I invite your attention back
to Deuteronomy chapter 23. Deuteronomy, the book of Deuteronomy
took place in the 30 days prior to the children of Israel entering
into the promised land. This covers about 30 days, this
entire book. It's called Deuteronomy or the
second law because its laws are akin to and picture and typify
the laws that would be or the commands that would be given
by the Lord Jesus Christ in Emmanuel's land, the land of promise. And
those laws basically said this, that there is one God and He
is God over all. There is to be no mixture of
any false God with the true and living God, no mixture of the
error of idolatry with the true and living God. And that everything
they had in the promised land had nothing to do with their
deservedness or righteousness but was of all a gift, a free
gift of God. And here in this passage of scripture
we have an odd and strange interlude in the midst of several of the
things that the Lord is saying. He says, thou shall not deliver
unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto
thee. He shall dwell with thee, even
among you, in that place which he shall choose, in one of thy
gates where it liketh him best, and thou shalt not oppress him.
The title of my message this morning is Cut Him Loose. When the Lord brought forth Lazarus
from the grave, he said this concerning Lazarus. He said,
and he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave
clothes, And his face was bound with a napkin. And Jesus said
unto them, Loose him, and let him go. Loose him, and let him
go. As I read this passage in Deuteronomy,
it grabbed me at my heart. It was like a light in a dark
place. One word came to my mind. And
that word is the word that we celebrate every time we preach
the gospel of the effectual grace of Almighty God. And that word
is liberty or freedom. The commentators that I read
in reference to this runaway slave all agreed that this was
not about any escaped slave in general, but rather the slave
who had run away from a tyrannical, cruel master. to which they added
in concert that his escape was probably for the sake of religious
freedom. That last part of their assessment
I'm not so sure about. Thus this did not seem to speak
of the criminal slave who stole from his master or the lazy slave
who has just decided to take it on the lamb. I found that
I agreed with these men that they were correct in their take
on the passage, except for the religious freedom part. It's
simply not in the context. I, however, found that, at least
in my own mind, the point that they made was a kind of given. Nothing in scripture intimates
or even suggests that it is acceptable to harbor a fugitive felon. Nowhere is it acceptable. Or to receive one who has unlawfully
left his master. And yet here we have these words
spoken. Now think that the commentators
were protecting the principle of lawfulness, of doing what
is right, and were guarding against charging God with any wrongdoing.
We really don't know why this slave left his master. We really
don't know. Most of their comments were about
what this passage did not mean. But I believe there's a more
exact principle than what this passage does not mean. Like old
Moses, Matthew Henry's house servant said to Matthew Henry,
after Matthew Henry had finished his study on one of the books
of the Bible and handed it to Moses to read, Moses came back
and Matthew Henry says, what do you think about that? And
old Moses says, well the scripture shed a whole lot of light on
them commentaries. And that's the truth. Old Robert
Hawker said about this passage, and is this not spiritual? If
you and I have taken shelter from the service of a hard master
we once served, sin and Satan, and have come to Jesus and to
the promised land, we must not be given up to our former captivity. If the Son of God has made us
free, we shall be free indeed. And that's about as plain as
you can get it. This passage is about freedom. It's about
liberty, the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free from
the bondage of sin, of the law, of self, and of Satan. It's about
a slave who escaped the bondage of a cruel taskmaster under which
the slave found no hope of life or peace. It's about escaping
the masters of sin and self and Satan. It's about escaping the
bondage of the law. It's about every enslaved sinner
who has fled to Christ from whom or what held him in chains and
fetters. This is what this is about. This
passage is about the church also and how she is to receive the
one who has escaped his former master. It's also about the how
escape. is how the escapee is to be treated
and the restrictions that are placed on the church and the
pastor about the treatment of the one who has escaped his cruel
master. It is in fact the story of every
true believer, every sinner who's been freed by Christ from his
former imprisonment which is the husgau of helitery, bondage
to the law and to religion. The believer as he is born into
this world is born a slave. He's born a slave. He's born under the law. he is
guilty before god according to scripture he's in bondage and
under the law as a tutor or governor according to what paul wrote
in galatians chapter five and chapter three in romans chapter
three in verse nineteen he says whatsoever the law saith it saith
to them that are under the law that every mouth might be stopped
and the whole world become guilty before god Every man and woman
born into this world are born spiritually dead. They are under
the rule of dirt and dust as a sinner. And as a sinner they
are a servant of sin. That's what the Lord said. He
who commit a sin in John 8.34 is a servant of sin. Man is born into this world a
slave, a bound captive, owned and operated by his masters.
Man is not free. We like to think of ourselves
that way, but man is not free, and nor can man change his estate
by thought or deed, and most certainly not by some ersatz
religious decision. Here is where religion woefully
misses the mark. Religion holds that man is free,
that his will is free, and that he, by a willful decision, some
Jedi force will open up the bars of his penitentiary and they
will disappear and he'll walk away. The Bible, however, and
also any modicum of spiritual understanding convinces men otherwise. Men are bound. on every side
by masters who rule them, who govern them, who own them and
use them according to their own pleasure. Without divine deliverance, freedom
is only a pipe dream. It's only a pipe dream. Born
shackled and fettered, the human being is doomed to stay in his
place just like he is, unless a miracle of grace breaks his
chains and sets him free. And what this is talking about
here, this escape, is not about a reformation. It's talking about
emancipation, being set free. The poet wrote, long my imprisoned
spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature's night. Thine eye
diffused a quickening ray. I awoke. The dungeon flamed with
the light. My chains fell off. My heart
was free. I rose, went forth, and followed
Thee. In our text, the slave has been
given by gracious providence a way of escape. And he's used
it. In the same providence, he's
found himself in the refuge of the church. That's what we are,
you see. We're refugees. And our refuge
is Jesus Christ. And this is a sweet and true
definition of the church. It's a refuge for sinners. It's
a hospital for the sin sick. A shining city on the hill that
beckons the refugee to find peace and comfort there. And the church
is given a command of the Lord. The first command of the Lord
to the church is essential for the well-being of the escapee.
Do not deliver him back to his former master. That's what the
Lord says. Thou shalt not deliver unto his
master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee. Thou
shalt not deliver him back. Think about that. This is the word to the church.
Don't deliver him back. Here I believe because of the
weight of the teaching of the New Testament, this most surely
and clearly applies to the law. No one will want to return the
escapee to his former life of sin. or return him to a cruel
tyranny of a Satan. But for some idiotic reason,
however, religion doesn't seem to mind returning the escapee
to the former rule of the law. They don't seem to mind at all.
They actually like to do that. They think it necessary to do
so, and if they do not want to fully return the escapee to the
law, they yet deem it necessary to apply to the former master
for advice in regulating the escapee's life. That's what they
do. Go back to the graveside, to the law, which is dead to
the believer, and the believer is dead to the law, it's buried.
They go to the graveside and say, how shall we treat this
fellow? How shall we rule this fellow? How shall we regulate
his existence? But that's utter nonsense, not
to mention cruel beyond imagination, since rather only to dangle him
on the gallows would be a better thing. The former master only
wishes to exact punishment. The law says die. This is what people don't realize.
The law is not a moral edict for our behavior. The law does
not tell us how to live. It tells us that if you don't
do this, you're going to die. This is all it says. The law
killeth. The law is designed for one thing,
to define what sin is, and issue the punishment for that sin.
That's what the law is. Those who abide by the law have
nothing really to do with the law whatsoever. I've used many
times the illustration of the speed limit 55 miles an hour. If you're doing 55 or 54 or 53,
you're not worried about the law. You don't think about the
law, hasn't it? And the law can sit on the side
of the road with his blue light flashing. You can drive right
by at 54 and not worry about a thing because you're not breaking
the law. It's nothing to do with you. And the man who sits there
with his blue light flashing has nothing to do with you either
because you ain't breaking the law. What's he there for? For
somebody to break the law. And when they break the law,
he goes out and pulls them over and gives them a ticket. This
is what the law is designed to do. Now the believer is free
from the law. We sing that song, free from
the law, oh happy condition, Jesus has died and there is remission. We're free from the law. And
so the edict and the command of the church is do not deliver
that escapee back to his former ruler. Don't return him to the
law. The former master only wishes
for him to die. Inspired Paul in Galatians chapter
4 to say that, that the letter killeth is never interested in
life. In Colossians and 1st 2nd Corinthians
chapter 3, he said this is the law is condemnation, the law
killeth. That's all it can do. To return the escapee to his
former master is to in fact to return him to the rule of sin
and Satan. Because we're not under the law, we're under grace.
And what that says in Romans chapter 6, verse 14 and 15, or
13 and 14, it said, the law has no dominion over us, and sin
has no dominion over us, because we're not under the law, we're
under grace. And what does that say? If we are under grace, or
if we are under the law, sin does have dominion over us. Sin
does rule our life if we're under the law. But under the grace,
we're set free. The law operates in the realm
of sin and only in the realm of sin. There is no law in grace. There is no law in mercy. No
law whatsoever. The law operates in the realm
of transgression and transgression only. And this is the command
of the church. A brother or sister, a man comes
in, a woman comes in, and escapes the law, escapes his bondage
of sin, we're not to say, wait a minute, here's how you're supposed
to live. I'm not to stand up here and give him a bunch of
rules and regulations on how to act and how not to act. I'm
not to return him to his former master. The church is never to
return him. It's an edict given to the church
that no believer is to be returned to the law. For the church, this
is freedom's final fiat. No escapee, no sinner who comes
into the church is to ever come out of the domain of his former
malicious martinet, the law. The second thing commanded by
the Lord is that the escapee is to be welcomed into the body. That's what he says. He shall
dwell with thee, even among you, even among you. He is to dwell,
what does that mean? To be caused to sit and abide
and remain with thee. He is even to dwell as an inward
part, an integral part, as entrails and part of the body among you.
The church and the escapee are to become one. That's the language
of scripture. One body, one head, the Lord Jesus Christ. And notice
that no other thing is said but that He is to dwell with you
and among you. There's no mention of a council to inquire of the
escapee's fitness or to adjudicate concerning the matter in which
he escaped. Nor is there a probationary period
like watch care where in a state of limbo is assigned to the escapee
to prove his willingness to dwell among the church. If he is free
from his former master, then he's to be received. Period. Period. I don't know how it is,
but for many years, the first years I was up here, they was
throwing people out of churches left and right. They called it
churchin' them, but churchin' them. They'd do that after Wednesday
night business meetings. And they'd just have a good time,
just throw people out of church like crazy. And one preacher
who didn't care a thing about the gospel, and didn't care much
about me, told some people who'd been thrown out up at Straitfork,
said, going up there, Tim James would take anything. Yes. Yes, come. Come ye sinners, poor
and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Let not conscience
make you linger, nor fitness fondly dream. Come. You're welcome
in the church. You can abide here, among us,
according to scripture. And we're never going to take
you to the law. We're never going to take you to your former master.
finally he's allowed the freedom to find his own niche. I can
remember back in the days of religion the minute somebody
would walk down an aisle and shake the preacher's hand, man
they'd give him a job. You gonna be a Sunday school
teacher, you gonna be this, you gonna be that, man right away
they'd give him a job. They said don't do that. They
said let him find his own niche, let him find his place, leave
him be. Preach the gospel to him, love him. care for him,
don't return him to the law, accept him as one who dwells
among you. It says he should dwell even
among you in that place which he shall choose in one of thy
days. Leave him be. Leave him be. No other thing
is said than that. He's allowed the freedom to find
his own place in the church. It ain't enough for us to assign
him a job. for him to live among us, live
with us. He will in time assume the function
for which he's been placed in the church because remember he
was placed in the church as he's there. No, he's an escapee and
he's found the refuge. It's the Lord who brought him
to this place. Remember how the Lord built the church in 1 Kings
chapter 6. He said every stone was cut into quarry before it
was placed in the building. So they took the measurement
for the next stone and then they went to the quarry and they cut
it. And they brought it and put it in place. Why? The Lord said,
so no tool or no noise of a hammer or a saw will be heard in the
placing of this body in the church. Or this brick in the wall. And
what that tells us is that there wasn't any extra bricks left
over. And there was no missing bricks
at all. The church was made by God. In every old barn, you say
there's plenty of chairs in the church, but all of them has a
reservation on it. All of them has a name on it,
and they do. The person who comes into the body of believers is
to be left alone to find his place. To find his place. The escapee has not entered into
another form of slavery. He is to be the Lord's free man.
The Lord's free man. It says, Which he shall choose
in one of thy gates wherein he liketh him best, and thou shalt
not oppress him. Thou shalt not oppress him. He
is to feel free in the church. Only constrained by his love
for Jesus Christ and for the brethren. Even if he may seem
to be less honorable or less comely than others. He is to
be regarded with greater honor and considered more comely according
to scripture. Lead him to choose the place
that most pleases him. Seek his happiness. Don't oppress
him. What does that mean? Don't tell
him he's got to be a certain way. Act a certain way. Think a certain way. Don't try
to rule and govern his existence. That's what it is to be free,
my friend. That's what it is. It's not my job and it's not
your job to straighten him out and get him on the road to anything. He's come to the church. He's a free man. Leave him to choose the place
that most pleases him, makes him happy. Do not oppress him
as did his former servant or his former tyrant master. Cut
him loose. cut him loose. This is what it
is to be a child of God. This is what it is to be in the
church. Now I remember in the church, I remember being under
watch care. Heck, I was under watch care of the same church
about six times. I didn't pass, I guess, the first five and finally
they let me in. But I remember that. I remember
that feeling. Oh, they're so happy. They congratulated
me because I'd made a decision for Jesus and all that stuff.
They patted me on the back. You ever thought that's what
they do? Come up there, they shake your hand and say, congratulations.
For what? You didn't do anything. If you
were saved, you didn't do anything. God did it all. But they used
to do that. And so now we're going to put
you, for six weeks, we're going to watch you. Oh, my. Oh my, I ain't going to make
this. I ain't going to make six minutes. And I say six minutes.
That's not the church. The church is a hospital for
sinners. It is. It's like that pool of Bethesda.
Hospital for sinners. Place where sinners come. And
they're free. You're free, brethren. I've been
preaching to you 41 years. And I've yet to lay the first
rule or regulation on you in 41 years. Yet you show up anyway. How come y'all are here? You
must be here because you want to be. Because you know you're
not going to get anything out of it. You're not going to gain
anything. You're not even here to gain anything. You're here to worship
God. You're here to give Him glory,
to honor Him. You're not going to gain anything.
If you're a child of God, you worship God for nothing. And I've said this many times
before. If you want to go fishing on Sunday, Get out that John
Bolton and have a good time. I'm telling you. I'm telling
you. Love Jesus Christ and do what
you will. And those who love Christ know
exactly what I'm talking about. Isn't it wonderful to be free
from our former master? To be free from the law. To be
free from sin and Satan and sin. We have those things subdued
by God so they don't rule over us. And for the church to be
a place where we can go and sit down with our brothers and sisters
in Christ and smile and be free. I remember my brother-in-law,
and I'll finish with this, a very prayer man, passed and went on
to be with the Lord. Gosh, it's been a year already. We were sitting over in a restaurant
Wayne's called Antipasto's. Boy, they had the best antipasto
salad you ever ate. It was really good. We were sitting
there, me and Wayne Robinson, Henry Mahan. Malcolm, was you
there? I don't know if you was there
or not. And Larry Perlman was with him. Larry was a drunk.
He was drunk, been drunk all his life since he went into service. Well, we drank a lot with his
kids. We'd sneak, have people buy beer for us, but he was a
drunk. He got the best of it. Several
times in rehab, didn't work, lost two jobs, lost his family,
didn't have anything. Then Christ saved him. When we was sitting over in the
restaurant before the Lord had really opened his eyes, but he
was beginning to see some things of all the times he'd been in
religion, and they just told him what to do this and how to
do that, how to stop drinking, and how they didn't need to do
this. And it never worked. It doesn't work for a drunk.
It just doesn't work to give them a bunch of room. It doesn't
work. And Larry was sitting there,
and Henry Mann told a joke, and we all just laughed and carried
on. We was cutting up, and Larry got tears in his eyes. I said,
you okay? He said, you're all so free.
You're all so free, I don't understand. I said, hang around, you will.
Hang around. God set him free. Escape, he
comes into the house. Let him dwell among you. Don't
return him to his former master. Don't oppress him. And let him
find his own place. He will. Father, bless us to
understand him. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.