Good morning, everyone. I hope everyone is doing well. I'm continually praying for each one of you guys through this pandemic time, and I just know that God is, hopefully, bringing this whole thing to an end. I look forward to the time when we'll be able to gather together and worship together again. Although we can't be together, God is still doing so much. I am just blown away by the words that are going out, the revelation that each one of you guys is getting, just the freedom, and God moving in such a time where people feel so oppressed and feel like they're stuck at home and they're almost under a burden of slavery where they can't leave their house and they feel so oppressed. Yet, even in that time, God is moving in such a miraculous way for us. I'm just blown away by what God is doing.

I know in the news today there's been so much talk about people saying that their freedoms are being held back, that their freedoms are being inhibited. There's been so much discussion about what it means to be free, and people are actually starting to rebel against the stay-at-home orders. I'm watching people go to Costco and they don't want to wear masks, and everyone is really up in arms about the line being crossed into what they believe is inhibiting their freedoms.

But today I want to talk about what true freedom looks like. It's not a freedom that is granted to us by a law or a document that was signed long ago, but it has been granted to us by the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"It's not a freedom that is granted to us by a law or a document, but it has been granted to us by the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Look, today I too am concerned about our freedoms being inhibited, but it's really about not so much what the government is doing, but what the church and the people of the church are doing. I want the church to be living in freedom. I want the church to be living and really thriving in the freedom that is afforded to us by the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. My prayer today, as we're going to read, is that we would never again look toward slavery, but that we would stand firm and never again submit to the yoke of slavery.

My title of my sermon today is “The Home of the Free,” and I'm praying that as we eventually, hopefully, get to meet together back in the church, we would be coming together as a group of free men and women who are coming to worship their King. That is the greatest call of the Church: men and women who are free in ways the world could never know, but then yet enter the church in their freedom – submit, even, to their God – and even submit their freedom, their will, the things that make them who they are. When they submit that to Christ and say, “God, here I am, use me,” I mean, that's an exciting thing for the church. That's an exciting thing for a man or a woman to do.

So, I'm going to have two different readings, going from the Old Testament to the New Testament and tying the two together a little bit to talk about what freedom really looks like. I'm going to be reading from Galatians 4 and I'm also going to be reading from Judges 9, going from two ends of the Bible a little bit. But, Galatians 4… Paul here is talking about Abraham and Sarah, and I'm going to read it from verse 21.

It says, “Tell me, you who desire to be subject to the law, will you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and the other by a free woman. One, the child of a slave, was born according to the flesh. The other, the child of the free woman, was born through the promise. Now this is an allegory. These women are two covenants. One woman, in fact, is Hagar from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the other woman corresponds to Jerusalem above. She is free, and she is our mother. For it is written, ‘Rejoice, you childless one, you who bear no children; burst into song and shout, you who endure no birth pangs; for the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than the children of the one who is married.’”

If you guys have that and you can underline that, that's from Isaiah 54, and we'll come back to that, but that's so important in this passage. Continuing on, it says, “Now you, my friends, are children of the promise like Isaac. But just as at that time the child who was born according to the flesh persecuted the child who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. But what does the Scripture say? ‘Drive out the slave and her child, for the child of the slave will not share the inheritance with the child of the free woman.’ So then, friends, we are children, not of the slave, but of the free woman. For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.”

"For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery."

“Stand firm, therefore, and do not again submit to the yoke of slavery…” You know, I found this passage very prophetic for the time that we're in. I know coming together again, we’ll be a group of people coming together as free men and women, and I know Pastor Janeth has been teaching us about victory songs. Verse 27, to me, is kind of like our victory song—entering back into the church: rejoice! Rejoice for the children that were once desolate, for the children that were once underneath slavery and were having no fruit. Where there were no free children, now we are numerous. We are walking back into the church as free men and women, walking in more numerous than anyone else. More numerous! And we are ready to overtake the land, overtake our communities, and see such a change as we never have before.

We can see that this verse is from Isaiah 54. And Isaiah 54 was talking about a time of the future glory of Jerusalem. This verse was talking about a time when those people, God's people, would no longer be born of the Jerusalem here, but would be born of the Jerusalem from above. So, we can see that Isaiah here is talking about a future glory, a future time.

I tell you, people of God, that I believe, as Paul said when he was speaking and writing to the Galatian church, that He is looking for a people who are no longer born of this world, but He is looking for those who are born from above, no longer of the slave woman, but a time when they are born of the free woman. Those are people who are born of heaven.

You see, the people born of heaven are free. The people born of heaven are those who have free will, but that free will is not something to be abused; it is something that the free come and present to God as an offering. They lay down their free will so that they might become a part of the body.

But let's talk about what a slave truly is. When we look at this verse with Hagar, Hagar was originally Sarah's servant. She was originally a slave. Sarah, out of fear of not having an heir for Abraham, exalts her, and there's a step above a slave, and that's a concubine, and she makes her her husband's concubine. That was a common practice back then. If there was someone who was barren, they would use these concubines to make sure that the line went on.

So she exalts her, and that truly is a slave. Somebody of that slave spirit is someone who is always looking to be exalted above their station. It's always looking to exalt self, always looking to usurp authority, take something that is not theirs, and take it for themselves. They're always looking to set themselves up above other people and to be kind of like the Most High, to try to set themselves up as taking God's spot. Throughout the Bible, we see this happen over and over again, and even today it still happens inside the Church.

Why bring this up? I bring it up to say that we'd like to think of the slave as the outside and the world, and somebody that has nothing to do with the Church. But, remember, both of these children were children of Abraham—one being born of the wife and one being born of the slave. The truth is, people of God, that more often than not we see this type of persecution, this type of spirit, come from inside the Church.

Where does the greatest persecution of the people of God come from so often? It's inside the church—people shouting down the legitimacy of the free man – and I see that happen so often. You see, the free are free, and they come before God and submit themselves. They submit their will to God fully that they might be one with God.

You know who that reminds me of? That reminds me of Jesus Christ. He was One who came and submitted Himself fully to the will of the Father that They might be one. Where did the persecution come from? It came from the people of God that shouted Him down, that would try to delegitimize His ministry and who He was, to the point where He was having people turn on Him and looking to kill Him.

The slave, the spirit of the slave woman, is always looking to take authority for themselves and to shout down, to delegitimize, the true free Spirit of God and take the authority for themselves where the free man takes their freedom, takes their authority, takes their will, takes everything that they are, and submits them to God that they might be one.

You see, a slave has their own mind. A slave has their own will and they're constantly trying to put that will into practice wherever they can. The free man lays down their will that they might be part of the body, and they submit themselves to God.

People of God, you were not given your freedom—Jesus Christ did not go to the cross – that you might just have freedom and be able to do whatever you want and be able to revel in that freedom. No, your freedom was given to you that you might submit yourself to God, that you might be part of the body of Christ, that you would become free men and free women of God, part of the church.

I can tell just by the revelation that so many of you are getting in the church. It's really amazing some of the words that you guys are getting from the sermons. Even when you read it, it's revelation that pushes the sermons forward. They advance the Word of God. They're not separate from the Word that was sent out. No, they supplement the Word to be able to advance it forward, to be able to push it forward. The revelation that you guys are getting is pushing that Word forward into this community and into the hearts of men. That shows that God is moving in such an amazing way. In a time where so many people are oppressed, in a time where so many people can't meet together, in a time where people are falling away and forgetting about the church. I see such freedom being given to the people of God, and that is such an amazing thing.

I know that coming together, when we do, it will be as free men and free women coming together to exalt our God as one body. That is so exciting! That is so exciting that we will meet together as one body to exalt the King of kings, not ones born of the spirit of the slave woman, no longer that the flesh would be running things, no longer that the arm would be to the left trying to do its own thing and the foot to the right, but instead, we would be together as one body.

The spirit of the slave woman is constantly trying to establish their own will, their own way, their own thing. But God's people, when they're part of the body, have submitted themselves. There's no longer that spirit of the slave woman living in the flesh, living in the earthly Jerusalem, trying to do things their own way, say things their own way. No, they are fully submitted to the body of Christ, and that's what true freedom is. True freedom is laying down your body.

"True freedom is laying down your body."

This isn't taught in the world. The world teaches you that freedom means you can do whatever you want at any moment. But, don't forget that all men are mastered by something, whether it be sports or their grades or money or their happiness or whatever it might be at that moment. All men are mastered by something, but God has broken that by His sacrifice, by Him going to the cross. He has broken that spirit that wants to satisfy self, that spirit of the flesh, that spirit that tries to bring about its own authority, that you might be free.

Free to become a part of the body. Free to lay down your will to God that you might be one. It's a willful submission of self unto the body of God, saying that you no longer run things on your own, but you're ready to receive and act on behalf of the Head of the body, which is Christ.

When Pastor Janeth sent out that word last week, that's really the revelation that I was getting. The hand, the foot—whatever it is, part of the body—they receive their instructions from the head. We, as the people of God, the free, come before Him because of His sacrifice and submit our will to God.

How does the hand get the message? The nerve endings send it from the brain to the hand. Let's say when the brain wants a cup of coffee, what does it do? It sends out that message to the hand to reach out, grab that mug, and bring that cup of coffee to you. The hand doesn't have its own will. It doesn't decide how it's going to grab, what it’s going to do, if it wants to grab it at that moment or if it doesn’t. No, it receives its instructions from the brain and moves on behalf of it.

And I tell you, that is what it means to be free in the church of God, to be one with the Spirit of God. It means that we are receiving the message from the Head of the body, which is Christ, and we receive just like the nerves send that signal down to the hand. The Holy Spirit sends that message down to us. The Holy Spirit is the messenger that comes and delivers the will of God to us as the body, and we react.

Whatever God wants at that moment—whether it be white flowers, pink flowers, a certain song, an act of obedience, you to speak to somebody, you to treat your kids a different way, you to uplift somebody, you to sing a song of praise, you to pray for somebody—whatever it might be at that moment that the brain says, that the Head of the body says, it sends it through the Holy Spirit. And if you are one in the body, if you are a free man, if you are born of the free woman, then I tell you, we have submitted ourselves in such a way that the hand just begins to move and begins to bring about the will of the Father.

The world teaches slavery—what you want, what you desire, your will, slavery to every aspect of your desires and your passions and whatever it is that drives you at that moment. Jesus Christ's sacrifice brought about a freedom from the bondage of this world so that you could willfully submit to God, lest you fall into slavery from your past.

The truth is that every man is mastered by something—whatever desires, passions, wants, needs, whatever it might be – and that's kind of the point of fasting that we do every once in a while, to show that we are not subject to the ways and desires even of our body, but instead we have submitted ourselves to Christ.

Pastor Janeth talked about Gideon a few weeks ago, and Gideon is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. Gideon had 71 sons. He had 70 with his wife and one son with a concubine. The son of the concubine was named Abimelech. I'm sorry, as I go through this, I can tell you right now I'm probably going to mess up his name; I had to repeat it a few times. I don't know why I had such a hard time saying it, but Abimelech was the son of the concubine. Gideon had 70 sons with his wife and then one with the concubine. Just like Hagar, just like you read with Abraham, this one son was the one that was not born to one of his wives.

Shortly after that, it goes on to say that Gideon eventually passes away. Right after he passes away, in verse 33, they right away go to their old gods. They go to the lord of the flies, these Baal gods. Actually, if you read some of the history, you'll see that they used to keep a little plaque in their pockets in the shape of a fly. They would take it out of their pockets throughout the day and kiss it because they said that they couldn't be separate from their god. This obviously upsets God.

Gideon's son ends up setting himself up as king. He goes to his mother's house, to the slave woman's house, and begins to speak to all his uncles on his mother's side and say, “How much better would it be if I ruled things?” So, Abimelech goes and sets himself up as this. He goes and gets support from them, and they give him money. He begins to hire people. Eventually, he goes to his father's house and actually tries to kill all 70 but only kills 69 of his brothers, and one gets away by the name of Jotham.

Abimelech sets himself up as king, and Jotham comes back and speaks the first parable in the Bible and begins to speak about him, and it becomes a curse, saying, “you have disobeyed God... You have not treated my father's house correctly, and you have disobeyed God… Now God is against you.” Eventually, Abimelech dies in battle when a woman throws a stone off a tower that ends up hitting him.

You see, this is the same story over and over again. It doesn't just happen with Abraham. It doesn't just happen with Gideon's children. It happens over and over again where men or women set themselves up and say, “I'm going to be my own god. I'm going to do things my own way.” But I tell you, people of God, that is slavery.

Jesus Christ came that you would be free from slavery, that you would no longer have to run things on your own—the burden of that, the oppression of what that is. I read a recent study that said that people who run their lives based off a coin flip are actually happier than those who just make their own decisions because the burden is taken off them. They're just going based off a coin flip and letting things fall as they may. But God is looking for you to submit yourself to Him. That is true freedom. That is what true freedom is.

This story repeats itself over and over throughout the Bible until a man came in the form of a regular man, who took off His godhood and submitted Himself completely to the Father. No one was saying that Jesus Christ was a slave. No, He was a willful servant unto His Father. He gave all things to His Father—all His will, everything He was—even unto death. He gave it all up that He might be free, because He was a free man living under the authority of God.

I pray today that we would be free men and women, no longer born of the old, no longer born of the slave woman. But in Christ, we are of the free woman.

I go back to that New Testament, that Galatians verse, and it says, “Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.” It's oppression.

Jessica the other day brought up with the kids during youth group how, for so many, it feels like heavy oppression being under these stay-at-home orders. They're staying at home. They see the same people over and over again, which I know is a complaint of some of our kids—that they only see the same people every single day. There's isolation, seclusion, and the weight of having to follow these rules of this pandemic, and it feels so oppressive.

In the same way, all of those words we're attributing to this are what it means to be under slavery under the law. It's what it means to be under slavery, trying to fulfill the law while still trying to run our own lives, and trying do good and trying to do right, and maybe be in the church, but yet always having something inside us clawing for control, always looking to set up our own way of doing things.

But what does the Scripture say in verse 30? “Drive out the slave and her child, for the child of the slave will not share the inheritance of the child of the free woman. So then, friends, we are children, not of the slave, but of the free woman. For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not again submit to the yoke of slavery.”

I know, reading some of the emails that have been going out, that so many of us have really driven out that slavery. I see the words and the revelation that is coming out, and the freedom of being able to take God's Word and God being able to speak to you through it, and you being able to provide a word that coincides with the word originally given. That is what it is to be in freedom.

For many, this time has felt oppressive, being stuck at home. But for us, it has been a time of freedom. Even though we haven't been able to meet together, God has still been bringing freedom from His Word and propelling us to new heights.

Stand firm, then, I say to you today. “Stand firm and do not again submit to the yoke of slavery,” because to do so would be to turn your back on the inheritance that God has given us. Think about what that means. Our only connection to freedom comes through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice.

"Our only connection to freedom comes through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice."

To look back to that slavery, to look back to that sin, to look back to that old way of life, that old way of thinking, that old way of doing our relationships with our spouses and our kids and how we are raising our kids, is to turn our back on the freedom of Christ’s sacrifice. It’s to turn our back on the freedom of being born of the free woman and instead looking back to be of the slave woman. It's to once again be bound and oppressed by slavery.

I pray today that your freedom would be a beacon to the world of who Jesus Christ is. That your willful submission to being a member of the body would speak to the world of what true freedom is. We need to remember today that we are grafted in, not by the Word, not by inheritance, but only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must hold unswervingly to the hope that we profess, for He is our salvation and our freedom. He is what has unburdened us from the yoke of slavery, and He is the only thing that binds us together.

It's not what we have in common. It's not that we like hanging out or going to church together. No, the common interest, the thing that we look at each other and find, is Christ. It is the Holy Spirit. It is faith—united faith—that binds us together with Christ and binds us together to this inheritance and this freedom. We are members of the body joined together by the Holy Spirit.

The slave does not partake in the Holy Spirit. The slave is not controlled by the Holy Spirit. The slave moves independently of the body because it is not receiving messages from the brain like the rest of the body. As I said before, the slave has its own mind. It's the hand that wants to go off and do its own thing independent of the rest of the body.

We have seen that so often in the church—where the body is doing one thing, and there's a hand over here doing its own thing and a foot over there doing another thing. That is not what it means to be free. Being in freedom means being in unity, bound by the Holy Spirit and controlled by our God. Our ways are not our ways; they are God's ways. We are not looking to do our own thing, but to be in submission under the will of God.

That old man, Abimelech, who is looking to have his own control and authority and set himself up as king over his own life and delegitimize the freedom that he is surrounded with —that is of the old. That is of the slave woman. And we see the same thing happen again and again throughout the Bible.

My prayer today is that Jesus Christ would anoint you with His freedom, that He would break the slavery that has been over your lives, over your past, that has been where you have come from, and that you would know true freedom this day, that you would stand firm this day and never again submit to the yoke of slavery.

So we, people of God, must remain holy. We must pursue godliness and look to bring our children not just into following rules, but encourage them to find true freedom in Jesus Christ this day. That is a message this world does not know. The world teaches that you should discipline your child or you should do what you have to do to make him follow the rules. But I pray that your heart would be to lead your children into submission to Christ, that they would know freedom this day, that they would know freedom and laughter in Christ, that they would know the freedom of submission—of willfully submitting themselves to God – that they would know love and truth and peace, that they would come to know all the fruits of the Spirit, not based on something they have obtained, but something they have submitted to God so that He is able to bear fruit in their lives.

That has to start in our homes. I believe that's why God has had us together as families. If you had told somebody before this that this would happen, they might not have believed you, but God has had us together with just our families, not allowed to go and deal with anyone else. God is joining us together as families, and then we are bringing those families into the house of God, all making up the body of Christ, all willfully submitted to God.

I know that the sermon last week has been speaking over and over in my head. I know it's been touching my heart in such a deep way. I pray that you would look and see what it means to be in slavery this day and reaffirm your faith with Christ, saying, “God, I will never go back to being of the slave woman. Father, I will continually and willfully submit myself to You that I might know true freedom.”

So, I bless you guys this day. Maybe if you have time and you want to go read Judges 8 and 9, I know it was really speaking to me. Again, go back to Galatians 4 and read about what it means to be free. Allow God to do something new inside of you—reaffirming your faith, reaffirming that drive inside you to seek the Holy Spirit deeper, looking to move with God deeper, looking to submit to God deeper, and that God would do amazing things in your midst.

I look forward to seeing you all. I miss all of you. My wife and my son miss each one of you deeply. We are looking forward to coming together as the body of Christ to do something the world has never seen.

I bless you. May the Holy Spirit be with you. May He be indwelling in each one of you. May you be bound together by the Holy Spirit. May He be speaking words out of your heart that come from the freedom of Christ. I bless you, and I miss you. Amen.