So Mark, if you will, Genesis chapter 15. And let's go to the Gospel according to John chapter 8. Our thought this morning is going to be an old hymn that I want to read to you. The title of this hymn is one that you very well may know. It's called, He Set Me Free. I want to read you just a few verses. Once like a bird in prison I dwelt. No freedom from my sorrow I felt. But Jesus came and listened to me. In glory to God, he set me free. The last verse, for the sake of time, I wanna read you the third. Goodbye to sin and things that confound. "'Naught of this world shall turn me around. "'Daily I'm working, I'm praying too. "'And glory to God, I'm going through.'" Folks, when Albert Rumley wrote that song, he's talking about a deliverance that God gives us. And it's not just something that we get delivered from sin, but every single day we need deliverance from something. This morning when we talk about He set me free, I want to go back to John now, chapter 8 for just a minute, and we'll get to Genesis 15 in just a little while. But in John chapter 8, Jesus beginning to talk about who the true descendants of Abraham are. The Pharisees felt like that they had done no wrong. And because there was no legal charges, they were, quote, free. One of the things I want you to think about this morning, one of the things we're going to note this morning is, and where my heart is, is that just because there are not things that are legally binding does not mean that we are free. And what I mean by that is we can still be shackled by sin. And this morning, I want you to think about something. Is there anybody here, or I should even assume this, I'm assured this morning that every one of us have something that we need to let go of us. We're not necessarily holding it, it gets a hold of us. It's two different things. I know there are things that we cling to, but there are things that are clinging to us. But in John chapter eight, listen to who Jesus talks about, the descendants of Abraham and who they are and what their life is like. Verse 32 says this, And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him and said, We be Abraham's seed. We were never in bondage to any man. So they felt like they were thinking that their inheritance, excuse me, their heritage, or because who they belong to, we were never in bondage, so therefore, we're not like everybody else. Do you know one of the great myths, and we're gonna see this, and we're gonna go back into the Old Testament, they were in bondage. They just denied whom they were. This morning, you can deny all you want, but the truth is, every one of us were conceived in sin and slaves to sin. Every single one of us. It's not a choice that we made. It's something given to us. But look at what they said. Well, we're Abraham's seed. You can get this arrogance that they have about them. And we were never in bondage to any man. So how sayest thou, ye shall be made free? He said, you're shackled. You just don't know that you're shackled. You're bound and you just don't realize that you're bound. And he said, you need to be set free. Let's keep going. Jesus answered them. Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committed sin is a servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the son abideth forever. Listen to verse 36. If the son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Now, Throughout the ministry of Christ, he uses the word free to talk about a legal freeness. Now, that's something we're going to, the word justified just means in a legal sense that you have been forgiven or pardoned from something. But now here's where the difference is. There's a difference in those that have a legal binding charge versus those that don't have legal binding charges. I really, really struggled this morning. I almost wanted to say we're not escapees. That's what I really wanted to say. You know what an escapee is, don't you? An escapee is somebody that's been convicted of a crime. They're serving a sentence, but they're out, not because they've been set free, but they're out against really what the legal system would say. Folks today, if you have been saved, We not only have been legally set free, but we have been set free to where there's nothing else that can harm us. What does an escapee do? An escapee would say, I don't want to be seen by the wrong people because I could be incarcerated again. And I bring that up to you this morning because as Christians this morning, I want you to know that in this particular word that Jesus is teaching us here. He said, you shall be free indeed. That's really where my heart has been at this last week. When He says that you're free indeed, He said, not only are you set free from the prison, He said, but there's nothing that nobody can do to you and hold it against you because you have been set free in the right legal sense. Now, here's what this means. When you go back into the Old Testament, and we're going to read some of this, maybe, Lord willing, just a little bit, you had a people that was under the rule or under the slavery of Pharaoh. And here's what they said. We want to be free from Pharaoh. Please hinge and listen to real close what I'm about to tell you. Do you know what one of the problems was? There's a difference in wanting to be freed from Pharaoh to do whatever you want versus to be free from Pharaoh to worship and serve God. This morning, The night the Lord saved my soul. He didn't just set me free where I can do whatever I want to do. But he set me free that I might worship and serve God. Not because of what I've done, but because of what the Holy Spirit has done. In John, in the 8th chapter and the 36th verse, he said, if the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Who are these people? And He talked about in that 33rd verse, and He said, and they answered Him. Who are these they's that it's talking about here? You had these people that once believed that their heritage gave them a right to the very promises and the very relationship with God. But what they found out was, it's not who they were born, what family they were born into, it's about being born again into the family of God. Folks, this morning I want to tell you something very plain. It's not about what family that you are born into into this world that determines your eternal destiny. You can be born into what we might call a good family. You might be born into what we might call a bad family. But the truth is today, your natural birth, we all are the same. We're born sinners. We're born held captive. We're born slaves. We're going to read about this emancipation that's going to happen a little bit. And this is what happens in our soul. And Jesus is going to teach us that they were going to be set free. They did not believe in the Old Testament. They did not believe that what the word had taught them, that they were once slaves to sin. They denied that. This morning, I pray that there is not a soul here that denies the fact we were conceived and we're born in sin. Not because we're a bad people or that our parents made bad choices or anything like that, folks. It's the seed of sin that's been passed upon us from Adam. And we might get into Galatians in a little bit, but it's going to talk about how those that are of the faith are the ones that are going to be the children of God or the children of Christ because of faith in God. But let's read, if you will, for just a minute. And going back to Genesis for just a moment, chapter 15, if you mark that. Genesis chapter 15, if you mark that, listen to what we're about to read right here. And when somebody's in bondage and when somebody's in sin, does God want us freed from that sin? Whatever it is that you're fighting this morning, whatever it is, we've talked about everything from people that have addictions to battles, whatever it is, whatever it is that we are battling here today, it could be pride, it could be selfishness, it could be all kinds of things. But whatever it is we're fighting this morning, know this, God desires to set us free. Abram, in 15th chapter, 13th verse, and he said unto Abram, know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and shall serve them. There are people that are going to be somewhere they do not want to be. Folks, I want to tell you something I believe in this morning. None of us choose to be sinners. I want to say that one more time because I deeply believe in this. None of us choose to be born sinners. We talk about the free will of man. We do have a lot of choices we have in our life, but we don't choose to be sinners. But I thank God today that God chose to send the redemptions through his son, Jesus Christ. I'm thankful for that here today. But listen to what God told Abram. He said, Abram, know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and they shall serve them, and they shall afflict them for a hundred years. So what is a slave? If you want to define a slave is, somebody that has one that rules your life, we're missing out here. Because what he's saying is, you're going to be delivered from Pharaoh, which means you're free, but you're going to be under the rule of Christ. You know, one of the first things that let me know that I was a child of God, you know what happens? I wanted to go to church. I wanted to read his word. I wanted to study his word. I wanted to be a witness for him. Something changed inside of me. When we see this morning and read about that song that said, he set me free like a bird out of prison. He said, he set me free. But he's talking about how it's not that you're set free only to have to go through a time of your life where you're going to be free to do whatever you want. He said, but you're going to go through a time in your life where you're going to be able to experience God and let God have reign in your life. So in the 15th chapter and the 13th verse, and he said, And they shall afflict them four hundred years. God began to work in the hearts of His people. And His people fought a great battle, and I believe today there are people still fighting battles. Aren't you glad today for a God that can deliver from the things that we stand in need of? I'm going to flip over for just a minute. If you're there in the Old Testament, let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 5 for just a moment. I want to read something to you. In these 10 commandments that God gave, this is important for us to understand and to read here this morning. In the commandments that God gave, He always had reminders for the people that God had delivered them. We're going to talk about this deliverance from slavery. We're going to talk about the year of Jubilee. And I know this stuff is going to be very briefly, but we're going to talk about how God sets us free of these things. But here in the book of Deuteronomy, in the fifth chapter, notice what he said. Skip down to about the 12th verse, keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. Six days shalt thou labor and do all that work, but listen to the seventh day. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. He said, this is the Sabbath day. Listen to what he talks about then. "'In it shall thou shall not do any work, "'neither thy son nor thy daughter, "'nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, "'nor thy ox, thy ass, or thine other cattle, "'nor stranger that is within the gates, "'that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest "'as well as thou.'" Look at the 15th verse. During this time of rest, and remember that thou was, a stranger in the land of Egypt. An escapee is not, they may be free from a jail cell, but they're not free from their sentence, are they? This morning, if you're here and you're saved, can I tell you something that I'll make every one of us shout? We are free from the punishment of sin of death, hell and the grave. What do you feel about that? We are free today, not because of what we've done, but because of Jesus when he died and he said, it is finished. The true required price that man was gonna need to be set free, he said, that's what's gonna happen. But when God ordained this time, he said, on that day of rest, on that seventh day, he said, I want you to rest. He said, everything and everybody's gonna rest. And he said, and remember that thou wast a servant. He said, you're not, but you sure were. And then who it is, listen to what he said. He said, and that the Lord thy God brought thee this through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm. You know what I can remember now, March the 18th, 1995. Folks, I wish I could just go back and tell you all about it. There was one today that was an outstretched arm and it was the mighty hand of God. There were people that night that gathered around me. I have no doubt that they touched me on the shoulder, or they put their hand around me, or they bowed around me. But folks, it was never the hand of a man or a person that set me free from the bondage of sin, folks. It's the hand of God. It's the hand of God in my life. And this morning, if you're here, when I tell you that He set me free, I want to be very clear and very plain about who that He is, folks. We're set free today because of Jesus Christ. That's what it's all about. And here we're reminded that we have to remember that God is going to set us free and it's by His hands that He's able to do that. Notice what happens. I don't want to skip over just a little bit in the 15th chapter. If you're there in the book of Deuteronomy, turn over to the 15th chapter for just a minute. Notice what happens every seven years. We're going to talk about a release of the slaves now. Now, when we talk about a release of the slaves, not only are they going to be released, they're returned back to their land and the freedom of their land. I wonder what the Garden of Eden was like before man sinned against God. You ever wonder about that? What was it like? Sin entered in and what happened? Then all of a sudden, man was expelled from the garden. But you know what? We often wonder. Is it possible for something previous to be restored? Well, remember when I mentioned the word justified. Justified means just as if it had never happened, which means that you could return back to the state you were. Folks, when we are saved, the soul of a man becomes sinless just like we were when we were unaccountable in the Garden of Eden. There is a restoration that is happening in that garden. God has taken us back to that place that we can experience that. But listen to what we read here when he talks about a release, a release of the slaves, a release to the land that is theirs, a release to their freedoms they had. 15th chapter and the first verse, at the end of every seven years, thou shalt make a release. And this is the manner of the release. Every creditor let lendeth all to his neighbors shall release it. In other words, if you are held a slave, he said, you got to release it. And he shall not exact it of his neighbor or of his brother, because it is called the Lord's release. This morning, I have to tell you, when I was reading about the Lord's release, I got a little excited. I thought, you know what? There's a lot of times in my life I can say, that was the Lord releasing me. That was the Lord releasing. Folks, if you don't have a salvation experience where you were not released by the Lord, then you can still realize and you're gonna still feel that you're in bondage. Why? It's like an escapee. You're released because somebody else maybe have opened up the doors. But when we're released by God and we're separate, We're being separated from where we were because of God, folks. We're set free, and listen, when John 8 and 36, it said, you shall be free indeed, means your life is going to change. You're gonna do things different. And here he said, it is the Lord's release. That is what God is trying to do for us in our life, is that he wants to release so that we might be able to experience his goodness. Matter of fact, the book of Leviticus, I was reading a verse that said in the 25th chapter, 10th verse, proclaim liberty throughout all the land under all the inhabitants thereof. You see, there was a time when people got, when we talk about the slavery and we talk about the hardships that the people were going through, there were times that they were taken into slavery against their will. But I want to visit something for just a second. We cannot deny the fact that some of the slavery was intentional. Let me tell you what I mean by that. Some people got in such a poverty stricken state. The only current way I can look at this would be somebody that said, I'm better off in a prison cell than I am out on the streets where I'm living. At least in a prison cell, I got a bed and I got food. Sometimes people would not because they wanted to, but because they had to, they would sell themselves into liberty or excuse me, into captivity. Even though they had to do it, they realized that there still needed to be a time in their life that they would still desire to be set free. Regardless of why we are where we are, what we have to know is this, is that whether you have chosen the things in your life, whether things have happened because you did not choose them, folks, regardless of why we're in captivity, I believe in one thing, God can set us free. I've heard it multiple times. Well, they do it to themselves. When they do it to themselves, that was a choice that they made. Some of the slavery that we read about in the Old Testament was because the people had gotten to such a place in their life, that's what they did. And today I don't judge because of what they did. I understand that, but I also know this, regardless of whether it was by unintention or intention, they're still in a place of captivity and they still need to be set free. You don't choose to be a sinner People need to be set free of that, but people do choose things in their life and they still need to be set free. But aren't you glad today that we serve one that can break all the chains of captivity? Regardless of what those chains are, regardless of what those restrictions are, is that they could be set free. And that's what we're reading about here in John, in this eighth chapter, beginning about that 31st verse, skipping on down to about that 34th, 35th, and 36th verse. We're talking about how that God can set us free from these things, and God desires to set us free of these things. But turn back just a little bit, if you will, to the book of Exodus. Exodus chapter 6. Let's look at this captivity that's going to happen. What's happening to us in our life? What happens to us when we get in situations or places that we need to be delivered? Exodus chapter 6 and verse 6, Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord. Today, whether we have by our choice become captive, or whether by our nature we have become captive, listen to what he said. I will bring you out from under the burdens. Aren't you glad today that we serve a God that can bring us out? You know what a burden is, don't you? It's an extreme weight. It's something that's troubling. You know what, when those doors opened up this morning and people started coming into the Lord's house this morning, I have no idea what your heaviness is, but I know this, God wants to bring you out of those burdens. Just because something's a burden to you does not mean it's a burden to me. Just because it's not to me doesn't mean it's wrong if it is for you. The fact is, we all have burdens, some intentional, some unintentional decisions in our life, but it really brings us all back to a place that we need to be set free. And God is teaching us. He said, I am the Lord, all capture. He said, I will bring you out from under the burdens. You know what the word burdens is, don't you? It's that heavy forced labor of the Egyptians. For a slaver, that's an interesting word, he said that I will rid you out of their bondage. But he said, how's he gonna do this? He said, if you're a slave and there's a price that has to be paid, he said, I'm gonna willingly and voluntarily pay that price. For he said, I will redeem. Oh, we could get in a lot of these customs in the nearest kinsmen and all that, but the word redeemed just means I will pay the required price. Folks, there's something I deeply believe in this morning. Nowhere did God ever ask man their opinion about what do you think that the worth of a soul is? And what should it cost God to redeem us? You know why? I wanna tell you what Scott's reason why is. We take the seriousness of sin and we degrade it. But God said, I'm going to value sinfulness and I'm going to value it to where the only thing that we can find favor with God is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. People think that the crucifixion of the death of Jesus, how horrible it was, how painful it was. And I will agree to that. It is a horrible thing. It is a painful thing. And it's a miserable thing that Christ had to go through. But folks, may we not underestimate the seriousness of sin. May we not underestimate the bondage that we are in and that we need to be brought out of. God looked down upon the human race and said, I will pay the required price. Nobody else meets the criteria or the value by which we can be set free. Folks, that rests in one person and that's Jesus Christ. I'm a firm believer today. There's nobody else that could have died and set us free from the bondage of sin. There's only one and that's Jesus. That's why that we as a church will always lift up His name. We will always praise Him. And that's why those are red letters in John 8, 36. And that's why we see that when Jesus is talking about how that when you're set free, you're going to be set free because of Jesus Christ. And He said, not only be set free, but you're free indeed. We're not just free from the laws or any kind of crime or any kind of conviction that's upon us. He said, but we're free to go out and be free from the condemnation of that sin and serve Him. Can you see that difference? He said, I will redeem you. I love how he said that. He said, I will redeem you with a stretched out arm and with great judgments. Exodus six and verse seven said, and I will take you to me. I will take you to me for a people. Remember when I said earlier how that there's a difference in people wanting to be set free so they can be whom they want to be. I've told you one of my, I don't want to say pet peeve, I don't know if that's a good word to use, but one of my things I'm concerned about is this idea in our culture and our society is people encourage you to be whoever you feel like you need to be. I disagree with that, folks. You need to be who Christ wants you to be and do what he would have you to do. But that's why we've got to crucify the flesh. That's why we've got to separate that. But he said with an outstretched arm, he said, I will take you to me for a people and I will be to you a God. And he said, when you surrender your life, He said, you just surrender your life unto me. He said, you're gonna get to a place in your life. He said, you're gonna know this. How many of you can say this? And you shall know that I am the Lord, your God. How many of you this morning can shout that glory, hallelujah, that you know He is your God? Not the God of your neighbors, not the God of the person in front of you or behind you, or maybe even somebody in your house. You know what, folks, this morning I want to say thank you God that he set me, Scott, he set me free. Not because of what you have done, but because of what I have done. Not because I was a bad person, not because I was born into a good family or a bad family, not because of an intentional or unintentional choice, but he set me free because he loved us. He set me free today because he could. And I'll tell you this, this morning, folks, there's only one that can set you free. And that is the very power of the working of the Holy Spirit of God. And he said, I will be to you a God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bring you forth out of the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land concerning which I did swear unto Abraham. He said, now, he said, we're going to go from, he's going to talk about how that I'm going to bring you from where you're at, and I'm going to give you something any greater. You know what? I don't know if I'm the only person here this morning, but I want to tell you this. This world is not my home. I'm just a passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. Folks, here's coming a day. I believe that God's going to set me free from this old body. This is going to go contrary to what popular belief is, but you know what, folks? I truly believe that there's going to be a better day when I can close my eyes in this old life and I can shed off this old body of sin and I can be set free from this shackle of sin. To be absent from the body is to be weary. said, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Folks, I don't know about you, but that's a good day. That's a good day. It may not be for others on this life, but it's a good day for me when I can go be with the Lord. Why? He sets us free. And this morning, how many of you can say that you have been set free? For he said, and I will bring you into the land concerning which I did swear to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give to you for a heritage. I am the Lord. Folks, this morning I cannot tell you how much I thank God that He can set us free of the things that we need in our life. And God's able to do that. God desires to do that. Turn just a little bit more there over the next book, into the book of Leviticus for just a minute. The book of Leviticus, I want to read to you a word that may sound familiar to you. In our language, it's what we would get the word emancipation. It's kind of like what you heard in 1863 when Abraham Lincoln was talking about the freeing of the human life. He's talking about how that there was a desire, emancipation just means to be freed from something that you're in. Listen to what we read in Leviticus 26, into verse 13. I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt. that you should be their bondman, which means you're their slave or you're their servant. I have broken... This is going to get good for just a second, folks. Slaves in their chains and their shackles. If somebody was to come along and take a key and open up those chains and those shackles, You're free, kind of like an escaped convict, I guess you would say. You're free, but are you free indeed? That's the question I want you to think about this morning, but I want you to get this picture in your mind for just a minute. If you're in shackles and you're in chains right now, and somebody comes along and they open those chains and those shackles and they fall to the ground, is there the possibility that somebody could pick those chains and shackles up and put them back on you? Yes. What happens when those chains and shackles are destroyed? They can't be put back on again, can they? March the 18th, 1995. Folks, there's not enough powers of the devils in hell itself that can put those shackles back upon what God did for me the night he saved my soul. He didn't just take off those shackles and those chains. He destroyed them. Listen to this word right here. He said, I have broken the bands of your yoke. That means I have put them into pieces. Well, this morning, folks, I can't tell you what it's like to go to a place And I know this morning I can go back to that place not thinking. I hope somebody don't grab those chains and those shackles and pick them up and put them on me. I can go back to that place and I can see a heap of what once was there but can never shackle me again. I can go back to a place where God set me free from sin. And no matter what the devil in all of this world may say, folks, I have been set free because of Jesus Christ. And listen to what Leviticus tells us. He said, not only did I take your shackles and your chains and I just destroyed them. Oh, but this gets good, folks. Listen to this. And he said, and made you go upright. You know what, folks? When God saved us, He didn't save us so we might lay down and slumber in our sleep or do whatever we want. He said, I picked you up. And He said, I put you on a path. And I put you on a path for me. For me. I'm going to tell you what Scott did. That night when the Lord saved my soul. It wasn't long after that the Lord began to call me to preach. You know why? Because that's what God had a purpose for me, folks. My life did not become my life. It's become His life and it's my life in Jesus Christ. If you're here this morning, do you have a time in your life when those chains were broken? And those chains were just destroyed and there they are. Now don't get me wrong. There's other things that come along and they bound you and they shackle you. But you know what? God will never shackle you with those before. He can set you free. And He said, I am the Lord your God which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt. Aren't you glad today that it's God that does the delivering? Aren't you glad today that it's God that is the one that brings us out? Aren't you glad today that no matter what it is that we are shackled to, that God is able to remove us, folks? I thank God for a church that has Jesus in the very center. I thank God for a church that believes that it's Jesus that will change the life of a person. Folks, I want to tell you something. You ever take Jesus out of this place, I'm going to be right behind Him. You ever take Jesus out of here, I'm going to be right behind Him. Why? Because we need Him more than we need anybody else. because it's him that's going to set people free. At the name of Jesus. Whoa, think about the power behind that. He said, at the name of Jesus, I am the Lord, your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be there by man. I have broken the bands of your yoke. I think it feels good to be broken from those chains and those shackles because you're free. But do you think there's an added feeling that goes along, knowing that those chains and those shackles are obliterated not to be put back on you again? People want to know what it's like to feel and to know you're saved. It's not only to know that they're gone, the burden of sin, but it's to know they can never come back on you again. that what the work that God does in the heart of a man, folks, it is something that is done eternal. March the 18th, 1995, God did something that in me is eternal. And he said, and he made you go upright. Paul said it. He said, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. He changes us, don't he? He changes us, or at least he did me. And I pray that if you're here this morning, that you too know what it's like to be changed in Jesus Christ. I think about that song that he set me free And then I think about what Jesus himself said in red letters. If the son therefore shall make you free, you're not just free from the law. He said, you're free indeed. This morning, there's a lot of people walking around like their chains are laying somewhere and somebody's gonna pick them up and chase them back and do it again. Folks, if you're here and you're saved, you're free indeed. which means they cannot come back upon you again. And may we live our life as free people, not free to do our wishes and wants, but free to worship and serve him. For this is the last statement I will say, no matter what you do for Jesus, he is worthy. Why? He set me free. What's on your heart this morning? Let's get a song if we're good.