Episode Transcript
Welcome to go teach all nations, bringing you Christ's teachings through australian and international speakers. And here is today's presenter, Tim Matsis.
I've titled this evening's message on the other side of freedom and liberty, as we've been talking about, is something that's very close to all of our hearts at the moment. And a hotly talked about topic in the media and everywhere off the media, too. And you never really appreciate your liberty until it's gone, and then you realise the liberty that you had.
And so tonight we're going to talk about the other side of being liberated. What happens after we're set free from the slavery of sin? Up until the middle of the 18 hundreds, most of central and South America was ruled by the spanish crown and, of course, the country of Peru. When I mentioned Peru, most of you will think of places like Machu Picchu, that famous citadel up in the mountains.
Or maybe you'll think of the Aztecs or other things you've seen in the news. But in the old class system, since we're talking about slavery, in the old days, if you weren't royalty, part of the spanish crown, or if you weren't high up in the church, then really your life was pretty bad. You didn't expect much out of your life.
You were pretty much a slave to what the upper class has said that you should do. It wasn't different in many of the countries of Europe. In fact, they all pretty much ran the same way.
You either were born into royalty or you made your way up in the church. It wasn't until the middle of the industrial revolution that suddenly people started turning up with a bit of money and they managed to make their way up the ranks a little bit. But certainly in Peru, in the middle of the 18 or the early 18 hundreds, to not be royalty, to not be an important person in government or in the church, meant you were pretty much a lower class person that didn't have many rights.
And so, because of this, like in Much of Europe, uprisings began to ensue. And we've seen this over the course of our lifetimes in different countries around the world that were ruled by one race or one class of people. People eventually rise up and try to claim their freedom.
And so in Peru, this is exactly what happened. There was a man by the name of Jose Desan Martin and his forces who liberated Peru and proclaimed its independence from Spain. On the 28 July 1821.
Now, I won't say this in Spanish because my Spanish isn't too flash. But this is what he said when I translated into English. You can see him there.
Standing out on the balcony with his arm outstretched with the big crowds. All very happy to see that they've been liberated. This is what he said.
From this moment, Peru is free and independent. By the general will of the people. And by the justice of their cause, which God defends.
Long live the country. Long live freedom. Long live independence.
Jose des Ann Martin 28 July 1821. You imagine if you've lived your life. A lower class person.
Subservient to someone who sits on a throne over the other side of the ocean. To suddenly be free. Free to make your own choices, free to make your own way in life.
Would have been an incredible feeling. And I'm sure these people here were overjoyed at this natural desire that we all have. Which was finally satisfied.
The desire for freedom. Well, the hebrew deliverance wasn't much different. We go back a little bit further in time.
To the shores of the Red Sea. About three and a half thousand years ago. Another group of ex slaves were celebrating their freedom back in Egypt.
Their egyptian slave masters had killed their children. Taken away their hopes and dreams in life. And committed them to a life of enslavement.
It separated them from their ability to even serve their God. But now these slaves were free. God had intervened.
And had sent a deliverer to afflict their captives. God had done for them what they couldn't do for themselves. Ten miracles, really.
Ten devastating plagues that wrecked havoc in the land of Egypt. And now these egyptian forces that had destroyed these people's lives. Now lay on the bottom of the Red Sea.
Bodies probably being washed up on the shore, bleaching in the sun. While the Hebrews were free. It's no wonder that they sang and danced.
Book of Exodus, chapter 15 and verse one tells us that they came up with a song. And I believe the song was inspired for other generations who experienced the same thing. Said, I will sing unto the Lord.
For he has triumphed gloriously. The horse in his rider he's thrown into the sea. It's an incredible parallel, isn't it? When you've been delivered from a life of sin.
The feeling of joy, the feeling of freedom that you have is an incredible feeling. It makes you want to sing. It makes you want to express that freedom.
The old life of slavery. The life of slavery to a slave master that never lets you go. And every time that God rescues a soul from the slavery of sin.
This story of deliverance that the Hebrews experience is repeated again and again and again. The old life of sin was one that was opposed to God, one where we naturally carried out the passions of our own hearts. When someone provoked me, I'd retaliate.
If someone was going to beat me, I'd fight to win. Someone did wrong to me, I had to get revenge. When I was hungry, I ate.
When I was thirsty, I drank. Everything that my heart told me to do, I would carry out. We sometimes think of it as freedom.
But really, the Bible says it's a life of slavery. A life of slavery to our own passions and feelings in ourselves. We don't have the ability to restrain ourselves.
But by a miracle of God's grace, God begins to convict my heart, and I start to feel a desire for holiness, a desire to be free from these reactions, these automatic reactions that I have to what goes on around me. But there's a problem. There's a problem.
Even though I want to be free, my problem is that I'm a slave, and slaves can't quit. Slaves can't take their boss to court and say, I want out. Even though a Slave wants to be free, he has to obey.
That's the rule of being a slave. It makes me act in a way that I don't want to act. Have you ever acted in a way that you didn't want to act? Gotten home, or maybe gotten off the phone and said to yourself, oh, I shouldn't have said that.
I shouldn't have reacted. I shouldn't have done what my heart told me to do. I should have just kept quiet.
I should have walked away. I shouldn't have been so quick to get into the bargain in the hope of making a dollar or two. I should have stopped myself.
But you did what your heart told you to do. That's what slavery is like. No choices.
It's unreasonable. It makes you act against your own best interests. That's why we have regret when we do the wrong thing.
Because in our minds, we know that what we're doing is not right. But our heart, our carnal hearts, enslaved to sin, drive us to continue doing what we know is wrong. Like Paul, we cry out, o wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death, who can help me do what I know is right, but I can't do.
And then God sends a deliverer, just like he sent Moses to deliver the Hebrews. The Bible tells us in John, chapter three and verse 16 that God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life. And so now, to be saved, I want to turn my back on Egypt.
I want to turn my back on slavery and sin. But in order to succeed in this, I now have to believe that Jesus, the one who has come to deliver me, is capable of doing just what he promised. And like those hebrew slaves, I not only have to believe in my mind, but I have to act.
I have to walk forward into the sea where he says, I promise to make a way for you, even though it seems impossible to obey. This happens to us, doesn't it? We know what the right thing is to do, but it seems that every option we have can't work. It's sure to result in loss.
But Jesus says to us, follow me. Do what I say and I will make the way open before you. It's an act of faith.
We can't see our way through the sea. But God promises to provide a way if we do what he says, if we have faith in our deliverer. And that's how we're saved from sin, folks, we turn our back on sin, we repent of it, and then we have faith in Jesus not only to forgive us from our past sins, but to help us walk forward through the impossible.
That is the story of salvation. Now, the apostle Paul recognised this, and when he looked at the story of the Hebrews, he said, this is a parallel for what happens to people when they're saved. Notice this comment.
One Corinthians, chapter ten, and verse one and two. He says it very plainly here. He says, moreover, brethren, I would not have you be ignorant that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea.
And what does he say here? And all were baptised unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. You thought baptism was a christian thing, but Paul here says that in the Old Testament, the Hebrews were baptised, just like you and I are baptised. It was a symbol that they had turned away from slavery in Egypt.
And now we're going to walk through the sea into a life as free men and women in Jesus Christ. In his letter to the Romans, Paul tells us the meaning of baptism. Notice this.
In chapter six of Romans, verse three and four, he says, do you not know that as many of us as were baptised into Jesus Christ were baptised into his death, and so we're buried with him by baptism unto death? That, like Christ, was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father? Even so, we also should walk in the newness of life. Paul says that when we're baptised, it's like we die. We're dead.
And all those hebrew slaves, their old life of slavery was now dead. He goes on in verse six and seven, he says, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, so that we should no longer serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.
So we're not talking here about a physical death. We're talking about a spiritual death. And when a person is baptised.
When I was baptised, that old Tim, that one that was a slave to his passions and his feelings, his inclinations, he was buried in the water just like Jesus was buried. And then he's resurrected again as a new tim. Notice that Paul doesn't stop there with the death.
Let's go back to verse three and four. He says, therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death. That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we should walk in the newness of life.
So it's a death to the old self, the life of sin and a resurrection, just like Christ was resurrected in the newness of life. Notice what he says in Galatians chapter two and verse 20. Paul says, I was crucified, or I am crucified with Christ, and yet I'm still alive.
I still live, but not I. Not that old Paul, but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by the faith of the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Now, here's the question. What is this new life that we are to live once we have put the old life of sin? The old Tim's been buried. What is this new life that he's going to live? Well, you say, well, it's the new life in Jesus Christ.
Yes, but what is that life? What was the life that Jesus lived, that I am now meant to live? I think the answer is in Hebrews, chapter four and verse 15. Notice what it says here about Jesus life. It describes him, first of all as a high priest.
He says, we don't have a high priest, Jesus, which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. That means that Jesus understands the infirmities that we have as human beings. How is that? How does Jesus understand? Well, is it just because he was God? Of course not.
Jesus came as one of us. It says that in all points he was tempted like as we are, yet without sin. So what do we know about the life that Jesus lived? We know that he was tempted.
It wasn't a life where he floated around on a cloud playing a harp. He actually came into contact with people. He felt what it was like, as it says in this text, to be tempted because he was one of us.
And yet, in spite of the fact he was tempted, he did not sin. Just like Moses. Jesus was born into the family of slaves.
He was born as one of us, just like Moses was born a Hebrew, into a family of slaves. And the Bible says, although Jesus was tempted in all points, like as we are, he is without sin. In other words, he was a slave or in a family of slaves.
But by the power of the Holy Spirit, from the time he was born, he never, ever obeyed the slave master. That's an incredible thing, isn't it? To be tempted like as we are, and yet never, ever to obey the slave master. In other words, Jesus had to deal with the same things that you and I have to deal with now.
I know he didn't have habits of sin because the Bible says he never sinned. Most of us have got a history. Yeah, we've got a rat sheet.
And that drives us to go back to our old habits. Jesus never had one of those because he never developed any bad habits. But he was born as a human being.
So when it says that we are to live the life that Jesus lived, when we are resurrected again, it means that we will be tempted like Jesus was tempted. And yet somehow we have the power to live as free men and women, just like jesus did. That's a challenging thought, isn't it? Especially when we look over our history of failure.
Listen to how it describes it in the books. Book? The acts of the apostles, page 476. It says, through the power of Christ, men and women have broken the chains of sinful habit.
They've renounced selfishness. The profane have become reverent, the drunken sober, the profligate have become pure. Souls that have borne the likeness of Satan have become transformed into the image of God.
This change is in itself the miracle of miracles. And is this what the Bible says? If in one corinthians 517, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature? Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new.
In other words, the old life was a life of temptation and slavery to sin. Because when I was tempted, I had no power to resist it. I did what I felt like doing.
What else can guide me? The old life was a life of temptation and slavery. The new life is a life of temptation and victory. The old life was Tim, on his own, a slave to sin, knowing what was right but unable to do it because I had to obey my passions.
The new life, the life that Jesus lived, is a life of temptation, but it's a life of victory. So what does this mean for you and I as christians, those who have been delivered from the slavery of sin? Well, what it means, quite frankly, in one Peter, chapter five and verse eight, is that we need to be sober, we need to be vigilant, because our adversary, the devil, like a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour. Why? Because although the life of slavery is over, the life of temptation is not.
You know, I wish when the Hebrews reached Canaan, sorry, reached the other side of the Red Sea, I wish that that was the end of the story. Wouldn't that have been nice? Wouldn't you like it that the moment you were baptised, somehow you were spirited away to heaven and you never had to face anything again? But you and I know that the moment you get out of the waters of baptism, or the moment you decide you're going to follow Christ, you've got a desert to face, don't you? They'd escaped the slavery of sin, but in front of them was a vast desert that they would have to cross if they were ever going to reach the land that God had promised to them. That seems very ominous, doesn't it? It almost seems unfair sometimes.
You see these prisons, where they put prisons out in the middle of nowhere, a big fence around them, and then of course you think, well, if the prisoner got over the fence, then they probably have a long stretch to go before they ever reach any civilization. They do it on purpose. They want to make it hard for you.
Now, God didn't do this on purpose. He had delivered them from Egypt, rescued them from the power of pharaoh. But now it was Satan's aim to use all his power, all his cunning, to bring them back into slavery again.
Not the slavery of Egypt, but the slavery of sin. What could God do to help these slaves through the desert, to help them get to the other side? What could he do? Well, there were two things that the Bible says he did, and most people miss this. Most people think, oh, well, it was just a bit of an unfair trapeze through the wilderness, like one of those drives you go on with dad where he doesn't know where he's going, and you have to turn corners and go back again because he's not looking at the map.
Yeah, most people think that the wilderness wanderings were a little bit like that, where God sort of didn't seem to know where they were meant to be going and they had to just follow along and they fell into all these problems. But God knew that they needed to have this experience to prepare them for Canaan. He knew that human nature is not to be relied upon.
So he gave them two things. The first of them was pure water, and they ran out of water. God brought water out of the rock, didn't he? And the other thing he gave them in the book of Exodus, chapter 16 was the right thing to eat.
Manna. And in Exodus 16, we read that God decided that the best regular diet for his people was a vegan one. Now, you might think that that has nothing to do with it.
Some people say, well, it's not about what you eat and drink. You know, you've heard them say that text, that the kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking. But the Bible also says in Corinthians, chapter ten, verse 31, that whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, we should do it to the glory of God.
That means that there is a way of eating and drinking that doesn't glorify God, and there's a way of eating and drinking that does glorify God, because somehow what we eat or what we drink affects what we do. Have you ever had a big lunch? I'm sure you have. What do you feel like after you've had a big lunch? Maybe some of you had a big tea.
Yeah. What do you feel like? You feel like sleeping? You see, what we eat and drink affects our minds. And so God said to them, I know you're going to have to traverse this desert.
The best thing I can do for you is to give you pure water to drink and pure food to eat. In fact, the Bible says in psalm 78, verse 25 that God gave them the same food that he gives angels to eat. The Bible calls it angel food.
I wonder what kind of people we would be if we were able to eat angel food. So what is Satan going to do now? God has set them up for their trek with pure water, pure food. Satan comes along and he starts playing their old songs on the radio.
Ever walked through the supermarket and heard that old song that reminded you of something? Maybe as they crossed the road? I know where I was living in Marston. We would come out of the supermarket and straight away you would smell the smell of Kentucky fried chicken. Now, I don't have a taste for Kentucky fried chicken, but it is a very pungent smell.
Maybe he has the ex boyfriend or the ex girlfriend call on the phone. He wants to arouse their memories of what life was like back in Egypt. He wants to derail them on their journey through the wilderness.
And he chooses to do it in the same way he managed to derail the human race in the first place, through appetite. We should never forget that the temptation to Eve was a temptation to eat. Notice this.
Numbers, chapter eleven, verse four and five. It says, the mixed multitude that was among them, these were the Egyptians that had come out of Egypt. It says, they fell a lusting.
And the children of Israel also wept again and said, who shall give us flesh to eat? We remembered the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely. The cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic. Friends.
Satan used this to arouse their memories, their good memories of what life was like back in Egypt. Isn't it funny that we can cut out all the bad things and in a moment of weakness, we don't remember what the slavery was like. We don't remember how it hurt us, how we ended up in hospital because of what we ate.
We just remember the good things, what it tasted like. They remembered the restaurants, the uber eats. And they began to lust after the good things they thought they had back in Egypt.
Sometimes we have to remind ourselves, don't we? When Satan helps us to remember the so called good things, of what life was like back when we served Satan. We also need to be careful, because he's a liar, to remember what it was really like. All those things we thought were good, what did they come with? They come with heart attacks.
They come with relationship problems. They come with anger. They come with distress.
We need to remind ourselves of what the slavery of sin was like. When Satan reminds us of the so called good things. These Hebrews remembered what the flesh was like back in Egypt when they were slaves.
In verse six, they says, now our soul is dried away and there's nothing at all to eat except this manna before our eyes. You know, this is the difference between God and Satan. Because even though Satan is a slave master, God is not.
And when they cried out for flesh, God gave them what they wanted. In fact, it says he gave them a whole month's worth until it came out their nostrils. Listen to this.
Numbers eleven, verse 31 to 34. It says, there went forth a wind from the Lord and brought quails from the sea and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side. And as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were, two cubits high upon the face of the earth.
In other words, if you walked for a day in any direction from the camp, you would find quails flying about this high above the earth. That's a lot of meat. And says, the people stood up all that day and all that night and all the next day, they gathered the quails.
And he that gathered the least gathered ten homers and spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. But now notice this. In verse 33.
It says, while the flesh was yet between their teeth, even before it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people. The Lord smote the people with a very great plague. He called the name of that place Kibroth Hata Ava, because there they buried the people that lusted.
Pretty sad experience, isn't it? A sad experience to have gone through all those plagues in Egypt, to have seen God afflict your tormentors, to have walked through the red sea on dry ground, to stand on the other side and rejoice, to be free, and then to allow a lie from the devil about how good things were back in Egypt to cause you to indulge your appetite to the point where you die. It's a sad story. This is how Paul describes it.
One corinthians, chapter ten, verses one to six. He says, moreover, brethren, I would not have you be ignorant how all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and all were baptised unto Moses in the cloud and the sea, and did all eat the same spiritual meat. What was the spiritual meat? Meat in the King James is another word for food.
They all ate the same spiritual food, which was the manna. They did all drink the same spiritual drink, the water from the rock, they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. But with many of them, God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
And then he says, now, these things were our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things. Friends, what is Paul saying to us? He's saying, look at this story, folks. These people made it out of slavery.
They turned their back on sin, and they put faith in Jesus to forgive them their past sins and to help them to live a life of freedom. They were baptised, if you like, but they didn't make it to Canaan. These people were baptised and died.
And Paul says to christians today, watch out, because you may have committed your life to Jesus. You may have said, I want to follow him. You may have been baptised.
But as long as we're in this world, just like Jesus was in this world, we have to live a life of temptation. We live as freed slaves wandering in a desert. Notice this comment here from acts of the apostles, page 476.
When I read this, this really made me sit up because it says exactly what Paul was saying, she says, but because of the experience of being delivered from the past life of sin. She's talking about the experience of salvation. Because we've had this experience.
Because this experience is his. The Christian is not therefore to fold his hands, content with that which has been accomplished for him. He who has determined to enter the spiritual kingdom will find that all the powers and passions of unregenerate nature, backed by the forces of the kingdom of darkness, are arrayed against him.
Each day he must renew his consecration. Each day do battle with evil. Old habits, hereditary tendencies to wrong.
Will strive for the mastery. And against these he is ever to be on guard, striving in Christ's strength for victory. Are we in Canaan yet? No.
You see, before we were Satan's employee, we were on the same side as he was. But now that we've turned from that, we've buried that old life. Now we're on the side of his arc.
Enemy. When you join the ranks of Jesus and you turn your back on the ranks of Satan, now you have an enemy that wants to destroy you. And now as we stand on the edge of eternity with our salvation nearer than when we first believed, do you think that Satan is going to give up? When you look at the world around you, do you think that Satan is getting weaker? Deciding to quit the game because he's losing? I think he's encouraged by his success.
The Bible tells us in revelation twelve, verse twelve. Rejoice, ye heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea.
For the devil has come down to you having great wrath because he knows he has but a short time. Last chance saloon great controversy page 518. The great controversy between Christ and Satan that has been carried forward for nearly 6000 years is soon to close.
The wicked one redoubles his efforts to defeat the work of Christ in man's behalf and to fasten souls in his snares. So what's this got to do with manna? Well, as I said, manna, water. All these things affect your mind.
If you're going to make it through the wilderness of life, you need to have a clear mind. Because the devil's walking around trying to get you. You need to be alert.
But there's something more that we need to understand about this manner, because in John six, Jesus says something very interesting. You see, the Hebrews thought, at least the ones in Jesus'day that because they had been, or their ancestors had been part of this experience, and they were the ones whose ancestors had eaten the manor and made it to the promised land, then somehow that made them special. But Jesus came to them and he said, listen, folks.
John six, verse 50 and 51. The manna was also just a symbol. He said, I am the bread of life.
Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and are dead. And again in verse 63, he said, is the spirit that gives life. The flesh profits nothing.
The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. In other words, the manner is a symbol for the word of God. Jesus himself is the word, is he not? He says, I am the bread of life.
And the words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life. In other words, God gave them manner to sustain them in the wilderness, to teach us that when we are delivered from sin, to sustain our spiritual life in this wilderness, what do we need to eat? We need to eat of the word of life. We need to feed ourselves on the things that Jesus has said.
We need to remind ourselves of what Jesus says, because as we've just seen, the devil comes along and he wants to remind us of how great life was back when we served him. And we're a bit forgetful, aren't we? We need to remind ourselves. You know, there's a christian hymn that says, take the world, but give me Jesus.
Have you heard that hymn? But I'm sad to say that when I look around me in the christian world, there are many Christians who say they've been delivered from Egypt but are literally dying to eat the spiritual food and the spiritual drink that they had back when they were in the slavery of sin. Today, in many churches, people are saying, we don't want to hear the Bible. It's too boring.
We want something a little bit more entertaining, you know, like they have in Egypt. Take Jesus away. Take the Bible away.
Don't preach the word. Give us some jokes, something that will make us laugh when we come to church so that it can be fun for us. Give us some music that makes us feel like we used to feel back when we were in Egypt.
They forget that back when they were in Egypt, that music was part of their slavery. It brought them into bondage to all kinds of things that Jesus had to deliver them from. Give us some tv and some movies.
We want some egyptian entertainment now that we're out of Egypt. Forget the sermon. Just give us a little sermonette.
Maybe some takeaways. Maybe just have a concert or a skit. Something to entertain us.
These people had been delivered from the world and baptised into the church. But in their hearts they still indulged the passions that once enslaved them to sin. Today there are Christians who claim to be set free, but they're slaves to the old passions that once controlled their life.
The Bible teaches us that it is not possible to be free from the bondage of sin and still live in it. We are either free or we are not free. Notice what Paul writes.
Romans, chapter six and verse one and two. He says, shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound? In other words, now that we've left Egypt, shall we continue to live like Egyptians live? Shall we continue to eat what the Egyptians eat, listen to what they listen to, be entertained by what they're entertained by. Paul says, God forbid.
How can we that are dead to sin live in it any longer? Remember, the old life is buried. We've turned our back on those things that enslaved us, and now we want to live a life free with things that are going to lead us towards heaven and eternal life. Jesus warned in Matthew, chapter 24, that at the end time, particularly, there would be false teachers who would come into the church.
And as a result of their teachings, he says, iniquity would abound. Notice this comment, Matthew 24 and verse eleven and twelve. He said, but many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many.
How would they deceive people? If someone came into the church today and said, I'm not a Christian and I don't believe in God, can I please preach the sermon? You'd say, no, we didn't come here to listen to you. We came here to listen to people who believe in Jesus, who have been saved. Jesus warned that they would be false prophets who would come in and they would deceive people.
They would purport to speak for God. And as a result of their teachings, he says, because iniquity shall abound and the love of many will grow cold. In other words, when you see a church where the people claim to be christian, but iniquity abounds in the church, we know that that is the result of false teaching.
Yeah, the result of true teaching is that people turn away from iniquity and serve Jesus. But when christians turn away from Jesus and instead, go back to their old sins. We know that that is happening because of false teachings.
Someone has come in and told them that it's okay to live the life of a slave even when you're set free. The apostle Peter also warned about this. Two Peter, chapter two and verse 18.
He says that false teachers would come in and teach people this fatal error, that after being saved, you can still live a life of slavery to sin. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. Put that in English when you've been buried in baptism to that life of sin, and then you get out of that and you go to live a new life in Jesus Christ, but you carry on living the life of a slave that's worse than if you were never saved in the first place.
At least someone who is a slave and knows they're a slave can be encouraged, can be persuaded, can be convicted to turn away from it. But a person who thinks they're saved and carries on living the life of a slave is impossible to reach. How can you set someone free who already thinks they're free? Do you remember when Jesus had that argument with the Pharisees in John chapter eight? Jesus said, if the son of man sets you free, you'll be free indeed.
And they said, we have never been enslaved to anyone. We're free. There's nothing worse than someone who thinks they're free, but really isn't.
You see, it's not enough just to be set free. God wants us to live the life of free people. You remember I spoke at the beginning of the liberation of Peru.
Some of you may know this man here on this screen. His name was Captain Joseph Bates. And since I've been reading stories about sailors and sea captains lately, I thought I would tell you about Captain Joseph Bates, who in 1823 was a merchant sailor in South America.
And back in those days in South America, he had to travel with great caution, because as I've already mentioned, in 1823, there was a lot going on in South America, there were lots of uprisings, people trying to shake off the shackles of royalty. And so as he went round South America, trading in the various places, he records in his autobiography many of these encounters that he had with the different factions in society that were vying for supremacy. Well, in one of his adventures that I read, after successfully concealing his trading profits somewhere hidden in the ship, because if he didn't hide them.
One of these factions from a government or someone else would come in and take them. Some of you might know it's a little bit like that today in some places in South America, but it certainly was like that then. So when he had finished his trading, he hid his profits behind something in the ship where they wouldn't find it.
And the government officers came on board to make sure that he hadn't made some money and was going to take it out of the country. And of course they didn't find it. But one of the officers got talking to Joseph Bates and this officer was quite proud of himself.
And he began to boast about the independence and the freedom that Peruvians now have, now that they've been liberated from the spanish crown. We're free, he said. Captain Bates obviously didn't see it the same way.
And so he politely inquired with this peruvian officer to describe something of the freedom that he now experiences. Perhaps if he could just describe it to him, this newfound freedom. And this is what the peruvian officer said.
He said, I'm free now. This freedom involves why, if you have a good horse and I want him, if I'm stronger than you, I'll take the horse. A free man.
How would you feel if you were the owner of a horse? Would you feel like it was a free country? Peruvian officer had been set free from a life of oppression. But by his life, he was indicating that he wasn't fit to live as a free man. You see, he loved the principles of oppression and slavery better than he loved the principles of freedom.
In fact, worse still, he used his freedom as a cloak for oppression. He claimed to live by the law of freedom, but he was still living by the laws of slavery and oppression. Isn't that a sad fact? A man who's free claims to be free.
And I wonder tonight, I wonder if this could happen to you or I. I wonder if we could be brought back to think of our old life of slavery and live our lives as free people in Christ Jesus as slaves. Maybe you can sit there tonight and just think in your mind what are the things that bring you back into slavery, back into your old ways of living and thinking.
Let me ask you, can I watch anything on tv that I want to watch? You know I'm free, right? I can watch anything I like on tv. But if I do that, can I? Sincerely, when the tv program's finished, get down on my knees beside my bed and pray and open my heart to Jesus. Tell him how much I appreciate him and be thankful for all that he's given.
Do you think I can do that? Do you think I can open my bible and study the Bible after I've been watching on tv just whatever I want? I think I would struggle. Indulging our love of this world will kill our spiritual inclinations. It's simply not possible to live as a slave.
When you're free, you are either one or the other. You either lose your faith in God by living as a slave, or you live your life as free and resist the temptation to be a slave. Notice this comment here.
Philippians, chapter four and verse eight. Paul writes, because he knew this, he had been a slave. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report.
If there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. I don't know if there's any young people here tonight. Maybe a few young people are notorious for this.
Mum, why can't I watch this on tv? Dad, why can't I listen to this on the radio? Why can't I wear this? Why can't I eat this? Why can't I go there? Well, let me ask you this. Are your parents taking you the same place that the people in the world are taking their kids? Or are your parents planning to take you to heaven? Planning to take you to Canaan? Acts of the Apostles, page 518. It says, the apostles sought to teach the believers how important it is to keep the mind from wandering to forbidden themes or from spending its energies on trifling subjects.
Those who would not fall prey to Satan's devices must guard well the avenues to the soul. They must avoid reading, seeing or hearing that which will suggest impure thoughts. The mind must not be left to dwell at random upon every subject that the enemy of souls may suggest.
The heart must be faithfully sentineled or guarded. Notice this. Or evils without will awaken evils within, and the soul will wander in darkness.
Friends, that's nothing new. That's in the Bible. Notice what Peter says first Peter, chapter one, verse 13 to 16.
He says, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope to the end. For the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust in your ignorance.
But as he which has called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy. Friends, if we want to make it to Canaan, we have to gird up the loins of our mind.
We need to guard ourselves against that call that Satan makes to bring us back into slavery. We need to guard the avenues to the soul. Each day we have to fight our passions, we have to fight our natural inclinations.
Because even though we have come out of Egypt, even though we've been buried in baptism and said, jesus, I want to follow you, I want to leave that life behind. The new life is not a life that's free of temptation. Until we reach heaven, we will have to face temptation.
And Satan knows best how to bring us down, doesn't he? Jesus said, if the son of man sets you free, you'll be free indeed. And today I want to claim that freedom, not just to claim the freedom to be set free. Of course I want forgiveness for my sins in the past.
I want to be able to live the new life. I want to be able to live free. Hence, too often we pray and we ask God to forgive us and ask God to put away our sins and cast them into the depths of the sea.
But we need to spend time in the morning and in the evening and through the day asking God to walk with us, to help us to live free. And tonight I want to ask you, those who claim to have been set free, do you want to ask Jesus to help you to live that life of freedom? Do you want Jesus to walk with you every day to cut off those avenues where Satan can access your heart, to turn off the tv, turn off the Internet, keep the radio out of the way, break up with those friends that want you to go out or whatever they're asking you to do. And instead to spend time with Jesus, eating the manna, drinking the water of life.
Let's bow our heads in prayer, shall we? Our Father in heaven, we want to thank you for what you've done for us. But tonight, as we bow before you in prayer, we beg you, Lord, to not only set us free, but to help us livers free. Help us to be mindful of the things that Satan uses to drag us back, to trip us up.
Help us to cut off the avenues to our hearts, the things that we used to enjoy back in Egypt. Help us to cut them off. And help us instead to feed on the words that you have spoken.
To encourage us every day, every morning, every night and throughout the day, to live a life that's pleasing to you. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.
This message was made available by the Masterton Seventh-day Adventist Church. For more resources like this, visit Mastertonsda.nz
William Akland here today to share with you one of my poems, so this one is entitled he's there. God knows he cares and looks with love upon our every need he sees and hears and with his loving smile he drives away despair God looks and loves his earthly children in this world below he plans and moves in all life sore and sombre ways to ease our care God sees he hears man's simple cry his deep and earnest plea now gone our fears along the brightening path ahead we know he's there. It's been a pleasure bringing you this programme here on 3ABN Australia radio.
