Releasing Others From My Captivity
I. Start Right Where We Left Off Last Sunday
a. Ephesians 4:31-32
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. KJV
II. The Common Cold
a. Have you ever had a cold? Of course you have.
b. Where did you get it from?
i. If you KNEW who gave you the cold, how would you treat them?
1. Would you forsake them and never go near them again?
2. Would you forever hold them responsible for the sneezes, the runny notes and the sniffles?
3. Would you keep a tally of the work you missed, the money you lost, the misery you felt because they gave you a cold?
a. Or would you forgive them and move on with your life?
c. Who are we holding captive because they touched us without even knowing it!
i. Think about it – you cannot really give someone a cold unless you have a cold!
III. Born Into This Mess
a. Just as you were born into a world where is without a doubt a certainty that at some point in your life you will either catch a cold or someone you know, or don’t know, will give you germs and make you sick you were also born into a world of sin.
i. Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: KJV
ii. We were born into a world of
1. Pain
2. Suffering
3. Sickness
4. Death
IV. Legal Issues
a. I cannot sell what I do not own.
b. I cannot legally transfer authority of what is not mine to another
i. In this sense, I identify either with
1. The first Adam – if I hold everyone hostage to their sins or
2. The Last Adam – if I forgive then I too get forgiveness
ii. Who I am not willing to forgive I am tied to legally!
c. At some point it is no longer your fault – it becomes my issue
V. I Can Hear Mama Now . . .
a. “I don’t care who started it – I am gonna finish it!”
i. If I continue to blame others for my issues then I will never own my issues
1. If I don’t own it I cannot confess it
a. If I don’t confess it I can never be free from it!
b. I am either bound to Adam in sin or Christ in forgiveness
b. Someone may be able and willing to admit responsibility for getting you
i. Hooked on drugs
ii. Hooked on porn
iii. Whatever the case may be
1. But it is highly unlikely that they will have the power to get you free from it – in Christ alone is Freedom!
c. It doesn’t matter where you got it, what matters is that you get rid of it and don’t die from it or give it to anyone else!
No comments:
Post a Comment