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Melvin Newman
5 years ago
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1 Free Indeed John 8: Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. n Felix o An intriguing courtroom drama unfolds in the 24 th chapter of Acts We don t have time to discuss the specifics of the case o I want to focus this morning on the two key players These two men represent two opposite extremes of humanity At first glance they are easy to categorize One is a ruler the other a prisoner One is wealthy, the other has nothing One is at the pinnacle of success The other is in the pit of persecution However when you look a little deeper reality is not as obvious as it seems On the one hand you have Felix a Governor with the full authority of Rome On the other hand you have Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, the great ambassador in chains o Felix was a kingly character He wore the finest clothes His authority was marked by a kings crown He sat upon a throne of gold o To look upon him from the outside he would appear to have achieved success A man who was living his dream o But lets pull away the veil that hides the inner man And see Felix for who he really was He was born Antonius Felix, a Greek subject and a slave He and his brother Pallas were freed by the mother of Emperor Claudius They grew up with Prince Claudius When Claudius became emperor of Rome, these brothers were given powerful positions because they catered to his perversions According to historians, Felix was a master of cruelty who was driven by every desire of his flesh They were graphic about the actions of Felix He was a vile man who crucified thousands of people He was a vile man who crucified thousands of people Free Indeed 1

2 His gods were power, glory, and pleasure. He would do anything to amass wealth for himself He was a man enslaved by his passions His second wife was a beautiful woman named Drusilla She was married to her first husband when she was fourteen Felix first saw her when she was only sixteen He became obsessed by his own uncontrollable desire to have her He even resorted to the sorcery of a magician to assist him in seducing her away from her first husband, Azizus, King of Emeza On the outside he was arrayed in royalty But on the inside he was a slave to lust Felix was freed from the chains of slavery He ascended the throne as royalty Yet, with his newfound freedom, there was little change in his character His kingly crown only disguised a slave s mind. His royal robes only covered the heart of the slave. He exercised the powers of a king with the spirit of a slave Not even the royalty of the court could remove the evil desires that lay in the slave s conscience that Felix carried. This was the heritage of Felix Rescued from slavery but still in chains A slave to the evil appetites that remained hidden but not harnessed There are people who live today who are bound in chains... on the inside No one can see their chains No one hears their rattle No man can see the angry scars the chains leave upon the soul There are chains hidden where no eyes can see But they are as real as they can be They are the chains that bind men and women. n Redemption o The biblical idea of redemption is based on the process of buying an individual s freedom from slavery In ancient days, slaves could be set free from their master by payment of a ransom Any individual with enough money could buy a slave s freedom But just because you set a man free, doesn t mean that his soul is free Free Indeed 2

3 There are chains that bind the soul and no amount of money can redeem the soul o Perhaps this is what the Psalmist David had in mind when he wrote: Ps 49:6-8 6 They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; 7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: 8 (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:) The redemption of the soul is a precious thing The simple payment of a ransom price may set a man physically free But earthly freedom is temporary and empty when the soul remains a slave to sin Perhaps you know what I m talking about You ve got it all together, have life by the tail o Master of your own destiny You are successful by this world s standards o Good Job, Nice home, fine clothes o Prestige and pride On the outside you ve got it all together o But no one sees the pain in your heart o No one knows the fears and frustrations that haunt your mind o No one knows the anguish you hide inside o No one knows the chains that scar your very soul Many people today are like Felix o Free in the flesh but bound in the spirit n Free Indeed o This is why Jesus said, in our text: Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. There can be no freedom as long as you are a slave to sin The soul will never know true freedom as long as it lives in sin o But Jesus went on to say that If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed The good new is that Jesus came to set the soul free! He gave his life for ours He has paid the ransom for your soul He has redeemed us from sin o David said that the redemption of a soul is precious to God He said that money can t redeem a soul But, thank God, we have been redeemed As Peter said: Free Indeed 3

4 Not with corruptible things like silver or gold But with the precious blood of Christ (1Peter 1:19) The blood of Jesus has accomplished what money couldn t do He has purchased freedom for our souls Jesus has the authority to set you free He has the power to set your soul free! And when he sets you free, you are free indeed! The freedom of this world is imaginary, it is hollow and empty It can be revoked without a moments notice But the freedom that Jesus gives is real, It is a freedom of the soul The servants of sin promise themselves liberty They consider themselves free, when they are in truth slaves to sin But when Jesus sets you free You are Free Indeed o It s a freedom that will sustain you o It s a freedom that won t forsake you o It s a freedom that will never be taken from you n Paul o Lets look at the other character of Acts 24 The Apostle Paul, a servant of the Lord At first glance we see a man in chains A prisoner; Perhaps he appears weary A little malnourished, physically neglected Once again if you take a closer look, draw aside the veil of flesh and look upon the soul of the man there is a stark difference Although he was born a free man Paul became a slave to the Law o An enemy of the cross he pursued the followers of Jesus o Without mercy he imprisoned and beat them o This was the man who held the coats of those that stoned Stephan and looked upon that act with his approval Thankfully the story doesn t end there One day on the road to Damascus he met Jesus o Jesus changed everything in his life He sent a preacher to him to tell him to Repent and be Baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins That preacher told Paul, I have come that you may be filled with the Holy Ghost On that day God set Paul s soul free Free Indeed 4

5 o Paul was never the same again o He lived his life for one purpose To tell as many people as possible about the freedom he had found o His passion for Christ led him to do great things He founded many churches but not without cost o Many times he was imprisoned for his faith But this freedom that he had was not subject to worldly circumstances You could bind his hands and feet, you could wrap the man in chains But you couldn t bind his soul That s why you find him in a Philippian Jail Praising God in the midnight hour Because he found a freedom that this world can t revoke! Not even death would take away his freedom Tradition says that when they came to execute him He eagerly led the way to the chopping block He understood that he had been given a freedom that was eternal His hope was no longer in this life In spite of the chains that had him bound o Paul was free indeed n Close o In that one room you have both ends of the spectrum Felix, the slave who became a ruler He was free on the outside but a prisoner to sin on the inside Paul, the prisoner of Rome Who possessed a freedom that extended far beyond the chains that had him bound Felix sat in judgment over Paul that day Felix the judge, Paul the prisoner Only one man in that room that day was truly free The ironic fact is that he was the only one bound by chains o I come to you today with a simple message You may stand in this place today a free person But if you are living in sin, the freedom you have is but a charade Like a shadow, your freedom has a form but has no substance Free Indeed 5

6 However, Jesus Christ came to give each of us true freedom Today you can be set free from sin The same way that Paul was o You can repent I realize that I am the servant of sin I realize that I am bound by the desires of my flesh But today I want to change Lord Forgive me o You can be baptized in Jesus name o I have come today that you may be filled with the Holy Ghost o You can leave here, Free! Free Indeed! The best thing about this freedom is that nobody can take it away from you When Jesus sets you free, you are Free Indeed o I m talking about a freedom that governments can t revoke o It s a freedom that won t be erased by physical bondage o This freedom isn t altered by the circumstances of your life o This spiritual freedom is a freedom that not even death can take away from you It s a freedom that can only be found in Jesus o Would you like to be free today o Free Indeed? Free Indeed 6

Celebrating God'sGifts: God Made Flesh Luke 2:8-14

December 20, 2015 Celebrating God'sGifts: God Made Flesh Luke 2:8-14 INTRODUCTION: I am thankful for the privilege and opportunity this morning to preach the Gospel. I would like to tell you something