Freedom

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives”

The first thing we need to understand is that we can believe in Jesus

And still be in bondage and need to receive some more freedom!

John 8:31

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.

John 8:32

And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

John 8:33

They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”

We have never been in bondage to anyone!

Have you ever read the Bible? They had been in bondage to everyone!

The Babylonians, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Grecians

They were in bondage to the Egyptians! (There was a movie about it!)

And when they made the statement,

They were in bondage to the Romans

John 8:34

Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.”

Commits: To practice, to be committed to, To be committed to practice…

If you drank a large amount of alcohol (Even if you’re a Christian)

That alcohol wouldn’t own (possess) you

But you would be under the influence or the control

And you might do something totally out of character for you

In the same way, if a person starts looking at pornography

He is opening a door to the demonic

And the more he opens that door, the more the thief will come in

He might be a great husband and father, or even grandfather!

And then one day he will do something totally out of character

Because he is under the influence of an evil spirit

Alcohol, lust, drugs, pornography,

Anger, bitterness, unforgiveness,

Pride, insecurity, inferiority, fear,

2 Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Can a believer be in bondage?

Matthew 18:21

Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

Matthew 18:22

Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

Matthew 18:23

Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.

Matthew 18:24

And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.

Matthew 18:25

But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.

Matthew 18:26

The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’

Matthew 18:27

Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.

Matthew 18:28

But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’

Matthew 18:29

So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’

Matthew 18:30

And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.

Matthew 18:31

So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.

Matthew 18:32

Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.

Matthew 18:33

Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’

Matthew 18:34

And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.

Matthew 18:35

So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

Why would our loving heavenly Father do that to us?

To stop us from going down the wrong road and hurting ourselves more

To get us to return to Him

It’s all through the Old Testament!

Israel would sin even to the point of burning their children alive

God would put them in bondage so they would repent! For their good!

Romans 6:16

Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

Galatians 3:7

Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.

Can a believer be in bondage?

Luke 13:10

Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.

Luke 13:11

And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up.

Luke 13:12

But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.”

Luke 13:13

And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.

Luke 13:14

But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”

Luke 13:15

The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it?

Luke 13:16

So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?”

John 11:43

Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”

John 11:44

And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

Luke 4:18

“to proclaim liberty to the captives”

Who are the captives? We are!

Last week, we received healing in broken, shattered, and bruised places

Today, we can receive freedom in some places of bondage!

When I got saved, I was immediately delivered from drugs

I never did drugs again and had no desire to do drugs

But I struggled with lust for many years

I was ministering prophetically the weekend before my 30th birthday

I had asked the Lord to hear Him more clearly

Friday night was incredible. Saturday night was horrible!

The older minister decided to preach on Sunday morning

He talked about practicing sin was like stiff-arming the Holy Spirit

They’ll just think I’m not praying or reading my Bible enough

Then he said, “I’m not talking about not praying or reading your Bible enough”

I’m talking about a vile, dirty, shameful sin!

I went forward in an invitation when I was 30

I had prayed that for my birthday, I would be able to hear God more clearly

The next morning when I woke up

The Holy Spirit said to me, “Happy Birthday!”

I was in bondage, under the influence, a slave, a captive

Jesus set this captive who was already a Christian free!

Related Media

Related Sermons