Amen. Hebrews Chapter 2. Every good thing. Every good gift. The Scripture
says comes down from the Father of lights. But every good. Will. That God has towards man
is found in one singular source, the Lord Jesus Christ. Every
blessing. All the rest that you and I will
ever feel, all peace, all joy, comes from one singular source,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything that God shows in
grace and in mercy is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not
found in what I do. It's not found in what you do. It's found in Christ and it's
because of what he has done. It's because of who he is. Our
flesh is prone to wonder, and you know it's true, prone to
seek peace somewhere else, prone to seek joy, to seek happiness. We're designed to find something
new, aren't we? We, in mercy, the Lord gave us
the four seasons, things turn around, we get, by the time winter's
over, some of us have seasonal depression, and we're longing
for springtime, longing for warmth. Our flesh likes change, doesn't
it? We go to the store, we'll see something new and shiny,
and we'll wanna buy that new and shiny something, looking
for happiness somehow, some way. All the joy to the believer is
found in one singular place, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the
new man never looks for anything else but him. New man can't be
satisfied in anything else. There's nothing that's more shiny
than he is. Matter of fact, there's nothing
shiny at all compared to him. The rest of it's just utter darkness,
isn't it? Anytime that we look for joy,
peace, and rest outside of Christ, it's bondage. It's just looking
for bondage. That's all that it is. This is
what the law that men preach does. Men try to put other men
under the law. That's all that they're doing
is bringing men and women back into bondage, back into Egypt
again. This is all that legalism can
do. Do we know what the word legalism
is? Legal is a term. We know what that means, something
that's legal, but men preach. that you should do. You should
do the right thing. You should live the right life. You should be this or you should
be that. And it's legalism. That's the
definition of it. And if you don't do that, if
you don't conform to the way we've decided that you should
be, then there's no way you can be a believer. That's what legalism
leads to is self-righteousness. It's all that it can lead to.
It's just bondage, isn't it? This is what men are prone to
seek after, is bondage. Not realizing that's what they're
seeking after. We didn't spend our time trying
to read more in religion, to pray more in religion, and it
turns out all we were doing was just adding more and more bondage
to ourself because we were doing it for all the wrong reasons.
Our motivation wasn't love. Our motivation was a desire to
be seen of the Lord as being good. Just bondage, just iniquity. All that legalism can do is put
men and women under the taskmaster's whip of self-righteousness. That's
all that it can do. But I have good news this morning.
You're not in bondage if you're in Christ. You're not in bondage
anymore. Free from Egypt. Free from the
law. Free from self-righteous works
to try to please God. Your freedom in Christ. That's
what I've titled this message. Freedom of Christ. The freedom
of Christ. Let's read our text, Hebrews
chapter 2, verse 14 through 18. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that
hath the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage. For verily he took not on him
the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Wherefore, in all things, it behooved him to be made like
unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high
priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for
the sins of the people. For in that he himself has suffered,
being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted."
The freedom of Christ, the Lord Jesus delivered delivered them. That's a particular people he's
talking about. Them who he wanted to deliver,
he delivered. Them who he purposed to deliver,
he delivered. How many slaves do you think
were in the time of Egypt? How many other places had slaves?
But who did the Lord save? Who did the Lord deliver? The
children of Israel, the chosen. That's who the Lord sent Moses
down to, to deliver. And just like them, all those
whom the Lord Jesus has purposed to deliver, he delivered on the
cross of Calvary. He delivered. So how do I know
if I have the freedom found in Christ? The freedom, this is
the freedom I'm talking about, the freedom to approach the throne
of God and not be consumed. The freedom to worship God. The
freedom to enter the very presence of God. How do I know if I have
that freedom, that liberty? Well, it's only found in one
source. It's found in the Lord Jesus Christ. How do I know I
have freedom to partake of the endless storehouse of the precious
grace of God? How do I know that I have the
freedom to come into the presence of God to obtain mercy, to obtain
favor, not damnation, not wrath, It's only found in one place,
in the Lord Jesus Christ. How do I know I have the freedom
to drink from the fountain of living water? Well, the scripture
says, the spirit and the bride say come. Whosoever will, let
him come. Take of the water of life freely. Why is it free? Because Christ
paid for it. Paid for it by his own blood.
If you desire the water of life, come take. Come and take of it. How do I know I have the freedom
to eat the manna, the bread of life, though it's only found
in one place? It's not found in us. Freedom, we can't do something
to become free. What can a slave do? The slave can run. Slave can
run from the master. Might get caught, might not,
but you and I are born lame on our feet, aren't we? You and
I are born dead and trespasses and in sin. We can't flee the
law. We can't flee the law. Well,
what else could we do? We could buy our freedom. That's
what a slave can do. Buy my freedom. But the price
is blood, perfect blood. But I don't have that and you
don't have that. Lord Jesus Christ did. How do I know if I have
freedom? He bought us with his own blood.
How do I know I have freedom? Because he paid the debt we did
owe. Not inquiring with us or counseling
with us. Would you like me to pay your
debt? No, he just did it of his own good pleasure, his own will. According to his purpose, he
did it. He saved his people from their sin. How do I know how
I have the freedom of Christ? I'm in Christ. That's how we
know being in Christ, not having our own righteousness, which
is of the law. All that that is is bondage. No, it's the righteousness
of the son of God, of the Lord Jesus Christ. How do I know if I have freedom
only found in Christ? Well, number one, and I got ahead
of myself a little bit, number one, and y'all, you know that
I don't normally go one through whatever, but this morning, we're
gonna look at just a few points. Number one, you have to know
that you're in bondage before you can desire freedom. Nobody
that was, what did the Lord tell the Pharisees? They told him,
they came, remember he healed the blind man. He healed the
blind man and the Pharisees begin to inquire of the blind man,
tell us, give God the glory. Is this, Jesus is a sinner, tell
us that. We want to know what we want
to hear, tell us what we want to hear. And he says, whether he's a sinner
or no, I know not. This one thing I know, whereas
I was blind, now I see. And they said, well, the man
that healed you is a devil. He said, well, this is a marvelous thing,
a devil. uh, causing a devil, uh, causing me to cease is, and
they, they rebuked him and said, you were born in sins. Don't
talk to us. Don't tell us you don't have
anything to say to us. You were born in sins and they
cast him out the temple. Why? Well, he just spoke the
truth to him. That's why the Lord found them. And you know,
the inquiry later on that they asked the Lord, are you saying
the Pharisee said, are you saying that we're blind? And he said,
because you say your sin remains, Because you say you see, therefore
your sins remain. But those who see by faith, not
by sight, they're the ones that the Lord, by grace, they see
that freedom's only found in Christ, sight is only found in
Christ, not by what we do, but by what he did because of what
he did. The man that saw, he had a need,
he needed to see. Only, it's interesting, somebody
born blind, they would not naturally know that there's something wrong
with them, would they? Think about that. They would
have to be told that, wouldn't they? They would be things done,
it would be pretty obvious, pretty quick that the person's blind,
but to them, they would just be nothing has changed. Somebody
that becomes blind, now that's something totally entirely different.
You can see the beauty of nature, you can see the creation, and
then all of a sudden you can't see, you would really want to
be able to see again, wouldn't you? But a blind man, wouldn't
really know that they're blind until somebody says, you know,
hey, I can actually see with my eyes. Well, what's eyes? You
understand what I'm saying? Everything has to be taught.
Nobody can come to that conclusion. And likewise, a dead man, there's
no way that you can look at a dead man and say, well, all you have
to do is get up. And the blind man, you can't
say all you have to do is see. No, the Lord's going to have
to do the work. Lord's the one that comes and says you're in
bondage, you're in bondage to self, you're in bondage to sin,
you're in bondage to Satan. You're in bondage to the law,
you've been judged and been found guilty, you're going to die.
If God doesn't reveal that in mercy, if God doesn't reveal
that, we'll never know that we're in bondage. That's what the Jews
told, we're gonna turn to John 8 in a little bit, but that's
what the Pharisees told the Lord. He said, they said, we're not,
we weren't born in bondage. We're not born of fornication.
We said, we're Jews, we're full-blooded Jews. We're not born in bondage.
But that was exactly the point. They're in bondage because of
their pedigree. They're in bondage because of
who they think they are, what they think they are, self-righteous
before God. How do I know I have the freedom
of Christ? Because I see that I'm in bondage. I see only those
who are in bondage have a need to be set free. Everyone without
exception is born a sinner, born with the death sentence upon
their head, born in darkness, born blind, born under the law
and subject to it. All we have is a corrupted inheritance
by our father Adam, polluted blood with no hope of ever fixing
our bondage, no hope of ever fixing it. And that's the second
point. How do I know if I have the freedom of Christ? Number
one, I know that I'm in bondage. Number two, I can't fix it. There's
nothing I can do to fix it. Not a prayer to pray, not a life
to live. If we could live a billion lives,
it would not be enough to change one sin that we do or are. Can't
fix it. We know that to be true, don't
we? I can't fix it. I can't fix it. If we err concerning the fall,
if we err concerning what happened in the garden, what really happened
in the garden, that man became totally, completely, 100% depraved,
incapable of doing anything to please God in any way at any
time. If we err in that, we've missed it. We've missed it completely. We were born in bondage and we
can't fix it. We cannot fix it. We can never
recover. Time lasted billions of years
and we could live that long. We can't recover what was lost
in the garden and ourself. We can't do good. Our nature
is just opposite of God. Everything we do is sinful and
wrong and false. So God sent forth his son, born
of a woman, born under the law to redeem them that were under
this bondage, under the law. We couldn't help ourself. When
we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. That's why the
gospel is good news. We can't fix it. He did. He did. He chose to fix it. But the sacrifice
of himself on Calvary's cross, how do I know if I have the freedom
of Christ? I've been made to see that I'm
totally depraved. I can't fix it. But he did. But he did. It's not that we're partially
broken. so that we're entirely void of
life before him. In myself dwelleth no good thing. In myself is just death. And
that's all we can produce, that's all that we can begat, spiritually
speaking. That does bring us to our third
point, God must save me. How do I know I have the freedom
of Christ? Because it's God that saved me.
He must, if he doesn't, I'm lost. Scripture says in 2 Corinthians
3.17, now the Lord is that spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord
is, there is liberty. If he gives his spirit according
to his will, Can't obligate the spirit to do something. We can't
work up the spirit. You know, a lot of people in
certain religions, most religions talk about working up the spirit.
They do things and then they generate excitement and they
believe that's the spirit. That's not the spirit. No, worship's
done in the heart. Worship never draws attention
to the flesh. Worship is done in the heart.
Worship never draws attention to the flesh. The spirit never
draws attention to himself. Who does he point to? The one
that saved us, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one that saved his
people from their sin. Therefore, only those who God
saves have the freedom of Christ. Now this is not the natural conclusion
of man, and it's impossible to believe by the flesh. Flesh wants
something to do. Flesh desires something to see.
The flesh desires something to work. The flesh desires to be
recognized. Only the Lord's people are given
repentance and faith, and this is the result of grace bestowed.
You remember Saul, whenever he was on the road to Damascus,
he was going to, he was persecuting the church. He'd held the coat
of Stephen while Stephen was being stoned to death. Heard
the gospel preached there. You remember what the Lord did? Did the Lord ask him to do anything
before he announced who he was? No. The Lord shone forth a light. The Lord shone forth a light
and a voice spoke and everybody around heard. The boys, but only
Saul saw the light. Everybody fell down. They knew
that they were dealing with God. That's what he does for his people.
He reveals who he is. And it just knocks us off of
our high horse, doesn't it? It shows us that we're in bondage.
We're in bondage to self, we're in bondage to sin, and we're
in bondage to Satan. And what is our acknowledgement? Lord,
Lord, what would you have me do? And what did the Lord do? He struck him blind, didn't he?
Well, the Lord's people see much better since the Lord struck
us blind, been shut up to Christ. That's what the spirit shows
is Christ is our only hope. His salvation is our only hope. Was it that Jonah decided? Remember
the story of Jonah? Did Jonah just wake up in the
story whenever he was in the sides of the ship and say, you
know what? I think I should go to Nineveh. No. No, it was God
that sent a whale, God that sent a storm, God that sent the wind,
God that made them throw him overboard. It was God that caused
him to cry out from the belly of hell. Salvation is of the
Lord. Lord, save me. This is repentance. This is repentance. Have you
ever said, Lord, save me from the heart? Have you ever seen,
has the Lord ever dangled your feet over hell before? If he
has, it's been in mercy. Have you ever shown you what
you are? He's let you see you deserve the wrath of God, eternal
judgment. He immediately shows us to the
Lord Jesus Christ, the center substitute. He immediately shows
us the surety of his people. He immediately points us to the
blood of Christ. And just as David who had went,
he'd went a year after the sin of Bathsheba, he had committed
adultery, he had committed murder. He's living life though. You
don't see anywhere, there's no recording in scripture where
he was given repentance during that time until the word of God
came through Nathan the prophet, said, David, you are the man.
And what was David's confession? I have sinned against the Lord. And where's the gospel in it?
When Nathan said, fear not, the Lord hath put away thy sin, you
will not die. That's our only hope. That's
our only hope is that the Lord put away the sin, that he gives
repentance and faith to believe the Lord Jesus Christ is our
only hope. This is the liberty. This is
the freedom that can only be found in Christ. Unless God intervenes,
everyone will die thinking they've done good enough, that they are
good enough, that they'll believe of not as bad as this person
or that person. But oh, the Lord shows us Christ
and we realize we're the worst. We're the chief of sinners. The reason for this is we judge
according to the nature of our flesh. We're bound to it. We're
in bondage to our flesh. We're controlled or consumed
by it. Everything that we see, everything about us, physically
speaking, we're bound to our nature. We judge everything by
our flesh. This is why there's so many religions.
So many different religions in the world. The scripture says,
and they promise freedom. The religions promise freedom,
but they themselves are the servants of corruption. Of whom a man is overcome, of
the same he is brought in bondage. They're they that promise freedom.
Do this, you'll be free. Do this and you'll be free. Christ
says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Believe and you'll be free. The sinner knows, Lord, I can't
believe unless you enable me to. If you were given the opportunity,
lame man was given the opportunity, all you need to do is walk to
Christ and he'll heal you. That's silly, isn't it? I like
to use those simple analogies just because of the simplicity
of it. You and I see that we're lame on our feet from birth.
We can't. Matter of fact, if we approach, the Lord will kill
us. We need an intercessor. We need a high priest. We need
a mediator. That's who the Lord Jesus Christ
is. Only looking to him can we have freedom. Otherwise, we just
are brought in bondage by everything that we do over and over and
over. Turn with me to John chapter eight. I told you we would turn
there. The Lord speaking to the Pharisees
right after the adulterous woman was brought unto him, and you
remember the account. They said, we caught her in the
very act of adultery, the law says she must die. We've caught
this woman in the very act of adultery, the law says she must
die, we should stone her. And what does the Lord say in
mercy? He that is without sin, let him cast the first stone.
There was only one person there without sin, and it was the Lord
Jesus Christ, and he didn't stone her, did he? But he kneeled down,
he began to write with his finger, the scripture says, and everyone
from the eldest to the youngest began to depart. until nobody
was left but the Lord and the adulteress. He says, where are
thine accusers? There would have been no liberty,
no freedom coming from those accusers. She was guilty. But
whatever the Lord had written, however he had purposed it, the
accusers departed. And this is what the Lord does
for his people. The accusers must depart because of who he
is and because of what he has done. She said, they're gone. He said,
neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. Well, that's
our desire, isn't it? To go and sin no more. That's
really the desire of the believer. It is. You know it to be true. We're
not going out saying, well, I desire to sin. I desire to do this wrong
and this wrong, because Christ, he paid the debt. No, he gives
a heart where it's, Lord, Have mercy on me, the sinner. Cause
me to do according to your will. Keep me, make me. That's our
heart's desire, isn't it? Well, the Lord speaks to the
Pharisees a bit more later on. And here in verse 15, he says
to them, ye judge, as we were talking about just a moment ago,
ye judge after the flesh. I judge no man. What he's saying
there is I don't judge according to the flesh. I don't judge the
way that you judge. You judge by what you can see
on the outside. I judge on the inside. And he
says this, yet if I judge, my judgment is true, for I am not
alone, but I and the Father that sent me. It is also written in
your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that
beareth witness of myself, and the Father has sent me, beareth
witness of me. Then said they unto him, where
is thy father? Jesus answered, you neither know
me nor my father. If ye had known me, ye should
have known my father. These words spake Jesus in the
treasury as he taught in the temple. And no man laid hands
on him for this reason. His hour was not yet come, he
didn't allow it. Didn't allow any man to lay hands on him.
Tells him, he says, you judge according to the flesh. But if
I judge, my judgment's true because my father hath sent me to, he
literally is saying he sent me to be the judge of the world.
They hated everything about him because he was truth. It exposed
what they were. It exposed their bondage. It
exposed that they couldn't fix their bondage. They hated that.
You've not known me nor the father. Not known either one of them.
Same as you and I, our judgment is of self. Left to ourself,
our judgment, we will examine ourself and we will examine others
based upon what we can see and we'll say, okay, I'm not as bad
as that person. Or I am not as, I'm doing more
than that person. I'm not, so obviously the Lord
must be pleased with me versus them. That's the wrong lens. That's the bondage that religion
brings is it examines self. When Paul said examine yourself
to see if you'd be in the faith, he wasn't saying see how good
of a life you're living. Paul was saying examine yourself and
see if there'd be anything in you that you're holding to as
your righteousness other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Otherwise
you're not in the faith. That's what Paul was saying.
Now our judgment is what we see and it would even be of God and
the Lord Jesus Christ if he leaves us to ourself, it would be false.
We wouldn't see him as he is. can never be a righteous judgment
because it's in the flesh. The question is, do we believe
the testimony of the Lord here? Do we believe the truth of Christ,
the record that he's given here, or do we believe ourself? That's
what it comes down to. Do I have the freedom of Christ? If I do, I believe him, not self
anymore. If I do, I'm looking to him,
not self anymore. Otherwise, we just believe our
own truth. And you know as well as I know, we don't have any
truth in ourself, do we? Not really. Not really. Not a bit of it. Not in ourself.
We're just the lies, all we have. Can't be both though, brethren.
Can't be halfway. You can't halfway bow. can't
halfway bow. You know, the one that they're
learning about Gideon in the children's class this morning,
whenever he told them, Lord told Gideon, take the men down to
the water and let them drink. And the ones that lap like a
dog set them to one side and the ones that don't set them
to the other side. But it's interesting the wording that's written there.
The one man, some of the men that didn't lap like a dog First
of all, the ones that lapped like a dog, they had to kneel
down, they scooped the water, and they lapped the water. That's
pretty simple. They lapped like a dog. That
tells me three things. The believer kneels down before
the Lord, only takes what he has supplied, confessing what
we are. We're dogs. That's exactly what
that's a picture of. But the other men, it says they
kneeled down on their knees, but that's also translated knee,
singular. They halfway bowed. They didn't
all the way bow. That was the issue. And he said,
well, they can't come. They can't be part. Why? They
didn't bow to the Lord. That was the picture there. If
you want Christ, you must completely bow. There is no halfway bow.
There is no seeing yourself as being anything but a dead dog
sinner. There's nothing but seeing him
as the perfect savior of sinners. That's the only hope that we
have. Lord, cause me to see myself as I am and cause me to see you
as you are. Otherwise, I'll just halfway
bow, thinking that I've bowed, but really not bowed at all.
Can't sort of believe, can we? He didn't say partially believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. That word believe
means completely, utterly, entirely dependent upon him. Look in verse 21. Then said Jesus again unto them,
I go my way and you shall seek me and shall die in your sins.
Whether I go, you cannot come. Then said the Jews, will he kill
himself? Because he saith, whether I go, you cannot come. And he
said unto them, ye are from beneath, I am from above. Ye are of this
world, I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you that
ye shall die in your sins, for if you believe not, that I am.
Now you see that word he, that's in italics, isn't it? He's literally
telling them, I am, I am. If you believe not that I am,
you shall die in your sins. And look what they ask him. This
is marvelous, amazing. Who are thou? He just said to
them, I am. They said, who are you? I am. Did they forget what Lord told
Moses in the burning bush? No, certainly not. They would
have been studying it. These are learned men. They knew exactly
who the I am was of the scripture. They thought, they thought he
says, I am. And they says, who are you? Who
are you? Jesus said to them, even the
same that I said to you from the beginning. He said, I'm not
telling you anything new, I'm telling you the exact same thing
I told you before. I have many things to say and
to judge of you, but he that sent me is true, and I speak
to the world those things which I have heard of him. They understood
not that he spake to them of the Father. They understood not. Understand something, brethren.
No one wanting to be saved has ever been denied salvation. No
one wanting to be saved on God's terms has ever been denied salvation. If I'm not saved, it's because
I don't want to be. If I don't want to be saved on
God's terms, no man can charge God for not giving them something
they didn't want. But you didn't give me salvation,
you didn't want it. That's exactly, that's the truth, isn't it? Men
don't want to be saved, not on God's terms. They don't want
Christ to be all. I've got to have some part of
it. I've got to have some glory in this. I've got to have something
I can cling to, something I can see. But because you say you
see, therefore your sin remains. No, it's gotta be Christ or nothing.
There's no liberty anywhere else. There's no freedom anywhere else.
It's Christ is all and everything else is bondage. I don't have the freedom of Christ
salvation. It's not because I've come as
a mercy beggar and God refused me. No, it's because I don't
want to be saved on God's terms. I don't want to be saved his
way. I don't want to bow to the Lord Jesus Christ as the I am. What he says here, if you believe
not, I am shall die in your sins. They say who are they? Why? Because
they understood not. They didn't want to be saved
by Him. They hated Him. They despised
Him. He was not their King to them. They rejected Him. He was despised
and rejected, Isaiah 53. No beauty in Him to your flesh.
No beauty whatsoever. Our flesh would not even look
at the Lord right now and see Him as beautiful. Flesh can't
do it. Flesh is enmity against God. Born in bondage. to ourself,
our sin and Satan. Look at verse 36. If the sun therefore shall make
you free. You shall be free indeed. That's
the gospel. If the sun therefore shall make
you free, you shall be free indeed. That's not complicated, is it?
I love that the gospel is simple. If Lord, if I'm to be free, If
I am to find your freedom, you're gonna have to give it to me.
You're gonna have to make me be free. If I'm gonna have the
freedom of Christ that's only found in Him, you're gonna have
to do it. If the Son make you free, you're
free indeed. I love the word make there, don't
you? Lord, make me free. Make me free. God must choose
to do it. Salvation of the Lord. Everyone
else, look at the alternative. Everyone else, verse 43. Why do you not understand my
speech? Because you cannot hear my word. That's pretty simple
too, isn't it? Can't hear it. But he's talking
to them, literally in their ears right there. Can't hear it. Can't
hear it. Ye are of your father, the devil. The lust of your father you will
do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the
truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie,
he speaketh his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.
And because I tell you the truth, you believe not. Because I tell
you the truth, you believe not. Which of you convinceth me of
sin? And if I say the truth, why do you not believe? Here's
the reason. He that is of God, heareth God's
words. Ye therefore hear them not, because
ye are not of God. That's pretty simple, isn't it?
Those that are of God hears God's words. Who's the one that makes
the difference? If the Son makes you free, you're
free indeed. That's the difference. Lord,
you're gonna have to do it. The only way I'm gonna have the
freedom of Christ is if you give it to me. Cause me to be found
in him. That's my only hope. Otherwise,
I will be in bondage to self, bondage to sin, bondage to Satan. That's what he told him right
here. Now everyone that the Lord spoke
to, especially the religious, I shouldn't say everyone, most,
I'd say most the Lord spoke to, and I would assume everyone,
knew of the appointment. It's appointed unto men once
to die and after this the judgment. The Jews were religious. The
Jews would have taught their children the religion through
the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. They would have
taught them the stories of the Bible. They were continuing with
Passover and all the other feasts and festivities. You understand
what I'm saying. So they knew there was a God they had to deal
with. They knew that there was an appointed
time to die. And all being by nature, can see that we're going
to die. Everyone dies. When we hear this, we desire,
if we know anything about the Bible, anything about God, From
a humanitarian standpoint, if I can put it that way, from a
human standpoint, we hear that there's a hell, nobody wants
to go to hell. Not really, if we have any inkling of what hell
really is, nobody wants to go there. But we're completely in
bondage, and this is the message that's not preached. Men stop
right there and they say, all you have to do is this. That's
the message preached when they hear that. But that's not the
gospel. The gospel starts with this,
we're in bondage. We're completely born in bondage
to sin, self, and Satan, and we can't change it. God must
save us. Now that's good news if you've
seen yourself as a sinner, because the next part says, if the son
make you free, you're free indeed. They that are of God hears God's
word. He does it all. That means you
can't mess it up. You can't do something once you're
no longer in bondage because Christ has set you free. You
can't do something to get back in bondage. Think about that.
Children of Israel didn't go back to Egypt, did they? No,
the Lord set them free. The truth is we can't change
our status before his throne. Our status is guilty. Our status
in and of ourself. In and of ourself and what we
do, our status is guilty, deserving of death, deserving of hell,
deserving of eternal wrath. We can't change our status. What
can a slave do? I mentioned this earlier. Bother
freedom with their own blood? That don't do any good. Run and
hide? Listen to what the Lord says,
Jeremiah 23, 24. Can any hide himself in secret places that
I shall not see him? Can any hide in secret places?
that I shall not see him? We know the answer to that, he's
God. Where are you gonna hide? Do I not feel heaven and earth,
saith the Lord? We can't buy our freedom, nor
can we run and hide, we're in bondage. But go back to our text
in Hebrews chapter two. Look in verse 14. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also likewise took part of
the same, that through death he might destroy him that hath
the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. The Lord Jesus Christ destroyed
the power of Satan. destroyed the power he had was
given to him of the father. It wasn't something that he was
a powerful being and challenged God, nothing like the Lord gave
him. He was a created being. The Lord gave him that power.
He destroyed every bit of the power, every hold that he thought
he might have had over the Lord's people. He destroyed it completely.
He has no power. He took away the bondage. of
the Lord's people by putting the sin away, their sin away
on the cross of Calvary by his own blood. He bought our freedom
by his own blood. We're like Israel. We're just
like Israel born in captivity. We need a savior. What could
Israel had done in and of themselves to change their status before
the Egyptians? Could they ran away? No, even
after the Lord allowed them to be set free, you saw the Egyptians
come after them. If God hadn't intervened, they'd
have been wiped out, right? That's logical. Lord's the one
that did the work. They couldn't run away. Could
they buy their freedom? What are they going to buy? Egypt
on everything. We're just like them. We need
a deliverer. We need a redeemer to bring freedom. Here are the good news of the
gospel, Exodus six, verse six. Wherefore say unto the children
of Israel, I am the Lord. He could have stopped right there.
We'd have been just fine with that, wouldn't we? I am the Lord. We
know every bit what that means. But he says, I will bring you
out from under the burdens of the Egyptians and I will rid
you out of their bondage. I will redeem you with a stretched
out arm and with great judgments. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ
accomplished. This is what makes his people
free. That's why we can say with Paul, Romans chapter eight, we've
not received the spirit again, the spirit of bondage again into
fear, but we received the spirit of adoption. That's the spirit
the Lord gives us whereby we cry, I have a father. This is
the freedom of Christ by Christ and for his people purchased
by his own blood. This is the only way to have
freedom is to be in Christ, not having our own righteousness,
but he is. The only way to be free is to know the truth. He
said, you shall know the truth, the truth shall make you free.
And what did he tell us? If the son makes you free, you're
free indeed. You're free indeed. Paul says in Galatians chapter
five, stand fast in the liberty. What liberty? The liberty that
Christ hath purchased by his own blood on the cross of Calvary.
And be not again entangled with the yoke of bondage. Don't run
back to the law, don't examine yourself, don't try to do, look
to Christ. For therein is the freedom of
Christ. Looking unto Christ is the only
way we can have the freedom of Christ. Looking unto Christ is
the only way we can have the freedom of Christ. Lord calls
me to look, calls me to look. Let's pray. Father, we see that
you are the one that must do it all, and you have done it
all. Lord, you put away our sin, you
destroyed the power of the devil. Lord, and you saved your people
according to your will, cause us to believe in Christ's name,
amen.