Salem Conference 2012 - Pastor John Farley Saturday AM Part 1

<Rebound and opening prayer>

 

You are a slave.

 

The question is only  - Whose slave are you?

 

ROM 1:1 Paul, a bond-servant [slave]  of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

 

In ROM 1:1, Paul declares himself to be the slave of Christ Jesus.

 

Paul calls himself - no he brags about this, it is the first thing he wants the Romans to know about him -

He is a slave of Christ Jesus.

 

When introducing himself to these Roman Christians, the first and most important thing Paul wants them to know is that he is a slave of Christ Jesus.

 

Slavery in the ancient world was a brutal and shameful thing.

 

Slaves were the exclusive property of their masters, and they had no control over their lives.

 

Now we don’t often to stop the consider these things, but the fact is that

 

This notion of a slave is very important in the Christian way of life.

Very important.

 

 The slave concept is rather fundamental to the whole idea of the Gospel, the good news.

 

So what do I mean by that?

 

We are born slaves to sin.

 

We are helpless to redeem ourselves.

 

We enter the world with a sin nature, separated from God and powerless to establish a relationship with Him.

 

We have no way to emancipate ourselves from the captivity of our inherited depravity.

 

But the gracious plan of God for mankind calls for a Savior, a redeemer - the Lord Jesus Christ - to purchase our freedom from the slave market of sin.

 

 

Through the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross, God opened a way to provide freedom from the slave market of sin.

 

This is the Gospel - very good news!

OK so that is the beginning of the plan of salvation.

 

Now how about the end?

 

When you think about your spiritual life, when you think about the ultimate, when you think about what it is that you want to hear when you appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ,..

 

What words do you want to hear?

 

“Well done, good and faithful slave.”

 

Hmmmm.

 

That’s what we are hoping to hear. That is the end game so to speak that we all are striving to attain.

 

 

“Well done, good and faithful slave.”

 

 

So we celebrate the fact that we are rescued from the slave market…

 

So that means we are glad we aren’t slaves anymore…

 

….Yet we are striving to hear the words “well done good and faithful slave” - which means we want to be a slave!

 

Are we a little schizo  or what?

 

The New Testament recognizes two categories of human beings:  unbelievers and believers.

 

Are unbelievers slaves, or not?

 

Yes they are.

 

Unbelievers are slaves to sin.

 

ROM 6:17-23 also

 

JOH 8:34 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.

 

OK.  So unbelievers are slaves to sin.

 

How about believers?

 

Are believers slaves, or not?

 

That is a tantalizing and penetrating question.

 

But here’s how the Bible comes down on that question:

 

A person is either a slave to sin or a slave to Christ!

 

Freedom from one means freedom for the other.

 

Freedom from one means slavery to the other!

 

Salvation therefore is an exchange of yokes.

 

1TH 1:9 For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve [douleuo = to be a slave to!]  a living and true God,

 

 NT:1398

douleuw douleuo (dool-yoo'-o); from NT:1401; to be a slave to (literal or figurative, involuntary or voluntary):
 

 

Salvation therefore is an exchange of yokes.

 

 

MAT 11:28 " Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

 

MAT 11:29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.

 

MAT 11:30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

 

 

We were redeemed FROM something - the slave market of sin.

 

And we are redeemed FOR something -  our calling in Christ.

 

Believers  redeemed to something; namely, to a state of freedom; and then they are called to renounce that freedom for slavery to the Lord who redeemed them.

 

Christ set us free so we may use our freedom to advance to spiritual maturity and glorify Him.

 

GAL 5:1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free [from the slave market of sin]; therefore [believer] keep standing firm [spiritual growth]  and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery [the bondage of the sin nature and the law].

 

So you were a slave to sin.

 

You were born again, which means that you are now a slave of Christ.

 

But you are also given freedom.

 

There is a verse in the Bible that resolves this apparent contradiction.

 

It opens a window of spiritual understanding and we are going to climb through this window and begin our study of the subject of what it means to be a slave of Christ Jesus.

 

2CO 5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;

 

2CO 5:15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

 

And with that freedom you can choose to either serve yourself of serve Christ.

 

You have the ability to present your body to your flesh and do what it wants you to do,

 

Or present your body a living sacrifice to the Lord.

 

We belong to Christ. He owns us. Yet He gives us this freedom to choose how we live our brief remaining lives on earth.

 

What a Master!!!

 

Doesn’t it start to make you wonder - why?

 

The same reason that the free will of man and the sovereignty of God co-exist by divine decree over the course of human history.

 

God is  up to something.

 

Something amazing.

 

Something all encompassing and glorious.

 

 

GAL 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

 

 

1CO 6:20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

 

This turns out to be a really pivotal verse in the whole picture.  It speaks of our former complete bondage to sin and death, and our new opportunity to be the willing slaves of Christ.

 

We hitch our wagon - our very bodies - to His star and oh, the places He takes us.