her attention, try to get

her favor. I'd bring her little gifts and say

positive things. And once I gave her a little

necklace, my mom gave it to me so I could give

it to her. She was starting to get a little creeped

out at the time, so she didn't receive it too

positively. But then we went out to recess, and

one of the boys in our class, who was easily

a foot taller than me, and he was athletic, very

athletic and strong, and everybody thought he

was that, took the necklace and he ran. He was

playing keep away from her. And while I thought

at first that she didn't really care about the

necklace, all of a sudden she was pretty worked

up about that necklace and not having it. And

so she called on a couple of the other boys in

the class to get the necklace back. She called

on some girls who were her friends and had this

whole passel of people chasing him around trying

to get this necklace back while she was sort

of walking along behind crying. And I thought,

oh man, here's my chance. And I leapt on my high

horse. And I charged that big boy down who was

faster than me and stronger than me. And I tackled

him to the ground. And I broke him. And he lay

there and he bawled like a baby. And I thought,

I am the hero. I am mighty. I have conquered

him. And then I got in trouble with the teachers.

And I thought, well, at least I succeeded. I

got the necklace back and I gave it back to her.

And I got in trouble with the teachers and had

to sit the rest of recess. And then we went in.

She walked over to me. And she scolded me badly

for hurting him. And said, that was not right.

And I said, I don't understand. And she just

walked away. And that was the end of our long

love affair. And it was pretty obvious to me

that she didn't like me. Even though I had gotten

back for her that which no one could get back

for her. What if you didn't want to be free?

In the Bible, in Exodus chapter 21, there's a

Exodus 21 · chapter mention

passage of Scripture. I threw that one at you

fast so that no one would hoot and holler because

it's not our target. But I want you to hear what

it says. Exodus chapter 21, verses 5 and 6. It

Exodus 21:5

says, But if the slave plainly says, I love my

master, my wife and my children, I will not go

out as a free man. Then his master shall bring

him to God. or the phrase that's there actually

doesn't necessarily mean God, but God or God's

representative. It's talking about bringing him

to the court or to the high priest or whatever.

It says, shall bring him to God. Then he shall

bring him to the door or the doorpost of his

house. And his master shall pierce his ear with

an awl, which is a little spike. You use kind

of a painful process, but more painful than today

getting your ears pierced, but not, you know,

horrible. And he shall serve him permanently.

And I ask you to think for a moment, what are

some reasons that a slave would not want to be

set free? Well, some are contained in the text.

He might have a wife and children. And if he

has a wife and a child, if the master, the text

says, if the master provided the wife and the

child for him, and he goes free, the wife and

the child stays with the master because they

belong, they're his property. So he'd have to

leave his wife and children. And so if he loved

his wife and children, either emotionally, psychologically,

If he felt responsible for them, for their safety

or for their care, he would want to stay. He

wouldn't want to be set free. If his master was

a just and kind master, and he thought, well,

I have to go out in the world and fend for myself,

and it would be uncomfortable to go out and fend

for himself, well, then he might not want to

be set free. Maybe he's living in a good house

with plenty of supplies, doesn't have to get

a job, doesn't have to pay his own bills, and

so it seems like it's easier, it's less work.

to stay there than to be set free. There might

be other reasons as well. But if the master is

a bad master and he has beat him and he has hurt

him, whatever, he'd be better to go free even

if his wife and children were not able to go

free so that he could go earn the money so that

he could buy his wife and children and set them

free. This is the only chance they have. They're

never going to be free from this evil master

unless he goes and does the work himself. no

one is going to set them free. And if he has

a bad master, then even if he lives in a good

house with plenty of supplies, he's probably

ill -treated and doesn't have access to the good

things, and so there would be plenty of reason

to want to go free. So it has to be an all -around

good situation to not want to be set free, doesn't

it? I wish that were so. I want you to imagine

in your mind for a moment two gray blobs. They

don't have legs. They don't have tails. They

don't have heads. They don't have faces. They're

not cute little animals. They don't have smiling

faces like a little gray ball emoji. But I want

you to imagine for a moment two gray blobs, and

one of the gray blobs is chasing the other gray

blob around and occasionally punishes it or stomps

it into the ground. And then suddenly the situation

is reversed, and the other gray blob chases the

first one around for a while and occasionally

stomps it into the ground. They're playing a

game of cat and mouse. Because one occasionally

gets the upper hand, or seems to, the game never

quits. The title of this sermon is, Why Would

Someone Not Want to Be Free? Or, What If Someone

Didn't Want to Be Free? But it could very easily

be entitled, Be the Cat Blob. Be the Cat Blob.

There's a thing called Stockholm Syndrome in

one of my favorite spy movies of all time. The

spy breaks in, defeats all the villains, frees

the victim, and then turns to fight the way out

to get the victim out, and the victim shoots

him in the back. Stockholm Syndrome is when those

who are captive begin to sympathize with those

who have them captive. think there's a kind of

a love or a desire to be with that person, even

to the point that they will resist being freed.

It's a real thing. And now, this is the key text

I think today, and if you would go there with

me, maybe say amen, hoot, holler, shout, yell

yahtzee, I don't know. Don't say uno because

it's not the only text, but you can say uno if

you want. It's okay. John chapter 8, verse 32.

John 8:32

Amen! Dos. There you go. It's a new version of

uno. There you go. It says this, and I'm actually

reading from 31. Then said Jesus to those Jews

which believed on him, If ye continue in my word,

then are ye my disciples indeed. So, to be clear

of the players here, Jesus, who was the Son of

God in the flesh, knew the heart of God and the

desire to bring people to himself. said to the

Jews who were there, they were Jews, which means

they were the chosen people of God, expecting

the Messiah, expecting God to work on their behalf,

expecting God to free them, right? But not just

Jews, they believed in Jesus. So, to the Jews

who believed in Jesus, now this is getting to

be a fairly smaller group out of the larger group,

right? To the Jews who believed in Jesus, he

says these following statements, if you continue

in my word, Then are ye my disciples indeed.

In other words, if you continue in the teachings

that I have taught, and he was teaching the word

of God, the Old Testament, what it meant, and

then he was teaching how to live it out, the

application, the wisdom that extends from the

Old Testament. Then are ye my disciples indeed.

In other words, then are you my followers. A

disciple is somebody who believes the teachings

of a teacher and then can teach the teachings

of a teacher, live out, apply the teachings of

that teacher. And he goes on to say, And ye shall

know the truth, and the truth shall make ye free.

Now before we go any further, I want you to see

this. This is huge. They're about to have a problem

with what he said. But their problem with what

he said is not in the being a disciple. You get

it? It's not like they were willing to be his

disciple. They were Jews who had believed in

him. They were willing to be his disciple. But

then he qualifies being his disciple as continuing

in his word. And I submit to you that they were

willing to continue in his word. Except he says,

and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall

make you free. And now they have a problem. They

answered him, we be Abraham's seed, and we're

never in bondage to any man. In other words,

we've been free our whole lives. We've never

been owned as slaves. And we submit only to God.

That's what they say. How sayest thou, ye shall

be made free? See, they don't have a problem

with being a disciple. They don't have a problem

with continuing in His Word. I want to submit

to you, they don't even think they have a problem

with knowing the truth. But they nitpick the

one thing that they have a problem with when

He says they are not free. Jesus answered them,

Verily, verily, I say unto you. In other words,

this is absolutely true. Absolutely true. I say

unto you. Whosoever committeth sin is the servant

of sin. So herein lies the problem. People lie

and they are now the servant of that lie or of

the sin that they do. They are stuck. They have

a master, someone in control of them. So they

did have a master, you see. But they deny that

they have a master. But they did have a master

because they had sin. All have sin and fall short

of the glory of God. And Jesus said, And the

servant abideth not in the house forever. In

other words, this is a temporary state. But the

son abideth ever. In other words, forever. Continuing.

Ongoing. If the son therefore make you free,

ye shall be free indeed. Notice, if I make you

free, you will be free indeed. So we could say

of them that maybe they don't get it. They don't

understand. They're ignorant. They don't understand

that in sinning against God, they have become

captive to the sin that they sinned. That would

be probably the nicest way of observing them

if you were going to. But they have believed

Jesus. They have believed... in Jesus and of

Jesus at this point in time. And so what I submit

to you is that it's not so much that they are

ignorant that they don't see that they have sin

and that sin captivates a man, but that they

are unwilling to be free, unwilling to transition

from where they are in their sin to where Jesus

wants them to be. We'll see a few points first.

And then I'll give you the evidence on how we

know that to be true. The first thing I want

you to see in here is that there are two types

of people. Jesus is making a shift. He's drawing

a line in the sand. There are two types of people.

There are non -followers. And the fact is that

non -followers of Jesus are in bondage. They

are slaves. They are servants. You do what you

do because you have done it. You are who you

are trapped in what you have done. even as a

believer, I can sit and think about times that

I have done things that I know now were wrong,

and I can feel those things encroach upon me.

Surely you've been sitting, sipping a cup of

coffee or watching a TV show or whatever, and

you wind up daydreaming, thinking about what

you said or did, the evil that you've done, and

that impresses upon you the kind of person that

you are. Or, You tell a lie and you seem to get

away with it and it gets you what you want. And

now you know you can do that. That is a capability

that you have. Like a child learns to walk or

learns to talk, you are capable of telling a

little lie and getting what you want. So now

you are equipped and you know you are equipped

to do that thing again. And so the world will

open up again. And you will have to make a choice

again. And when it seems prudent to do so, you

will lie again. Notice what I said. When it seems

prudent to do so, when it seems like wisdom to

do so. It's not wisdom to do so, because as long

as you allow yourself that, let's call it a luxury,

or that avenue, you will always have that avenue

as an option. And as long as you have it as an

option, then that's the kind of person that you

are. A liar. You say, no, no, I only lied once.

If you lie, and keep the avenue open that you

can do it again, then you are a liar. Even if

you say, well, I haven't lied in 10 years. If

you're keeping the avenue open again to do it

again, then you are a liar. There are two types

of people. Non -followers. The non -followers,

they are, according to Jesus, they are in bondage.

They do what they do because they have done it

before. The question is, do they do what they

do because they want to? Do they do it because

they're afraid of being something different?

Do they continue because they are comfortable

in their certain situation? We were doing street

ministry over on Platt Street and I knocked on

a woman's door and we were doing fumble forward.

So the idea was to say, you know, we have a new

church. We think somebody might be interested

in getting involved in the new church. Might

you be one? She said, maybe. I said, can we tell

you what we believe? And I explained the gospel

to her. And in my explanation of the gospel,

I used the word trust. And she said, well now

see, here's the rub. I can't come to Jesus. I

can't follow Jesus because I've had so many experiences

in my life with people betraying me. My husband

cheated on me with another woman and eventually

left me. He left me in a rut. I lost my house.

Then they sued, took my kids away, whatever.

So many people have betrayed me that I... cannot

trust. I have a hard time trusting anyone. And

I explained to her, and I said, I understand

that, and I don't trust humans in general. I

might trust them with minor things, or I might

trust what they say until I know that they can't,

things like that. But I don't generally trust

people, but you can trust Jesus. Because Jesus

is there for you even beyond death. Even unto

a new life. Even unto you, with every moment

of every day, He'll be there, and He keeps all

of His promises. You can trust Jesus. And she

said, you say that, but I am standing here as

a person today and I am telling you, I cannot

trust. Not any person or Jesus. And I said, by

that do you mean you cannot believe in Jesus?

You cannot accept that Jesus paid the price for

your sins and that he wants something better

for you? And she said, yes. That's what I'm saying.

And I would probably normally not have done this,

but... I felt the Spirit prompt me at that time,

and I said, well, I'm sorry to say, if that truly

is, I don't believe that's true. I believe that

a fresh start in Jesus would allow you to trust,

but if that's true, if you are absolutely correct,

then you cannot be saved. If what you are saying

is true. I don't believe it is, but if it's true,

you cannot be saved. So what I'm asking you to

do is to continue to be open to the possibility

that you do still have the ability to trust,

and you could trust Jesus for salvation. She

didn't get saved that day. I don't know if she

ever did. I'm telling you as an illustration.

Understand that some people, because of what

they have experienced, because of what they think

is true, they're comfortable in their present

spot or maybe they're not comfortable. They fear

moving off of that spot because they cannot trust

or they think they cannot trust. And then, of

course, there's ignorance. Some people are part

of the non -follower group because they do not

know. This is our bread and butter, by the way.

This is where we go and we explain to them the

truth and they go, you know, that's interesting.

I guess I've sort of always known that to be

true in my heart, but I've never experienced

it personally. And they accept Jesus right away.

As soon as they know the truth, they know what

God has done and that forgiveness of sins is

available now. The remittance of sins is available

because of the sacrifice of Christ. They accept.

That's our bread and butter. Those are the easy

people to reach. And because of that, some people...

Just don't try to reach people at all because

they can't find those people and they're afraid

of what the other people are going to do. The

second group is followers. Some folks believe

in Jesus and they pursue righteousness. They

live out their lives trying to be a follower

of the Lord. Even though we get our righteousness

from Jesus to pursue righteousness is to try

to do what's right. And they do that. And according

to what Jesus is saying here, those people experience

freedom. They're finally set free. But notice

that it's in the sanctification, not in the salvation.

Now we've got to stop because those are big kind

of yucky Christian words. Sanctification is that

word that means from the moment you believe,

you continue to reach new heights in Jesus, hence

the slogan of our church, if you will. You continue

to reach new heights in Jesus, and in the new

steps and the new heights and the growth that

you experience, God reveals new things in you.

He gifts you in new ways. He makes you stronger.

He grows you. And in that growth, according to

Jesus, not my words, but His words, because what

He said was, if you continue in My Word, then

are ye My disciples indeed, and you shall know

the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

They were already believing in Jesus. So, in

this group, there are those who believe in Jesus,

continue in His Word, and find freedom. But notice

that there are also those, because they were

those, who believe in Jesus, do not continue

in His Word, or stumble in His Word, if you want

to say that, and they do not find freedom. That's

tough. When I was living up in Michigan, in the

early days, and we were driving back and forth

to Toledo all the time, we were serving at East

Luton Baptist Church, I started gaining a little

bit of weight. Pretty soon, For the first time

in my life, I weighed over 210 pounds. That never

happened to me before. And then as I realized

that was happening, I started to try to take

some steps and whatever, and I felt like I, I

mean, it just really felt like I didn't have

any energy and stuff, and so that kind of was

a clue. Now I look back, and I remember there

was a day. There was a day when I went into my

closet. Our bedroom up there had a little closet

off there. There was a window you could see in

the backyard, so the kids playing in the closet.

And the boys that lived in the house before us

used to go up in the window up there. And the

neighbor used to pay him $5 a head for them to

shoot the rodents in his garden with their pellet

guns. So you'd go see his garden, see the backyard

and like that. And it was well lit. I walked

to the closet. All my clothes were hanging there.

And I pulled off a pair of jeans because we were

hanging up pretty much all our clothes because

it was a big closet. And I pulled off a pair

of jeans. I went to put them on. It didn't fit

so good. It was one of my favorite pairs of jeans.

It didn't fit so good. And I just said, I'm not

going to wear these jeans today. I never thought

a thing of it. Put them back on the hanger. I

took my relaxed fit pair of jeans and put them

on. Oh, that's good. Now that was the day. That

was the day in which I transitioned from I'm

gaining a little bit of weight and I got to do

some work to I'm okay with this little bit of

weight that I'm gaining and I'm not ready to

start doing any work yet. I'm here to tell you

today that there are relaxed fit And I'm not

talking about obesity. I'm not talking about

weight. I'm talking about sanctification, growing

in the Lord. There are Christians who say, no,

I don't have to do that extra work. I don't have

to jog my schedule around or get a new job or

situate my appointments to make sure I'm making

the Bible study or small group or I'm in church

on Sunday. And you say, some of them will say,

no, I'm hard working. That's why I'm not available

to do X. Listen, the hard work that we are called

to is the hard work of following Jesus Christ.

And I'm not harping on the work thing because

it could be relationships. It could be hobbies.

There's lots of folks who have lots of hobbies.

Right? Or I have one hobby that they're really

excited about pouring their lives into. There

are things in our lives that begin to interfere

with our discipline. with our intentionality

to follow Jesus. And on that day when we sense

or feel that interference, we say, well, it's

okay. I'll read my Bible on my own. I don't have

to gather together with other believers. Yeah,

I'm going to miss just one sermon today, but

it's just one sermon, right? Or I'm going to

miss this one opportunity to serve because I've

got this other thing over here. Now, if your

salvation and your freedom were contingent on

that one, one choice, you would never make that

one choice, right? Or would you? Are you more

comfortable with living your life your way and

what fits your personality and maybe even your

flesh and you're okay with missing a few sermons,

a few lessons, a few opportunities to serve,

a few opportunities to give? Well, that's real

dangerous stuff because what's online is certainly

nothing other than your freedom. See, it's freedom

when you can say, Here's a person over here who

would give me $100 ,000 to miss Tuesday night

Bible study and it's only an hour and it's just

one lesson and the pastor told me he'll give

me the notes afterwards. And you can say, no,

this is how much I love God. I'm going to that

Bible study. I'm taking my own notes. I'm going

to listen to the Holy Spirit while I'm there.

I will not back down. I will stand up for Jesus

or as Bob Dylan once said, you stand me up against

the gates of hell and I will not back down. Not

for $100 ,000. Not ever, not once. Now that's

freedom. Because we are driven by everything

else. We are motivated by everything else. But

when you can make a choice to honor God above

all, you're free. You say, now if I have to honor

God above all, then I'm not free. Well, that's

true. But this is the beauty of salvation. God

gave us salvation and gave us the option. You

can be saved or not. That's up to you. You can

be free or not. That's up to you. You can pursue

righteousness or not. That's up to you. God is

not forcing you. However, there will come in

a moment in time at which, and this transitions

into my next point, there will come at a moment

in time at which God will have those with Him

who have chosen to be with Him and God will have

those away from Him who have chosen to be away

from Him. And even if you think you are free

now and choose not to follow God, in that moment

you will not be free. Why? Because you will have

another master which persists only for as long

as it's in the house. Alright. So, just to be

clear, there are followers and non -followers.

Amongst the non -followers, there are those maybe

who are ignorant, those who want to stay because

they're comfortable, those because of fear, they

find it hard to trust, etc. Amongst the followers,

there are those who pursue righteousness and

pour themselves into following the Lord. And

there are those relaxed fit followers who are

like, well, as long as it's fairly convenient.

Or, I'll push really hard, but if I have to bleed

or really sweat or really suffer, no. That's

the line. Notice that Jesus is talking about

a moment of restarting that decides your group.

It's not if you have encountered the truth, right?

It's whether or not you believe. And then he

says to Nicodemus, you know who Nicodemus was,

I hope. If not, I'm about to tell you. Nicodemus

was a Pharisee, a holy man. Fasted twice a week.

That means he went completely without food on

those days. Memorized whole books of the Bible

and was in high demand in speaking. And Jesus,

he comes to Jesus and Jesus tells him, Verily,

verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born

again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Do not

marvel, he says four verses later, that I say

unto you that you must be born again. As holy

as he was, he had to be born again. That is to

say that everybody starts out in the non -follower

group and it takes a fresh start to get in the

follower group. And I'm going to say to you that

if you've received that fresh start, then you're

in the follower group and you know enough not

to be a relaxed fit follower. You understand

the payment that was paid. Thank God Jesus was

not a relaxed, fit follower of his father or

we'd all be unsaved. Sin would not be paid for.

But for the joy that was set before him, he endured

the cross. And that's paraphrased and shortened.

Being reborn may appear harder than we would

like. Maybe more painful than we would like.

But it is a step toward freedom. Now, I know

you want it to be freedom, and in a sense it

is, but you have to learn how to live out that

freedom. You have to follow the Word, and you

have to be disciplined. That's what Jesus said.

This rebirthing may hurt a little, but you have

to let go and accept this free gift. It's about

trust. Getting born hurts. If you could somehow

communicate to any unborn baby the experience

about what they're about to go through before

they come out of the birth canal, they would

say, no. I don't want to go through that. Their

bones are virtually liquefied and they're squeezed

through a space that's about 40 % too small for

their existence. Anybody here want to go through

that? No. That doesn't sound pleasant. But God

isn't inviting us to pleasant. He's inviting

us to a salvation that saves our souls and a

freedom that sets us free and then in eternity,

pleasant. Getting born hurts. It hurts most because

we are not calibrated to the new environment

yet. Babies come out. They're cold. They've got

to learn to breathe. They're going to have to

learn to walk. They've got to be cared for. They

can't do things. They had a cord attached to

them a moment before and now that's gone. They

can't crutch on it anymore. The following of

Jesus leads to the truth. Wisdom applied. And

the truth sets free. Wisdom applied. Disciples

are free, but freedom is for disciples who are

disciples. And continuance, which is wisdom applied

continuing, is the main trait of a disciple.

I wonder if the Jews who were there knew what

we're talking about today. That wisdom is just

that valuable. That wisdom provides that kind

of freedom. If you're following along in your

Bibles, go with me to Proverbs chapter 2. This

Proverbs 2 · chapter mention

is a book of the Bible that they would have memorized

most of it, if not many of the entire Proverbs

for sure, if not the entire book. I am not going

to break these verses down as I read them because

there's quite a few of them. I would encourage

you to read them and study over them later. They

are pretty straightforward. The writer of Proverbs

writing says, My son, if you will receive my

sayings, in other words, the wisdom that I'm

teaching you, and treasure my commandments within

you, Make your ear attentive to my wisdom, incline

your heart to understanding. For if you cry for

discernment, in other words, if you really want

to know the difference, lift your voice for understanding.

When you cry out, that's what you want, wisdom

and understanding. If you seek her as silver,

in other words, if wisdom is a treasure to you,

and search for her as for hidden treasures, then

you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover

the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom,

from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

He stores up sound wisdom for the upright. That

means he doesn't give it to everybody. He gives

it to those who are pursuing righteousness. You

hear? He stores up sound wisdom for the upright.

He is a shield to those who walk in integrity.

Integrity is when your whole being is wrapped

up around one thing and it's a good thing. Guarding

the paths of justice and he preserves the way

of his godly ones. Then you will discern righteousness

and justice. You will understand the difference

between in righteousness and in justice. And

equity. and every good course. For wisdom will

enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant

to your soul. Discretion will guard you. Understanding

will watch over you. Now we're getting safety.

Remember, we're feared to come into the kingdom

because we're afraid we're going to be unsafe,

because it's dangerous. That's what fear is all

about. And he says, discretion will guard you.

Understanding will watch over you. To deliver

you from the way of evil. It's going to bring

us out and make us free. From the man, who speaks

perverse things, from those who leave the paths

of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness,

who delight in doing evil and rejoice in the

perversity of evil, whose paths are crooked and

who are devious in their ways. He's going to

free us from being that, free us from being trapped

in that, to deliver you from the strange woman,

from the adulteress who flatters with her words,

that leaves the companion of her youth and forgets

the covenant of her God, for her house sinks

down to death and her tracks lead to the dead.

None who go to her return again. In other words,

once you go over to unrighteousness, over to

something that is not godly wisdom, you can't

come back. Not that God makes it so you can't

come back, but you choose not to come back. Nor

do they reach the paths of life. So you will

walk in the way of good men and keep to the paths

of righteousness, of the righteous. For the upright

will live in the land, and the blameless will

remain in it. What did Jesus say? That the servant

is in the house only for a while, but the son

is in the house forever. And he said, whom the

son sets free will be free indeed. I'm 21. For

the upright will live in the land, and the blameless

will remain in it. But the wicked will be cut

off from the land. and the treacherous will be

uprooted from it. A little bit further. My son,

do not forget my teaching, but let your heart

keep my commandments. For the length of days

and years of life and peace they will add to

you. Do not let kindness and truth leave you.

Bind them around your neck. Write them on the

tablet of your heart, so you will find favor

and good repute in the sight of God and man.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not

lean on your own understanding. We quote that

verse all the time, but we forget it's in this

context. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and

he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise

in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and turn away

from evil. It will be the healing to your body

and refreshment to your bones. Honor the Lord

from your wealth and from the first of all your

produce. So your barns will be filled with plenty

and your vats will overflow with new wine. My

son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord

or loathe his reproof. For whom the Lord loves,

he reproves. That means he corrects those who

he loves. And when things go bad for us, sometimes

that's a correction of God. Even as a father,

the son in whom he delights. How blessed is the

man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding.

For its profit is better than the profit of silver

and its gain than fine gold. And it goes on.

They knew. It's no joke. They totally understood

that wisdom would lead to all of these benefits.

Wisdom applied, not just wisdom. That's a problem.

Because if you look at the Pharisees and the

Sadducees of their day, they were teaching the

word of God. But what did Jesus say about them?

He called them hypocrites. There are people who

say it's the right thing to do. But then they

don't do the right thing to do. They were hypocrites.

But these are hypocrites who then believed in

Jesus. And so their holdout was they needed to

live the wisdom applied in Jesus. They could

not come to Jesus and just be relaxed, fit Christians.

That might get them into heaven one day if their

salvation was real, if they truly had believed.

But it wouldn't get them free. And Jesus came.

to set them free. We're in the conclusion, but

it's a doozy. This was a chosen people, God's

people, the nation of Jews, and now they were

hearing the truth and having a hard time embracing

it because they were in bondage to their own

sin. And if you can understand it, that had to

be because they wanted it that way. Because they

had already believed in Jesus. They didn't really

want to be free because they were comfortable

where they were. And they would accept Jesus

as long as Jesus would fit in where they were.

But Jesus doesn't fit in in the world system

ever. He was not of this world. Just like we're

supposed to be not of this world. So when we

believe him, we become not of this world as he

was not of this world. We suffer outside the

gate with him. Now he's not condemning them for

their choice. He is explaining the ramifications

of their choice and explaining that another choice

would be the one to free them if they stick with

it in Christ. So if you're here today and you're

a relaxed, fit Christian, I'm not condemning

your choice. However, there are ramifications

for that choice. You have to examine everything

in your life and how it lines up with Jesus.

And if you don't, if you don't give him the reins.

You won't be free. In this lifetime, you will

not be free. And that's not my words, that's

Jesus' words. And it's not, if you don't want

to be free, if you can't muster the strength

to be free, if you can't follow Jesus in earnest

with all that you are, if you can't make the

necessary sacrifices, the only real danger is,

if that's what your salvation looks like, then

are you saved? And that's a decision to be made

between you and God, not with me. It's not about

what I say. Truth is, it's not about what you

say. It's about what He says. So if you're saved

but not free, understand that there's a substantial

possibility it's because of choices that you

are making. If you won't choose, if you say,

well, I'm just not going to make a choice about

that, then realize that you've already chosen.

Those verses that we referenced In John chapter

John 3 · chapter mention

3, we'll go there just briefly and we're almost

done. Some folks memorize John chapter 3 verse

John 3:16

16 as a fairly famous Bible verse. You'll see

it on placards at football games and things like

that. For God so loved the world that He gave

His only begotten Son that whosoever believes

in Him shall not perish but have everlasting

life. And that's the truth. If you believe in

Jesus, you will have everlasting life. Eternal

life. You will go to heaven and be with God forever

when the time comes. Verse 17 is the verse that

talks about that Jesus didn't come. God did not

send the Son into the world to judge the world,

but that the world would be saved. Through Him.

Through Jesus. Verse 18 then says, He who believes

in Him is not judged. He who does not believe

has been judged already. In other words, he who

believes in Jesus is not judged. But if you don't

believe in Jesus, you've already been judged.

Because he has not believed in the name of the

only begotten Son of God. Anybody ever watch

one of those shows on TV where they rap at each

other? Or they sing? So, you know what a mic

drop is? Right? That's it. That settles it. Drop

the mic. It's all over. It's a relatively new

thing. When you drop the mic, you're done and

you've proven your point. Well, this is Jesus'

mic drop. Because he's talking to John. And in

verse 20 it says, I'm sorry, in verse 22 it says,

After these things Jesus and his disciples came

into the land of Judea. So it's done. So we're

about to read Jesus' mic drop. And he said, And

this is the judgment, that the light has come

into the world, and men loved the darkness rather

than the light. For their deeds were evil. For

everyone who does evil hates the light, and does

not come to the light, lest his deeds should

be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes

to the light. that his deeds may be manifested,

that means made obvious, as having been wrought,

which means done or worked, in God. I'll read

that last one again. But he who practices the

truth comes to the light, that his deeds may

be manifest as having been wrought in God. Jesus

came into the world. The people who should have

known him, they did not. In John 1, 11 -14 it

says this, He came to His own, and those who

were His own did not receive Him. But as many

as received Him, to them He gave the right to

become children of God, even to those who believe

in His name, who were born not of blood, nor

of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man,

but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt

among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the

only begotten from the Father, full of grace

and truth. Jesus' mic drop was, I came. I did

it. I showed it. You've seen it. It's settled.

It's done. Now when you're not choosing me, don't

kid yourself. You're not not choosing me because

you're afraid. You're not not choosing me because

you can't trust because you're wounded. You're

not not choosing me because you don't understand.

You're not choosing me either at the moment of

salvation or after that as a relaxed fit Christian

because you think you're the cat. You think that

right where you are right now, you're in charge.

That you're bigger than the enemy right now,

right where you are, non -Christian. Or that

you're bigger than me as a believer, that you

get to decide, that you get to decide whether

or not you come, go, pay, die, whatever. You

think you're the cat. And sometimes you get the

upper hand. Which reinforces you thinking you're

the cat. Because God made you incredible. God

made you able to stomp on the head of the enemy

even without me. God made you able to do amazing

things. Create and destroy. But in me, those

things are refined and the image of God is perfected.

And you can do even more amazing things. So there

are those who go, oh, my image is messed up.

So I accept the redefinition. Then I get over

here. and they mess up their image again on a

fairly regular basis because they refuse to be

free, because they refuse to continue to apply

the wisdom of God on a daily basis. Because they

think they're the cat. Remember the two blobs?

They think they're the cat blob. But I'm here

to tell you today the same thing that Jesus was

here to tell you, and that is that if you're

still wrestling with whether Jesus is real, if

you're still deciding whether to follow Jesus

or believe in salvation, you understand, you're

not the cat blob, you're the mouse blob. And

you will run and you will hide and you will fight

back the best of your ability. But the truth

is, as long as you are not a follower of the

Lord Jesus Christ, then the enemy will be after

you continually. But some mice, live happily

ever after. Some mice hide in the field and no

eagle comes to eat them, no fox pursues them,

no cat hunts them down. They don't get mowed

over and they make babies and they live an old

life. They live to be as old as mice ever live

and have multiple generations of great, great,

great, great grandchildren. And we look at those

mice and we say, well, but look at those mice.

Why shouldn't I be happy as a mouse? Why do I

need to rear up and fight back and be something

different? Well, I ask you, if the mice live

happily ever after, then what happens after that?

What happens after happily ever after? If you

don't accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior,

then what's after happily ever after is not another

happily ever after. And so we live in light of

that eternity. But I also submit to you, I've

never seen a mouse that lived to old age and

wasn't terrified. The mice that live in the field

that have great, great, great, great grandchildren,

they're still watching the skies constantly.

They still live in burrows. They don't build

big houses or like hives or anything. They don't

live in huge groups and like have 50 of them

living together in a little mouse mansion in

the middle of the field because they feel safe

and free and happy and are doing a good thing.

No. They live their entire life thinking the

cat might be coming, the eagle might be coming,

the fox might be coming, I've got to stay hidden.

They run along walls and never out into the open

in the room unless you chase them out with poison

or by feeding them psychedelics. Then they'll

do that. Otherwise they stay concealed. And that

is not the life that God ordained for you. That

is not the kind of person God made for you. He

wants us to be more than a conqueror. He wants

to be incredible, amazing, world -changing beings.

Because nothing less than that will represent

Him. And we were created to represent Him. It's

wise to accept Christ. It's wise to follow Christ.

It's wise to continue in the wisdom. That God

has given you to whatever extent that you have

it. Paul said, I hold on to that which I have

already attained. And that's what you are supposed

to do. It's wise to accept Christ. It's wise

to follow Christ. It's wise to continue in Christ

with discipline and strength. To observe the

word of God. To pursue wisdom and righteousness.

And in so doing, you become the cat blob. And

the enemy runs along walls. And the enemy creeps

in the darkness. And the enemy fears you. And

when the seven sons of Sceva, who were Jews,

who might have believed in the name of Jesus,

came upon the demon that they tried to cast out

of that man, he reared up, and they tried to

abjure him, cast him out by the name of Paul

or by the name of Jesus. And the demon said,

Paul I know, and Jesus I know, but who are you?

If they were Christians at all, they were relaxed

fit Christians. And they had no power to be free.

They were just invoking the name of Jesus and

saying, I'm a Christian, I'm a Christian. Or

invoking the name of God and claiming God's authority

to cast out that demon. And he didn't let it

happen. They thought they were the cat, but they

were the mouse. And they came out all beat up

and in their underwear. But as a follower of

Jesus who pursues God's wisdom and lives His

righteousness to the best of your ability, and

it's not about perfection, it's doing the best

you possibly can on any given day, making the

choices, showing up to study, showing up to serve,

showing up to work, showing up to... showing

up, standing up, being free, being courageous.

That kind of Christian, according to Jesus, not

according to me, knows freedom. True freedom.

They are His disciples indeed. And they know

true freedom. We are called to nothing less.

Unless you think Jesus only died so that people

can go to heaven. Then you'd be contradicting

Jesus himself because he said, I came that they

may have life and have it more abundantly. And

if you're contradicting the word of Jesus, then

are you saved? I'm asking you today to either

A, first time believe in Jesus. The penalty's

been paid. Remission of sins is available through

the penalty that Jesus paid. It's called the

propitiation. The bill is paid. Stop trying to

pay it. And if you do believe in Jesus, then

I'm asking you today to exercise spiritual discipline,

to make the choices to examine everything from

God's point of view, the best you're able, instead

of the world's point of view. If you're motivated

by a dollar, then you need to understand that

your priorities are in the wrong place. If you're

motivated by a relationship with a human being,

even your spouse, over God, your motivations

are in the wrong place. If you're motivated by

a job, if any of these things are distraction,

we know what Jesus said, don't we? I'm about

to tell you. Jesus said, friendship with the

world is enmity with God. Choose today. who will

be first in your life. And if you're going to

try to make it you, you better realize you're

actually the mouse. If you're going to try to

make it Jesus, he's going to make you the cat.

And the enemy will run. I want to close this

story. Some years ago when I was a youth pastor,

youth minister, there was a young lady who came

in and did counseling with her. She'd been out

of church for about a month. Her family was members

of the church. And things had drifted badly.

She was 14, I think, 13, 14. Both of them used

a youth group. They brought her in to talk to

me. I was a relatively young youth group. Because

she had, while wearing combat boots, kicked her

grandmother, who was her guardian, in the face

and broke her jaw. What am I going to say? What

do you say to a 13 -year -old who the night before

kicked her grandmother in the face and broke

her jaw. Intentionally, not accidentally. Intentionally.

What do you say? So, I did only what I knew to

do, which I started with the gospel. And she

was claiming yes. She said she believed. She

never said the name Jesus, but she was claiming

yes, she believed. Now, she'd not been coming

to Bible study. She wasn't studying the Bible.

She wasn't praying. She admitted she hadn't worshipped.

God was not first in her life, but she was claiming

yes, she believed. But she never said the name

of Jesus. As I'm talking to her, I start getting

this eerie feeling that something is desperately

wrong. And I was not in the room alone with her.

In all my years, I've never counseled in the

room alone with a teenage girl. Or if I've done

it with a woman, then there's somebody right

outside the door, the door open. And I'm talking

with her, and I begin to think there's something

wrong. And I said, well, how about you say it?

You say, I'm a follower of Jesus. And she said,

I'm a follower of Jesus. I'm a follower. I said,

no, no, say I'm a follower of Jesus. She said,

I'm a follower of... I'm a follower. Just like

that, just like I'm saying it to you today. And

I looked at her, and the space behind her eyes

looked so dark, so deep, like outer space without

stars. Something is wrong. And the Christian

woman who was in the room with me was praying

the whole time. And she sensed it too. Something

was desperately wrong. And I said, can't you

say the name Jesus? And she said, yeah, I can

say it. And I said, well, then say it. And she

said, and I said, we're dealing with a problem

here. And I'm thinking at first, it's outside

me, right? I need an exorcist or something. I

didn't know. But I said, in the name of Jesus,

I lay my hands on you and I rebuke the evil spirit

that's affecting you. And I'm setting you free

at least to be able to make the choice of what

you will do next. Will you in earnest become

a follower of Jesus? Will you in earnest be set

free? And she said, yes. I prayed a little bit

more and I said, okay, now say it. And she said,

I want to be. She said, I am a follower of Jesus.

And tears streamed down her face. We spent about

another half an hour or so. So about another

half an hour or so with some action plans, what

she was going to do with her house, with her

problems that she was having. And we agreed to

get together with her grandmother and talk. She

committed to writing in a journal and studying

her Bible and all of these kinds of things. She

said she was a believer. They said they were

believers. But she was a relaxed, fit believer.

Now, I don't know if she was a believer at all.

But by her profession, she was a relaxed, fit

believer. And she certainly was not free. She

couldn't even say the name of Jesus. Now that's

pretty not free. Now I'm not saying that's you.

But if you believe in Jesus, tell everyone who

will listen. Because some folks are just ignorant.

Encourage people to trust in the Lord. And you

trust in the Lord with everything. And you can

be free. And that's how I get out of bed every

day. And I just want to do that. And I'm not

saying you're going to be perfect at it. Nobody's

perfect at it. I'm certainly not. I blow it all

the time. But what I am saying is, it's your

choice to be free. If you don't want to, okay.

Just realize that none of the excuses make any

sense. And the ramifications remain the same.

Let me pray for us briefly and we'll have a song

of invitation to close our services. Father in

heaven, I do thank you so much for being our

God. If the price that was paid for our salvation

was something less, a million dollars.