There Is Liberty! (The 7 Freedoms)
2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord
is, there is liberty.
- Imagine being given a check for a
million dollars and never cashing it.
- Imagine having a freezer and
cupboard full of food and never eating.
- Imagine dangling precariously on a
rope when there is a ladder within your grasp.
- Imagine living a life of defeat
and despair when there is no reason to do so.
And where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is liberty."
If you read 2 Corinthians 3 you will
discover that God does not want us under the bondage of law keeping or
self-effort. Instead He wants us to have the freedom of the Holy Spirit working
in our lives. Because the Holy Spirit is present within us, all we need to do is
reach for it by faith. We live such self-defeating lives that God never intended
us to live.
I want to share with you some of the
freedoms we have as a result of the working of the Holy Spirit. We just need to
appropriate these truths by faith.
I. FREEDOM TO BELONG –
(Rom 8:15 KJV) For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;
but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (Rom
8:16 KJV) The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God: (Rom 8:17 KJV) And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and
joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also
glorified together.
You are a child of God and therefore
part of the family of God.
II. FREEDOM TO SERVE -
(2 Cor 3:5 KJV) Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any
thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; (2 Cor 3:6 KJV) Who also
hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the
spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
We are ministers of God. His
sufficiency to serve comes from God.
III. FREEDOM TO BE GUIDED -
(Rom 8:14 KJV) For as many as are
led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Psa 32:8 KJV) I will
instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee
with mine eye
GOD WANTS TO LEAD US IN EVERY AREA OF OUR LIVES BUT HE NEVER FORCES US TO DO HIS
WILL.
Freedom does not mean the absence of constraints or moral absolutes. Suppose a
skydiver at 10,000 feet announces to the rest of the group, "I'm not using a
parachute this time. I want freedom!" The fact is that a skydiver is constrained
by a greater law--the law of gravity. But when the skydiver chooses the
"constraint" of the parachute, she is free to enjoy the exhilaration.
God's moral laws act the same way: they restrain, but they are absolutely
necessary to enjoy the exhilaration of real freedom.
IV. FREEDOM TO WITNESS -
(Acts 1:8 KJV) But ye shall
receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be
witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto
the uttermost part of the earth.
WHAT WE HAVE IN OUR HEARTS WE WANT THE WORLD TO KNOW AND IT IS WHAT THE WORLD
NEEDS.
V. FREEDOM TO LEARN -
(John 16:13 KJV) Howbeit when he,
the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not
speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will
show you things to come. (John 16:14 KJV) He shall glorify me: for he shall
receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. (John 16:15 KJV) All things that
the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and
shall show it unto you.
THE MORE WE LEARN OF JESUS THE MORE WE WANT TO.
VI. FREEDOM TO PRAY -
(Rom 8:26 KJV) Likewise the
Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as
we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which
cannot be uttered. (Rom 8:27 KJV) And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what
is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints
according to the will of God.
OUR PRAYER LIFE IS OUR TALKING
THINGS OVER WITH THE LORD.
VII. FREEDOM TO PRODUCE -
(Gal 5:22 KJV) But the fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, (Gal
5:23 KJV) Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
WE WANT TO BE FRUIT PRODUCERS FOR
THE LORD!
Have you wondered what happened to
the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Five signers were
captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. 12 had their
homes ransacked and burned. 2 lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army, another
had 2 sons captured. 9 of the 56 fought and died from wounds or the hardships of
the Revolutionary War. There was and is a tremendous price to pay for freedom.
Remember what Jesus had to pay for
our freedom and liberty.
