We're looking this morning at
Acts chapter 22, and I'm taking the title for the message from
what is said in verse 28. And the chief captain answered,
that is, answered Paul when Paul said he was a Roman citizen.
And this chief Roman captain said, with a great sum, and he
means by that either gold, silver, or some kind of money, he said,
I obtain citizenship, a Roman citizen. I obtain this freedom,
freedom. And Paul said, not me, not me. He said, I was born free, or
I was free born. So I was free born. I like that
title. I was free born. Now it's a good
saying and blessed truth for every believer because every
believer is a citizen of a heavenly country being born again by the
free and sovereign grace of God and this is a must. Without the
new birth, we cannot enter into the kingdom of God as we read
in John chapter 3. But being free-born by the sovereign
grace of God, being there of God in a joint heir with the
Lord Jesus Christ, believers are no longer under the curse
of the law, no longer under the guilt and bondage of sin, but
we've been set free. Free. We've been set at liberty. before God Almighty in the Lord
Jesus Christ. The apostle, when he writes in
Galatians chapter five, we may read it later on, but he says,
stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath set us free, and
don't be entangled again with the yoke of bondage, with the
yoke of bondage. The new birth then, being freeborn,
is an absolute must to enter into the kingdom of God. Without
the new birth, we cannot understand, we cannot believe the gospel.
We believe the gospel because we have been born of God. Without
the new birth, we can't enter into the kingdom of God. Without
the new birth, we're not citizens of the heavenly country. Now, you remember what happened
to Paul when he was at Jerusalem. While he was in Jerusalem in
the temple, he was recognized by some of the Jews from Asia,
probably from Ephesus. And Paul was a man who preached
to those people salvation by the grace of God, not by the
deeds of the law. And when they recognized him
as a preacher of the grace of God, they went about to beat
him to death when an army soldier soldiers came to rescue him. If you look back in chapter 21,
verse 32, who immediately took soldiers and centurions
and ran down on them, when they saw the chief captain and the
soldiers, they let beating of Paul. THEY WERE READY TO BEAT
HIM TO DEATH, AND HE WAS RESCUED BY THE ROMAN ARMY, AND WAS GIVEN
LIBERTY TO PREACH THE GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD. AS IT SAYS
BACK IN CHAPTER 21, WHEN THE ROMAN SOLDIER ASKED
HIM, VERSE 39, WHO ARE YOU? PAUL SAID, I'M A MAN WHICH AM
A JEW OF TARSUS. A city in Cilicia, a citizen
of no mean city. Abba Sisi suffered me to speak
unto the people. And when he had given him license,
Paul stood on the stairs and beckoned with a hand unto the
people. And when there was a great, made a great silence, he spake
unto them in the Hebrew tongue. and their own native tongue,
and for a while they listened to the Apostle Paul make his
defense for the gospel. The stage was set for Paul to
preach the gospel, and it was set by God alone. But notice what happens when
he comes down to the end of his sermon, in verse 21, when he
declared that the Lord Jesus Christ, on purpose, sent him
to preach the gospel. to the Gentile dog, to the uncircumcised
people, these Jews got so angry again and so upset. Verse 22,
they gave him audience unto his words, then lifted up their voice
and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth, it's not fit
that he should live. And they cried out and cast off
their clothes and threw dust in the air. They were ready to
execute him on the spot because he declared unto them salvation
by the grace of God and the grace of God alone, Jew or Gentile. Well, the chief captain again
takes Paul back in. He rescues him again and takes
him back into the temple, or excuse me, back into the castle,
verse 24. And they commanded him to be
beaten, that he should be examined by scourging. They were going
to beat the truth out of him. And as they bound him, verse
25, Paul said under the centurion that stood by, you need to know
something here. Is it lawful for you to scourge
a man that is a Roman and one who's been accused but uncondemned?"
And when the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief
captain, saying, take heed what you do to this man. He's a Roman
citizen. And when the captain came and
said to him, tell me, are you a Roman? And Paul said, yes. And the chief captain said, well,
I obtained my freedom. How'd you get yours? Paul said,
I was born free. I was born a citizen in Rome. Now, Paul was a citizen of Rome
because he was born in the Roman Empire under a city that belonged
to Rome. Paul, like all of us here this
morning, we're all citizens of the United States, right? We're
all citizens of the United States because we were born here, right? We were born in this country. We did not buy our way in, did
we? We did not sneak into this country
as many people try to do in our day. We did not even immigrate
into this country. We're citizens of the United
States because we were born in this country. There's even some
people on the other side of our borders who are expecting children,
women who are pregnant, and they come to this country and give
birth, and if that child is born on U.S. soil, he is a citizen. Why? Because he was born here. He was born here. Now, I don't
know what your thoughts are on those things about immigration
and all that. I'm for immigration. I would not be here right now
in this country without legal immigration. Well, my mother
immigrated to this country in 1948 from Europe, and I was born
here several layers, but she came legally, legally. I'm all in on legal immigration. But what I wanna do here is use
this in a spiritual sense. This is also true of every believer. We are citizens of a spiritual
kingdom, a spiritual kingdom of God, because we're born into
that by the power and will of Almighty God. The apostle writes
to the Philippians, he says, our citizenship is from heaven.
From whence we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
why we must be born into the kingdom of God. We can't work
our way in, buy our way in. We can't sneak up on God. We have to come by the way he's
prescribed, and that way is being born into the kingdom of God.
Being begotten by God the Holy Spirit, we belong to the Lord
Jesus Christ, who paid the cost of our freedom by his precious
blood. You remember what we read? Turn
over just a couple pages to Acts 20 verse 28. You remember Paul
said in verse 28 of Acts 20, take heed therefore unto yourselves
and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseers to feed the church of God which he purchased. Oh,
you see our freedom and our new birth comes at a great cost to
the Lord Jesus Christ. He obtained for us eternal redemption
with his own blood. So we're bought with a price.
We are redeemed with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He said, it's not silver and gold. It's not by tradition of
your fathers, deeds of the law, but by the precious blood of
Christ. And we studied in 1 Corinthians chapter six, didn't we? He said,
you're bought with a price. YOU'RE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE. WE
BELONG TO THE LORD. WE NOW, AS BELIEVERS, LIVE UNDER
THE REIGN AND GOVERNMENT OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHO IS THE
KING OF KINGS, BUT HE'S OUR KING. HE'S OUR LORD. WE WORSHIP HIM
AND SERVE HIM AS OUR LORD, AS OUR KING, OUT OF LOVE AND GRATITUDE. WE LOVE HIM BECAUSE HE FIRST
LOVED US. NOW DON'T TURN. I CAN JUST READ
IT TO YOU. In Isaiah 9, verse 6, For unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government
shall be upon his shoulders. His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. This is the kingdom that we live
in. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.
upon the throne of David, upon his kingdom, to order it, to
establish it with judgment, with justice from henceforth even
forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts, he will perform
this. That is the kingdom that we live
in. We are believers, are citizens
of that heavenly country. What Abraham said, he's looking
for a Heavenly country a better country that is a spiritual kingdom
in Christ Jesus Now what I want to do here this morning is take
that statement There in Acts 22 28 where Paul said I was free
born I was free born Here's the first point Men like to boast,
sinful men especially, like to boast of freedom and liberty. They talk about their free will. They talk about the power of
the human will. But spiritually speaking, all
men everywhere by nature are not free. They're in bondage. They're in bondage to sin. They're in bondage because of
the nature of sin. We read in John chapter 3, remember,
they love darkness, not light, because their deeds are evil. So by nature, we're not free.
Spiritually speaking, we're dead in sin, in bondage to sin under
the curse of God's holy law. What does the curse of God's
law say? It says, guilty. It says, let every mouth be stopped
and all the world become guilty before God. What does the curse
of the law say? It says, cursed is everyone that
continues not in all things which are written in the book of the
law to do them. Preacher, I can't do the law. You're right. I've offended God. I've sinned against God. Right
to offend in one point is to be guilty of all the law of God. Now, how did we get that way?
being a sinner, being born in sin, being spiritually dead.
How do we get that way? In Adam, all die. That's the basic tenet of scripture. In Adam, all have sin. Now listen to this carefully.
Listen to this statement very carefully. Adam, there in the
garden, created holy and upright, right? Adam was the only man
that became a sinner by sinning against God. You with me? Adam was the only man that became
a sinner by sinning against God. We are born in sin. See what
I'm saying? We're born in sin, shapen in
iniquity. We don't become sinners by sinning
against God. We sin against God because that's
what we are. Sinners. We're born in sin, shapen
in iniquity, under the curse of the law. We, by nature, are
spiritually dead, loving darkness and hating God. The carnal mind
is enmity against God. Paul describes us this way. In
Adam all died. Sin entered in by one man. By
one man's disobedience many were made sinners. And then he describes
us this way, what we are by nature, without God, without Christ,
without hope in this world. So by nature, we're not free. By nature, we're born into bondage
under the curse and condemnation of the law. The law has one message
to us. Guilt. Guilty. Guilty as charged. Guilty as charged. Take him out
and hang him. Guilty as charged. To deny that we are sinners,
to deny that we are guilty before God is to call God a liar. Did you know that? Let me see
if we can read that together. Find 1 John 1. Now that's, to
say I'm not a sinner is to call God a liar. In 1 John, 1 John
1. Let's go to verse 8. If we say that we have no sin,
see that's singular. First John 1.8, if we say we
have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth's not in us. If
we confess our sins, there's what we are and what we do. He
is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness because the blood of Christ, it says in verse
seven, cleanses us from all our sin. If we say we have not sinned,
we make him a liar. and his word's not in us. So
if any man ever says to you, well, I'm not guilty, I'm not
a sinner, you just call God a liar because God says you're guilty.
God says we are sinners. So naturally speaking and by
our natural birth, we're not free, are we? We're dead in sin,
spiritually speaking now. Left to ourselves, we can do
nothing to give ourselves freedom from sin. We can do nothing to
put away our sin. We can do nothing to put away
our sin. We can do nothing to give ourselves life. We can do
nothing to give ourselves liberty and bondage from the bondage
of the law because we're dead in sin. YOU HAVE HE QUICKENED
WHO WERE DEAD IN SIN. HE HAS TO QUICKEN US. WE CANNOT
WORK OR WIGGLE OUR WAY OUT, CAN WE? CAN WE WIGGLE OUR WAY OUT
OF THIS BONDAGE? CAN WE WIGGLE OUR WAY OUT OF
BEING, AS SOME PEOPLE SAY, WELL, I USED TO BE A SINNER? But I'm
not anymore." Well, I've got a big problem with that. You
cannot work or wiggle your way out. It's not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to His mercy. We cannot will
or wish our way out of sin and bondage and guilt. Our Lord said,
no man can come to me except the Father, which sent me to
draw him. WE CANNOT PRODUCE ANYTHING OR
FABRICATE ANYTHING BUT ONE THING. SINNERS PRODUCE SIN. THAT WHICH IS BORN OF THE FLESH
IS FLESH. THAT ALL IT EVER WILL BE IS FLESH. I WAS THINKING OF ANOTHER SCRIPTURE
THIS MORNING IN MY STUDY. IT SAYS THE SPIRIT QUICKENS,
THE FLESH PROFITS NOTHING. Man in his best state, in the
flesh, man in his best state is vanity, vanity before God. We cannot produce anything but
sin. All of our best deeds, God said
away with it, is filthy rags. So point number one being is
we're in the bondage of sin under the curse of the law, and the
law of God has one message, guilty, guilty. and I can't do anything
about it. However, the second point is
this. Sinners are made free, given
life and liberty only by the Lord Jesus Christ, for he came
to save sinners. Turn to Luke chapter four. You
remember this? Our Lord quotes this in his hometown synagogue
in Nazareth. In Luke chapter four, verse 18,
You see, he came to set sinners free. He came to save sinners. If we could set ourselves free,
no need for him to come and die. Luke 4, 18, the Spirit of the
Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel
to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, recovering of sight
to the blind. to set at liberty them that are
bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." You see, he
came to set us free. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us. Galatians chapter
3. We are set free by the work of
redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ who redeemed us. He appeared
once in the end of the age and put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. It wasn't with the blood of bulls
and goats. But with his own blood, he entered in once into the holy
place and obtained eternal redemption for us with his own blood. God who spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ? He set us free because he paid
our debt. THERE IS THEREFORE NOW NO CONDEMNATION
TO THOSE WHO ARE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. WE ARE SET FREE,
SET AT LIBERTY, MADE NEW CREATURES IN CHRIST BECAUSE HE SHED HIS
BLOOD TO PUT AWAY OUR SIN. WE ARE SET FREE NOT ONLY BY THE
WORK OF REDEMPTION OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST BY HIS PRECIOUS
BLOOD, WE ARE SET FREE BY THE SOVEREIGN WILL OF GOD. Not my
will, not my work, his work, his will. You see what he's saying
here? We hear on the radio this morning
from Galatians 1, verse 4, who gave himself for our sins that
he might deliver us from this present evil world according
to the will of God. TO WHOM BE GLORY FOREVER AND
EVER. AMEN. IT'S BY THE WILL OF GOD
THAT WE HAVE SALVATION. IT'S HIS WILL THAT SAVES SINNERS. OF HIS OWN WILL BEGOT HE US WITH
THE WORD OF TRUTH. NOW, YOU HAVE YOUR BOOKMARK THERE
IN JOHN CHAPTER 3. TURN THERE TO JOHN CHAPTER 3
AND THEN FIND JOHN CHAPTER 1. John chapter 1. We're set free
by the sovereign will of God for us. Of his own will begat
he us with the word of truth. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Now
John chapter 1 this time, verse 11. He came unto his own, his
own received him not. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power. excuse me, to become sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born,
not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God. The only reason we believe the
word and receive him is because we've been born of God by his
will, not ours. Thirdly, we are set free because
the Lord Jesus Christ established perfect righteousness for us
that has been freely imputed unto us. Blessed is the man to
whom the Lord will impute sin and not, excuse me, impute righteousness
and will not impute his sin unto him. For God made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin. THAT WE MIGHT BE MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS
OF GOD IN HIM. SO WE CAN SAY THIS, THANKS BEING
TO GOD WHO HAS GIVEN US THE VICTORY THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
HE'S THE ONE WHO SET US FREE. HE'S THE ONE WHO DETERMINED TO
SET US FREE AND HAS DONE SO FROM ALL ETERNITY. IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WE STAND
BEFORE GOD COMPLETE whole and without blame, being set free. He delivered us from the kingdom
of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of light and
life in Christ. Of his fullness have we all received
grace for grace. In John 8, the Lord said, you
shall know the truth and the truth will set you free. The
Lord said, I am the truth, I am the way, I am the life, and then
he says this, no man come to the Father but by and through
me. He is the truth that sets us free. You shall know the truth,
and the truth will set you free. If the Son therefore shall make
you free, you shall be free indeed. Free indeed. The Lord Jesus Christ
has honored the law of God for us, who established perfect righteousness
for us and has set us free. Turn to the book of Colossians.
Let's read two scriptures in the book of Colossians 1. I quoted
that just a moment ago. In Colossians 1, verse 12, Colossians
1, verse 12, giving thanks unto the Father, who hath made us
meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath
delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated
us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of our sins. Redemption is deliverance,
deliverance. Now turn one page, Colossians
chapter two, look at verse 13, and you, Colossians
2, 13, being dead in your sin and the uncircumcision of your
flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you
all trespasses. blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us. He took it out of the way, nailing
it to his cross, having spoiled principalities and powers. He
made a show of them openly, triumphing over them himself. We've been
set free. We have been liberated in the
Lord Jesus Christ. He has set us free. from the
curse of the law because he redeemed us having put away all our sin. Now, believers are dead to the
law through the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what Paul
said in Galatians 2, for I through the law am dead to the law through
Christ crucified. Believers therefore in Christ
have no covenant with the law, but we're under the grace of
God. Let me read this to you, Romans
6, 14. For sin shall not have dominion
over you, for you're not under the law, but under grace. Believers have no connection,
excuse me, no constraints or obligation to obey the law of
God. because we're justified freely
by his grace. Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ
are not governed by the rules and regulations of God's Levitical
law or the moral law. We serve the Lord out of love
and are constrained by his love. Preacher, what's your position
on the law of God toward the believer dead? He's redeemed us from the curse
of the law. You want to put believers back
under that curse? When Christ has redeemed us from
the curse of the law? God forbid. Now where the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is liberty. Stand fast in the liberty wherewith
Christ has set us free. Now, I want to close by reading,
and I want you to turn with me and read these with me. Galatians
chapter 5 verse 1 Galatians chapter 5 verse 1 Now the Lord is that spirit and
where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty Galatians
5 verse 1 stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ
has made us free Now, how are we made free? We're born free
by the Spirit of God and be not entangled again with a yoke of
bondage. You want to go back under the
bondage of the law? Behold, I, Paul, say unto you
that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For
I testify again to every man that is circumcised, he's a debtor
to do the whole law. Christ has become no effect unto
you. Whosoever you have justified
by the law, if you are justified by the law, you've departed from
the grace of God. So believers are to stand fast
in the liberty wherewith Christ has set us free. Now turn to
the book of Hebrews. A couple more readings here and
I'll let you go. The book of Hebrews. Chapter 4, look at verse 14. Seeing then that we have a great
high priest that is passed into heaven, Jesus the Son of God,
let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin.
Let us, therefore, come boldly with liberty unto the throne
of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help
in our time of need. I turn to one other reference
here, Hebrews 10, verse 14. Hebrews 10, 14. For but one offering
he hath perfected forever, them that are sanctified, Wherefore
the Holy Ghost also was a witness to us, for after they said before,
this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
saith the Lord, I put my laws into their hearts, and in their
minds will I write them, talking about the word of God. And their
sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission
of these is, there's no more offering for sin, Look at verse
19. Having therefore, brethren, boldness,
and the word there in the marginal reference is liberty to enter
in to the holiest by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
how we come to God in Christ Jesus. One other reference. Let me just read this to you. I've got it jotted down. In 1
John 4, we have known and have believed the love that God hath
to us. God is love. He that dwelleth
in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love
made perfect, that we may have liberty, boldness in a day of
judgment, because as he is, So are we in this world. And the king shall set the sheep
on his right hand and the goat on the left. Then shall the king
send them on his right hand. Come ye blessed my father inherit
the kingdom prepared for you. FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD. EVERY BELIEVER HAS BEEN GIVEN
FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST TO REST IN HIM, TO ENTER INTO
THE JOY OF THE LORD. IN HIM WE HAVE LIBERTY TO SERVE
THE LORD KNOWING WE ARE CITIZENS OF A SPIRITUAL KINGDOM BY BEING
FREEBORN BY THE GRACE OF GOD AND MADE ONE WITH THE LORD JESUS
CHRIST. THEREFORE HE SAID COME UNTO ME
AND REST All you who are laboring and heavy laden, he said, come
unto me and rest and have peace. We have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ.