July 3, 2011 - Revelation 1:4-6 Remember He Set Us Free Pastor Larry Adams This is Communion Sunday. Normally Karla and I are gone in July, and this year we re here, so we apologize to you for that. But anyway we are very, very thankful to begin this month together at the table of communion. I hope you had a chance to catch that video that we opened the service with today. If you didn t have a chance to see it, you might want to stick around the beginning of the next service to watch it. There are quotes from our founding fathers there that helped tie together how the scriptures, communion, the death of Christ on the cross led directly to our understanding of independence as we know it. We are going to be talking about some of those things today. If you have your Bibles, I would like you to turn with me, if you would, to the book of Revelation to one of the passages I love to read from time to time. Revelation is just that, it is the revelation of Jesus Christ. It is the revelation that Jesus gave to John on the island of Patmos as he was isolated there suffering for his faith. He was put out there to die, but Jesus met him and revealed to him this powerful revelation of what was to come. We often find the book of Revelation mysterious, but in these opening chapters, we find how the whole book is laid out. In fact, in Revelation 1:19 you have the whole outline for the book. Jesus said, Write, therefore, what you have seen, that s Chapter 1. What is now, that s Chapters 2 and 3. And what will take place later, that s Chapters 4 through the end of the book. In Chapter 1, Write, therefore, what you have seen, we have the encounter of John with Jesus and how he reveals to the people reading this revelation the powerful freedom that we have been given in Jesus Christ. This is the way John records it in his opening doxology beginning in verse 4: 4 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. Page 1 of 9
Let s pray together. Father, we are indeed honored to be gathering today or any day at this table of communion, and here through this bread and this cup to be reminded of the sacrifice of our savior, Jesus. On this weekend where we as a nation pause to reflect on our freedoms, and as we remembered on Memorial Day the terrible price often paid for that freedom, we are reminded that this freedom we experience as a nation is born out of the freedom we have received in Christ. And I pray today, God that you will help us as we gather at this table to remember that sin is slavery; but Jesus has set us free by his blood. And we will thank you, God, for all you will show us. In Jesus name, Amen. It was 235 years ago this weekend that a group of men gathered to sign the Declaration of Independence knowing that by signing that Declaration it could cost them their lives. Victory in this move of independence was no assured thing. In fact when the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 not everyone in America was behind the move for peace. Even some in the Continental Congress weren t sure that separating from the mother country was the wisest move, but the drive for freedom and the sincere and deep belief that no people should be governed by any sovereign but God alone is what drove people to consider the unthinkable at the time, and that was that British citizens would separate from the mother country. Many historians attribute the decision to fight the Revolutionary War to two major events that happened. One was a pamphlet called Common Sense, written by Thomas Paine. Circulated amongst the colonies it built one of the strongest cases for a biblical basis for independence ever given. The other was a speech on March 23, 1775 at St. John s Church in Richmond, Virginia, a speech that propelled Virginia, America s largest colony at the time, to raise a militia and to actually begin the move towards fighting towards independence. The speech that was given that day is considered to be among the most inspiring speeches ever given. It was given by a fiery patriot and ardent Christian by the name of Patrick Henry. His speech is readily available for every American to read. It s amazing how many don t even know that it exists. Let me read for you a couple of excerpts from this amazing message he gave that day: This is no time for ceremony. The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings... Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of the means which the God of nature has placed in our power. Three[The] millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as this which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our Page 2 of 9
battles for us... It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! Patrick Henry saw it clearly: freedom or slavery; that was the choice. And he believed that there was one just God who bestows freedom upon all men, and he believed rightly that God will stand with those who stand for freedom in Christ. The quest for freedom is strong; it s nothing you can ever take for granted. Freedom can be taken away. That quest for freedom fueled a revolution where people were willing to pledge their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to secure it. And, people, as great as that freedom is, there is a freedom in Christ that is so powerful it can set every person from every tribe, every nation, and every language free. It is a freedom so powerful that it can break the power of sin and bring to every human being eternal life. The question that ought to be before us today is, How can so many people be concerned for a political freedom and yet so many be unconcerned for their freedom from their sin? That freedom from sin is the freedom we remember today in communion. Communion is the reminder of the death of Jesus and the freedom that he purchased for us by his blood. We have reminded people many times that eating this meal will not make you a Christian. It will not get your sins forgiven. It will not earn you any grace, but eating this meal from time to time is fulfilling what Jesus asked of every believer, that we would come to a table like this and through this bread and through this cup we would remember that he freed us from our sins by his blood. It s a freedom that the Apostle John wrote about to the seven churches of Asia. These seven churches, real churches at the time, representative today we now know about every church there is on the planet. And in Revelation Chapter 1 he said in verse 5, To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood. We are here today to remember and proclaim the greatest freedom mankind will ever know, freedom from sin because communion reminds us that Jesus set us free by his blood. And how did his blood free us? By making payment for our sin. The blood of Jesus freed us by making payment for our sin. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood. Freedom has a price. I remember when I was in college -- the first time -- I had a roommate named Scott. Scott was a very interesting character. Great guy, a little loose in the responsibility area, notorious for his failure to pay attention to the basics. Anyway, I m sitting in our apartment along with three other roommates, Scott comes in our bedroom and he says, Larry, I m going home for the weekend, you wanna go? Now, Scott had an old 1963 Page 3 of 9
Corvair. It was a death-defying experience to ride with Scott on any occasion. To ride with Scott in a Corvair was a near-death experience. But, the lure of a free ride home for the weekend was too good, so I took him up on it. To make a very, very long story short, we broke down a number of times on our way back home. The last time we broke down we had actually arrived in Scott s home town, and the car was dead. So he said to me, Stay here. I m gonna go get some help. So there I sit unbeknowing that he had parked in a No Parking Zone. So a cop comes up and he says, Sir, you re gonna have to move your car. I said, It s not my car. He said, Well, you re the only one here. You re gonna have to move it. I said, Well, it won t start. So the cop and I are pushing the car, I jump in, I pop the clutch, and I started driving away. I get a short distance trying to move it, and the cop turns his lights on and pulls me over. I leave the car running because I didn t want to shut it off and have to go through that again, so I said, Officer, what s the problem? He said, I need to see your registration. I said, Okay. So I m rummaging through the glove box. I find it. I hand it to him. I don t even look at it. The cop says, That s what I thought. He said, Sir, you re under arrest. You re driving an unregistered motor vehicle. I said, This is not my car. He said, It doesn t matter. You re the driver, you re responsible. Scott comes running up at that moment. He says, Larry, what s going on? I said, I m being arrested for driving your car that is not registered. He goes, Bummer. Yeah, Bummer. They took us down to the police station. This is a small town in New England. This is late at night now. The desk sergeant says, Uh, you re going have to spend the night in jail or it s a $25 fine. It s your choice. I said, I can t spend the night in jail. I m not even supposed to be here. I m supposed to be at college. My parents are going to kill me. He said, I m sorry, it s 25 bucks. I said, Alright. So we got all our money together. Scott and I had 20 bucks on the nose. We made an offer, they refused it. I said, Scott, I can t spend the night in jail. Page 4 of 9
He says, I ll try something. He goes out, and I hear Scott begging the desk sergeant to loan him five bucks. Come to find out, the desk sergeant was good friends with Scott s dad, and shaking his head he reaches in his wallet. He gives him $5. They pay my fine, and I walked out a free man. You see, I was guilty by the law. The violation had a price, and I couldn t pay it, so I was going to get locked up. Five dollars, that s all that stood between me and freedom that night. I realized for the first time in my life what it felt like to have your freedom threatened to be taken away because you didn t have the price to pay for it. But someone else did have it, and they gave it. With my price paid the law demands were met, and I was set free. You know, the Bible says that all of us have sinned and fall short of God s glory. All of us. God s law has been broken. There s none of us that keeps it, and there s a price to pay for that. The wages of sin is death, separation from God now and forever. And that sin holds us. It locks us up in a bondage of slavery. It separates us from God, and it separates us from the life that only God can offer. Unless the demands of the law are met, we remain a slave of sin. You know, before I became a Christian I used to try stopping sinning once in a while because I get so disgusted with my behavior. As Benjamin Franklin once said in a diary he kept, I stopped these two sins, but I broke out with three or four more over here. And so I would address those, and I break out with three or four more over here. He said, On my own I continue to struggle. There is no record Benjamin Franklin ever became a Christian, all I know what that struggle is like. I used to try to stop sinning all the time. I couldn t do it because sin had a power in my life that I couldn t break. There is only one who, having no sin of his own, could pay sin s penalty in my place and who could break the power of sin and that is Jesus, which is why Jesus once told a group of his disciples and others who are following him in John 8:36, If the son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. In order to be freed from sin, death has to occur. The penalty has to be paid. That death can be yours. In fact, that death is ours. The wages of sin is death. Our death will pay the demands of the law. When we die, our death meets the full demands of the law. The wages of sin is death. The problem is if you die in your sins you re dead. You re separated from God forever. You suffer eternal punishment and the agony that God has set apart for those who reject him, and you are banished from God s presence forever. So if you die, the price is paid, but you re gone; you re lost forever. But if someone dies in your place, if someone who has no sin of their own could come and pay the price then they would die. The demands of the law would be met, and you would be set free. That someone is Jesus. That payment he made was with his own blood which is why John said, To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood. In Leviticus in the Old Testament in Chapter 17 verse 11 it tells us that it is the blood by way of the life that makes atonement for your sin. The wages of sin is death, the life is in the blood, God said. So when the blood is spilled, the life ebbs away. Death occurs, and the payment is made. That s why the killing of animals covered sin. It was a symbol or picture of the ultimate death that had to happen in order for us to be saved. Page 5 of 9
This is why this same John wrote earlier in I John 4:9, This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. He paid the price which is why John said, To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood. Paul also, a man who came to deeply appreciate his lostness in sin and the slavery it creates, wrote about his freedom in Ephesians 1:7 when he said, In him (in Christ) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding. You see, there was a time in my life when I couldn t break that power of sin. No matter how hard I tried I couldn t do it because on my own I m powerless. But now that Christ has come to live in my life, I m not controlled by that sin anymore. I have him living in me, the power of his Holy Spirit. Yes, I still sin at times, but I can turn to Christ now and see that sin broken. I know that I am forgiven. I know that now I will not die because he died in my place. But I also know now that I can live a new life. I don t have to give into sin s desires anymore. I can choose to surrender my life to Jesus. That s what Paul was talking about when he said in Romans 6, beginning in verse 12: Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin shall not be your master, you are not under law, but under grace... Don t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey them as slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? Interesting concept, isn t it? I was a slave to sin and death, but now I can be a slave to obedience. I will do whatever it takes in obedience. 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. 19 I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to everincreasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Freedom from sin through his blood. But that freedom does us no good unless we believe it, we receive it, and we live in it. Page 6 of 9
About 80 years after America s independence, another war was fought to bring freedom to all men, it was the Civil War. On January 1, 1863 Abraham Lincoln s Emancipation Proclamation became the law of the land. The war would be fought for two more years, but freedom from slavery was now the law of the land. In fact, Slavery Legally Abolished was the headline in many newspapers from Capitol Hill all the way to the plantations of Alabama. But for many the slavery didn t end. A Civil War historian, Shelby Foote, recorded in his book The Civil War, Many slaves heard the news of their freedom, but it made no difference in their lives. When asked why they didn t leave their masters or why they did not respond to what Abraham Lincoln had proclaimed in the Emancipation Proclamation, one Alabama slave responded in a sentiment that characterized many slaves across the South in their view of freedom. Shelby Foote said this slave responded, I don t know nuthin bout Abraham Lincoln, cept they say he set us free. And I don t know nuthin about that neither. A war was fought, a price was paid, the freedom proclaimed, but many chose to stay in their slavery for a variety of reasons. Mostly that they heard of this freedom but really didn t understand what it really meant. Many have made that same response to the freedom of eternal life offered in Jesus Christ. People, I don t know where all of you stand today with God, but I know this with certainty, every one of us are sinners who have fallen short of his glory. That sin holds us in a slavery stronger than you will ever realize. If we hear this message of freedom and refuse to respond to it, that sin will hold us for eternity and will separate us from God forever. But, if we believe that Jesus Christ has set us free from that sin, that his death, burial, and resurrection was powerful and that it was sufficient payment to meet the law demands of God so that those who believed in him would not be condemned, then if you have believed and received Christ into your life, your sins are forgiven. They don t have to hold you or control you anymore. You don t have to live in them, you can choose to become slaves to obedience. We are free from death. We are free from sin. We are free from the grave. It s no wonder that this same John later on in Revelation Chapter 4 in the very beginning of the next section of the book where John was told to Write the things that were. Write the things that yet shall be. It begins in Revelation Chapter 4 with heaven being opened and John being given by Jesus a view into the very throne room of God. Of the many things he sees in the throne room of God, what he hears is pretty encouraging. For what he hears are people singing. No small group. This was thousands upon thousands, ten thousands upon ten thousands singing this. In Revelation 5:9: 9 They sang a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth. Multitudes from every nation, tribe, language, and tongue singing in the throne room of God about the freedom that they have been given from sin by the blood of Jesus. All of that remembered right here today at this table. This bread is my body, Jesus said. Page 7 of 9
This cup is my blood. It is given for you, and now as often as you eat it, remember me. Remember Jesus, the one who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood. Father, that s why we re here today, and it s especially significant on this Independence Day weekend. And as we saw in that opening film, it was the understanding of this freedom, freedom from sin, freedom to serve God, freedom to have God alone reign over the hearts of men, to fuel the move of independence and a move of freedom that became the basis of the most remarkable, political, national experiment on earth, government of the people, by the people, and for the people. And I want to thank you, God, for the reminder today that all freedom is fueled by this freedom, the awareness of the freedom from sin for every nation, tribe, language, and tongue. And today, as a group of Christians, we are here to say, Thank you for that freedom. As we eat this bread and drink this cup today, God, may you be honored, may Jesus be praised, and we will thank you. In his precious name, Amen. On the night that Jesus was betrayed, he took bread and he broke it and gave it to his disciples. He said, Take and eat all of it, for this bread is my body and is given for you. If there was any other sacrifice, you would have given it, but there was none. If we could come to you by any means or any way or any religion or any belief, the cross is unnecessary. But we re here today to remember that there is only one who has ever lived who had no sin. There is only one who could set us free. We all have a debt we cannot pay and yet there is one who has paid it in our place. Jesus, we honor you today. You see our lives. You know everything we think, everything we do, everything we say. For all of us as believers today we say thank you for this gift. Cleanse us, God, of our sin. Make us slaves to obedience and righteousness that we may live our lives fully for you. We thank you for this time to remember, and we pray it in Jesus name, Amen. As the men come to serve us today, the Lord invites all who know him, all who love him, and all who belong to him, all who believe that he has freed them from their sins by his blood. He invites us to come and to share with him in this remembrance. Take a piece of bread and hold it, if you would, and we will all eat of it together in just a few moments. It s quite possible that you re here today and you ve got questions about what you ve heard. It doesn t seem that long ago that I was sitting in church myself on a few occasions having no idea what a relationship with God really meant. I never would have seen myself as a sinner. I never understood what sin did or why it was so hard. It s possible you are here today in that same place. I just want you to know I m glad you re here, but I also want you to know this offer of forgiveness is real. It s being offered right now to all who will receive it. Jesus is God come in the flesh. He was born of a virgin and lived a sinless life so that at just the right time he could go to the cross and there he could die in our place for our sins. He was buried in a tomb and three days later he rose again victorious. We celebrate it every Easter, and Jesus is alive right now. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through him. There is no other means of our forgiveness. If you re here today and you know you re a sinner like the rest of us, and you believe now that your sin has a price, Page 8 of 9
and you re ready to trust Jesus and believe that he set you free from that sin by his blood, then by grace you can be saved through faith. This not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so no one can boast. This salvation is by faith, so if you re here today and you believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and you re ready to receive him into your life and to follow him in obedience, then you can ask Jesus to save you today and he will. If you re not sure what to pray or even how to say it, you can pray with me. And if it s from your heart to God, he ll hear you. So if you re ready, you can just bow your head right where you are, and in the quietness of your heart you speak to God. He ll hear you. And you can say to him these words. Say to him: Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I believe that my sin separates me from you. I believe you died for me for my sins on that cross. And when you died, I believe you were buried, and I believe that three days later you rose again victorious, and I believe you are alive right now. So, Jesus, I want to ask that you come and live in me. Wash away all of my sins. Make me God s child, and I will thank you for so great a freedom. If you prayed that in your heart to God today he hears you. The spirit of God actually comes to live in you, and your sin is washed away. You re forgiven. You are set free by his blood. I want to ask today that if you prayed to receive the Lord into your life, at the close of our service for just a moment that you come to the Prayer Room. That room will open up, it s a brightly lit room, wonderful people, if you would just go there and say, I received the Lord into my life today, they will rejoice with you and give you some materials to take home to read that will encourage your faith. This is the day of salvation... Page 9 of 9