Obedience Is Freedom | Dylan Long

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. Can we stand real quick? Let's take a moment and pray. One of the reasons I have a stand and take a moment right now and turn our hearts towards the Lord is because I think sometimes, and I don't think it's intentional, we've at times forgotten that we come first and foremost to this room for God not actually to hear from me. And I don't first come first and foremost to serve you. I come first and foremost to serve God. This gives us some time to reorient and turn our hearts towards him. Of course the best way to serve you would be to serve Him. So I'm not saying that's not a part of it. But first and foremost, this is God's house. And we miss out when we actually don't realize that, that the God that created everything is here and we need to position our hearts. One of the most convicting verses to me is that Jesus says, I sow the seed on all the different soils and it's amazing quality seed on every soil. But how the seed produces fruit has nothing to do with the quality of the seed. Which is a scary verse to me, that I can have great seed because I haven't positioned my heart correctly. There's a place to come, there's a way to come into God's house. Just take a moment right now, Lord, we love you, Lord. We remind ourselves that we are first and foremost here for you. That heaven is present this afternoon, that you are in the room, Lord, first and foremost to reveal Jesus to us. The one our soul longs for, the desire of all nations. Holy Spirit, we ask that you would open up the Scriptures to us. We could comprehend Jesus this afternoon that you would reveal him to us, that our hearts would burn within us at the preaching of your word. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. We can be seated. I feel like the Lord's been putting this word on my heart that I'm going to share with us today. And I think it's connected to simplifying the gospel for many of us and what our pursuit is. If you've been a church for any time at all, I'm sure you've realized at times it feels so hard to know what to do on a day to day basis because it feels overwhelming. And I feel like the Lord is more concerned with you and I experiencing the freedom that comes through the cross than what we can do for Him. And sometimes we get too focused on the outcome and impact versus experiencing what he actually paid for us on the cross. What Do I mean by that? I think there's a natural outcome to experiencing holiness. There's a natural outcome to experiencing freedom. So we try to produce the outcome when without experiencing the freedom, what do I mean by that? Oftentimes we will overemphasize, like citywide transformation and changing the nations and changing the world. And is that all possible? Yes. But do you get it by pursuing that alone? No. Like, one of my favorite examples of this is the woman in John chapter 4 meets Jesus at the well, completely bound by anxiety, social pressure, doesn't want to talk to anyone. One encounter with Jesus and she brings the city she was hiding from to come and meet the man she met. Now, what's fascinating to me is no one had to teach her to share the gospel. He didn't even say, go and share the gospel. Her natural response to true freedom was I have to tell people. So sometimes we've gone, tell people, tell people, tell people. And I'm like, no, no. Why do we not want to? [00:03:37] Speaker B: Like, if you think back right now, [00:03:39] Speaker A: I think this is a good question for us. [00:03:40] Speaker B: If you think back, when did you [00:03:42] Speaker A: naturally share the gospel the most without anyone telling you to take a moment, think back through your Christian journey. If there was a time where you shared the gospel willingly without feeling like you had to, when was it and what was it connected to? I guarantee for the large majority of us, it was connected to experiencing the freedom of the cross, where we experienced the freedom and we naturally told people about Him. Now, for many of us, it stops somewhere along the way. And I would propose it was never meant to be that way. And I would propose, why is because we made freedom a destination. And I'm going to unpack that for a while. So I experience freedom, I tell people, and then I don't really know what to do next. So my heart begins to grow numb and cold over time. And then I have to create a theology as to why that's okay. Are you with me so far? So we have to decide, okay, what does this Christian walk look like and how is it modeled by Jesus? You can turn your Bibles to Philippians chapter two, if you have one. If not, we'll put it on the screen. I want to ask you a relatively elementary question to start, and it's not a trick question. Would you agree that Jesus was free? [00:05:05] Speaker B: Would you agree that Jesus is a [00:05:06] Speaker A: good example of what freedom looks like? Would you agree that Jesus was free from the opinions of people? Okay, so Jesus is our example. He died for our sin. Yes, but he was also the patent son, meaning the example of the Christian life. First John 2. 6. [00:05:23] Speaker B: If you say you abide in him, [00:05:24] Speaker A: you should live just as he lived. Galatians 4:19. I long that Christ would be formed in you. So he died for our sins. But he's also the destination of who we becoming like. [00:05:35] Speaker B: So we have to look at his [00:05:37] Speaker A: journey in Philippians 2. [00:05:40] Speaker B: So I want to read this verse, which is one of the ones I [00:05:42] Speaker A: preach probably the most, because I think it gives us such a good framework for the Christian life. This is what Philippians chapter two, verse eight says. [00:05:51] Speaker B: And being found in the appearance as [00:05:53] Speaker A: a man talking about Jesus, he humbled himself, became obedient to the point of [00:06:01] Speaker B: death, even the death of the cross. So what you begin to see here is in Jesus, he begins to show us a framework. [00:06:10] Speaker A: So firstly, he's saying, hey, number one, [00:06:14] Speaker B: Jesus had to humble himself [00:06:18] Speaker A: unto obedience. [00:06:20] Speaker B: So what is humility? [00:06:21] Speaker A: That's a big conversation. Ultimately, it's Jesus and Christ likeness. [00:06:27] Speaker B: But the outcome of humility is always one thing. [00:06:30] Speaker A: Obedience to God. Can you agree? [00:06:34] Speaker B: He humbled himself unto obedience. [00:06:36] Speaker A: Now, I don't want to speak for [00:06:38] Speaker B: you, but Dylan, if God had to humble himself, Dylan probably has to humble himself. [00:06:44] Speaker A: So if God had to humble himself, you probably have to humble yourself. [00:06:49] Speaker B: So he humbled himself unto what, Thinking less of himself? [00:06:52] Speaker A: No, he humbled himself unto obedience. [00:06:55] Speaker B: See, true obedience is this. [00:06:57] Speaker A: Are you obeying God on a daily basis? [00:07:00] Speaker B: True humility is this. [00:07:01] Speaker A: Are you obeying God? [00:07:02] Speaker B: If I'm not obeying God on a [00:07:04] Speaker A: daily basis, I'm living in pride. There's a way that seems right to a man. It leads to death. The scripture says God doesn't check with our logic before telling us what to do. [00:07:19] Speaker B: That's where we have to be really careful. The Bible's ways are very different. [00:07:23] Speaker A: To your favorite podcaster with the nose tape, [00:07:27] Speaker B: I'm just being honest. Like, we have to be really careful. A lot of humanism creeps into the church because the podcaster shares a lot [00:07:32] Speaker A: of stuff that's unbiblical. [00:07:35] Speaker B: We have to make sure that our view of the Christian of our life is found in scripture. So he humbles himself to obey God. God's ways will not make sense to you always. That's okay. Like, hey, God, I need to pay my rent. Go and catch a fish. [00:07:54] Speaker A: Are you with me? [00:07:55] Speaker B: Like, that wouldn't make sense to you. Exactly. [00:07:57] Speaker A: You obey. [00:07:59] Speaker B: So he humbles himself unto obedience. That's a beautiful lesson. True humility is seen in whether we obey his voice or not. Now, the outcome of this is beautiful. Where does the Holy Spirit or God lead Jesus? To the cross. So that's step three. Humble yourself, obey. He will lead you and I to [00:08:22] Speaker A: the same place, to a cross, lead [00:08:24] Speaker B: you to the cross. Then on the other side of the cross is what? Resurrection life. Now, my fear is we love resurrection life, and we're all pursuing it, but we have no idea how to get there. Then we make statements like this. [00:08:37] Speaker A: Why do you preach about suffering so much? [00:08:40] Speaker B: Like, how do you preach Jesus without suffering? [00:08:43] Speaker A: Or people come, they're like, dylan, Jesus is no longer on the cross. Why do you have a picture of him on the cross? [00:08:51] Speaker B: Remember at Christmas how we had the [00:08:54] Speaker A: manger and baby Enzo was Jesus and Phil and Michelle with Mary and Joseph? [00:09:00] Speaker B: I didn't hear one person go, jesus is not in the manger anymore. Why do you guys have him in a manger? What about the picture you have in your house of him breaking bread with his 12 disciples? He's not at the table anymore. But you have no problem with that picture. You have problem with one picture. And there's a reason why Jesus on the cross confronts apathy in our life. That's why you have an issue with that picture. Because if you put that above your bed, you have to look at him every day and see what we were actually bought for. There's a reason we run from that picture, because it confronts apathy in our life. I would propose get that picture in front of you. Look at him on the cross. Hard to live an apathetic life when you see who died for you. So it leads you and I to a cross. And here's the issue. People be like, dylan, you need to preach through the cross, not just to the cross. I'm like, I agree 100%. We go through the cross, but on the other side of the cross, Jesus has a great gift for you and I, our own cross. Okay, Some of you aren't sure Luke 9. 23, which is okay. Luke 9:23. So the reason you preach and you study how Jesus carried his cross is because if he carried across, and I'm called to a good game plan, would probably be to learn how to carry mine from how he carried his. [00:10:35] Speaker A: Some of you, like, I don't have to carry across. Okay? [00:10:37] Speaker B: So I think the hard thing at [00:10:40] Speaker A: times is because we live in a culture that we were often raised as [00:10:43] Speaker B: Christians, we never really got to actually [00:10:45] Speaker A: know what we were signing up for. At least with me, we got grafted in through family, which isn't even possible. But then somewhere along the line, you decide for yourself. And it wasn't like a direct calling into. [00:10:58] Speaker B: But Jesus says here in verse 23, he said to them all, they all get the invitation. If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his [00:11:08] Speaker A: cross and follow me. I missed the word daily. Daily, yeah, [00:11:18] Speaker B: not once off. So Jesus is like, hey, you want to follow me? And then he goes on to say, and if you lose your life, you'll find it. So we, we want resurrection life. It comes through you losing your life. Deny yourself. So if you're like, am I carrying [00:11:34] Speaker A: a cross or not? [00:11:34] Speaker B: Ask others, are you denying yourself? If the answer is no, we're not [00:11:39] Speaker A: carrying a cross, is that okay? Are we good? Are we locked in? [00:11:44] Speaker B: Deny yourself is step one. I can't keep me and have him deny yourself. Now, the cross is hard for us to understand if you really study it. I'm not going to use modern day [00:11:57] Speaker A: examples because it would offend you. What it meant. [00:12:00] Speaker B: Think about the most intense way you can be killed. [00:12:05] Speaker A: That's what the cross was. So we're like, this is such beautiful imagery. They're like, wait, I have to be tortured and killed to follow you. [00:12:15] Speaker B: And it's the most humiliating, only kept [00:12:17] Speaker A: for robbers and the worst in society. [00:12:20] Speaker B: That sounds a little bit different to [00:12:21] Speaker A: my invitation to Christianity. Anyone else? [00:12:25] Speaker B: Like, if you want to follow me, great, but you'll be humiliated and killed and choose it every day. Like not once, but every day. And this is Jesus invitation into our life. Now he says, carry across now. Why is this his way of life? [00:12:39] Speaker A: People get like tense when you start [00:12:41] Speaker B: preaching on the cross. The safest place to be is under your cross. See? See? So. So Jesus gives you. Jesus gives you his cross for your salvation. If you've accepted him in this room, praise God, you're saved. Then he gives you your cross so you can experience the fruit of what he paid for. You can be saved and live bound. Many believers are going to heaven, but bound by the flesh today. See, his cross sets you free from sin. Your cross sets you free from the flesh. So of course I'm going to teach you how to live through the cross by carrying the cross he gives you, which is freedom. People are like, why the cross? Because that's freedom. Jesus was free, he carried a cross. So we're like, not the cross. Yes, the cross. That's how we experience true freedom. That's God's way for you to experience [00:13:37] Speaker A: what he's paid for. [00:13:40] Speaker B: And the cross weakens Us beautifully. [00:13:43] Speaker A: Let's turn to Galatians, chapter six. Galatians, chapter 6, verse 15. Actually, Galatians. Why did I say Galatians 6? Romans 6, Galatians 6 is great too, though. Verse 13 and 14. Some of my favorite verses. [00:14:16] Speaker B: Verse 15. What then shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? Certainly not. [00:14:23] Speaker A: That's a good verse. [00:14:23] Speaker B: Okay, this is free. [00:14:25] Speaker A: Because I hear people saying this too [00:14:26] Speaker B: much, especially when I was coming up as a believer people, whenever you would [00:14:30] Speaker A: emphasize doing things for God, preaching the gospel, sharing your faith, healing the sick, casting out demons, fasting, they're like, brother, that's works. I'm called to grace, and grace was always connected to doing nothing. [00:14:46] Speaker B: As if this is easier. [00:14:47] Speaker A: So pause for a second. The law. [00:14:49] Speaker B: You can't eat shrimp. The new Covenant. Love the people next to you. Like God loved you. You're telling me this one's easier? This one? [00:15:02] Speaker A: Hey, no tattoos. [00:15:03] Speaker B: I'm like, okay, fine. Love your neighbor. Like Christ loved them. Somehow this became easier than that. I'm like, if anything, this one's impossible. Like this one. What do you want to eat? I'll take a steak. Just no shrimp. I'm good. Right this side. Love the person that hates you. Love the person that frustrates you. Like, that's impossible to do without God's grace. So he's like, hey, here's this impossible thing, but don't worry, I'll help you. How do you do that without dependency? You don't. So he's like, if you think you're free to go back to sin, you got the whole thing wrong. Verse 16. Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey. You are that one. Slaves to whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death or obedience leading to righteousness, you can be forgiven of [00:15:58] Speaker A: sin and be a slave to sin. [00:16:06] Speaker B: This verse is a profound verse. When you choose to partner with temptation, enter into sin that will then lead [00:16:15] Speaker A: you to being a slave to sin. [00:16:20] Speaker B: Or if you choose to partner with the Spirit of God, obedience leads you to righteousness. So obeying leads you into the freedom Jesus purchased for you. If you partner with sin, you become a slave to that sin. When you have unrepentant, unconfessed sin and what does sin produce? Please hear me today. Unrepentant sin will always produce death in your life. Sometimes our life is falling apart and [00:16:54] Speaker A: we act like we have no idea why. [00:16:59] Speaker B: Sin will always produce death and destruction in every area of your life. That's why if you're in unrepentant sin. A great idea would be to repent. I'm not saying you can never sin. But when we choose to live in the practice of sin, we then become [00:17:15] Speaker A: a slave to sin. [00:17:17] Speaker B: But the next part, if you obey, [00:17:20] Speaker A: you'll be a slave to righteousness, to [00:17:23] Speaker B: right standing with God. So you have these two options here of which direction are we going to go in. But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, you obeyed from [00:17:31] Speaker A: the heart that form of the doctrine to which you were delivered. [00:17:34] Speaker B: And being set free from sin, you [00:17:36] Speaker A: became a slave of righteousness. I speak in human terms, because the [00:17:43] Speaker B: weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members [00:17:46] Speaker A: as slaves of uncleanness and of lawlessness, leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For holiness. [00:17:57] Speaker B: So when you keep obeying the Holy Spirit, what it's going to do is produce holiness in you. So you have this journey of are you saved? Absolutely. But are we completely sanctified? Absolutely not. Ephesians 4, 22, 23 and 24 says, Put off the old man which has [00:18:15] Speaker A: grown corrupt according to the deceitful lusts of the flesh. So you're putting off this old man that's become corrupt. [00:18:22] Speaker B: You're being renewed in the spirit of your mind is verse 23. And then you put on a new man created according to God in perfect righteousness and holiness. That's who we putting on. But the idea here is that as you keep obeying the Holy Spirit, you're going to walk into greater and greater holiness and consecration. Can I tell you that holiness will never be passive. Consecration to God is never a destination that you reach. I heard somebody recently say this. [00:18:58] Speaker A: A young man asked an old monk, [00:19:00] Speaker B: how long does it take to know Jesus? And he said, oh, it takes about 85 years. Because the whole point of you being [00:19:08] Speaker A: here is to know him and be [00:19:09] Speaker B: formed into his image. When you're done, you may as well go home. So then that begs the question, will there ever come a day where you [00:19:20] Speaker A: won't want to be pruned? [00:19:26] Speaker B: No. Yet somehow we think holiness and freedom is a destination. I came to tell you freedom from the flesh is not a destination. We're going to keep getting more and more free as we experience more and more and more. You don't want the day where God's not pruning you. So my worry is sometimes we experience the cross and then we think somehow we can live a passive life and keep it. Not possible. I've Shared this before. One of my mentors prayed over there, like God, I pray Dylan's road would get narrower and narrower. I'm like, God, II [00:20:07] Speaker A: God help me to want to say amen to that. [00:20:11] Speaker B: But that's the reality, right? What is the guy who gets the one talent, he's like, I. I'm just going to keep this thing and bury it. What is it? What happens? It gets taken from him. Meaning you. And my journey will never be passive. There's no timeouts in the Christian walk. There's no breaks. We always either a slave to obedience or a slave to sin. There's no other option. And I've taken all that time to paint this picture. There is no other option. Because I think sometimes I grew up [00:20:42] Speaker A: playing different video games from time to time. [00:20:44] Speaker B: And you have these free roaming video games where you get out and you have an option either do whatever you want or do the side missions. No one ever does the side missions. You just do whatever you want. And I think sometimes we fall in Christianity to thinking that we can stay [00:20:59] Speaker A: free by just living however we want. Impossible. [00:21:07] Speaker B: Why? Because you were designed to be in communion with the Holy Spirit. [00:21:11] Speaker A: That will always lead you to righteousness. [00:21:14] Speaker B: So I can't just walk around doing whatever I want. Why? Because the flesh will always find an object of affection for its love. You were made to love. [00:21:23] Speaker A: You will always love something. [00:21:25] Speaker B: And how do you love him? By obeying him. [00:21:28] Speaker A: Are you with me? [00:21:30] Speaker B: So if I love him, I obey him. If I'm not obeying him, I'm not. [00:21:34] Speaker A: You guys finish the sentence. [00:21:37] Speaker B: So my point is that you and I have to stay obedient to the Holy Spirit. Otherwise we will always find another lover. Our soul will always find something to love. We can't just get free and do whatever we want. [00:21:52] Speaker A: It's impossible. Here's an example for you. [00:21:57] Speaker B: I like this verse a lot. [00:21:58] Speaker A: Galatians. Galatians 5:13. [00:22:07] Speaker B: For you, brethren have been called to liberty only. Do not use this freedom as an [00:22:11] Speaker A: opportunity for the flesh, but through love, serve one another. [00:22:18] Speaker B: Is it possible to stay free without [00:22:20] Speaker A: loving and serving one another? [00:22:25] Speaker B: Is it possible to stay free without carrying my cross? Is it possible? That's why sometimes I think we think holiness can be passed. Like, I'm going to lock myself alone in my room. Who are you going to love? Your flesh will find something to love. And the danger with our generation is we've been taught that a great game plan is just loving yourself. Terrible game plan. If you don't believe me, can we [00:22:54] Speaker A: put up James 3:16. [00:22:59] Speaker B: This has to sink deep within our soul. For where envy and self seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing is there. When we live isolated, we live confused and we invite the demonic into our life. Because you always need an avenue for your love and it was always designed to be other people. [00:23:22] Speaker A: Are you with me? [00:23:23] Speaker B: So that's why when you carry your cross, sometimes it looks like doing hard things. What is your and my cross? It's when your will and God's will intersect and you choose his will. That is not enough. That's not being inauthentic. We have to look at Jesus to see what true freedom is. I think we think true freedom is doing whatever we want. But. But my issue with that is that Jesus was completely free, yet only did [00:23:51] Speaker A: what he saw the Father doing. [00:23:55] Speaker B: So think about that. We think freedom is, I do whatever I want. I'm co laboring, I'm doing whatever I want. I'm like, Jesus didn't model that. He was free because he was obedient or he only did what he saw the Father doing. And we think freedom is doing whatever we want. [00:24:12] Speaker A: Okay, read Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53. I love this verse. Verse 7. [00:24:23] Speaker B: He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. As a sheep before shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. I think we fall into the trap sometimes of thinking that free freedom means [00:24:41] Speaker A: saying whatever we feel. I'm free. [00:24:46] Speaker B: That's what I was feeling. Are you telling me not to be you? I'm telling you not to be the old you. If you say whatever you're thinking, you're [00:24:54] Speaker A: in bondage to the flesh. [00:24:56] Speaker B: That's not freedom. I'm here to tell you saying whatever you're thinking is like flesh. Please lead me. Terrible idea. [00:25:05] Speaker A: Okay, let's read James, chapter three. Because some of us are still like, [00:25:08] Speaker B: see, I'm sorry that you were taught that freedom from the fear of man [00:25:12] Speaker A: means say whatever you think. James, chapter three. I mean we could, we could do a whole series on James 3, 1:12, verse 2. [00:25:32] Speaker B: For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, [00:25:36] Speaker A: he is a perfect man able to bridle the whole body. [00:25:41] Speaker B: Later on it says your word is like a tiny spark that sets whole forests on fire. I'm sorry if you can't remember the last time you forced yourself to be quiet. [00:25:51] Speaker A: The flesh is leading you. [00:25:56] Speaker B: Like if you never like, I shouldn't say that you're in trouble because think about this, The Bible says if your words. If you have control over your words, you. You're perfect. Like, people like you can't judge me. I'm like, bro, your words have been judging you your whole life. Can't judge you. Your words are your fruit. Your words, the heart. There's a window to your heart called your words. So I'm like, okay, so is authenticity saying whatever you feel then, or is that bondage? I would say it's bondage. You don't want to be the old man who's bound by the flesh. Restraint is freedom. See, it's opposite to the ways of the world. Like, I'm free from the fear of man. Yeah, I know, but you also are. You're also free from the conviction of the Holy Spirit. [00:26:55] Speaker A: That was good. I've never said that before. Actually, I'm like. Like, I'll take that. [00:27:00] Speaker B: Because here's the thing, right? I've said this before, but I feel like we need to echo this, because here's a treasure I found from being [00:27:06] Speaker A: around men of God that I look up to. Fathers in our faith, the one thing [00:27:10] Speaker B: that they all have in common. I have a conversation with them, a [00:27:13] Speaker A: meal, a phone call. [00:27:15] Speaker B: An hour later, I get a phone [00:27:17] Speaker A: call, hey, I'm sorry I said this. I shouldn't have said it. Not. I didn't confront them. The Holy Spirit convicted them of words. [00:27:29] Speaker B: If you only have to. [00:27:30] Speaker A: If you only repent when someone confronts you. We aren't living before an audience of one yet. When was the last time you repented? Not because somebody called you out. Because the Holy Spirit said, hey, repent. You shouldn't have said that. [00:27:44] Speaker B: Because here's the issue. No one's perfect here yet. That means you've fallen short in your words. [00:27:52] Speaker A: Are you with me? [00:27:52] Speaker B: So freedom actually becomes. [00:27:54] Speaker A: No, no, I'm going to keep quiet. [00:27:56] Speaker B: Sometimes that is your cross. Where somebody throws an insult. That's not true. [00:28:02] Speaker A: And God goes, hey, keep quiet. [00:28:04] Speaker B: Fellowship with me in my suffering. Fellowship with me. What do you mean, suffering? Yeah, he did that. [00:28:14] Speaker A: You're like, but. But they're wrong. [00:28:15] Speaker B: Yeah, they were wrong with him too. But he was quiet. See, that's the cross. When you actually catch. I'm trying my best to communicate this. When you catch the freedom that comes through not obeying the flesh, this is freedom. The Bible says in Romans, actually, let's [00:28:35] Speaker A: turn there one lot. Romans 8. First service. Didn't get this. I like you guys more. So you guys can have this, too. That was a joke. If you. Okay. Verse 13. [00:28:53] Speaker B: If you live according to the flesh, you will die. [00:28:55] Speaker A: That's encouraging right there. [00:28:58] Speaker B: But if you live, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. The Holy Spirit is so good at crucifying the flesh, which means the Holy Spirit is so good at bringing you into the freedom you were made for. Can I tell you the freedom? [00:29:17] Speaker A: When the Holy Spirit says, hey, go [00:29:18] Speaker B: and apologize to that person and you don't want to. The freedom after you do that and the flesh dies a little bit, like, I learned this from a mentor. He's like, hey, every time you take ground in the spirit, the enemy can [00:29:32] Speaker A: never take it from you. [00:29:34] Speaker B: You can give it up, but he can never take it. Sometimes that 10 minutes from the secret place, like, I don't care what I feel. I'm going to do this. I don't care. I'm gonna humble myself because that's where freedom is found. He's so good at leading you into the freedom you were designed for the cross that he gives you. And as you obey, it weakens you beautifully. And as you do it, you experience more and more of him. The reason I'm passionate about this, because this is the roadmap to resurrection life. This is the roadmap into freedom. Freedom to you and I looks different [00:30:10] Speaker A: than it does to the world. [00:30:12] Speaker B: Freedom to the world is doing whatever you desire. That's what authenticity is to the world. That's not the Christian walk. Freedom for you and I is obedience [00:30:24] Speaker A: to what the Holy Spirit is saying. [00:30:27] Speaker B: We will always either be a slave to the flesh or a slave to the spirit. There's not an option to not be a slave. [00:30:36] Speaker A: Are you with me? [00:30:37] Speaker B: See, I'm trying to help us because I think many of us experience freedom momentarily when we get saved, but don't know how to walk out the journey. That's why for a few months when we got saved, we shared it with everyone. And then our soul found other lovers, [00:30:49] Speaker A: even though we were saved. [00:30:51] Speaker B: And what we have to do is bring it back going, I'm going to wake up every day and choose to obey you. And the beauty in this is you will always experience more and more of him. This journey will be for the rest of your life. I'm laying me down to find you, and in turn, I find me. This is the Christian walk. [00:31:11] Speaker A: I love this verse in Matthew, chapter 4. Talking about Jesus is freedom. Matthew, chapter 4, verse 1. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. [00:31:26] Speaker B: And when he had fasted 40 days [00:31:27] Speaker A: and 40 nights afterwards, he was hungry. And when the tempter came to him, [00:31:32] Speaker B: he said, if you are the Son of God, command these stones become bread. [00:31:36] Speaker A: And he said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone. But every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. [00:31:41] Speaker B: I love this verse so much because Jesus was hungry. So we would think it's inauthentic or [00:31:49] Speaker A: works to not eat. [00:31:51] Speaker B: To eat for him wouldn't mean that the flesh was leading him. Authenticity and freedom is not doing whatever you desire. [00:32:02] Speaker A: Are you with me? [00:32:03] Speaker B: He's hungry. What does authenticity look like? Doing what you're feeling? No, that would be bondage to the flesh. [00:32:13] Speaker A: Are you with me? [00:32:14] Speaker B: Like, he has to be our example for freedom. Where he's like, I'm not going to be led by this, I'm going to be led by you. And that's the safest place to be, is being led by him. That's where freedom exists. That's where holiness exists. See, Christianity can never be defensive. His kingdom is always expanding. Holiness cannot be passive. The game plan of our locking me and my family away and we'll stay holy, it's impossible. It doesn't work. James 1:27, it says, as pure and undefiled, religion is to care for the widows and orphans and to remain unspotted from the world. When my religion doesn't carry mission, it's defiled. So it's this thing like our Christian walk will never be passive. Holiness will never be passive. I can never just lock away and be like, I'm done and I'm holy. No, no. There's always going to be more obedience and more freedom and more Christ likeness and more Christiformity. And that's the beauty of this journey. Freedom is restraint. Consecration is a never ending pursuit. Freedom is obedience. That gives new meaning to John 5:19, where Jesus says, I only do what I see the Father doing. Freedom is found in surrender, not entitlement. We choose to be slaves to the Holy Spirit, knowing that his ways are higher than ours, knowing that that's where freedom is. The scripture states that humble will find grace and the pride will find the proud will find the end of themselves. The best place to be is humbling yourself under the hand of God. Freedom will always be in the stripping away, not addition. He prunes those who he loves. I just sense the Holy Spirit bringing us back into this, where at times [00:34:23] Speaker A: we become passive and at times we've forgotten that. [00:34:28] Speaker B: I get to wake up today and and follow the Holy Spirit. [00:34:31] Speaker A: There's more available for me, more freedom [00:34:35] Speaker B: More of his love, more of his presence. I don't want to settle. [00:34:40] Speaker A: What if I told you, like Zachary [00:34:42] Speaker B: right now, sharing the gospel, opening up as he encounters the Lord? What if I told you you were never meant to progress from that state [00:34:48] Speaker A: that you remember that you remembered earlier? [00:34:53] Speaker B: What if I told you, as we keep obeying, you can keep experiencing more of him? When I was praying into today, I [00:35:01] Speaker A: just felt like the Lord was saying, if we can simplify this again, to wake up every day and go, God, I humble myself. [00:35:07] Speaker B: Lead me. Whatever you say, Lord, Lead me. And I feel like there's people in the room, even that as I was speaking about sin and death entering. We often know what to do. And we get really good at being like, I don't know how to solve this. I'm like, no, no. The Holy Spirit's been telling you to [00:35:22] Speaker A: confess for six months. [00:35:25] Speaker B: Anyone ever been there? When I struggled with addiction, I was like, God, what should I do? For years, he was like, confess. I'm like, God, I don't care. Can you pray for me? Like, my life's falling apart? He's like, dylan, hey, confess. [00:35:36] Speaker A: Like, pray for me, bro. Like, everything's falling apart. [00:35:40] Speaker B: The Holy Spirit tells us what to go low, humble yourself, apologize, bring this in. Because he's so good at bringing us into freedom. Some of us. He's speaking to us. Hey, like, leave this job. I'm calling you here. It's time to obey him. [00:35:56] Speaker A: So can we stand right now? A band can come up. Thank you, jesus. Many are living, forgiven by sin, but bound by the flesh. It's the kindness of God to go, hey, I want to prune you. I want to take some things off. I want you to experience more of me. The safest place you could be is under a cross. The safety. Safest place you can be as obedient to the Holy Spirit. What is he telling you to do? I even sense the Holy Spirit reminding people of things that he's told them to do. Speak. Holy Spirit, we surrender to you once again. Lord, we thank you. That dependency is freedom. Obedience is freedom. I want to invite the ministry team to come forward. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Holy Spirit. If God's speaking to you right now, maybe it's something in the room or texting you, saying, I encourage you to do it now. There's grace on things in the moment. Sometimes you wait too long. I encourage you to obey the Holy Spirit right now. And as we go back into worship for a few moments, if you need prayer for anything at all, this afternoon. Maybe the Word spoke to you or you just need someone to partner with you. We would love to pray with you so you can respond right now as we go back into worship. Thank you for joining Kingdom Movement Online. I pray and hope that that sermon impacted you deeply. I would love if you shared this with a few friends and family. 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