Christian Liberty #03

In this part of the sermon: Pastor Martin begins by reading John 8:31-36 and Galatians 5:1, highlighting humanity's universal desire for liberty and God's announcement of true liberty in the Gospel. He…

Martin asks if anyone desires slavery, tyranny, or bondage, to highlight the universal human love for liberty and freedom, setting up the gospel's offer of true liberty.

Slavery, tyranny, subjugation, bondage. None of these words evoke pleasant images or desirable states of human existence. I'm sure if I said this morning, how many of you would like to be placed in a state that could legitimately be described as one of, Slavery, tyranny, subjugation, or bondage, I doubt I would have any takers. All men and women love liberty, freedom, self-determination.

2:18 - 3:00 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Pastor Martin begins by reading John 8:31-36 and Galatians 5:1, highlighting humanity's universal desire for liberty and God's announcement of true liberty in the Gospel. He…

Quoting 'We hold these truths to be self-evident... life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' illustrates the cultural value placed on liberty, contrasting it with the spiritual liberty offered by God.

We're familiar, most of us, with the words, We hold these truths to be self-evident. Whether or not we agree with that, we're familiar with them. That all men are created equal. And that they are endowed by their Creator.

3:01 - 3:15 Read in full sermon

The point: Come to grips with the reality of your chains and the desperation of being in them, so you might see the glimmer of light in the word of Jesus.

Martin imagines a listener's negative reaction to being called a 'child of the devil' and clarifies that this is God's assessment, not his own, to emphasize the gravity of humanity's natural state.

John says in 1 John 5 and verse 19, we know that we are of God and the whole world lies in the evil one. Now that's not pleasant. That's not flattering. You may have already determined, I'm never coming back to this place.

13:47 - 14:03 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine if your eyes have been spiritually opened to see spiritual realities and if you have truly turned from the power of Satan unto God.

The analogy of reading the Bible in English (or Spanish for Hispanics) after spiritual eyes are opened illustrates the newfound understanding and clarity believers gain regarding spiritual realities.

Now, do you see that? Do you see from this passage how all those things are tied together? So that if you're sitting here today and you say, oh yeah, I've got forgiveness, I believe in Jesus, then, my friend, it is also true of you that you have turned from the power of Satan unto God and, and that your eyes have been spiritually opened to see spiritual realities. As I heard someone say the other day, you now read your Bible in English.

21:15 - 21:48 Read in full sermon

The point: Exercise your freedom in Christ to trample over your lusts and desires and the world's perceived importance, rather than being bound by them.

Paul's statement that 'the world has been crucified unto me' is vividly explained as the world having no more attraction to him than a 'writhing blood-spattered dying man upon the cross' or a 'dead cadaver,' emphasizing the believer's radical detachment from worldliness.

If the world has been crucified what's happened to the world? It's been put up on the cross. It has as much attraction to Paul as a writhing blood-spattered dying man upon the cross. As much attraction as the dead cadaver with its flesh being plucked out by the buzzards.

35:27 - 35:55 Read in full sermon

The point: Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, proving the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God, rather than being conformed to this age.

Martin uses the humorous example of outdated fashion (six-inch-wide polyester ties and plaid suits) to distinguish between silly external conformity and genuine internal transformation away from worldliness, clarifying that he's not advocating for anachronistic dress but a heart-level rejection of the world's values.

by the renewing of your mind that you may prove work out in your experience the good acceptable and perfect will of God it is never the will of God for you and me to be worldly it's the will of God for us to be the counterculture that mean that I need to come with ties that are made of polyester and six inches wide like some of those I've saved in my closet for fun I'm not gonna be worldly I'm gonna wear six inch wide polyester ties now that's what some people think that's stupid I could say a lot more but just say that much that's stupid alright that's stupid no we're not talking about that w...

39:51 - 41:20 Read in full sermon

The point: Live no longer unto yourselves, but unto Christ who died and rose again for your sakes, loving God and your neighbor above yourself.

Martin critiques Mel Gibson's film 'The Passion' for its non-rational, mystical, and subjective portrayal of Christ's suffering, contrasting it with Paul's rational understanding of Christ's constraining love and the cross's implications for self-denial.

in the next phrase we have turned every one of us to his own way we've turned into a course in which we worship the idol of self now when any sinner at any time in any place is brought into saving union with Christ that sinner is set free radically and fundamentally set free from the idolatry of living for self again a key text I ask you to turn with me to look at it 2 Corinthians chapter 5 2 Corinthians chapter 5 in the context Paul is describing what makes him tick as a man and as a minister and he says in verse 14 2 Corinthians 5 14 for the love of Christ constrains us that is it presses us...

47:11 - 48:39 Read in full sermon

The point: If you feel constrained by parents living in Christian liberty, recognize that you are in chains and are to be pitied, and seek Christ for true freedom.

Martin quotes A.W. Tozer, who described those who pursue sensuous pleasure as 'blasted and burnt out and unable to feel,' like sticking an ice pick in a man with a wooden leg, to illustrate the emptiness and disillusionment that comes from worldly pursuits.

You're to be pitied in your chance and I plead with you. Go to the Lord Jesus and say, Lord Jesus, I'm all chained up and life is miserable. I can't get out from under the chained life imposed upon me by my parents. You're in a miserable place. You think the world's got something out there that's really going to be wonderful? No, it isn't. You look at the blasted, burnt, disillusioned, bad at all. I remember Tozer one time saying something I'll never forget. He spoke of those who have given themselves over to every

64:47 - 65:35 Read in full sermon