Saturday, January 28, 2006

Sermon for the road: Free from torment

Freedom from condemnation is possible.

To live in condemnation is a great torment. A man under condemnation cannot live in peace and joy. He cannot enjoy his life to the fullness. His conscience bothers him all day long. He cannot forgive himself for the wrong he has done. He finds it hard to sleep at night. Bad dreams torment him. He is a miserable person. He has no freedom from condemnation.

Thank God, however, that Christians can be free from all condemnation.

The apostle Paul had every good reason to condemn himself for the most of his earthly life. Before he became the follower of Christ, he was a very zealous Pharisee & teacher of the Law. He did not know Christ then and was under the great bondage of the Law, which gave him no freedom to do what was right. He lived under deception. He lacked understanding of the truth found in Christ. His human passions instigated him to do things contradicting God's law. These passions were so intense within him that he strove for self-righteousness through his own efforts. As a result, he went all the way to destroy the followers of Christ - he plotted to murder them AND he murdered them. He did not know that he was fighting against Christ who is the Truth, Way and Life.

Logically speaking, after he came to know Jesus, he should feel condemned for all the terrible things he had done in ignorance. But he did not because the Spirit of God revealed the truth that set him free from all condemnation of past sins.

Many people might have experienced similar situations like the apostle Paul. There are people under the strong bondage of uncontrollable emotions such as anger, lust, envy and greed. They know they should not do certain things, yet there is a strong desire in them, compelling them to do such things. This desire causes them to do evil again & again, such as speaking hurtful words to others who offend them; slandering those who have been a threat to them; hitting out at others to take revenge; stealing because of greed; and committing fornication to gratify their lust.

These people live with a guilty conscience and in misery because such sinful desires can never gratify or satisfy. How can one be free from such unproductive lifestyles?

Galatians 5:16 & 18 say "I say this to you: Let the Holy Spirit lead you in each step. Then you will not please your sinful old selves. If you let the Holy Spirit lead you, the Law no longer has power over you."

It's all about our willingness to submit our whole faculties, especially the mind, to the control of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit must be given full liberty to do whatever He decides in our lives. We must be willing to let go our will and to adopt the will of God. His will must be our delight. Our old way of life must change. Stop going on in our stubborn ways! Cease to listen to the urging of our old sinful passion to do evil! Our hearts must be set on following the steps of the Holy Spirit. Tune our hearts to be sensitive to Him. Renew our minds daily from the filth of this world to His truth through meditating on His Word. Be ready at all times to submit our will to do what He wants, wholeheartedly at all times. If we do that, our sinful passion within us will not have any power to convince us to do evil. Our changed lives will become an evidence to the world that we have died to our sinful passion and now live by the power of the Holy Spirit. No longer can our sinful passion instigate us to do things against the Law of God. Then, we are no longer under the condemning power of Law because we have been set free from the power of sin.

As a conclusion, every Christian who submits to the leading of the Holy Spirit can be set free from the torment of condemnation. Do you what to be free from the torment you are struggling with? Please pray the following prayer from your heart in faith:

Father God,

I come to Your throne of grace seeking Your mercy. Lord, I have been tormented by condemnation. I hate my sinful passions of <fill in your own>. My sinful passions keep instigating me to do wrong. This day, I ask You to forgive me of my sins. I appropriate the blood of Jesus to cleanse me from all my unrighteousness. This day, I want to surrender my whole life to Christ.

Jesus, please come into my life. I accept You as my Lord and Savior. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit, I give You full control of my whole being - spirit, soul, body. No longer do I want to listen to my sinful passions to do evil. I want to follow You all the days of my life. I want to do what pleases You. Create in me a pure heart and lead me every step that I should take. Please set me free from those sinful passions at work in my life so that I can follow You wholeheartedly.

In Christ's name,
Amen.

Pastor Sarah
Category: cf_ps

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